Patient Safety Culture: A Meta-analysis of Hospital Data

Background and Objectives: Patient safety (PS) is one of the most important and essential elements of quality in healthcare setting. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to assess the status of patient safety culture using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC). Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis study, data were collected through searching databases including Scopus, Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Magiran , and Iranian Scientific Information (SID) using keywords like “patient safety”, “patient safety culture”, and “patient safety climate”, combined with “hospital: ,“Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture”, “measurement”, “assessment” and “survey”. Out of 1764 retrieved articles, 30 articles were entered into the study. To calculate the overall PSC score and perform the meta-analysis, the computer software (CMA2—Comprehensive Meta-Analysis) was employed. Findings: Using HSOPSC and random effects, the PSC score was calculated to be 56.9%. While the dimension “teamwork within hospital units” generated the highest score (72%), the dimension “non-punitive response to error” received the lowest score (40%). According to PSC grade, “very good” grade had the highest score (%41.3). Approximately %46 of the respondents did not complete any event report in the past 12 months. Conclusions: It seems better that the interventions for improving PSC focus on the dimension of “non-punitive response to error”. The results of this study can be used by policy makers and managers to create and improve a patient safety culture.