Table 2 Comparison of study variables by court decision of physician liability
Category | Study variable | Court decision acknowledged physician liability | Court decision did not acknowledge physician liability | p-valuea |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Patient characteristics | Â | Â | Â | |
|  | Age (mean ± SD)(years) (n) | 40.41 ± 19.72 (54) | 50.53 ± 20.62 (30) | 0.029 |
| Â | Sex: male/female | 24/41 | 11/24 | 0.583 |
| Â | Type of disease: treatment is elective or not urgently necessary/other | 14/50 | 2/33 | 0.046 |
| Â | Severity of injury: death/other | 23/42 | 20/15 | 0.036 |
Doctor characteristics | Â | Â | Â | |
| Â | Number of doctors who explained: one/two or more | 50/15 | 23/12 | 0.229 |
| Â | Department where patients were treated: surgical system/other | 21/44 | 13/22 | 0.626 |
| Â | Type of medical facility: clinic/hospital | 22/43 | 5/30 | 0.036 |
Manner of doctor's explanation | Â | Â | Â | |
| Â | Purpose of explanation: explanation to obtain patient's consent/other | 50/15 | 30/5 | 0.295 |
| Â | Timing of doctor's explanation: prior to treatment or surgery/other | 43/10 | 28/0 | 0.013 |
| Â | Those who received a doctor's explanation: patient only/patient and family or family only | 27/26 | 9/19 | 0.105 |
| Â | Manner of doctor's explanation to patient: oral only/oral and other methods | 30/12 | 14/6 | 0.908 |
| Â | Manner of a doctor's explanation to family: oral only/oral and other methods | 23/3 | 13/3 | 0.658 |
| Â | Level of doctor's explanation to patient: relevant and specific/not sufficiently relevant or specific | 4/37 | 16/3 | 0.000 |
| Â | Level of doctor's explanation to family: relevant and specific/not sufficiently relevant or specific | 1/24 | 13/3 | 0.000 |
| Â | Place of doctor's explanation: inpatient ward/outpatient clinic or other | 32/33 | 23/12 | 0.114 |
| Â | Content of doctor's explanation: related to surgery/other | 25/40 | 12/23 | 0.680 |
Litigation | Â | Â | Â | |
| Â | Issue in litigation: presence of doctor's explanation/insufficient or incorrect doctor's explanation | 12/53 | 7/28 | 0.852 |
| Â | Legal basis of plaintiff's claim: tort law only/tort law and contract law or contract law only | 20/44 | 10/25 | 0.782 |
| Â | Introduction of medical expert witness: yes/no | 21/44 | 13/22 | 0.626 |
|  | Mean length of litigation (mean ± SD)(years) (n) | 7.62 ± 4.41(65) | 7.66 ± 3.38(35) | 0.961 |
| Â | Acknowledgement of doctor's fault by court decision: yes/no | 35/27 | 0/35 | 0.000 |