The Current Status and Influencing Factors of Hospitalized Patients’ Propensity to Engage in Patient Safety: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Aims: To investigate the current level of inpatients’ propensity to engage in patient safety initiatives and pinpoint the influencing factors, thereby offering insights for targeted interventions and facilitating the development of an efficient management mechanism.

Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study.

Methods: One thousand four hundred and ninety-eight inpatients were recruited from 18 medical institutions in Leshan City, Sichuan Province, China. Participants provided their sociodemographic and professional information and completed a questionnaire scale on the willingness of Chinese inpatients to participate in patient safety. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, and binary logistic regression.

Results: The highest score for patients’ propensity to participate in safety initiatives was 4.13 ± 1.19 points. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that religion, place of residence, number of hospitalizations, occupation, and hospital grade were independent factors influencing patients’ willingness to engage in patient safety (OR = 0.185, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Patients in this region are moderately willing to participate in patient safety initiatives. However, while the survey mainly assesses willingness, the behavioral tendency subdimension reveals a gap between patients’ expressed willingness and their reported engagement behaviors.