Objective  To examine self-assessed practice about medical risk and its influencing factors among medical staff in township hospitals in Guizhou province for providing references to medical risk management in rural grassroots medical institutions.

  Methods  We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey among 1 310 medical personnel participating a training program from township hospitals in 88 prefectures/counties/districts across Guizhou province in December 2018. Information on personal practice about medical risk, evaluation on institutional medical risk management, and job satisfaction were collected and analyzed; multivariate linear regression was used to explore influencing factors of self-assessment on practice about medical risk.

  Results  For the 1 193 eligible respondents, the average score for personal practice about medical risk was 24.28 ± 3.20 in a scale with the maximum score of 30 for excellent practice. Univariate analysis showed that the score for personal practice about medical risk differed significantly by age, job category, professional title, working years, frequency of participating in trainings on medical risk management, whether having been involved in medical disputes, and job satisfaction among the respondents (P < 0.05 for all). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the score for personal practice about medical risk was inversely correlated with professional title (β′ = 0.057), the frequency of taking a part in relevant training program (β′ = 0.192), job satisfaction (β′ = 0.082), and related to the involvement in medical disputes (β′ = 0.084) (all P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  The self-assessed practice about medical risk is at a good level and mainly influenced by professional title, relevant training and job satisfaction among medical staff in township hospitals in Guizhou province. The results suggest that the relevant trainings should be promoted among the new employees and the staff with poor job involvement and ever experiencing a medical dispute.