Since the report
To Err is Human in 1999 patient safety initiatives all over the world became an integral part in healthcare systems [
1,
2]. For example, in Austria several regulations were published in order to support initiatives to increase patient safety: In 2005, the Health Care Quality Act was released [
3] followed by a quality strategy [
4] and a nationwide patient safety strategy [
5]. The overall aim of the safety strategy was to increase patient safety, empower patients to actively take part in healthcare processes and to inform citizens about patient safety concerns. Citizens and patients should be health literate with regard to patient safety issues [
5]. According to these regulations in Austrian hospitals several patient safety projects were initiated and the main focus lay on implementation of clinical risk management, safe surgery or measures to increase hygiene aspects [
6‐
8]; however, as a next step to further increase patient safety, as it was already aimed in one of these regulations, it is also necessary to involve patients in quality and safety initiatives, which is a mostly unexploited resource so far [
9,
10]. Patients can speak up when they are concerned about their safety and can thereby help to prevent medical errors [
9]. This is to a certain point a paradigmatic shift because patients move from being passive recipients to active participants [
11]. In 2006, a telephone interview on discharged patients from a hospital in the United States of America (USA) showed that 91% of discharged patients agreed that they could help to prevent medical errors [
12]. Patients are willing to help preventing errors but in order to do so they also have to be informed about patient safety standards [
9,
12].
In 2010, according to the Special Eurobarometer on patient safety and quality of healthcare Austrian patients were highly trusting in hospital care [
13]. Whilst in Greece 83% perceived that patients could be harmed by hospital care, in Austria 79% of respondents felt safe. It was obvious that countries with high levels of expenditure for a social health insurance system showed highest levels of satisfaction [
14]. Asked for specific adverse events when receiving healthcare, such as i) hospital infections, ii) incorrect, missed or delayed diagnosis, iii) medication related errors, iv) surgical errors and v) medical device or related equipment errors, Austria had the highest proportion of those who perceived that these adverse events will not occur [
13]; however, in the case of an adverse event 57% of Austrians would report the event [
13].
In 1999, experts estimated that approximately 98,000 people die in any given year from medical errors that occur in US hospitals [
1]. A recently published analysis showed an even worse picture and assumed that medical error is now the third leading cause of death in US hospitals [
15]. Considering the overall importance of patient safety and patient willingness to participate in order to prevent medical errors, a survey was performed in Austria. The study primarily aimed to examine the perceptions of Austrian citizens with respect to patient safety relevant topics. The secondary aim was to evaluate if varying demands emerge with respect to sex, age, income and regional differences.