Minun Siddiqui¹*, Minahil Aruj Younis², Tasir Fatimah¹, Hadia Khalil¹, Sana Iqbal¹, Mehreen Afzaal¹, Maryam Aslam Khan³

¹Islamic International Dental College, Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan

²Dental Manager, Maryport, United Kingdom

³General Dentist, Banbeath Dental Practice, Leven, Scotland

*Corresponding address: Islamic International Dental College, Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Email: siddiquiminun@yahoo.com

Received: 19 September 2025 / Revised: 23 November 2025 / Accepted: 05 December 2025 / Available Online: 15
December 2025.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63137/jsteam.828213

ABSTRACT

Objective: This cross-sectional study assessed the patient safety culture (PSC) in Pakistani dental hospitals
using an adapted version of the Dental Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture (DOSOPS), aiming to evaluate
variations in professional and gender-based perspectives across four provinces.

Methods: A total of 449 participants, including faculty dentists, advanced graduate students, clinical dental
students, and support staff, from dental hospitals in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan, were
recruited through non-probability purposive sampling. The DOSOPS questionnaire was culturally adapted and
validated for the local context. Internal consistency was confirmed with Cronbach’s α = 0.86. Descriptive and
inferential statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS. Group differences were tested using Mann–Whitney
U, Kruskal–Wallis H, chi-square, and logistic regression analyses.

Results: Of the respondents, 80.2% were female. Female participants reported significantly higher safety
culture scores than males (p = 0.0077). While job role differences in overall PSC scores were not statistically
significant (p = 0.0632), faculty and graduate students tended to report more favorable perceptions compared
to administrative and support staff. Incident reporting behaviors varied significantly by job role (p < 0.01), with
gender-based differences noted in equipment malfunction (p = 0.0253) and medication ordering (p = 0.0036).
Logistic regression identified male gender as a significant predictor of lower safety culture perception (OR =
0.553, p = 0.038).

Conclusion: Pakistani dental hospitals exhibit a generally positive safety culture with strong internal
consistency across measured domains. However, perceptual differences by gender and professional hierarchy
reflect underlying sociocultural dynamics, such as authority gradients and communication norms, that influence
safety behavior. These findings underscore the importance of addressing hierarchical structures and reporting
barriers to improve safety culture in dental care environments.

Keywords: Cross-sectional studies; Dental clinics; Gender identity; Patient safety; Safety management

PDF FILE

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.

How to Cite: Siddiqui M et al., Assessing Patient Safety Culture in Pakistani Dental Hospitals: A Study Using the DOSOPS Questionnaire. J Sci Technol Educ Art Med. 2025;2(2):69-77