# Unraveling Patient Safety Culture Trends in U.S. Hospital Settings: A Yearly Retrospective Analysis
## 3 Results  
### Hospital and Respondent Characteristics  
Over multiple years, this study analyzed data from 1601 hospitals, representing various characteristics, such as geographic location, size, type, and survey administration methods. In addition, it examined respondent characteristics, including their work areas, weekly working hours, and levels of experience. The analysis highlights key respondent features, including the predominance of registered nurses, the proportion of staff involved in direct patient care, and the diversity in experience levels. A comprehensive overview of hospital and respondent characteristics is presented in Table 1. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline
**Hospital Characteristics** & **Hospital Frequency (\%)** & **Participant Frequency (\%)** & **Respondent Characteristics** & **Participant Frequency (\%)** \\ \hline Total & 1601 & 993,245 & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Worked in the Current Hospital Work Area/Unit} & (N = 922,422) \\ \hline  & Region & & Less than 1 year & 148,756 (16\%) \\ \hline Northeast & 218 (13\%) & 179,838 (18\%) & 1 to 5 years & 367,235 (40\%) \\ \hline South & 490 (31\%) & 338,743 (34\%) & 6 to 10 years & 173,619 (19\%) \\ \hline Center & 710 (44\%) & 366,108 (37\%) & 11 to 15 years & 102,539 (11\%) \\ \hline West & 183 (12\%) & 108,556 (11\%) & 16 to 20 years & 58,729 (6\%) \\ \hline  & Bed Size & & 21 years or more & 71,544 (8\%) \\ \hline
6–49 & 328 (21\%) & 43,007 (4\%) & Hours per Week & (N = 915,770) \\ \hline
50–99 & 271 (17\%) & 67,951 (7\%) & Less than 20 h per week & 44,462 (5\%) \\ \hline
100–199 & 366 (23\%) & 180,487 (18\%) & 20 to 39 h per week & 372,840 (41\%) \\ \hline
200–299 & 263 (16\%) & 193,429 (20\%) & 40 to 59 h per week & 438,288 (48\%) \\ \hline
300–399 & 145 (9\%) & 139,056 (14\%) & 60 to 79 h per week & 39,022 (4\%) \\ \hline \(\geq\)400 & 228 (14\%) & 369,315 (37\%) & 80 to 99 h per week & 19,076 (2\%) \\ \hline  & Survey Mode & & 100 h per week or more & 2082 (<1\%) \\ \hline Paper & 71 (4\%) & 18,757 (2\%) & Direct Contact with Patients & (N = 942,840) \\ \hline Web & 1310 (82\%) & 844,469 (85\%) & Yes & 731,042 (78\%) \\ \hline Mixed Mode & 220 (14\%) & 130,019 (13\%) & No & 211,798 (22\%) \\ \hline  & Hospital Type & & Staff Position & (N = 934,067) \\ \hline Non-teaching & 1015 (63\%) & 420,819 (42\%) & Registered Nurse & 331,314 (35\%) \\ \hline Teaching & 586 (37\%) & 572,426 (58\%) & Physician Assistant/Nurse Practitioner & 12,254 (1\%) \\ \hline  & Years & LVN/LPN & 8657 (1\%) \\ \hline
2013 & 12 (1\%) & 9094 (1\%) & Patient Care Assistant/Hospital & 59,366 (6\%) \\ \hline
2014 & 312 (20\%) & 201,732 (20\%) & Attending/Staff Physician & 25,926 (3\%) \\ \hline
2015 & 372 (23\%) & 237,135 (24\%) & Resident/Training Physician & 11,210 (1\%) \\ \hline
2016 & 248 (15\%) & 151,557 (15\%) & Pharmacist & 18,152 (2\%) \\ \hline
2017 & 339 (21\%) & 201,918 (20\%) & Dietician & 5568 (1\%) \\ \hline
2018 & 46 (3\%) & 26,166 (3\%) & Unit Assistant/Clerk/Secretary & 45,916 (5\%) \\ \hline
2019 & 243 (15\%) & 140,911 (14\%) & Respiratory Therapist & 19,455 (2\%) \\ \hline
2020 & 29 (2\%) & 24,732 (3\%) & Physical, Occupational, or Speech Therapist & 27,747 (2\%) \\ \hline  & Staff Surveyed & & Technician (e.g., Lab, Radiology) & 102,834 (3\%) \\ \hline All staff/sample of all & 1480 (92\%) & 913,729 (92\%) & Administration/Management & 65,969 (7\%) \\ \hline Selected depts/units & 58 (4\%) & 31,753 (3\%) & Other & 199,699 (21\%) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Hospital and respondent characteristics. Table 1 presents the categorization of hospitals based on their characteristics. Regionally, hospitals are categorized by the AHRQ based on regions defined by the American Hospital Association, including the states within each region [9; 13; 14], reorganized into four main regions: Northeast, South, Central, and West. The Central region had the highest number of participating hospitals (44.3%, 366,108 participants), followed by the South (30.6%, 338,743 participants).