Timing of adverse events in hospital patients

Alan Forster and colleagues follow up their recently released research on the rate of adverse events in an urban, multi-campus teaching hospital with new data on the timing of such events. The authors wondered if some of the adverse events being seen in hospitalized patients might have resulted interventions received before hospitalization.

In a randomly selected sample of 502 adults admitted to hospital they found that adverse events occurred in 64 cases (12.7%). Of the 64 patients, almost two-thirds experienced the adverse event before being admitted to hospital. Of the adverse events 24 (36%) were preventable and most were due to drug treatment, operative complications or nosocomial infections. The authors conclude that interventions to improve patient safety must address ambulatory care as well as hospital-based care.

p. 1235 Ottawa Hospital Patient Safety Study: incidence and timing of adverse events in patients admitted to a Canadian teaching hospital
-- A.J. Forster et al

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