Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29973258›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2018

The occurrence, types, consequences and preventability of in-hospital adverse events - a scoping review.

René Schwendimann, Catherine Blatter, Suzanne Dhaini, Michael Simon, Dietmar Ausserhofer

Abstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 175 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
175citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

175 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Predictive values of trigger tools for identifying adverse events in hospitalized patients using a medical record review: a systematic review.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2025
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115 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

René SchwendimannUniversity Hospital Basel, Patient Safety Office, Spitalstr. 22, 4031, Basel, Switzerland. rene.schwendimann@usb.ch.
Catherine BlatterDepartment Public Health Institute of Nursing Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Suzanne DhainiDepartment Public Health Institute of Nursing Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Michael SimonDepartment Public Health Institute of Nursing Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Dietmar AusserhoferDepartment Public Health Institute of Nursing Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAdverse events (AEs) seriously affect patient safety and quality of care, and remain a pressing global issue. This study had three objectives: (1) to describe the proportions of patients affected by in-hospital AEs; (2) to explore the types and consequences of observed AEs; and (3) to estimate the preventability of in-hospital AEs.

methodsWe applied a scoping review method and concluded a comprehensive literature search in PubMed and CINAHL in May 2017 and in February 2018. Our target was retrospective medical record review studies applying the Harvard method-or similar methods using screening criteria-conducted in acute care hospital settings on adult patients (≥18 years).

resultsWe included a total of 25 studies conducted in 27 countries across six continents. Overall, a median of 10% patients were affected by at least one AE (range: 2.9-21.9%), with a median of 7.3% (range: 0.6-30%) of AEs being fatal. Between 34.3 and 83% of AEs were considered preventable (median: 51.2%). The three most common types of AEs reported in the included studies were operative/surgical related, medication or drug/fluid related, and healthcare-associated infections.

conclusionsEvidence regarding the occurrence of AEs confirms earlier estimates that a tenth of inpatient stays include adverse events, half of which are preventable. However, the incidence of in-hospital AEs varied considerably across studies, indicating methodological and contextual variations regarding this type of retrospective chart review across health care systems. For the future, automated methods for identifying AE using electronic health records have the potential to overcome various methodological issues and biases related to retrospective medical record review studies and to provide accurate data on their occurrence.

Indexed as

Cross InfectionData AccuracyData CollectionElectronic Health RecordsHospitalizationHospitalsHumansIncidenceMedical ErrorsPatient SafetyRetrospective StudiesAdverse eventsHospitalsMedical errorPatient safetyScoping review

Identifiers

PMID29973258
PMCPMC6032777

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.