Background.
The ongoing debate on the incidence and types of iatrogenic injuries in American hospitals has been informed primarily by the Harvard Medical Practice Study, which analyzed hospitalizations in New York in 1984. The generalizability of these findings is unknown and has been questioned by other studies.
Objective.
We used methods similar to the Harvard Medical Practice Study to estimate the incidence and types of
adverse events and negligent
adverse events in Utah and Colorado in 1992.
Design and Subjects.
We selected a representative sample of hospitals from Utah and Colorado and then randomly sampled 15,000 nonpsychiatric 1992 discharges. Each record was screened by a trained nurse-reviewer for 1 of 18 criteria associated with
adverse events. If ≥1 criteria were present, the record was reviewed by a trained physician to determine whether an adverse event or negligent adverse event occurred and to classify the type of adverse event.
Measures.
The measures were
adverse events and negligent
adverse events.
Results.
Adverse events occurred in 2.9±0.2% (mean±SD) of hospitalizations in each state. In Utah, 32.6±4% of
adverse events were due to negligence; in Colorado, 27.4±2.4%. Death occurred in 6.6±1.2% of
adverse events and 8.8±2.5% of negligent
adverse events. Operative
adverse events comprised 44.9% of all
adverse events; 16.9% were negligent, and 16.6% resulted in permanent disability. Adverse drug events were the leading cause of nonoperative
adverse events (19.3% of all
adverse events; 35.1% were negligent, and 9.7% caused permanent disability). Most
adverse events were attributed to surgeons (46.1%, 22.3% negligent) and internists (23.2%, 44.9% negligent).
Conclusions.
The incidence and types of
adverse events in Utah and Colorado in 1992 were similar to those in New York State in 1984. Iatrogenic injury continues to be a significant public health problem. Improving systems of surgical care and drug delivery could substantially reduce the burden of iatrogenic injury.
