Revisión sistemática de la literatura acerca de la seguridad de los pacientes hospitalizados en servicios médicos / Systematic literature review on patient safety in medical departments

La seguridad del paciente es un tema de alto interés. En todos los escenarios de la atención sanitaria existe riesgo de eventos adversos (EA) y la determinación de su incidencia se ha descrito prácticamente en todas las especialidades médicas. Objetivo. Conocer la incidencia reportada en la literatura médica de eventos adversos en servicios médicos. Diseño y metodología. Búsqueda exhaustiva en bases de datos biomédicas con diversas estrategias, en revista de impacto y en artículos relacionados. Resultados. Se revisaron 17.437 entradas. Después de la lectura de resúmenes y artículos, y de aplicar criterios de inclusión y exclusión previamente definidos, se seleccionaron 10 artículos que registraban la incidencia de eventos adversos en servicios médicos. La mayoría de los estudios correspondió a cohortes históricas, con identificación de EA por cribado y análisis de registro clínico por revisión estructurada. Ninguno de ellos tenía como objetivo final notificar la incidencia de eventos adversos o caracterizarlos. La incidencia reportada en servicios médicos fue de 3,6% hasta 21,7%. Las definiciones de eventos adversos y las formas de detección fueron similares pero las pocas diferencias encontradas pusieron en riesgo la comparabilidad. Conclusión. No hay estudios dirigidos a la cuantificación de los eventos adversos en servicios médicos ni a su caracterización. Ninguno define lo que es un servicio médico, aunque los resultados que notifican están dentro de los valores publicados para los sistemas sanitarios. Es necesaria una mayor investigación en este área(AU)

Patient safety is an issue of interest. All scenarios of health care have a risk of adverse events (AE) and determination of its incidence has been reported in virtually all medical specialties. Objective. To determine the incidence reported in the medical literature of adverse events in medical departments. Design and methods. An exhaustive search of biomedical databases using different strategies, search in high impact journals and a manual search of related articles. Results. We reviewed 17,437 entries. After reading the abstracts and articles, and applying previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 10 articles that reported the incidence of adverse events in medical departments. Most studies corresponded to a historical cohort, had used an AE screening to identify high risk patients, and had used a structured review to check clinical records. None of them had as their ultimate objective to report on the impact of adverse events or characterize them. The incidence reported in medical departments ranged from 3.6% to 21.7%. The definitions of adverse events and forms of detection were similar; however the few differences put the comparability at risk. Conclusion. No studies were aimed at quantifying or characterising the adverse events in health care. None of them defined what constitutes a medical department, although the results reported are within the published values for health systems. Further research is needed in this area(AU)

[Systematic literature review on patient safety in medical departments]. / Revisión sistemática de la literatura acerca de la seguridad de los pacientes hospitalizados en servicios médicos.

UNLABELLED: Patient safety is an issue of interest. All scenarios of health care have a risk of adverse events (AE) and determination of its incidence has been reported in virtually all medical specialties. OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence reported in the medical literature of adverse events in medical departments. DESIGN AND METHODS: An exhaustive search of biomedical databases using different strategies, search in high impact journals and a manual search of related articles. RESULTS: We reviewed 17,437 entries. After reading the abstracts and articles, and applying previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 10 articles that reported the incidence of adverse events in medical departments. Most studies corresponded to a historical cohort, had used an AE screening to identify high risk patients, and had used a structured review to check clinical records. None of them had as their ultimate objective to report on the impact of adverse events or characterize them. The incidence reported in medical departments ranged from 3.6% to 21.7%. The definitions of adverse events and forms of detection were similar; however the few differences put the comparability at risk. CONCLUSION: No studies were aimed at quantifying or characterising the adverse events in health care. None of them defined what constitutes a medical department, although the results reported are within the published values for health systems. Further research is needed in this area.