Abstract

MANSOA, Ana et al. Adverse events in Portuguese hospitals in 2008. Rev. Port. Sau. Pub. [online]. 2011, vol.29, n.2, pp.116-122. ISSN 0870-9025.

The establishment of the World Alliance for Patient Safety by the World Health Organization in 2004, results from the increased concern about patient safety, with the occurrence of errors being recognized as a major public health problem and a threat to quality of health care. Objective, material and methods: Although the Portuguese reality is not yet studied in a systematic way, it is possible to approach the problem through the study of secondary data sources. Thus, based on the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (996-999, E870-E876 and E878-879 subclasses), this research sought to know the extent of adverse events resulting from health care in Portuguese public hospitals, reported on the patient classification system Diagnosis Related Groups, during the year 2008. Results and discussion: Adverse events occurred in 2.5% of the hospital admissions and mainly as secondary diagnosis. 2.6% of the men and 2.4% of the women were harmed by adverse events during inpatient care. The individuals with adverse events were on average five years older than the individuals without adverse events. The length of stay was on average 4.14 times longer in the cases with adverse events when compared with the average length of stay in the remaining episodes. The costs related to adverse events totals about 4.436€ per hospital admission, bearing in mind the cost per hospitalization day within the National Health Service. After hospital discharge, the destination to another institution was 2.5 times more frequent among patients with adverse events, while the number of deaths was 2.44 times higher in this group when compared with the remaining individuals. It was also possible to verify that patients impaired by adverse events went home less frequently than the other patients. Adverse events occurred more in the Centro of Portugal Region (3.0%) and less in the Alentejo Region (1.7%). Conclusion: Adverse events seem to be related with longer length of stay, higher costs and higher mortality rates. Adverse events occurred mainly in older individuals and the difference between sex or region hospital was not substantial. The results of this study urgently requires a better knowledge of the real impact of adverse events in Portugal, namely through the Portuguese morbidity and mortality indicators.

Keywords : Adverse events; Diagnosis Related Groups; Hospital health care; Quality; Safety; Portugal.

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