Impact of patient communication problems on the risk of preventable adverse events in acute care settings.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Up to 50% of adverse events that occur in hospitals are preventable. Language barriers and disabilities that affect communication have been shown to decrease quality of care. We sought to assess whether communication problems are associated with an increased risk of preventable adverse events.

Methods

We randomly selected 20 general hospitals in the province of Quebec with at least 1500 annual admissions. Of the 145,672 admissions to the selected hospitals in 2000/01, we randomly selected and reviewed 2355 charts of patients aged 18 years or older. Reviewers abstracted patient characteristics, including communication problems, and details of hospital admission, and assessed the cause and preventability of identified adverse events. The primary outcome was adverse

SUBMITTER: Bartlett G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2396356 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature