title: Dutch case-control study of anaesthesia-related morbidity and mortality. Rationale and methods.
abstract: To date, anaesthesia-related mortality, morbidity and risk factors have almost exclusively been studied qualitatively rather than quantitatively. Therefore, knowledge of the relative risk associated with many anaesthesia-related factors is still lacking. Recently, a quantitative study of the determinants and prevention of morbidity and mortality in anaesthesia was started in the Netherlands. Its objective is to study severe peri-operative morbidity and mortality as a function of anaesthesia-related risk factors. The study is designed as a case-control study within a prospectively defined cohort. The cohort comprises all patients undergoing an anaesthetic procedure, either general, regional or a combination, in one of 61 hospitals between 1 January 1995 and 1 January 1997. A 'case' is a patient who dies within 24 h of undergoing an anaesthetic procedure or who remains comatose 24 h after an anaesthetic procedure. A 'control' patient is a randomly chosen patient who has undergone anaesthesia and is matched for gender and age. The present report discusses the study protocol.
authors.affiliation: Julius Centre for Patient Oriented Research, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Arbous
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Grobbee
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: van Kleef
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Meursing
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003128:Coma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires