title: Patient reports of undesirable events during hospitalization.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thus far, incident reporting in health care has relied on health professionals. However, patients too may be able to signal the occurrence of undesirable events.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the frequency of undesirable events reported by recently discharged patients, and to identify correlates of undesirable events.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mailed patient survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Swiss public teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adult patients (N=1,518) discharged from hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-reports of 27 undesirable events during hospitalization, including 9 medical complications, 9 interpersonal problems, and 9 incidents related to the health care process.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most survey respondents (1,433, 94.4%) completed the section about undesirable events, and 725 (50.6%) reported at least 1 event. The most frequent events were phlebitis (11.0%), unavailable medical record (9.5%), failure to respect confidentiality (8.4%), and hospital-acquired infection (8.2%). The odds of an unfavorable rating increased with each additional interpersonal problem (odds ratio [OR] 1.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3 to 1.8), each additional process-related problem (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3 to 1.9), but not with each additional medical complication (OR 1.0, 95% CI 0.9 to 1.2). Longer duration of stay, poor health, and depressed mood were all related to a greater reported frequency of undesirable events.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients are able to report undesirable events that occur during hospital care. Such events occur in about a half of the hospitalizations, and have a negative impact on satisfaction with care.
authors.affiliation: Quality of Care Service, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Agoritsas
authors.forename: Patrick A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Bovier
authors.forename: Thomas V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Perneger
mesh_terms: D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012308:Risk Management