[Patient safety indicators for obstetrics: a Delphi based study].
OBJECTIVE
Clinical indicators are increasingly used to assess safety of patient care. In obstetrics, only a few indicators have been validated to date and none is used across specialties. The purpose of this study was to identify and assess for face and content validity a group of safety indicators that could be used by anaesthetists, obstetricians and neonatologists involved in labour and delivery units.


METHODS
We first conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify potential measures. Indicators were then validated by a panel of 30 experts representing all specialties working in labour and delivery units. We used the Delphi method, an iterative questionnaire-based consensus seeking technique. Experts determined on a 7-point Likert scale (1=most representative/7=less representative) the soundness of each indicator as a measure of safety and their possible association with errors and complications caused by medical management.


RESULTS
We identified 44 potential clinical indicators from the literature. Following the Delphi process, 13 indicators were considered as highly representative of safety during obstetrical care (mean score</=2.3). Experts ranked 6 of these indicators as being strongly associated to potential errors and complications.


CONCLUSIONS
We identified and validated for face and content, a group of six clinical indicators to measure potentially preventable iatrogenic complications in labour and delivery units.
Haller
G
G
Département d'anesthésiologie, pharmacologie et soins intensifs, maternité-hôpitaux universitaires de Genève, 1211 Genève 14, Suisse. Guy.Haller@hcuge.ch
Camparini-Righini
N
N
Kern
C
C
Pfister
R E
RE
Morales
M
M
Berner
M
M
Clergue
F
F
Irion
O
O
D000773:Anesthesia, Obstetrical / Q000592:standards; D032921:Consensus; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D009359:Neonatology / Q000592:standards; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000592:standards; D005791:Patient Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires