Preventable trauma deaths.
OBJECTIVE
To describe methods of estimation and assess preventable deaths and types of errors related to health care.


METHODS
A systematic review of articles on preventable trauma deaths published between 2000 and 2009 was conducted. Lilacs, SciELO and Medline databases were searched using the keywords "trauma," "avoidable," "preventable," "interventions" and "complications" and the health sciences descriptors "death," "cause of death," and "hospitals."


RESULTS
A total of 29 articles published during the study period were selected. Most were retrospective studies (96.5%). The most common methods used to define avoidability of death were expert panel and injury severity scores. Deaths were categorized as follows: preventable; potentially preventable; and not preventable. The mean preventable death rate was 10.7% (SD 11.5%). The most commonly reported errors were inadequate care management of injured patients and evaluation and treatment errors.


CONCLUSIONS
Inconsistent terms were used to categorize deaths and related noncompliances. It is suggested to standardize the terminology for the classification of deaths and types of errors.
Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil. settervall@usp.br
Cristina Helena Costanti
CH
Settervall
Cristiane de Alencar
Cde A
Domingues
Regina Marcia Cardoso de
RM
Sousa
Lilia de Souza
Lde S
Nogueira
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002423:Cause of Death; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control*