title: Retrospective medical record evaluation: reliability in assessing causation, preventability, and disability of adverse events.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this article is to assess the reliability of an in-depth analysis on causation, preventability, and disability by two separate review teams on five selected adverse events in acute hospitals: pressure ulcer, postoperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, postoperative sepsis, ventilator-associated pneumonia and postoperative wound infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  The analysis uses a retrospective medical record review of 1,515 patient records by two independent teams in eight acute Belgian hospitals for the year 2005. The Mann-Whitney U-test is used to identify significant differences between the two review teams regarding occurrence of adverse events as well as regarding the degree of causation, preventability, and disability of found adverse events.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Team 1 stated a high probability for health care management causation in 95.5 per cent of adverse events in contrast to 38.9 per cent by Team 2. Likewise, high preventability was considered in 83.1 per cent of cases by Team 1 versus 51.7 per cent by Team 2. Significant differences in degree of disability between the two teams were also found for pressure ulcers, postoperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis and postoperative wound infection, but not for postoperative sepsis and ventilator-associated pneumonia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  New insight on the degree of and reasons for the huge differences in adverse event evaluation is provided.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Services and Nursing Research, Leuven, Belgium. sandra.verelst@med.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verelst
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacques
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van den Heede
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gillet
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kolh
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vleugels
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sermeus
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D015984:Causality; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008499:Medical Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control