National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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Topics
- Adverse Events (4)
- Children/Adolescents (3)
- Critical Care (5)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (5)
- Education: Continuing Medical Education (1)
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) (1)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (1)
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- (-) Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (6)
- (-) Medical Errors (6)
- Newborns/Infants (1)
- Patient Safety (6)
- Quality of Care (1)
AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 6 of 6 Research Studies DisplayedCifra CL, Custer JW, Smith CM
Prevalence and characteristics of diagnostic error in pediatric critical care: a multicenter study.
This study’s objective was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of diagnostic errors and identify factors associated with error in patients admitted to the PICU. This multicenter cohort study used structured medical record review by trained clinicians using the Revised Safer Dx instrument to identify diagnostic error (defined as missed opportunities in diagnosis). The cohort included 882 randomly selected patients 0-18 years old who were nonelectively admitted to participating PICUs. Of these admissions, 13 (1.5%) had a diagnostic error up to 7 days after PICU admission, with infections (46%) and respiratory conditions (23%) being the most missed diagnoses. One diagnostic error caused a prolonged hospital stay. Common missed diagnostic opportunities included failure to consider the diagnosis despite a suggestive history and failure to broaden diagnostic testing, both at 69%. Unadjusted analysis identified more diagnostic errors in patients with atypical presentations (23.1% vs 3.6%), neurologic chief complaints (46.2% vs 18.8%), admitting intensivists greater than or equal to 45 years old (92.3% vs 65.1%), admitting intensivists with more service weeks/year (mean 12.8 vs 10.9 weeks), and diagnostic uncertainty on admission (77% vs 25.1%). Generalized linear mixed models determined that atypical presentation (odds ratio [OR] 4.58) and diagnostic uncertainty on admission (OR 9.67) were significantly associated with diagnostic error.
AHRQ-funded; HS026965.
Citation: Cifra CL, Custer JW, Smith CM .
Prevalence and characteristics of diagnostic error in pediatric critical care: a multicenter study.
Crit Care Med 2023 Nov; 51(11):1492-501. doi: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000005942..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Critical Care, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Medical Errors, Patient Safety
Shafer GJ, Singh H, Thomas EJ
Frequency of diagnostic errors in the neonatal intensive care unit: a retrospective cohort study.
The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and etiology of diagnostic errors during the first 7 days of admission for inborn neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients. The "Safer Dx NICU Instrument" was used to review electronic health records. The reviewers discovered that the frequency of diagnostic error in inborn NICU patients during the first 7 days of admission was 6.2%.
AHRQ-funded; HS027363.
Citation: Shafer GJ, Singh H, Thomas EJ .
Frequency of diagnostic errors in the neonatal intensive care unit: a retrospective cohort study.
J Perinatol 2022 Oct;42(10):1312-18. doi: 10.1038/s41372-022-01359-9..
Keywords: Newborns/Infants, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Critical Care, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Cifra CL, Custer JW, Singh H
Diagnostic errors in pediatric critical care: a systematic review.
This study is a systematic review on the prevalence, impact, and contributing factors related to diagnostic errors in the PICU. A database search was done for literature up through December 2019. Using specific criteria, 396 abstracts were screened, and 17 studies were included. Fifteen of 17 studies had an observational research design. Autopsy studies showed a 10-23% rate of missed major diagnosis with 5-16% of the errors having a potential adverse impact on survival and would have changed care management. Retrospective record review studies reported varying rates of diagnostic error from 8% in a general PICU population to 12% among unexpected critical admissions. About a quarter of those patients were discussed at PICU morbidity and mortality conferences. Most misdiagnosed conditions were cardiovascular, infectious, congenital, or neurologic. System, cognitive, and both system and cognitive factors were associated with diagnostic error but there is limited information on the impact of misdiagnosis.
AHRQ-funded; HS026965.
Citation: Cifra CL, Custer JW, Singh H .
Diagnostic errors in pediatric critical care: a systematic review.
Pediatr Crit Care Med 2021 Aug;22(8):701-12. doi: 10.1097/pcc.0000000000002735..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Critical Care
Cifra CL, Ten Eyck P, Dawson JD
Factors associated with diagnostic error on admission to a PICU: a pilot study.
This pilot retrospective cohort study examined errors in pediatric ICUs (PICUs) for children during the first 12 hours after PICU admission. A structured tool (Safer Dx) was used to identify diagnostic error in an academic tertiary institution. Out of 50 patients, 4 (8%) had diagnostic errors. The errors were in diagnoses of chronic ear infection, intracranial pressure (two cases), and Bartonella encephalitis. This pilot study will be expanded into a larger and more definitive multicenter study.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087.
Citation: Cifra CL, Ten Eyck P, Dawson JD .
Factors associated with diagnostic error on admission to a PICU: a pilot study.
Pediatr Crit Care Med 2020 May;21(5):e311-e15. doi: 10.1097/pcc.0000000000002257..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Critical Care, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Hospitals
Artis KA, Bordley J, Mohan V
Data omission by physician trainees on ICU rounds.
This observational study measured how frequently physician trainees omitted data from prerounding notes ("artifacts") and verbal presentations during daily rounds. The authors concluded that in an academic rounding model reliant on trainees to preview and select data for presentation during ICU rounds, verbal appraisal of patient data was highly incomplete. They assert that additional trainee oversight and education, improved electronic health record tools, and novel academic rounding paradigms are needed to address this potential source of medical error.
AHRQ-funded; HS023793.
Citation: Artis KA, Bordley J, Mohan V .
Data omission by physician trainees on ICU rounds.
Crit Care Med 2019 Mar;47(3):403-09. doi: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000003557..
Keywords: Education: Continuing Medical Education, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Quality of Care
Bergl PA, Nanchal RS, Singh H
Diagnostic error in the critically ill: defining the problem and exploring next steps to advance intensive care unit safety.
Despite progress in ICU safety, diagnostic errors remain largely unexplored and under-studied in critical care. Compared to other safety problems, diagnostic errors are more difficult to identify and, due to the intricacies of the diagnostic process, are more difficult to unravel. This paper discusses diagnostic error in critically ill patients, defines the problem and explores next steps to advance ICU safety.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087.
Citation: Bergl PA, Nanchal RS, Singh H .
Diagnostic error in the critically ill: defining the problem and exploring next steps to advance intensive care unit safety.
Ann Am Thorac Soc 2018 Aug;15(8):903-07. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.201801-068PS..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Critical Care, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Medical Errors, Patient Safety