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Adverse events in hospitalized children preventable

Nearly 70,000 children hospitalized in the United States each year experience an adverse event, and at least 60% of these errors may be preventable, according to a March 1, 2005, news release from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago. Researchers used data from the Colorado and Utah Medical Practice Study, the same data used by the Institute of Medicine to determine the frequency of medical errors in the United States, to analyze the incidence and types of adverse events occurring in hospitalized children.

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The researchers compared data from the records of more than 3,700 hospital patients who were newborn to 20 years old with information from adult patients aged 21 to 65 years old. Results showed that one of every 100 patients experienced an adverse event (ie, an injury caused by medical management that resulted in prolonged hospitalization or disability at discharge). Preventable adverse event rates were

* 0.5% in newborn children and infants,

* 0.22% in children aged one to 12 years,

* 0.95% in adolescents aged 13 to 20 years, and

* 1.5% in adults.

The most common preventable adverse events were birth related (ie, more than 32%) and diagnosis related (ie, more than 30%). Surgery-related preventable adverse events occurred 3.5% of the time.

Most Adverse Events in Hospitalized Children Are Preventable (news release, Chicago: Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, March 1, 2005) http://www.medschool.northwestern.edu/newsworthy /2005J-March/adverse_events.html (accessed 23 March 2005).

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Adverse events in hospitalized children preventable

AORN Journal, July, 2005

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