Factores asociados a eventos adversos en pacientes hospitalizados en una entidad de salud en Colombia

Introduction: adverse events, understood as "unintentional complications or injuries caused by the treatment of a particular disease that result in incapacity, death or prolonged intrahospital stay and that are not a consequence of the disease or the patient's underlying status" occur frequently in hospitals. It has been shown that 50 % of the cases of adverse events can be avoided, also increase the health system's financial.costs and produce incapacity and death in some patients. This study might be the basis for the improvement of the quality of care in Colombia Objective: To determine if some risk factors, such as type of treatment, gender, age and intrahospital stay, are related with the presence of intrahospital adverse events in some health institutions ascribed to a health insurance company in Antioquia and Eje Cafetero (Manizales, Risaralda and Quindio) during the second semester of 2008. Methods:a case-control study was performed in intrahospital patients with and without adverse effects during a six months (from July 1st to December 31st, 2008). A Chi square test and a multivariate logistic model were used. Results: Of 21,219 patients were seen in clinics and hospitals from Antioquia and Eje Cafetero. 6,8 % of these patients presented with adverse effects. It was observed that an age over 45 years, surgical treatment, a stay in the SCU or the ICU, and a stay equal to or over five days were risk factors associated intrahospital adverse events. Conclusion: the presence of adverse events is a common situation in hospitals from Antioquia and Eje Cafetero