A new study from the U.S., published in BMJ Quality & Safety, reveals that harmful diagnostic errors could affect 1 in every 14 patients (around 7%) receiving general medical care in hospitals.
Researchers found that most of these errors (85%) were preventable, highlighting the urgent need for better methods to identify and prevent them before they cause harm.
Diagnostic errors happen when a medical condition is not identified correctly or in time.
These mistakes can lead to serious consequences, including the wrong treatment or delays in the correct treatment.
The study focused on errors that caused harm to patients and explored how they could be prevented.
The research team developed a new way to review patient records and look for signs of diagnostic errors.
They used this method to examine the medical records of 675 randomly selected hospital patients out of more than 9,000 who received general medical care between July 2019 and September 2021.
Patients who were admitted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic were not included.
The researchers categorized patients into high-risk and low-risk groups based on factors such as whether they were transferred to intensive care, died within 90 days of admission, or had complex medical issues.
Complex issues included clinical deterioration, unclear test results, and treatment by multiple medical teams.
Out of the 675 cases reviewed, diagnostic errors were found in 160 cases. Harmful errors, those that caused damage to patients, were identified in 84 cases. These errors occurred most often in patients who needed intensive care transfers or died within 90 days of admission.
The severity of harm caused by these diagnostic mistakes ranged from minor (6%) to moderate (43%), major (30%), and even fatal (21.5%). Importantly, the researchers estimated that 85% of these harmful errors could have been avoided with better processes in place.
The study found that certain groups of patients, including older, non-privately insured, white, and high-risk patients, were more likely to experience these errors.
The most common conditions involved in diagnostic mistakes included heart failure, acute kidney failure, sepsis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, and abdominal pain.
Researchers also identified specific causes of diagnostic errors. These included uncertainty in initial assessments, problems with diagnostic testing, miscommunication between medical teams, and patients’ concerns being overlooked. Delays in diagnosis were also common.
While this study was conducted at a single medical center and based on estimates, the researchers emphasize that it points to a widespread problem.
They suggest that using tools like artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor patient care could help reduce the number of diagnostic errors and improve patient safety.
The researchers conclude that new approaches are urgently needed to prevent these mistakes from continuing to harm patients.
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Source: British Medical Journal.
