[Classifications and definitions of adverse events in primary care: a systematic review]

In an aim to standardize the terminology used in patient safety research, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of internationally acceptable patient safety concepts for the collection and classification of adverse events and near misses in health care settings worldwide.

The principal aims of this study were to clarify patient safety terminology and concepts, to suggest a comprehensible definition of medical error, and to propose patient safety classifications for use in primary health care.

Systematic review and synthesis of the international medical literature.

In order to define "medical error" as a health care term and to identify various published or unpublished classifications of medical errors, we searched the Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Pascal, and French Data Bank of Public Health bibliographical medical databases for the years 2000 through 2011. A grey literature search was carried out using the Google and Google Scholar search engines. We used the recommendations of WHO to analyze these classifications. The principal key words used were: primary care, family practice, patient safety event, adverse event and taxonomy.

The online search identified 191 documents; among these, 51 articles, eight reports and two books were deemed appropriate. Twelve classifications were analyzed and compared using WHO recommendations. Eight definitions of medical error were identified during this analysis.

The WHO Alliance for Patient Safety has clarified the definition of several terms - medical error, adverse event, patient safety event, and near miss - through the development of the International Patient Safety Event Classification. This conceptual framework and classification for patient safety should be applicable across the full spectrum of health care, including primary health care.