[Adverse events and associated factors in patients who died in a university hospital]

This study aims to associate adverse events related to health care with another indicator of quality of care such as hospital mortality, and determining the proportion of adverse events (AEs) and associated factors in deceased patients.

First a descriptive study of hospital-based mortality was performed, followed by a case-control study in deceased patients. We studied the presence of AEs, the probability which they could be predicted and prevented, and their association with several factors.

The proportion of AEs found was 19.8% (82/414), and the proportion of deceased patients who suffered an AE was 15.5% (64/414). The AE ratio per person was 1.28. The most common AE was nosocomial infection, and 48.8% of all AEs were preventable. No difference was found with the presence of an AE by age or sex. Factors associated with the presence of AEs were surgery, length of stay and hospital unit to which patients were admitted.

The proportion of AEs found between patients who died, the percentage of preventable AEs, the most common AE (nosocomial infection) and the association of their presence with stay and the surgery should make us focus on the development of measures to reduce hospital stay and the dissemination of information on prevention and control of nosocomial infection.