A recent two-fold increase in medical adverse event deaths among US inpatients

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality and Safety
• Public Health Surveillance
• Medical Statistics

Background:

• Inpatients face heightened risks of medical adverse events (MAEs).
• Understanding trends in MAE-related mortality is crucial for patient safety.
• Previous analyses have not fully captured recent shifts in MAE death patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify temporal trends in deaths attributed to MAEs among US inpatients.
• To quantify the proportional increase in MAE deaths relative to total mortality.
• To investigate the primary drivers of observed changes in MAE mortality.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of nationwide US cause-of-death data from 1999 to 2019.
• Proportional examination of MAE deaths against total inpatient deaths to control for secular mortality trends.
• Application of joinpoint regression modeling to identify significant changes in trends.

Main Results:

• A total of 18,126,135 inpatient deaths were analyzed; MAEs were the underlying cause in 43,899 (0.24%).
• A significant increase in MAE deaths was observed from the mid-2010s.
• From 2014 to 2019, MAE deaths increased by up to 15.6% annually, primarily driven by procedure-related events.

Conclusions:

• Inpatient deaths due to MAEs, especially procedure-related ones, have significantly increased since the mid-2010s.
• The current data indicate a concerning trend requiring further investigation.
• Additional research is necessary to elucidate the specific factors contributing to this rise in MAE mortality.