Moving towards a core measures set for patient safety in perioperative care: An e-Delphi consensus study

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Research
• Patient Safety
• Surgical Care

Background:

• Standardized measures are crucial for consistent research and reporting in clinical areas.
• The SAFEST project aims to improve surgical care quality and patient safety through standardization.
• Developing a Core Measures Set (CMS) for patient safety is essential for evidence-based perioperative care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a consensus-based Core Measures Set for patient safety in surgical care.
• To identify and prioritize measures for importance and feasibility within the SAFEST project.
• To establish a precedent for patient-centered, action-oriented perioperative safety research.

Main Methods:

• An umbrella review identified an initial list of potential patient safety measures.
• A two-round, web-based e-Delphi consensus method was employed with expert participants.
• Measures were assessed for both importance and feasibility to reach consensus.

Main Results:

• A final list of 13 preoperative, 24 intraoperative, 25 postoperative, and 23 mixed period measures met consensus criteria.
• Importance ratings were consistently higher than feasibility ratings across all measure categories.
• Significant differences were observed in pain-related measure assessments between patients and healthcare professionals.

Conclusions:

• The developed Core Measures Set provides a standardized framework for patient safety research in perioperative care.
• The findings highlight the need to consider both importance and feasibility when developing clinical measures.
• Discrepancies in pain perception between patients and healthcare professionals warrant further investigation in patient safety research.