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Factors Associated With Likelihood of Experiencing a Pediatric Safety Event in the Inpatient Setting
Senayit Demie1, Jennifer Lee2, Katharine Cunnane3
1Departments of Pediatrics, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
Journal of Patient Safety
|August 12, 2026
Summary
Hospitalized children with public insurance face higher risks of safety events. Race/ethnicity and preferred language did not significantly impact safety event occurrence in this pediatric study.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare quality and patient safety.
- Health equity and disparities in medical care.
- Hospital-acquired conditions and adverse events.
Background:
- Adult studies indicate marginalized populations experience higher hospital harm.
- Understanding disparities in pediatric patient safety is crucial.
- Previous research highlighted race/ethnicity and language as risk factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between patient demographics and safety events in hospitalized children.
- To examine if race/ethnicity, preferred language, or insurance type correlate with adverse events in pediatric care.
- To identify specific demographic factors contributing to safety events in pediatric hospitalizations.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective observational study of safety event reports from two tertiary children's hospitals (2020-2022).
- Inclusion of pediatric patients (≤18 years) across neonatal intensive care, pediatric intensive care, and inpatient units.
- Multivariable logistic regression analysis after matching patients by age, sex, and unit to assess demographic effects on safety events.
Main Results:
- Of 4112 unique pediatric patients, 9% experienced a reported safety event, with medication errors constituting 76%.
- No statistically significant differences in safety event likelihood were found based on race/ethnicity or primary language.
- Patients with public insurance had significantly higher odds (OR=1.51) of experiencing a safety event compared to those with private insurance.
Conclusions:
- Public insurance status is a significant predictor of safety events in hospitalized pediatric patients.
- Unlike adult studies, race/ethnicity and preferred language were not associated with safety events in this pediatric cohort.
- Further research is needed to understand the structural factors driving health inequities related to insurance status in pediatric care.
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