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First major French study on serious adverse events related to healthcare

Every year in France 70,000 to 110,000 hospitalisations, as well as 120,000 to 190,000 serious adverse events in hospitalised patients, appear to be preventable.

The ENEIS study of serious adverse events related to healthcare, the first large-scale French study of its kind, involved 71 private and public hospitals and 8,700 patients. In total, 450 serious adverse events were identified: on the one hand, 195 adverse events prior to hospitalisation and justifying admission, of which 46.2% were deemed preventable; on the other hand, 255 serious adverse events during a hospital stay, of which 35.4% were deemed preventable. Notably, the adverse events recorded included those resulting from surgery or drug treatments, and infections linked to care.

The originality of this study is that it analyses the latent causes, i.e. the factors that contribute to the occurrence of serious adverse events. It highlights the essential role of organisation and communication.

The ENEIS study reveals the huge number of admissions (between 70,000 and 110,000) and serious adverse events in hospitalised patients (between 120,000 and 190,000) that could probably be prevented each year in France.

©Prescrire December 2005

Source: "L’étude épidémiologique française Eneis approche la part de l’évitable à l’hôpital et en soins amubulatoires" Rev Prescrire 2005 ; 25 (267) : 896-906 (suppl.).

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