Medical errors in Iranian hospitals: systematic review

Medical errors are those errors or mistakes committed by healthcare professionals due to errors of omission, errors in planning, and errors of execution of a planned healthcare action whether or not it is harmful to the patient. Medical error in hospitals increases morbidity and mortality and decreases patient satisfaction and hospital productivity. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of medical errors in Iranian hospitals.

This study was conducted using systematic review and meta-analysis approaches. All articles written in English and Persian on the prevalence of medical errors in Iranian hospitals up to March 2019 were searched in Web of Science, PubMed, Elsevier, Scopus, Magiran, IranMedex and Scientific Information Database (SID) databases, and Google and Google Scholar search engines. In addition, reference lists of the retrieved papers were hand-searched. A total of 9 studies matching the inclusion criteria were identified, reviewed, and analyzed using comprehensive meta-analysis software.

The prevalence of medical errors was reported in 9 studies and prevalence rate ranged from 0.06% to 42%. Most studies used reporting forms completed by hospital employees for determining the prevalence of medical errors (67%). Only three studies collected data by reviewing patients’ medical records. Accordingly, the overall prevalence of medical error in Iran's hospitals based on the nine published articles was 0.01% (95% Cl 0%-0.01%) during 2008 to 2017. The highest medical error was recorded in a hospital in Shiraz, 2.1% (95% Cl: 1.4%-2.7%) in 2012. A significant statistical correlation was observed between medical errors and sample size (P<0.05).

The prevalence rate of medical error in Iran is low. It is strongly recommended to use more advanced and valid methods such as occurrence reporting, screening, and the global trigger tool for examining medical errors in Iranian hospitals. Proving adequate education and training to patients and employees, simplifying and standardizing hospital processes, enhancing hospital information systems, improving communication, promoting a safety culture, improving employees’ welfare and satisfaction, and implementing quality management strategies are useful for reducing medical errors.