Injury Research Center

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RESEARCH PROJECT PROFILE

II) Risk Factors for Medical Injury

Title: Risk Factors for Medical Injury Project
Project Director: Peter M. Layde, MD, MSc
Project Co-directors: Prakesh Laud, PhD and Karen Brasel, MD, MPH
Institutions: Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital and the Health Policy Institute
Categorization I: Prevention and Acute Care
Categorization II: Major Project
Categorization III: New
Cost / Year: $100,000 / year
Duration: Five Years
Key Words: Injury, medical injury, adverse events, patient safety, iatrogenic injuries, therapeutic misadventures, risk factors, medical error, injury prevention, and injury control
Abstract:
Long term Objectives and Specific Aims:
Concerns about patient safety are receiving unprecedented attention in the health policy arena and the lay press. A number of approaches (legal, epidemiologic/health services research, and managerial) have been used to address patient safety and medical injury. We believe that injury control science provides a coherent and systematic philosophical framework as well as valuable methodologic tools for researching and preventing medical injuries. Indeed, in light of the expansive scope of injury control, injuries arising from diagnostic or therapeutic healthcare interventions are a glaring omission from traditional injury control activity. To further the application of injury control science to medical injury and patient safety, we propose to conduct a case control study to identify risk factors for medical injury in hospitalized patients. This work is particularly important because it is the first comprehensive application of the Injury Control Model to the analytic study of medical injuries. The work we propose will lay the foundation for future work in this area by refining and evaluating epidemiologic methods for medical injuries. It will lay the groundwork for more in-depth studies and, ultimately, interventions to prevent medical injuries.

Research Design and Methods:
The primary aim of this project is to quantify the association of specific hypothesized risk factors with the occurrence of medical injury: demographic characteristics (age, sex, insurance status); severity of underlying illness or injury; co-morbidities; number and nature of healthcare interventions; and specific diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. A secondary aim is to refine, demonstrate, and evaluate methods for conducting hospital-based analytic research of medical injury, including case definitions an control selection criteria, severity of illness assessment and classification of medical interventions.

 

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