An experience with the Global Trigger Tool for the study of adverse events in a medical ward

Background: Health care provision is associated with adverse events (AEs) which harm hospitalized patients. Objectives: To study AEs in a medical ward. Methodology: A quantitative, descriptive, observational and retrospective study was conducted from 1 September 2014 to 31 December 2014 in a medical ward of the Algarve Hospital Center. The instrument used to identify the AEs was the Global Trigger Tool (GTT). All the patients who were discharged between 1 January 2014 and 30 September 2014 were listed. Results: The interrater agreement concerning the AE classification, using the Kappa value, proved to be perfect. A total of 278 triggers were identified, of which 124 resulted in AEs: 44.6% of AEs occurred during the hospitalization, and 9.4% of the patients presented AEs at the moment of admission. We found a total of 62.63 AEs per 1,000 patient days, 137.8 AE per 100 admissions, and one AE in 31.1% of the cases during hospitalization. Conclusion: The GGT proved to be a useful tool to analyze AEs in hospital settings.