Population estimates (n=9147) of harmful, preventable and severely harmful diagnostic errors for general medicine patients based on weighted sample (n=675)
| Variable | Harmful DE | Harmful DE, preventable | Harmful DE, severe |
| Overall, n (%) (95% CI) | 662 (7.2) (4.66 to 9.80) | 562 (6.1) (3.79 to 8.50) | 102 (1.1) (0.55 to 1.68) |
| Age in years | |||
| <65 | 221 (4.5) (1.67 to 7.39) | 161 (3.3) (1.10 to 5.50) | 22 (0.5) (0.00 to 1.03) |
| >65 | 441 (10.3) (5.93 to 14.72) | 401 (9.4) (5.09 to 13.71) | 79 (1.9) (0.82 to 2.90) |
| Sex | |||
| Female | 363 (6.8) (3.40 to 10.29) | 300 (5.6) (2.60 to 8.69) | 58 (1.1) (0.30 to 1.88) |
| Male | 298 (7.8) (3.92 to 11.62) | 262 (6.8) (3.12 to 10.54) | 44 (1.1) (0.34 to 1.96) |
| Race | |||
| White | 509 (9.0) (5.48 to 12.54) | 483 (8.5) (5.05 to 12.04) | 63 (1.1) (0.36 to 1.88) |
| Non-White | 153 (4.4) (0.84 to 7.90) | 79 (2.3) (0.00 to 4.61) | 39 (1.1) (0.24 to 1.96) |
| Ethnic group | |||
| Hispanic | 6 (0.4) (0.01 to 0.84) | 5 (0.4) (0.00 to 0.76) | 5 (0.4) (0.00 to 0.76) |
| Non-Hispanic | 655 (8.6) (5.52 to 11.64) | 557 (7.3) (4.49 to 10.09) | 39 (1.3) (0.59 to 1.94) |
| Insurance | |||
| Private | 148 (3.8) (1.68 to 5.97) | 116 (3.0) (1.13 to 4.88) | 32 (0.8) (0.06 to 1.59) |
| Public | 509 (9.8) (5.60 to 13.90) | 443 (8.5) (4.66 to 12.34) | 67 (1.3) (0.48 to 2.11) |
| Other | 5 (8.2) (0.00 to 22.85) | 2 (3.8) (0.00 to 12.53) | 2 (3.8) (0.00 to 12.53) |
| Risk cohort | |||
| High-risk* | 413 (8.7) (5.93 to 11.47) | 358 (7.5) (4.94 to 10.12) | 102 (2.1) (1.06 to 3.23) |
| Low-risk† | 248 (5.6) (1.22 to 10.07) | 204 (4.6) (0.63 to 8.66) | – |
*High-risk cases include patients who transferred to the ICU transfer 24 hours or more after admission (including patients who expired after ICU transfer); expired within 90 days of admission (excluding patients who expired after ICU transfer); and had complex clinical events but did not transfer to the ICU or expire.
†Low-risk cases include patients without any of the high-risk criteria.
DE, diagnostic error; ICU, intensive care unit.