Surgical diagnostic error cases by clinical setting, physician and patient
| Characteristic | No. (%) of cases* n = 387 |
|---|---|
| Clinical setting† | |
| Inpatient | 237 (61.2) |
| Outpatient | 121 (31.3) |
| Other | 44 (11.4) |
| Physician‡ | |
| Specialty | |
| General surgery | 151 (39.0) |
| Gynecology | 71 (18.3) |
| Orthopedic surgery | 48 (12.4) |
| Urology | 39 (10.1) |
| Plastic surgery | 28 (7.2) |
| Other | 69 (17.8) |
| Time since graduation, yr, median (IQR) | 24 (15–35) |
| Age, yr, median (IQR) | 49 (41–60) |
| Patient | |
| Age, yr, median (IQR) | 52 (40–65) |
| Patient-reported gender§ | |
| Woman | 239 (61.8) |
| Man | 147 (38.0) |
| ASA physical status | |
| ASA I | 89 (23.0) |
| ASA II | 135 (34.9) |
| ASA III | 56 (14.5) |
| ASA IV or V | 11 (2.9) |
| NA or not assignable | 96 (24.8) |
ASA = American Society of Anesthesiologists, IQR = interquartile range, NA = not applicable.
↵* Unless indicated otherwise.
↵† Some cases had more than 1 setting; therefore, the sum of frequencies does not equal 100%. Other settings included surgical day care units and emergency departments.
↵‡ Some cases involved more than 1 physician; therefore, the number of physicians is greater than the number of cases. Other surgical specialties included neurosurgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, cardiac and thoracic surgery, and vascular surgery.
↵§ Missing gender data for 1 case.