Identifying patient and practice characteristics associated with patient-reported experiences of safety problems and harm: a cross-sectional study using a multilevel modelling approach

Ricci Cabello, Ignacio; Reeves, David; Bell, Brian G.; Valderas, Jose M.

Abstract

Objective: To identify patient and family practice characteristics associated with patient-reported experiences of safety problems and harm.
Design: Cross-sectional study combining data from the individual postal administration of the validated Patient Reported Experiences and Outcomes of Safety in Primary Care (PREOS-PC) questionnaire to a random sample of patients in family practices (response rate =18.4%) and practice level data for those practices obtained from NHS Digital. We built linear multilevel multivariate regression models to model the association between patient (clinical and sociodemographic) and practice level (size and case-mix, human resources, indicators of quality and safety of care, and practice safety activation) characteristics, and outcome measures.
Setting: General practices distributed across five regions in the North, Centre and South of England.
Participants: 1,190 patients registered in 45 practices purposefully sampled (maximal variation in practice size and levels of deprivation).
Main outcome measures: Self-reported safety problems, harm, and overall perception of safety.
Results: Higher self-reported levels of safety problems were associated with younger age of patients (beta coefficient 0.15) and lower levels of practice safety activation (0.44). Higher self-reported levels of harm were associated with younger age (0.13) and worse self-reported health status (0.23). Lower self-reported healthcare safety was associated with lower levels of practice safety activation (0.40). The fully adjusted models explained 4.5% of the variance in experiences of safety problems, 8.6% of the variance in harm, and 4.4% of the variance in perceptions of patient safety.
Conclusions: Practices’ safety activation levels and patients’ age and health status are associated with patient-reported safety outcomes in English family practices. The development of interventions aimed at improving patient safety outcomes would benefit from focusing on the identified groups.

Citation

Ricci Cabello, I., Reeves, D., Bell, B. G., & Valderas, J. M. (2017). Identifying patient and practice characteristics associated with patient-reported experiences of safety problems and harm: a cross-sectional study using a multilevel modelling approach. BMJ Quality and Safety, 26(11), 899-907. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2016-006411

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 12, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Aug 7, 2017
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Aug 4, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 7, 2017
• Journal: BMJ Quality & Safety
• Print ISSN: 2044-5415
• Electronic ISSN: 2044-5423
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 899-907
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2016-006411
• Keywords: Patient safety; Patient-reported; Primary Care
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/965745
• Publisher URL: http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/26/11/899
• Additional Information: Ricci-Cabello I, Reeves D, Bell B, et al. BMJ Qual Saf Nov 2017;26:899-97 doi:10.1136/; bmjqs-2016-006411. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.