ABSTRACT
Background@#This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between clinical experience and death certificate (DC) errors by analyzing DCs written by experienced emergency physicians (EPs). @*Methods@#DCs issued by four experienced EPs over a 10-year period were retrospectively reviewed. DC errors were divided into major and minor errors based on whether they affected the cause of death (COD) determination. The errors were judged through first and second evaluations. Basic information regarding DCs and 10-year changes in DC errors were analyzed. @*Results@#A total of 505 DCs were analyzed, with an average of 34 to 70 for each study year.The number of CODs written in the DCs tended to decrease over time. The presentation of major DC errors did not show a tendency to change over time. However, the sum of the major and minor errors tended to increase over time. Secondary conditions as the underlying COD tended to increase, and the incompatible causal relationships between CODs tended to decrease over time in the detailed analysis of major errors. The increasing tendency for incorrect other significant conditions, incorrect type of accident, incorrect intention of the external cause, no record of the trauma mechanism, and record of the trauma mechanism without another COD were found in the detailed analysis of minor errors. @*Conclusion@#DC errors did not decrease as clinical experience increased. Education to reduce DC errors and a feedback process for written DCs are necessary, regardless of clinical experience.
ABSTRACT
Purpose@#Errors in pediatric death certificates (DCs) have been rarely reported. We analyzed the errors in writing the DCs issued in an emergency department (ED). @*Methods@#The DCs issued at the ED to patients aged 18 years or younger were retrospectively analyzed. Their medical records were reviewed by 4 emergency physicians. Major and minor errors in the DCs were defined based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th revision guidelines. The DCs were classified into the disease group and the external group by the manner of death, and the errors were compared. @*Results@#Among a total of 87 DCs issued in the ED, 97.5% and 100% were confirmed to contain at least 1 error in the disease (n = 40) and external (n = 47) groups, respectively. The median numbers of errors in the analyzed DCs were 2.0 and 3.0 in the disease and external groups, respectively (P = 0.004). In the disease group, the most frequent major error was reporting only a secondary condition as the underlying cause of death without antecedent causes (6 cases [15.0%]). In the external group, the most frequent major error was writing 2 or more causes in a single line for the cause of death (17 cases [36.2%]). In both groups, the most common minor error was omission of a time interval record for the cause of death (disease, 37 cases [92.5%]; external, 42 cases [89.4%]). @*Conclusion@#Any errors were identified in 98.9% of pediatric DCs issued in the ED, and the total number of errors was larger in the external group.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: In this nationwide 5-year longitudinal population-based study, we aimed at investigating the incidence of lung cancer among patients with interstitial lung disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data was collected from the Korean National Health Insurance Research Database from 49,773,195 Korean residents in 2009. Thirteen thousand six hundred and sixty-six patients with interstitial lung disease diagnosed January-December 2009. The end of follow-up was June 30, 2014. Up to four matching chronic obstructive pulmonary disease controls were selected to compare the lung cancer high-risk group based on age, sex, diagnosis date (within 30 days), and hospital size. The number of patients with newly developed lung cancer was determined. RESULTS: The incidences of lung cancer were 126.98, 156.62, and 370.38 cases per 10,000 person-years (2,732, 809, and 967 cases of cancer, respectively) in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with interstitial lung disease groups, respectively. Of the 879 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, 112 developed lung cancer (incidence, 381.00 cases per 10,000 person-years). CONCLUSION: Incidence of lung cancer among patients with interstitial lung disease was high. Interstitial lung diseases have a high potential for developing into lung cancer, even when concurrent with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.