Effective patient-safety interventions (n=14*)
| Intervention effect estimates based on meta-analysis with only eligible studies† | Patient outcome | Effect size (95% CI) | Sample size (n patients) | Study size (n studies) | Designs of studies (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exercises61 | Risk of falling | RR 0.36 (0.14 to 0.93) | 83 | 2 | RCT (2) |
| Surgical safety checklist66 | Surgical-site infections | RR 0.57 (0.41 to 0.79) | 15 198 | 5 | ITS (5) |
| Increasing the proportion of support staff75 | Mortality at 4 months | RR 0.57 (0.34 to 0.95) | 302 | 1 | RCT (1) |
| Rapid response team69 | Cardiopulmonary arrest | RR 0.65 (0.55 to 0.77) | 1 143 495 | 16 | Non-RCT (2); CBA (12); ITS (2) |
| Nurse-led early-discharge planning programmes58 | Mortality | RR 0.70 (0.52 to 0.95) | 2503 | 5 | RCT (5) |
| Multicomponent interventions, including physiotherapy, daily reorientation, family involvement and staff/family-member education51 | Delirium | RR 0.73 (0.63 to 0.85) | 1691 | 7 | RCT (7) |
| Antibiotic guideline for pneumonia33 | Mortality | RR 0.89 (0.82 to 0.97) | 22 526 | 4 | RCT (1); CBA (3) |
| Rapid response team71 | Mortality | RR 0.91 (0.85 to 0.97) | 209 639 | 4 | RCT (2); CBA (1); ITS (1) |
| Interdisciplinary team interventions76 | Mortality | wRR 0.67 (0.45 to 0.99) | 2640 | 2 | Non-RCT (2) |
| Multicomponent interventions61 | Falls | RaR 0.69 (0.49 to 0.96) | 6478 | 4 | RCT (4) |
| Multicomponent interventions, including cognitive screening, proactive geriatric consultation and psychotherapy47 | Delirium | OR 0.58 (0.38 to 0.92) | 1343 | 5 | Non-RCT (3); CBA (2) |
| Clinical pathway79 | In-hospital complications | OR 0.58 (0.36 to 0.94) | 664 | 5 | RCT (4); CCT (1) |
| Intervention effect estimates based on meta-analysis with eligible and non-eligible studies | Patient outcome | Effect size (95%CI) | Sample size (n eligible patients) and proportion of eligible patients of all patients (%) | Study size (n) and proportion of eligible studies (n; %) | Designs of eligible studies (n) |
| Catheter reminder and stop order40 | Infections (CAUTI) | RR 0.72 (0.52 to 0.99) | U | 8 (2; 25) | RCT (1); non-RCT (1) |
| Pharmacist interventions36 | Adverse drug events | OR 0.23 (0.11 to 0.48) | 2794 (30.4) | 3 (2; 66.7) | CBA (2) |
| Care bundle and checklist39 | Infections (CLABSI) | OR 0.39 (0.33 to 0.46) | 70 358 (2.8) | 41 (5; 12.2) | BA (36); ITS (5) |
| Multicomponent interventions, including early mobility, cognition and orientation50 | Delirium | OR 0.47 (0.38 to 0.58) | 2914 (68.3) | 11 (7; 63.6) | RCT (3); non-RCT (4) |
| Sepsis bundle41 | Mortality | OR 0.66 (0.61 to 0.72) | 11 720 (2.7) | 48 (3; 6.3) | ITS (3) |
*17 systematic reviews reported about 14 types of interventions.
†Studies with a design in accordance with methodological criteria of the Cochrane EPOC review group.
CCT, controlled (clinical) trial; CAUTI, catheter-associated urinary tract infection; CBA, controlled before after; CLABSI, central-line-associated bloodstream infection; EPOC, Effective Practice and Organisation of Care; ITS, interrupted time series; NR, not reported; RaR, rate ratio; RCT, randomised controlled trial; RR, risk/relative ratio; U, unclear; wRR, weighted risk ratio.