Meta-analysis and Systematic Review of Medical Errors Across Specialties: Bridging the Gap with International Perspectives and Recommendations

Background Medical errors refer to professional negligence or wrongdoing by healthcare providers that could harm patients. It can vary significantly across different specialties due to variations in patient populations, diagnostic challenges, treatment complexity, and procedural risks. Methods We conducted an electronic search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase databases to identify all relevant published records till 11th August 2023. The analyses were carried out in R studio using the meta package. The mean difference (MD) was used to pool continuous outcomes, while the odds ratio (OR) was used to pool dichotomous outcomes, both with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We used the New Castle Ottawa (NOS) Scale for the observational studies. Results Encompassing diverse specialties, the 63 included studies with 376,574 participants, with a mean age of approximately 40.9 years. Conducted in various countries, the United States was the most reported location. The meta-analysis revealed pooled proportional effect estimates for medication errors in different specialties: neurosurgery 24%, orthopedic surgery 24%, cardiology 20%, general surgery 16%, OB/GYN 15%, internal medicine 12%, anesthesia 10%, cardiothoracic surgery 10%, urology 10%, otolaryngology 8%, pediatrics 8%, family medicine 5%, oncology 5%, ophthalmology 5%, chest 4%, neurology 4%, radiology 4%, dermatology 3%, vascular surgery 3%, gastroenterology 2%, endocrinology 1%, tropical medicine 1%, and rheumatology 0%. Conclusion The distribution of medical specialties exhibited diverse occurrence rates: ≥20% for neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and cardiology; <20% and ≥ 10% for general surgery, OB/GYN, internal medicine, anesthesia, cardiothoracic surgery, and urology. Further research is required to investigate the causative factors in different regions and specialties, particularly those with high medical error rates.