Analysis of defects in health care delivery for children based on the data of commission forensic medical examinations performed in the Republic of Uzbekistan

Abstract

To perform a retrospective analysis of the commission forensic medical examinations' data of pediatric profile with identification of defects in health care delivery and establishment of their connection with unfavorable outcome. The data of 3854 commission forensic medical examinations performed in the period from 2012 to 2021 regarding the evaluation of quality of health care delivery for children with the establishment of nature and type of defects in health care delivery, determination of disease (injury) outcome, identification of cause-effect relationship between the defect in health care delivery and negative disease (injury) outcome. Defects in health care delivery were equal 9% in the studied commission forensic medical examinations. Studied data included all types of defects in health care delivery: defects of diagnosis, treatment and health care delivery. The structure of defects in various age groups differed: diagnosis defects prevailed in the age group of children aged from 29 days to 1 year; treatment defects were most frequent in children group of neonatal period and in children group aged 1-17 years. Child disability and death were negative consequences in all age groups. A direct cause-effect relationship was established between the defect in health care delivery and the negative outcome in all cases. The pathogenetically expectable correlation between the defect in health care delivery and negative outcome, represented by disability or death of a child, was considered to be the medical equivalent of this relationship.