Review of methods and measures in primary care research

The use of methods and measures

To date, concern about the safety of patients in hospital settings has driven most research in this field. In fact, the seminal reports about patient safety in the USA and UK excluded primary care from their discussions. However, the majority of health care is delivered outside hospitals in primary care settings and many safety incidents identified in hospitals originate elsewhere, often in primary care. A stronger emphasis on primary care patient safety research is therefore important.

The paper available for download below critically appraises the methods used to research patient safety in primary health care studies and the metrics (measures) this research uses and produces. It concludes that primary care patient safety research is at an early stage of development, with research efforts concentrating on describing the safety environment rather than intervening to improve it. Measures of primary care patient safety are still under development and there are no agreed outcome measures of “safer” care. Identifying and measuring harms related to primary care patient safety incidents is a clear research gap.