Assessment of patient safety from their perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Objective: to assess patient safety, from their own perspective, during hospitalization for COVID-19 in a university hospital.

Method: cross-sectional study conducted in a university hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, involving patients hospitalized due to COVID-19. The sample included 129 participants hospitalized between March 2020 and June 2021 who responded to the Patient Measure of Safety instrument. Descriptive statistics and correlation tests were used to analyze sociodemographic factors, comorbidities, and symptomatology related to the total score and each domain of the instrument.

Results: the majority of participants were male (50.8%), aged 56 years or younger (51.9%), and white (43.8%). The overall mean score of Patient Measure of Safety was 3.8±0,4, with variations between 3.0±0,4, in the "equipment" domain, to 4.1±0,5, in the "communication and teamwork" domain. There were no statistically significant differences among sociodemographic variables and comorbidities regarding safety perception. Statistical significance results were observed among those with specific symptoms such as cough (p=0.018), nausea and vomiting (p=0.020) and diarrhea (p=0.013) reflecting less favorable perception of safety.

Conclusion: participants assessed the safety of care with the highest score in the "communication and teamwork" domain.