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Rate of diagnostic errors and serious misdiagnosis-related harms for major vascular events, infections, and cancers: toward a national incidence estimate using the “Big Three”.
Newman-Toker DE, Wang Z, Zhu Y, et al. Rate of diagnostic errors and serious misdiagnosis-related harms for major vascular events, infections, and cancers: toward a national incidence estimate using the “Big Three”. Diagnosis (Berl). 2021;8(1):67-84. doi:10.1515/dx-2019-0104.
Prior research based on claims data found that fifteen conditions related to vascular events, infections, and cancers (the ‘Big Three’) account for approximately 50% of all serious misdiagnosis-related harm. Based on a review of 28 studies representing over 91,000 patients, these authors estimated that the median diagnostic error rates for these conditions was 13.6%, ranging from 2.2% (myocardial infarction) to 62.1% (spinal abscess). The median serious misdiagnosis-related harm rate was estimated to be 5.5%, ranging from 1.2% (myocardial infarction) to 35.6% (spinal abscess).
