Using a cohort of adults diagnosed with breast, colorectal, lung or prostate cancer, this study examined the relationship between oncology-specific triggers and mortality. It found that patients with at least one trigger had a higher risk of death than patients without a trigger; this association was strongest for nonmetastatic prostate cancer and nonmetastatic colorectal cancer. Triggers most commonly associated with increased odds of mortality were bacteremia, blood transfusion, hypoxemia and nephrology consultation. These findings support the validity of cancer-specific trigger tool but additional research is needed to replicate these findings.

Research has found that trigger tools perform poorly in cancer care. This cohort study comprised of adult patients undergoing treatment for breast, colorectal, lung or prostate cancer investigated the feasibility of a cancer-specific claims-based trigger tool to identify patients with potential adverse events. Results found that triggers affected 19% of patients during their initial year in treatment, and that trigger burden varied by disease, stage, and patient demographics. The most prevalent triggers were abnormal lab test results, blood transfusions, orders for non-contrast CT after chest radiation, and hypoxemia.

This study sought to examine whether events captured by Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) explain the "weekend effect" of higher hospital mortality. Researchers found that rates of PSI events were similar, but weekend instances of PSI events in general have worse outcomes than those on weekdays. This suggests that adverse events and the responses to adverse events are suboptimal on weekends, arguing for enhancements of weekend staffing.

Analysis of more than 29 million hospital discharges revealed higher mortality in patients admitted on weekends compared with weekdays for a wide variety of medical and surgical conditions.