Safe surgery checklist: evaluation in a neotropical region

OBJECTIVE: assess patient responses and associated factors of items on a safe surgery checklist, and identify use before and after protocol implementation from the records. METHODS: a cohort study conducted from 2014 to 2016 with 397 individuals in stage I and 257 in stage II, 12 months after implementation, totaling 654 patients. Data were obtained in structured interviews. In parallel, 450 checklist assessments were performed in medical records from public health institutions in the Southwest II Health Region of Goiás state, Brazil. RESULTS: six items from the checklist were evaluated and all of these exhibited differences (p < 0.000). Of the medical records analyzed, 69.9% contained the checklist in stage I and 96.5% in stage II, with better data completeness. In stage II, after training, the checklist was associated with surgery (OR; 1.38; IC95%: 1.25-1.51; p < 0.000), medium-sized hospital (OR; 1.11; CI95%; 1.0-1.17; p < 0.001), male gender (OR; 1.07; CI95%; 1.0-1.14; p < 0.010), type of surgery (OR; 1.7; CI95%: 1.07-1.14; p < 0.014) and antibiotic prophylaxis 30 to 60 min after incision (OR; 1.10; CI95%: 1.04-1.17; p < 0.000) and 30 to 60 min after surgery (OR; 1.23; CI95%: 1.04-1.45; p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: the implementation strategy of the safe surgery checklist in small and medium-sized healthcare institutions was relevant and associated with better responses based on patient, data availability and completeness of the data.