Older folks in hospitals: the contributing factors and recommendations for incident prevention.

Objectives: To identify the most common errors and adverse events and their contributing factors among the older patients admitted to hospital and examine recommendations from an expert review panel for prevention and reduction of the adverse events.

Background: Older patients are at an increased risk of errors and adverse events while hospitalized. The increasing evidence suggests that understanding the risks factors that contribute to these errors and adverse events facilitates the education of health professionals and the reduction and preventions of the harm.