Cultural analysis of surgical safety checklist items in Spain and Argentina.

Objective: To compare the agreement between two surgical checklists implanted in two hospitals in Spain and Argentina, using the international classification for patient safety as a framework.

Method: This was an expert opinion study carried out using an ad hoc questionnaire in electronic format, which included 7 of the 13 categories of the international classification for patient safety. Fifteen surgical security experts from each country participated in this study by classifying the items on the checklists into the selected ICPS categories. The data were analyzed with SPSS V20 software.

Results: There was a greater percentage of classifications in fields related to the prevention of critical events. The category "clinical processes and procedures" was mentioned most frequently in both lists.

Conclusion: The implementation of the surgical safety checklist is variable. Experts considered that the Argentinian list was clearer in every dimension.