Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2016
Observational StudyPrognosis of patients presenting extreme acidosis (pH <7) on admission to intensive care unit.
The purpose was to determine prognosis of patients presenting extreme acidosis (pH <7) on admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and to identify mortality risk factors. ⋯ Patients with extreme acidosis on admission to ICU have a less severe than expected prognosis. Whereas mortality is almost 100% in cases of cardiac arrest before admission, mortality is much lower in the absence of cardiac arrest before admission, which justifies aggressive ICU therapies.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2016
Moral distress in intensive care unit professionals is associated with profession, age, and years of experience.
To determine which demographic characteristics are associated with moral distress in intensive care unit (ICU) professionals. ⋯ Moral distress is higher in ICU nurses and other non-physician professionals than in physicians, is lower with older age for other non-physician professionals but greater with more years of experience in nurses, and is associated with tendency to leave the job.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2016
Conceptualizing and measuring health-related quality of life in critical care.
When assessing health-related quality of life (HRQL), critical care outcomes research generally uses generic measures in the absence of a suitable critical care-specific measure. Our aims were to construct a conceptual framework of survivors' HRQL and assess the extent to which the 2 most commonly used generic measures (the Short Form 36 Health Survey and EuroQol-5D) covered the framework. ⋯ The findings argue strongly for a new critical care-specific HRQL measure.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2016
The role of human metapneumovirus in the critically ill adult patient.
The purpose of the study is to describe the role of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection in critical illness and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ⋯ Although most patients hospitalized with hMPV had chronic cardiac or pulmonary disease, hMPV can also be associated serious respiratory illness and ARDS in adult patients without significant comorbidities or immunosuppression.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2016
Comparative StudyPredicting mortality rates: Comparison of an administrative predictive model (hospital standardized mortality ratio) with a physiological predictive model (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV)-A cross-sectional study.
Direct comparison of mortality rates has limited value because most deaths are due to the disease process. Predicting the risk of death accurately remains a challenge. ⋯ At less than 0.1, the models are interchangeable, but in spite of a moderate correlation, greater than 0.1 hospital standardized mortality ratio cannot be used to predict mortality.