Revista latino-americana de enfermagem
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Rev Lat Am Enfermagem · Nov 2011
Comparative StudyClinical evolution of adult, elderly and very elderly patients admitted in Intensive Care Units.
This study compared clinical outcomes among adult, elderly and very elderly patients admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICUs) located in São Paulo, Brazil. This retrospective, longitudinal and comparative study included 279 adult (≥ 18 and <60 years), 216 elderly (≥ 60 and <80 years) and 105 very elderly (≥ 80 years) patients. ⋯ There were differences in relation to mortality between adult and elderly patients, with a higher rate in the elderly group; however, the mortality rate of very elderly and adult patients was similar. In general, the results indicated that older age was not associated with undesirable outcomes in ICUs.
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Rev Lat Am Enfermagem · Nov 2011
In-hospital mortality and the Glasgow Coma Scale in the first 72 hours after traumatic brain injury.
This study verifies and compares the performance of three different scores obtained in the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in the first 72 hours post trauma in predicting in-hospital mortality. The studied scores included those obtained after initial care was provided at the hospital, and the worst and best scores obtained in the scale in the first 72 hours post trauma. ⋯ The performance of the three scores that were analyzed to predict hospital mortality was moderate (0.74 to 0.79) and the areas under the curve did not present statistically significant differences. These findings suggest that any of the three studied scores can be applied in clinical practice to estimate the outcome of victims with blunt traumatic brain injuries, taking into consideration the instrument's moderate discriminatory power.
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Rev Lat Am Enfermagem · Nov 2011
Evaluation of prevention and control measures for ventilator-associated pneumonia.
This study aimed to evaluate the quality of health care delivered in an Intensive Care Unit, concerning the use of pneumonia prevention and control measures in high-risk patients on mechanical ventilation. In this descriptive and exploratory research, 839 observations of patients under invasive ventilation care were carried out, between November 2009 and January 2010, using the Indicator of Evaluation of Adherence to Prevention and Control Measures in High-risk Patients (IRPR). Some isolated measures that compose the mentioned indicator reached rates close to 100%, but the general compliance rate with all prevention and control measures of ventilator-associated pneumonia was 26.94%. It is concluded that, although the evaluated practices are accomplished at the unit, systematic evaluations of the interventions is needed so as to permit the discussion and practice of other educational strategies by the health team.
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Rev Lat Am Enfermagem · Nov 2011
Cultural adaptation and validation of the Neuropathy - and Foot Ulcer - Specific Quality of Life instrument (NeuroQol) for Brazilian Portuguese - Phase 1.
This methodological study aimed to adapt the Neuropathy - and Foot Ulcer - Specific Quality of Life instrument - NeuroQol to Brazilian Portuguese and to analyze its psychometric properties. Participants were 50 people with peripheral diabetic neuropathy and foot ulcers. The floor and ceiling effects, the convergent and discriminant validity and the reliability were analyzed. ⋯ The reliability was satisfactory. The correlations between the domains of the NeuroQol and the SF-36 were negative, significant and of moderate to strong magnitude. The findings show that the Brazilian version of the NeuroQol is reliable and valid and may be employed as a useful tool for improving nursing care for people with DM.