Bespreken van het reanimatiebeleid op een afdeling geriatrie: de ervaring van patiënt en familie

Discussing the resuscitation policy at a geriatric ward: the experience of patients or their representatives Aim To identify geriatric patients’ and their surrogate decision makers’ experience with regard to discussing cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) policy.Methods This is a prospective, observational, explorative survey. During 10 weeks, all patients admitted to a geriatric ward of a general Dutch hospital or their representatives were asked for their experience regarding discussion of the resuscitation policy with the physician in attendance. Discussing this policy is a standard procedure at the first day of admission. We also asked on several factors which could influence their experience and on factors to improve discussing resuscitation policies. The primary outcome was the participant’s satisfaction expressed on a scale of 1 to 10 regarding satisfaction with the CPR discussion.Results Seventy-six participants were included, of which 29 patients and 47 surrogate decision makers . Discussing the resuscitation policy took an average of 4,5 minutes (SD 3.2) to complete. In 70% (n=53) of cases a do-not-resuscitate decision was made. Discussing the resuscitation policy was experienced positive, with an average rate of 7,8 (SD 1.5). A total of 121 positive comments were made, as opposed to 70 negative comments. When they talked about their resuscitation policy, most patients expressed positive emotional responses. As most important improvements were mentioned: a better introduction to discussing this subject (17%), a better explanation of resuscitation and chances of survival (17%) and providing information prior to admission to the ward, so that patient and surrogate decision maker have been informed that the resuscitation policy will be discussed (12%).Conclusion Most patients and relatives in this study wished to discuss their resuscitation policy with physicians. Still, there is room for improvement in several respects. Patients and surrogate decision makers are in favour of discussing the standard resuscitation policy with the doctor, and evaluate this conversation with a 7.8 / 10. In order to improve both discussing the CPR policy preparing the patient and his representatives and communicating more extensively during the interview are recommended. Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr 2011; 42: 256-262     

Heeft de indeeling van de Flexnergroep der dysenteriebacteriën volgens Andrewes en Inman epidemiologische beteekenis?

Samenvatting Mededeeling van eenige waarnemingen, welke kunnen bijdragen tot de beantwoording van de vraag, of de indeeling van de Flexnergroep volgensAndrewes enInman beteekenis heeft voor de epidemiologie der bacillaire dysenterie.      

Over het gebruik van glutaminezuur in een synthetische voedingsbodem bij het biochemisch onderzoek van pathogene darmbacteriën en over phenolrood als indicator in de lactose-agarplaat

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Proactieve en gestructureerde zorg voor kwetsbare oudere patiënten in de eerstelijn: Achtergrond, opzet en uitvoering van een screenings- en zorgprogramma

Background

Currently, primary care for the older, vulnerable patient is reactive, fragmented and does not meet patients needs. Given the expected increase of home-dwelling frail elderly people a transition is needed to proactive and integrated care.

Methods

In the described study, we explore two innovative interventions in primary care. First we describe a newly developed screening and monitoring program for frail elderly patients based on routine care information in general practice. Second, we describe a multidisciplinary intervention program by trained nurses for frail elderly patients in general practice. The effectiveness of the interventions is examined in a three-armed, cluster randomized trial, taking place in 58 primary care practices in Utrecht, the Bilt and Maarsenbroek.

Results

Three thousand eight patients are included. Primary outcome measure is the impact of the interventions on the daily activities, measured with the Katz questionnaire. Secondary outcomes measures are the quality of life, mortality, recording in a care or nursing home, visit to an emergency room or outpatient unit, recording in the hospital and volunteer caregivers tax.     

Een methode voor het tellen van levende bacteriën,vervanging voor de plaatmethode

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

De GDS-8: een korte, cliënt- en gebruikersvriendelijke versie van de Geriatrische Depressie Schaal voor verpleeghuizen

The GDS-8; a short, client- and user-friendly shortened version of the Geriatric Depression Scale for nursing homes The objective of this study was to construct a patient- and user-friendly shortened version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) that is especially suitable for nursing home patients. The study was carried out on two different data bases including 23 Dutch nursing homes. Data on the GDS (n=410), the Mini Mental State Examination (n=410) and a diagnostic interview (SCAN; n=333), were collected by trained clinicians. Firstly, the items of the GDS-15 were judged on their clinical applicability by three clinical experts. Subsequently, seven items that were identified as unsuitable were removed using the GDS-data of the Assess-project (n=77), and internal consistency was calculated. Secondly, with respect to criterion validity (sensitivity, specificity, area under ROC and positive and negative predictive values), the newly constructed 8-item version of the GDS was validated in the AGED data set (n=333), using DSM-IV diagnosis for depression as measured by the SCAN as ‘gold standard’. In the AGED dataset, the GDS-8 was internally consistent (a=.80) and high sensitivity rates of 96.3% for major depression and 83.0% for minor depression were found, with a specificity rate of 71.7% at a cut-off point of 2/3. The GDS-8 has good psychometric properties. Given that the GDS-8 is less burdening for the patient, more comfortable to use and less time consuming, it may be a more feasible screening test for the frail nursing home population. Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr 2007; 38: 298-304     

Factoren die van invloed zijn op het verwijzen van patiënten van het verpleeghuis naar het ziekenhuis

Introduction

Hospitalisation may cause negative effects on elderly patients. Therefore, it is important that referral and admission of older nursing home patients is well-considered. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect the decision making process.

Method

Questionnaire survey among elderly care physicians and physicians following the elderly care physician training program.

Results

Of the 1,540 surveys, 200 were returned (response rate of 13%). Over 60% of the respondents had referred a nursing home patient to the hospital in the previous month. A stay at a geriatric rehabilitation ward, suspicion of a fracture, a good quality of life, a patient’s or family’s wish for referral, no treatment restrictions, and follow-up appointments in the hospital were factors which made referral to the hospital more likely according to the respondents. Medical specialist consultation and the in hospital presence of a physician specialised in geriatric care were considered to be important. Referral was less likely if a patient was diagnosed with dementia, had a low quality of life or had treatment restrictions.

Conclusion

Both patient-related and non-patient-related factors influence hospital referral of nursing home patients. Further research is needed to determine whether these different factors contribute to the different outcomes of a hospital admission, to facilitate proper decision-making for elderly care physicians.