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Discomfort Scale (discomfort + scale)
Selected AbstractsEffect of Person-Centered Showering and the Towel Bath on Bathing-Associated Aggression, Agitation, and Discomfort in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia: A Randomized, Controlled TrialJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 11 2004Philip D. Sloane MD Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of two nonpharmacological techniques in reducing agitation, aggression, and discomfort in nursing home residents with dementia. The techniques evaluated were person-centered showering and the towel bath (a person-centered, in-bed bag-bath with no-rinse soap). Design: A randomized, controlled trial, with a usual-care control group and two experimental groups, with crossover. Setting: Nine skilled nursing facilities in Oregon and six in North Carolina. Participants: Seventy-three residents with agitation during bathing (69 completed the trial) and 37 nursing assistants who bathed them. Measurements: Agitation and aggression were measured using the Care Recipient Behavior Assessment; discomfort was measured using a modification of the Discomfort Scale for Dementia of the Alzheimer Type. Raters who were blinded to subject status coded both from videotaped baths. Secondary measures of effect included bath duration, bath completeness, skin condition, and skin microbial flora. Results: All measures of agitation and aggression declined significantly in both treatment groups but not in the control group, with aggressive incidents declining 53% in the person-centered shower group (P<.001) and 60% in the towel-bath group (P<.001). Discomfort scores also declined significantly in both intervention groups (P<.001) but not in the control group. The two interventions did not differ in agitation/aggression reduction, but discomfort was less with the towel bath (P=.003). Average bath duration increased significantly (by a mean of 3.3 minutes) with person-centered showering but not with the towel bath. Neither intervention resulted in fewer body parts being bathed; both improved skin condition; and neither increased colonization with potentially pathogenic bacteria, corynebacteria, or Candida albicans. Conclusion: Person-centered showering and the towel bath constitute safe, effective methods of reducing agitation, aggression, and discomfort during bathing of persons with dementia. [source] Pneumonia: The Demented Patient's Best Friend?JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 10 2002Discomfort After Starting or Withholding Antibiotic Treatment OBJECTIVES: To assess suffering in demented nursing home patients with pneumonia treated with antibiotics or without antibiotics. This study should provide the first empirical data on whether pneumonia is a "friend" or an "enemy" of demented patients and promote a debate on appropriate palliative care. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Psychogeriatric wards of 61 nursing homes in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred sixty-two demented patients with pneumonia treated with (77%) or without (23%) antibiotics. MEASUREMENTS: Using an observational scale (Discomfort Scale,Dementia of Alzheimer Type), discomfort was assessed at the time of the pneumonia treatment decision and periodically thereafter for 3 months or until death. (Thirty-nine percent of patients treated with antibiotics and 93% of patients treated without antibiotics died within 3 months.) Physicians also offered a retrospective judgment of discomfort 2 weeks before the treatment decision. In addition, pneumonia symptoms were assessed at baseline and on follow-up. Linear regression was performed with discomfort shortly before death as an outcome. RESULTS: A peak in discomfort was observed at baseline. Compared with surviving patients treated with antibiotics, the level of discomfort was generally higher in patients in whom antibiotic treatment was withheld and in nonsurvivors. However, these same patients had more discomfort before the pneumonia. Breathing problems were most prominent. Shortly before death from pneumonia, discomfort increased. Discomfort was higher shortly before death when pneumonia was the final cause of death than with death from other causes. CONCLUSION: Irrespective of antibiotic treatment, pneumonia causes substantial suffering in demented patients. Adequate symptomatic treatment deserves priority attention. [source] Similar excitation after sevoflurane anaesthesia in young children given rectal morphine or midazolam as premedicationACTA ANAESTHESIOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 10 2004W. Malmgren Background:, Sevoflurane is a rapid-acting volatile anaesthetic agent frequently used in paediatric anaesthesia despite transient postoperative symptoms of cerebral excitation, particularly in preschool children. This randomised and investigator-blinded study was designed to evaluate whether premedication with an opioid might reduce non-divertible postoperative excitation more than premedication with a benzodiazepine in preschool children anaesthetized with sevoflurane. Methods:, Ninety-two healthy two to six year-old children scheduled for nasal adenoidectomy were randomised to be given rectal atropine 0.02 mg kg,1 together with either morphine 0.15 mg kg,1 or midazolam 0.30 mg kg,1 approximately 30 min before induction and maintenance of sevoflurane anaesthesia. The patient groups were compared pre- and postoperatively by repeated clinical assessments of cerebral excitation according to a modified Objective Pain Discomfort Scale, OPDS. Results:, There were no statistically significant postoperative differences in incidence, extent or duration of excitation between children given morphine or midazolam for premedication, whereas morphine was associated with more preoperative excitation than was midazolam. The study groups did not differ significantly with respect to age, weight, duration of surgery and anaesthesia, and time from tracheal extubation to arrival in and discharge from the postoperative ward. Conclusion:, In this study morphine for premedication in young children anaesthetized with sevoflurane was associated with similar postoperative and higher preoperative OPDS scores compared with midazolam. These findings indicate that substitution of morphine for midazolam is no useful way of reducing clinical excitation after sevoflurane anaesthesia. [source] Effect of needle insertion site on ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block in childrenACTA ANAESTHESIOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2006P. Kundra Background:, Three different sites of needle insertion have been proposed for ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (ILIH) nerve block. This double-blind study was designed to assess the quality of analgesia produced from these different sites. Methods:, One hundred and thirty-two children of ASA grade I and II were randomly allocated into four groups to receive no nerve block (control group, n = 30) or ILIH block at 1 cm inferio-medial to the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) in group IM (n = 34), 1,2 cm medial to the ASIS in group M (n = 34) and 2 cm superio-medial to the ASIS in group SM (n = 34) with 0.25 ml/kg of 0.25% bupivacaine after induction of anaesthesia. Pain was assessed using the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) pain discomfort scale (APDS) score. The amount and pattern of fentanyl consumed over the ensuing 24-h period was noted. Results:, APDS score and fentanyl requirement were similar in all the study groups but significantly higher until 8 h after surgery in the control group, P < 0.05. Twenty-two out of 102 children in the study groups and all patients in the control group received additional fentanyl during the post-operative period. Only 6 out of 22 children required additional fentanyl supplementation beyond the 30-min interval. Overall failure rate of ILIH nerve block was 6%. Conclusion:, ILIH block can be successfully accomplished from any point if the needle bevel lies between the two muscle planes above and below the internal oblique. [source] | ||||||||||