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Medical Characteristics (medical + characteristic)
Selected AbstractsNutritional status and patient characteristics for hospitalised older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 13 2008Sigrid Odencrants MSc Aim. The aim of the study was to describe and compare nutritional status and social and medical characteristics among older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease admitted to an acute care hospital ward for respiratory medicine. Background. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a condition associated with risk of developing malnutrition. A body mass index <20 is predictive of hospitalisation for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Knowledge about patient characteristics is crucial for the identification of malnourished patients and the development of nursing care for these patients. Design. Quantitative descriptive study. Methods. Thirty-three hospitalised women and 17 men with a mean age of 75·7 years (SD 6·9) were consecutively included. A very severe case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was indicated in 28 out of 39 patients who underwent a lung function test. Data were collected with measurement of nutritional status using Mini Nutritional Assessment, anthropometry and lung function. Results. Nearly half of the patients (48%) were identified as malnourished, an equal part as at risk for malnutrition and two patients as well nourished. The mean Mini Nutritional Assessment score of 17·2 (SD 3·99) for all patients was near the Mini Nutritional Assessment cut-off score (i.e. 17) for malnutrition. Patients identified as malnourished had a mean body mass index of 18·9 and those at risk for malnutrition had a mean of 23·4. It was more common for those identified as malnourished to live singly, to not live in own property and to be dependent on daily community service. Seven patients identified as malnourished died during the data collection period. Conclusions. This study provides important knowledge about further risks of impaired nutritional status among older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Relevance to clinical practice. This knowledge can provide registered nurses with the necessary knowledge to make them aware of certain patients needing particular kinds of attention. [source] Simultaneous analysis of the behavioural phenotype, physical factors, and parenting stress in people with Cornelia de Lange syndromeJOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 7 2009J. Wulffaert Abstract Background Studies into the phenotype of rare genetic syndromes largely rely on bivariate analysis. The aim of this study was to describe the phenotype of Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) in depth by examining a large number of variables with varying measurement levels. Virtually the only suitable multivariate technique for this is categorical principal component analysis. The characteristics of the CdLS phenotype measured were also analysed in relation to parenting stress. Method Data for 37 children and adults with CdLS were collected. The type of gene mutation and relevant medical characteristics were measured. Information on adaptive functioning, behavioural problems, the presence of the autistic disorder and parenting stress were obtained through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with the parents. Chronological age and gender were also included in the analysis. Results All characteristics measured, except gender, were highly interrelated and there was much variability in the CdLS phenotype. Parents perceived more stress when their children were older, were lower functioning, had more behavioural problems, and if the autistic disorder was present. A new perspective was acquired on the relation between the gene mutation type and medical and behavioural characteristics. In contrast with earlier research the severity of medical characteristics did not appear a strong prognostic factor for the level of development. Conclusion Categorical principal component analysis proved particularly valuable for the description of this small group of participants given the large number of variables with different measurement levels. The success of the technique in the present study suggests that a similar approach to the characterisation of other rare genetic syndromes could prove extremely valuable. Given the high variability and interrelatedness of characteristics in CdLS persons, parents should be informed about this differentiated perspective. [source] Predictability of Survival Models for Waiting List and Transplant Patients: Calculating LYFTAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 7 2009R. A. Wolfe ,Life years from transplant' (LYFT) is the extra years of life that a candidate can expect to achieve with a kidney transplant as compared to never receiving a kidney transplant at all. The LYFT component survival models (patient lifetimes with and without transplant, and graft lifetime) are comparable to or better predictors of long-term survival than are other predictive equations currently in use for organ allocation. Furthermore, these models are progressively more successful at predicting which of two patients will live longer as their medical characteristics (and thus predicted lifetimes) diverge. The C-statistics and the correlations for the three LYFT component equations have been validated using independent, nonoverlapping split-half random samples. Allocation policies based on these survival models could lead to substantial increases in the number of life years gained from the current donor pool. [source] | ||||||||||