Patient Sociodemographic (patient + sociodemographic)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


How Does the Timing of Hospice Referral Influence Hospice Care in the Last Days of Life?

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 6 2003
Susan C. Miller PhD
OBJECTIVES: To determine factors associated with the type of hospice care received in the last days of life and, in particular, how the timing of referral influences the use of continuous hospice home care and inpatient hospice care. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Twenty-one hospice programs across seven states under the ownership of one hospice parent provider. PARTICIPANTS: Hospice patients who were cared for and died between October 1, 1998, and September 30, 1999 (N = 28,747). MEASUREMENTS: Patient sociodemographic and clinical data were merged with use data from the provider's centralized information system to examine the factors associated with the differing levels of hospice care in the last week of life. In the last days of life, patients were classified as having received routine hospice home care only, having received continuous hospice home care, or having died in an inpatient hospice bed. RESULTS: Twenty-three percent of the patients received continuous hospice home care during the last week of life, and 34% died in an inpatient hospice bed. Patients with hospice stays of less than 7 days had a lower likelihood of receiving continuous hospice home care than those who had stays of more than 30 days (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.75,0.87). Patients with hospice stays of 14 days or less had a greater likelihood of dying in an inpatient hospice bed. Furthermore, patients with stays of less than 7 days who were referred from hospitals were six times likelier to die in an inpatient hospice bed than those who were referred from another source (AOR = 6.40, 95% CI = 5.74,7.14). Patients in nursing homes had a 93% lower likelihood of dying in an inpatient hospice bed than patients in the community without a live-in caregiver (AOR = 0.07, 95% CI = 0.03,0.19). Strong independent associations were observed between several other covariates and the study outcomes, particularly the covariates of which state hospice care was provided in and level of pain intensity. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that continuous hospice home care in the last week of life is less likely to occur when patients have short hospice stays. Also, the probability of dying in an inpatient hospice bed is substantially greater for patients referred from hospitals and referred closer to time of death. Further work to determine the appropriateness of use of the different levels of hospice care is needed. [source]


Correlates of mortality in elderly COPD patients: Focus on health-related quality of life

RESPIROLOGY, Issue 1 2009
Raffaele ANTONELLI-INCALZI
ABSTRACT Background and objective: The Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) is widely used as a measure of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with COPD. This study tested whether the SGRQ predicts the survival of patients with COPD. Methods: The study recruited 238 patients with COPD who were participants in the multicentre Salute Respiratoria nell'Anziano (Sa.R.A.) study. Patients' sociodemographic, clinical and functional characteristics were assessed and the association between the SGRQ and mortality, corrected for potential confounders, was estimated. Results: The mean age of study participants was 72.6 years. Over the 5-year observation period there were 88 deaths. After adjustment for potential confounders, the SGRQ score was associated with an increased risk of dying (hazard ratio (HR): 1.22 for four-point increments; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02,1.45). There was no association between mortality and the Symptoms subscale (corrected HR: 1.13; 95% CI: 0.96,1.32), whereas each four-point increment of the Activity (HR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.00,1.43) and Impact (HR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.03,1.83) subscale scores were associated with increased mortality. Higher FEV1 relative to predicted (HR: 0.73 for each 5% increment; 95% CI: 0.58,0.91) and better performance at the 6-min walking test relative to predicted (HR: 0.93 for each 5% increment; 95% CI: 0.89,0.97) were associated with lower mortality. Conclusions: In elderly COPD patients, the SGRQ can improve prognostic models based on classical indicators of disease severity. [source]


The Relationship Between the Emergent Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Quality Measure and Inpatient Myocardial Infarction Mortality

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 8 2010
Rahul K. Khare MD
ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:793,800 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Abstract Background:, In the setting of acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), reperfusion therapy with emergent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) significantly reduces mortality. It is unknown whether a hospital's performance on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality metric for time from patient arrival to angioplasty is associated with its overall hospital acute myocardial infarction (AMI) mortality rate. Objectives:, The objective of this study was to evaluate if hospitals with higher performance on the time-to-PCI quality measure are more likely to achieve lower mortality for patients admitted for any type of AMI. Methods:, Using merged 2006 data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), the American Hospital Association (AHA) annual survey, and CMS Hospital Compare quality indicator data, we examined 69,101 admissions with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9)-coded principal diagnosis of AMI in the 116 hospitals that reported more than 24 emergent primary PCI admissions in that year. Hospitals were categorized into quartiles according to percentage of admissions in 2006 that achieved the primary PCI timeliness threshold (time-to-PCI quality measure). Using a random effects logistic regression model of inpatient mortality, we examined the significance of the hospital time-to-PCI quality measure after adjustment for other hospital and individual patient sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Results:, The unadjusted inpatient AMI mortality rate at the 27 top quartile hospitals was 4.3%, compared to 5.1% at the 32 bottom quartile (worst performing) hospitals. The risk-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of inpatient death was 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.72 to 0.95), or 17% lower odds of inpatient death, among patients admitted to hospitals in the top quartile for the time-to-PCI quality measure compared to the case if the hospitals were in the bottom 25th percentile. Conclusions:, Hospitals with the highest and second highest quartiles of time-to-PCI quality measure had a significantly lower overall AMI mortality rate than the lowest quartile hospitals. Despite the fact that a minority of all patients with AMI get an emergent primary PCI, hospitals that perform this more efficiently also had a significantly lower mortality rate for all their patients admitted with AMI. The time-to-PCI quality measure in 2006 was a potentially important proxy measure for overall AMI quality of care. [source]


Toward a predictive model of patient satisfaction with nurse practitioner care

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS, Issue 4 2005
A/G/FNP, Ann Green PhD
Purpose (a) To determine if caring behaviors of nurse practitioners (NPs), gender of NPs, setting (urban or rural), and age, gender, ethnicity, education, and income of patients were predictors of patient satisfaction; (b) to determine which of these characteristics was the best predictor(s) of patient satisfaction; and (c) begin to develop a conceptual model for explaining patient satisfaction with NP care. Data sources Responses to the Caring Behaviors Inventory (CBI) and a demographic inquiry by 348 NPs in Louisiana and completion of the Di'Tomasso,Willard Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (DWPSQ) and a demographic inquiry from 817 patients in Louisiana served as data sources. A predictive modeling design explored which variable(s) is the best predictor of patient satisfaction, and multiple regression was used to determine the equation for the best-fitting line and the optimal model for the best predictor(s) of patient satisfaction. Conclusions CBI mean scores were high for all NPs. No statistically significant difference was found between male NPs' and female NPs' total mean CBI scores and between urban or rural total mean CBI scores. DWPSQ mean scores and subscale scores indicated high satisfaction with NP care. No statistically significant relationships were found between the NPs' CBI mean scores and the patients' DWPSQ mean scores. There were significant relationships between the DWPSQ subscales, including Wait Time and Patient Management. Stepwise linear regression revealed that patients' age group was a predictor of DWPSQ total mean scores. Implications for practice NPs need to be aware of developmental differences in all age groups and the differences in perceptions of care. There are many variables to consider when determining patient satisfaction with care, including the patients' sociodemographic and health variables, the healthcare system, and characteristics of the healthcare providers. Awareness of these variables may affect how NPs deliver care and ensure quality care with which the patients are satisfied. [source]