RESUMO
For patients living with intestinal or urinary stomas, skin barriers play an essential role in protecting the peristomal skin and preventing peristomal complications. Convex baseplates press into the peristomal skin and are suitable for retracted stomas that do not protrude, peristomal skin with creases, folds, or dips, and stomas where frequent leaking can occur with flat pouching systems. However, there is a lack of data on the magnitude and location of tension applied to the abdomen by convex baseplates. We evaluated the impact of a range of convex baseplates applied to a simulated stoma site. A comparative finite element analysis investigation was conducted to evaluate the impact of eight different convex stoma system baseplates applied to an idealised flat abdomen, representing skin, subcutaneous tissue, and musculature layers. The baseplates considered had varying convexity with depths of 3.5 mm and 7 mm and internal structural diameters between ~30 mm and ~60 mm. The convex product range provided tension in the skin (maximum principal strain) and compression through the fat layer (minimum principal strain). Large differences in the locations and magnitudes of skin tension and fat layer compression were seen between the baseplates under analysis, with both the depth and diameter of convexity influencing the strain experienced across the abdominal topography. The results generated highlight the importance of having an appropriate range of convexity products available and selecting an appropriate option for use based on the stoma type and condition of the peristomal skin.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Hospital-treated self-harm is common, costly and associated with repeated self-harm and suicide. Providing a comprehensive psychosocial assessment following self-harm is recommended by professional bodies and may improve outcomes. AIMS: To review the provision of psychosocial assessments after hospital-presenting self-harm and the extent to which macro-level factors indicative of service provision explain variability in these estimates. METHOD: We searched five electronic databases to 3 January 2023 for studies reporting data on the proportion of patients and/or events that were provided a psychosocial assessment. Pooled weighted prevalence estimates were calculated with the random-effects model. Random-effects meta-regression was used to investigate between-study variability. RESULTS: 119 publications (69 unique samples) were included. Across ages, two-thirds of patients had a psychosocial assessment (0.67, 95% CI 0.58-0.76). The proportion was higher for young people and older adults (0.75, 95% CI 0.36-0.99 and 0.83, 95% CI 0.48-1.00, respectively) compared with adults (0.64, 95% CI 0.54-0.73). For events, around half of all presentations had these assessments across the age range. No macro-level factor explained between-study heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: There is room for improvement in the universal provision of psychosocial assessments for self-harm. This represents a missed opportunity to review and tailor aftercare supports for those at risk. Given the marked unexplained heterogeneity between studies, the person- and system-level factors that influence provision of psychosocial assessments after self-harm should be studied further.