Development and validation of assessment instruments for cervical collar and spinal board placement in simulated environments for nursing students in the care of polytrauma patients.

BACKGROUND: Multiple trauma injuries are the leading cause of death and disability in people under the age of 45 and require prompt and specialised care. However, medical and nursing education programmes do not always include specific training in emergency pre-hospital care, resulting in a lack of basic practical skills in trauma management. OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate two instruments for assessing nursing students' competence in cervical collar and spinal board application in simulated pre-hospital emergency scenarios. METHOD: This is an instrumental study that involves the development of two assessment instruments and the evaluation of their psychometric properties in a sample of 392 nursing students. Content validity was assessed using expert judgement, by calculating the content validity ratio (CVR) for each item and the scale level content validity index average (S-CVI/Ave) for the instruments. Exploratory factor analysis using the MINRES extraction method and Promax rotation was performed to analyse the performance of the items and structure of the rubrics. Internal consistency was analysed using the Omega coefficient and inter-rater agreement was assessed using Cohen's Kappa coefficient. RESULTS: Initially, two rubrics were obtained: one with six items for cervical collar placement (S-CVI/Ave = 0.86) and one with nine items for spinal board placement (S-CVI/Ave = 0.81). Both had a single-factor structure, with all items having factor loadings greater than 0.34 for the cervical collar rubric and 0.56 for the spinal board rubric, except for item 2 of the cervical collar rubric (λ = 0.24), which was subsequently removed. The final cervical collar rubric (five items) had an overall internal consistency of 0.84 and the spinal board rubric had an overall internal consistency of 0.90, calculated using the Omega statistic. The weighted Kappa coefficient for each item ranged from acceptable (0.32) to substantial (0.79). These results show that we have successfully developed two sufficiently valid instruments to assess the immobilisation competencies proposed in the objective of the study. CONCLUSION: Whilst further research is needed to fully establish their psychometric properties, these instruments offer a valuable starting point for evaluating nursing students' competence in cervical collar and spinal board application in simulated pre-hospital scenarios.

'It's always difficult for women': an analysis of the life stories of sub-Saharan migrant women.

The aim of this study was to understand the perspectives of female residents of Spain from West Africa in terms of the factors that condition their lives. Pierre Bourdieu's theory and the model of intersectionality formed the framework we used to qualitatively analyse the life stories of these women, which was complemented with life lines. The results showed us that traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and forced marriage are part of the social habitus of this group and they relate to each other through the several types of violence that occurs throughout their lives. In addition, in reference to the African community, these women were no longer African, while in terms of the Spanish community, they did not seem Spanish. At a health, political, and social level, this knowledge can help us to understand this group and to create personalised targeted interventions for them.

Knowledge and Perceived Emotions Regarding an Anal Cancer Preventive Program in People Diagnosed With HIV: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: To the best of our knowledge, no studies have yet examined the emotional repercussions of the care processes among people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus who participate in preventive anal cancer screening programs. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the knowledge, emotions, sexuality, barriers, and facilitators perceived by this patient group during the process of anal cancer screening and diagnosis. METHODS: Detailed, semistructured, qualitative interviews were completed with 17 men and 3 women to explore their knowledge, experiences, and emotions regarding the screening process. Purposive sampling was conducted on the basis of age, gender, and type of lesion diagnosed in the anal biopsy. RESULTS: Four major themes were identified: 1) knowledge of the disease and its treatment, 2) emotions perceived by the patients, 3) the influence of screening on sexual practices, and 4) facilitators and obstacles during the care provision process. Patients reported appropriate knowledge of anal cancer and human papillomavirus. Predominant emotions were worry and fear with avoidance as one of the coping strategies. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that communication of information and clinical results can be improved. IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: Understanding the facilitators and barriers to the program will allow the integration of interventions designed to improve healthcare provision into direct care.

Evaluation of the validity of the HPV viral load compared to conventional techniques for the detection of high-grade anal intraepithelial lesions in men with HIV who have sex with men.

Background: The incidence of high-grade anal intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) has increased in recent years among men who have sex with men with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This work evaluated the validity of the human papilloma virus viral load (HPV-VL) versus cytological and qualitative HPV results to detect HSILs. Methods: From May 2017 to January 2020, 93 men who have sex with men and HIV were included in an anal cancer screening program from the Infectious Diseases Unit at a tertiary-care hospital in Alicante (Spain). The gold-standard for the screening of anal HSILs is the anal biopsy using high-resolution anoscopy. The diagnostic methods compared against gold-standard were HPV-16-VL, HPV-18-VL, and HPV-16-18-VL co-testing, anal cytology, and qualitative HPV detection. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and cut-off points for HPV-VL were calculated. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and Cohen's Kappa coefficient (κ) were also calculated. Results: The mean patient age was 44.6 ± 9.5 years. All of them received antiretroviral treatment, 96.8% had an HIV viral load of <50 copies/mL and 17.2% had a previous diagnosis of AIDS. The diagnosis of the anal biopsies were: 19.4% (n = 18) HSIL, 29.1% (n = 27) LSIL, and 51.6% (n = 48) negative. An HPV-16-VL >6.2 copies/cell was detected in the HSIL biopsy samples (p = 0.007), showing a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 46.2%. HPV-18-VL and HPV16-18-VL co-testing showed a sensitivity of 75% and 76.9% and a specificity of 72.7% and 61.3%, respectively. The highest PPV was 50% obtained with the cytology and HPV-18-VL. The HPV-16-VL showed a NPV of 100%, followed by 88.9% in the HPV-18-VL and 87% in the abnormal cytology. Cohen's Kappa coefficient were: HPV-18-VL (κ = 0.412), abnormal cytology (κ = 0.353) and HPV-16-VL (κ = 0.338). Conclusions: HPV-VL testing improved the detection sensitivity but not the specificity for HSIL biopsies compared to anal cytology and the qualitative detection of HPV. In men who have sex with men and HIV the HPV-VL could be an useful tool for diagnosis of HSILs in anal cancer screening programs. Further studies will be needed to evaluate the clinical implications of HPV-VL in these programs.

Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Fatigue Assessment Scale in Caregivers of Palliative Care Patients.

Symptoms of fatigue and lack of energy are very common in caregivers of palliative care (PC) patients, traditionally associated with variables such as burden or depression. There are no Spanish-language instruments validated for assessing fatigue levels in this population. The Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) is a useful and simple instrument for assessing fatigue in this group. The aim of this study was to examine its psychometric properties (factor structure, reliability and validity) in a sample of caregivers of PC patients. Instrumental design for instrument validation was performed. One hundred and eight caregivers of PC patients participated and completed measures of fatigue, family functioning, life satisfaction, caregiver burden, anxiety, depression, resilience and quality of life. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed; non-linear reliability coefficient and Pearson correlations and t-tests were conducted to assess evidence of reliability and validity. The Spanish version of the FAS was found to have a one-dimensional structure. Reliability was 0.88. Validity evidence showed that FAS scores were positively associated with levels of burden, anxiety and depression. They were negatively associated with family functioning, life satisfaction, resilience and quality of life. The Spanish version of the FAS in caregivers of PC patients shows adequate psychometric properties.

Female Genital Mutilation as a Social Norm: Examining the Beliefs and Attitudes of Women in This Diaspora.

In this article, we explore the beliefs, values and attitudes about female genital mutilation in the diaspora of sub-Saharan women and how the migration process has influenced these beliefs. Our qualitative analysis of the life stories and lifelines of 10 women in the sub-Saharan diaspora in light of the Social Convention Theory indicated that making public statements about the topic is complex and that the taboo permeating the practice remains intact even outside of Africa. Furthermore, we discovered that, in our context, this practice was not a requirement and did not improve the chances of marriage, with female behaviours considered 'appropriate' instead gaining value. Any interventions based on this theory must consider the broad networks that help shape marriages in this diaspora. This work opened new lines of research regarding the situation of the diaspora of sub-Saharan women and the relationship of the practice of female genital mutilation with marriage.

Spanish Linguistic validation of the self-efficacy questionnaire in communication skills.

BACKGROUND: Self-efficacy is a critical element of social cognitive theory and refers to a person's estimation of their ability to complete a specific task. Self-efficacy scales evaluate the effectiveness of communication skills training programs. There were not validated scales in Spanish. AIMS: to cross-culturally adapt the Self-efficacy questionnaire-12 scale in communication skills in Spanish, evaluate its psychometric properties, and analyse the sample's descriptive characteristics. DESIGN: we conducted an instrumental study to develop evaluation scales. METHODS: nursing students were invited to participate (N = 387). The inclusion criteria were: (1) enrolment in first or fourth academic course year; (2) not having received specific training in communication skills; and (3) understanding written and spoken Spanish fluently. A total of 334 undergraduates participated (86.3% response rate); their mean age was 21.9 years (SD = 5.8), 83.2% were female. RESULTS: data showed high internal consistency (0.94) and a good fit to the model. The overall instrument score correlated with the attitude towards communication skills (r = 0.20; p < 0.001). Moderate communication self-efficacy scores were observed in these nursing students. IMPACT STATEMENT: Evaluating communication skills through self-efficacy scales allows teachers to know each student's perceived proficiency to handle communication with users safely and to understand users' needs, giving information about aspects to improve and to establish effective institutional strategies as one of the inherent characteristics of the concept of skills-based evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the Self-efficacy questionnaire-12 in communication skills was a valid and reliable instrument, essential for evaluating the perceived self-efficacy towards communication in nursing.

European Educational Programmes in Health Emergency and Disaster Management: An Integrative Review.

There is a need for trained health professionals who can swiftly respond to disasters occurring worldwide. Little is known about whether the currently available programmes in disaster management are in line with the recommendations of expert researchers. Our objective was to qualitatively review the characteristics of European educational programmes in health emergency and disaster management and to provide guidance to help improve their curricula. We carried out an integrative review to extract the main characteristics of the 2020/21 programmes available. We identified 34 programmes, the majority located in Spain, the UK or France. The primary qualification types awarded were master's degrees, half of them lasting one year, and the most common teaching method was in person. Almost all of the programmes used a virtual university classroom, a third offered multidisciplinary disaster management content and teachers, and half of them employed situational simulations. The quality of European educational programmes in health emergency and disaster management has improved, especially in terms of using more practical and interactive teaching methodologies and in the inclusion of relevant topics such as communication, psychological approaches and evaluation of the interventions. However, generally, the educational programmes in disaster management have not yet incorporated the skills related to the intercultural and interprofessional awareness aspects.

Reliability and validity of the reduced Spanish version of the Prenatal Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale.

Breastfeeding self-efficacy is a relevant predictor of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life. The Prenatal Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (PBSES) is a 20-item tool developed to determine breastfeeding self-efficacy during pregnancy. Our study aimed to assess the structural validity and psychometric characteristics of the PBSES and to explore item reduction according to the statistical criteria for parsimony and incremental validity. In this study, conducted in six hospitals in eastern Spain, we recruited 1183 women with healthy, full-term, single-birth newborns. Data on sociodemographic, breastfeeding-related variables, and the PBSES, were obtained from self-administered questionnaires during the third trimester of pregnancy, at postpartum discharge, and 5 months postpartum, and from a phone survey 12 months postpartum. Item reduction was conducted after revising the PBSES item floor and ceiling effects, interitem correlations, and item-score relationships with breastfeeding-status variables during follow-up. The factorial structure of the short form of the PBSES (PBSES-SF) was tested using both exploratory and confirmatory approaches. After item reduction, the confirmatory factor analysis of the 12 remaining items of the PBSES-SF revealed adequate fit statistics for a three-factor structure and a second-order factor. Internal consistency was measured using the Cronbach's α coefficient of the PBSES-SF (0.86). We provided evidence on the discriminant validity of the PBSES-SF by comparing its scores between known groups, convergent validity by examining its correlations with other variables, and predictive validity by assessing the association of PBSES-SF scores with breastfeeding behavior at critical points in time during the first postpartum year.

Nurses' Perceptions on the Implementation of a Safe Drug Administration Protocol and Its Effect on Error Notification.

Patient safety and quality of care are fundamental pillars in the health policies of various governments and international organizations. The purpose of this study is to evaluate nurses' perceptions on the degree of implementation of a protocol for the standardization of care and to measure its influence on notification of adverse events related to the administration of medications. This comparative study used data obtained from questionnaires completed by 180 nurses from medical and surgical units. Our analyses included analysis of variance and regression models. We observe that the responses changed unevenly over time in each group, finding significant differences in all comparisons. The mean response rating was increased at 6 months in the intervention group, and this level was maintained at 12 months. With the new protocol, a total of 246 adverse events and 481 incidents without harm was reported. Thus, actions such as the use of protocols and event notification systems should be implemented to improve quality of care and patient safety.

Level of Burden and Health-Related Quality of Life in Caregivers of Palliative Care Patients.

The complexity of palliative care means that the emotional distress and burden that primary family caregivers suffer under can be particularly high. The objective of this study was to determine the level of burden endured by these primary family caregivers and to identify the variables that predict it in the caregiving relatives of people who require home-based palliative care. A descriptive-correlational cross-sectional study was conducted. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected from caregivers through a self-administered questionnaire that included questions from the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS), Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS). A total of 77 caregivers participated; 66.2% were women, and the mean age was 61.5 years. Most (62.3%) were providing care to cancer patients. From among these data, the presence of anxiety as a clinical problem (48.1%), a high average fatigue score (FAS) of 23.0 (SD = 8.5), and the prevalence of intense overload (41.6%) stood out. We found statistically significant correlations between the variables of burden, fatigue, post-traumatic growth, anxiety, and depression, with the latter two being the main predictive variables of burden. In addition, caregiver burden was associated with a worsening of health. Identifying the factors that influence the appearance of overburden will allow the specific needs of careers to be assessed in order to offer them emotional support within the healthcare environment.

Handover of Patients From Prehospital Emergency Services to Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Analysis Based on Experiences of Nurses.

BACKGROUND: During the transfer of patients, both ambulance and hospital emergency service professionals need to exchange necessary, precise, and complete information for an effective handover. Some factors threaten a quality handover such as excessive caseload, patients with multiple comorbidities, limited past medical history, and frequent interruptions. PURPOSE: To explore the viewpoint of nurses on their experience of patient handovers, describing the essential aspects of the process and areas for improvement, and establishing standardized elements for an effective handover. METHODS: A qualitative research method was used. RESULTS: Nurses identified the need to standardize the patient transfer process by a written record to support the verbal handover and to transmit patient information adequately, in a timely manner, and in a space free of interruptions, in order to increase patient safety. CONCLUSIONS: An organized method does not exist. The quality of handovers could be enhanced by improvements in communication and standardizing the process.

Adjusted linguistic validation and psychometric properties of the Colombian version of KIDSCREEN-52.

In health and clinical studies, health-related quality of life is often assessed using the well-established KIDSCREEN-52 questionnaires as well as the Vécu et Santé Perçue de l'Adolescent (VSP-A). The purpose of this study was twofold: to perform an adjusted linguistic validation of the Colombian version of the KIDSCREEN-52 and to assess its psychometric properties in children and adolescents. A total of 146 children and adolescents completed the KIDSCREEN-52, adolescents ( n = 48) additionally completed the VSP-A. Psychometric analyses focused on the internal consistency as well as the convergent and discriminant validity of the KIDSCREEN-52 Colombian version. Syntactic and semantic modifications were made to 19 items in the adapted version of the KIDSCREEN-52. Cronbach's α ranged from .74 to .89 for eight dimensions, while α < .70 was obtained for self-perception and social acceptance. We found evidence of good convergent validity with the VSP-A dimensions. Regarding known-groups validity, children aged between 8 and 10=years, male, with a high socioeconomic level and no chronic health condition obtained higher scores compared to the other categories. The developed Colombian version of the KIDSCREEN-52 showed acceptable reliability and validity. This study provides a cultural adaptation of the Spanish version of the KIDSCREEN-52 for Colombian children and adolescents.

Reliability and validity of shortened state trait anxiety inventory in Spanish patients receiving mechanical ventilation.

BACKGROUND: In order to measure anxiety in physically and cognitively debilitated patients, such as patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation, the use of reliable and valid instruments is recommended; however, these instruments should be short. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the reliability and validity of a short version of the state subscale from the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, developed by Chlan and colleagues and translated into Spanish (STAI-E6), in patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation. METHODS: An instrumental study was conducted of 80 patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit at the Hospital of Alicante (Spain). The patients completed the 6-item STAI-E6 scale. Before the patients completed the scale, the interviewers indicated their impression of each patient's level of anxiety by using a linear scale. Internal consistency, construct validity, and convergent validity of the scale were analyzed. RESULTS: The scale did not present a floor/ceiling effect, the Cronbach α was 0.79, and the single-factor structure of the original scale was maintained. Scores on the scale correlated positively with the subjective assessment of the health professional. Significant differences were found only between anxiety level and duration of intubation. CONCLUSIONS: The 6-item version of the state subscale from the STAI-E6 shows satisfactory reliability and validity for Spanish patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation.

Content validity of the short version of the subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).

The goal was to describe the content validity of a short version of the state subscale of Spielberger's "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)", based on the original version adapted to Spanish, in Spanish patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). The sample consisted of 16 patients receiving IMV at the Alicante Hospital (Spain), who selected the items from the full Spanish version of the STAI-state that were most relevant to them. Items 1, 5, 9, 10, 12 and 20 from the original scale are the most relevant for the Spanish patients receiving IMV and 5 of these are included in the short version of the scale (83.3% agreement). The short scale has shown adequate content validity for Spanish patients receiving IMV.

Content validity of the short version of the subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) / Validade de conteúdo de versão resumida da subescala do Inventário de Ansiedade Traço-Estado (IDATE) / Validez de contenido de versión corta de la subescala del Cuestionario State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)

The goal was to describe the content validity of a short version of the state subscale of Spielberger's "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)", based on the original version adapted to Spanish, in Spanish patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). The sample consisted of 16 patients receiving IMV at the Alicante Hospital (Spain), who selected the items from the full Spanish version of the STAI-state that were most relevant to them. Items 1, 5, 9, 10, 12 and 20 from the original scale are the most relevant for the Spanish patients receiving IMV and 5 of these are included in the short version of the scale (83.3 percent agreement). The short scale has shown adequate content validity for Spanish patients receiving IMV.

Teve-se como objetivo descrever a validade de conteúdo de uma versão resumida da subescala estado do State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) de Spielberger, a partir da versão original adaptada ao espanhol, em pacientes espanhóis, sob ventilação mecânica invasiva (VMI). A amostra foi composta por 16 pacientes, sob VMI, no hospital de Alicante, Espanha, que selecionaram os itens da versão espanhola completa do Idate-estado de maior relevância para eles. Os itens nº1, 5, 9, 10, 12 e 20 da escala original são os mais relevantes para os pacientes espanhóis sob VMI, e 5 deles estão incluídos na versão resumida da escala (83,3 por cento de concordância). A escala resumida mostrou adequada validade de conteúdo para pacientes espanhóis sob VMI.

Se tuvo por objetivo describir la validez de contenido de una versión corta de la subescala Estado del State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) de Spielberger, a partir de la versión original adaptada al español, en pacientes españoles con ventilación mecánica invasora (VMI). La muestra fue integrada por 16 pacientes con VMI en el hospital de Alicante (España), que seleccionaron los ítems de la versión española completa del STAI-estado de mayor relevancia para ellos. Los ítems nº: 1,5,9,10,12 y 20 de la escala original son los más relevantes para los pacientes españoles con VMI; siendo que 5 de ellos están incluidos en la versión corta de la escala (83.3 por ciento de acuerdo). La escala corta ha demostrado una adecuada validez de contenido para pacientes españoles con VMI.

Fiabilidad y validez de una versión corta de la escala de medida de la ansiedad STAI en pacientes respiratorios / Reliability and Validity of a Short Version of the STAI Anxiety Measurement Scale in Respiratory Patients

Antecedentes: Existe comorbilidad entre enfermedad respiratoria y ansiedad. Para medir la ansiedad enpacientes hospitalizados es necesario usar cuestionarios fiables, válidos, y preferiblemente, cortos.Objetivo: Analizar la fiabilidad y validez de una versión corta de la escala de medida de la ansiedad STAIen pacientes respiratorios.Pacientes y método: Se seleccionó una muestra no probabilística y no consecutiva de 103 pacientescon enfermedad respiratoria ingresados en la planta de neumología entre febrero de 2009 y febrero de2010. Se administraron dos cuestionarios: la adaptación espa˜nola de la subescala estado del Cuestionariode Ansiedad Estado-Rasgo (STAI) y una versión corta del mismo instrumento de 7 ítems. También serecogieron variables sociodemográficas y clínicas de los pacientes. Se analizó la consistencia interna y lavalidez convergente y de constructo de la escala cortaResultados: La escala corta no tiene efecto techo/suelo, el -Cronbach es aceptable (0,89), correlacionapositivamente con la escala original (r = 0,90; p = 0,01) y mantiene la estructura factorial de esta última(mitad de ítems de ansiedad presente y la otra mitad de ansiedad ausente).Conclusiones: La versión corta del STAI estado muestra buenas propiedades métricas en pacientes respiratorioshospitalizados(AU)

Background: There is comorbidity between respiratory disease and anxiety. In order to measure theanxiety of hospitalized patients it is necessary to use reliable and valid, andpreferably short questionnaires.Objective: To analyze the reliability and validity of a shortened version of the state subscale of the“State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)” in respiratory patients.Patients and methods: A total of 103 respiratory patients admitted to the respiratory ward betweenFebruary of 2009 and February of 2010 were non-consecutively selected. They answered two questionnaires:the Spanish version of the STAI-state and a short version consisting of 7 items. Sociodemographicand clinical variables of the patients were also obtained. The internal consistency, and convergent andconstruct validity of the short scale were analyzed.Results: The short scale did not have floor/ceiling effect, the -Cronbach was acceptable (0.89), andcorrelated positively (r = 0.90; P = .01) and also maintained the factorial structure of the original scale(half anxiety-present items and half anxiety-absent items).Conclusions: The short version of the state subscale of the STAI has showed good metric properties inhospitalized respiratory patients(AU)

Reliability and validity of a short version of the STAI anxiety measurement scale in respiratory patients.

BACKGROUND: There is comorbidity between respiratory disease and anxiety. In order to measure the anxiety of hospitalized patients it is necessary to use reliable and valid, and preferably short questionnaires. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the reliability and validity of a shortened version of the state subscale of the "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)" in respiratory patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 103 respiratory patients admitted to the respiratory ward between February of 2009 and February of 2010 were non-consecutively selected. They answered two questionnaires: the Spanish version of the STAI-state and a short version consisting of 7 items. Sociodemographic and clinical variables of the patients were also obtained. The internal consistency, and convergent and construct validity of the short scale were analyzed. RESULTS: The short scale did not have floor/ceiling effect, the α-Cronbach was acceptable (0.89), and correlated positively (r = 0.90; P = .01) and also maintained the factorial structure of the original scale (half anxiety-present items and half anxiety-absent items). CONCLUSIONS: The short version of the state subscale of the STAI has showed good metric properties in hospitalized respiratory patients.

Scales for evaluating self-perceived anxiety levels in patients admitted to intensive care units: a review.

OBJECTIVE: To review studies of anxiety in critically ill patients admitted to an intensive care unit to describe the level of anxiety and synthesize the psychometric properties of the instruments used to measure anxiety. METHODS: The CUIDEN, IME, ISOC, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PSYCINFO databases for 1995 to 2005 were searched. The search focused on 3 concepts: anxiety, intensive care, and mechanical ventilation for the English-language databases and ansiedad, cuidados intensivos, and ventilación mecánica for the Spanish-language databases. Information was extracted from 18 selected articles on the level of anxiety experienced by patients and the psychometric properties of the instruments used to measure anxiety. RESULTS: Moderate levels of anxiety were reported. Levels were higher in women than in men, and higher in patients undergoing positive pressure ventilation regardless of sex. Most multi-item instruments had high coefficients of internal consistency. The reliability of instruments with only a single item was not demonstrated, even though the instruments had moderate-to-high correlations with other measurements. CONCLUSION: Midlength scales, such the anxiety subscale of the Brief Symptom Inventory or the shortened state version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory are best for measuring anxiety in critical care patients.

Análisis de los registros de enfermería del Hospital General Universitario de Alicante y pautas para mejorar su cumplimentación / Analysis of nursing registers of the General University Hospital of Alicante and recommendations for improvement

Objetivo. Conocer el estado actual de los registros de la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos (UCI) del Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, comparar los resultados con los de un estudio similar realizado en 1995 en la misma UCI, y realizar un análisis más profundo del contenido valorando otros aspectos. Confiamos que los resultados obtenidos permitan elaborar recomendaciones para mejorar los registros. Método. Se analizaron 190 registros extraídos al azar entre octubre y diciembre de 2002. Se realizó un análisis de contenido y se vació la información en distintas categorías, determinando el grado de acuerdo entre calificadores. Algunas variables se relacionan con la antigüedad profesional del firmante. Resultados. Alto porcentaje de relevos escritos; la mayoría de referencias son de tipo biomédico, relacionan el problema detectado con la actividad realizada y describen actividades interdependientes; no se formulan diagnósticos de enfermería. Conclusiones. La mayoría de los resultados está en la línea de otros trabajos de investigación publicados, pero algunos aspectos no habían sido estudiados hasta el momento

Objetive. To analyze the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nursing registers of the General University Hospital of Alicante, to compare the results with those of a similar study performed in 1995 in the same ICU and to analyze the contents in greater depth and taking other features into account. The results obtained could serve as the basis for recommendations to improve these registers. Method. We analyzed 190 registers randomly selected between October and December 2002. The contents were analyzed, information was classified into various categories and the degree of agreement between categories was determined. Some variables were related to the years of service of the signatory. Results. There was a high percentage of written intershift reports; most of the events recorded were biomedical, the problem detected was related to the activity performed and interdependent activities were described; nursing diagnoses were not used. Conclusions. Most of the results of the present study are in line with those of other published studies. However, some features had not previously been studied