Does how the patient feels matter? A prospective observational study of the outcome of acutely ill medical patients who feel their condition has improved on their first re-assessment after admission to hospital.
QJM
; 110(9): 545-549, 2017 Sep 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28402554
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Although asking how a patient feels is the first enquiry most clinicians make the value of the answer has never been examined in acutely ill patients.METHODS:
Prospective observational study that compared the predictive value of how well acutely ill medical patients felt after admission to a resource poor sub-Saharan hospital with their mental alertness, mobility and vital signs.RESULTS:
In total, 403 patients were studied. Patients who felt better when re-assessed 18.0 SD 9.1 h after admission to hospital were less likely to die in hospital (OR 0.18 95% CI 0.08-0.43, P = 0.00001) and more likely to be independent of others at discharge (OR 5.64 95% CI 3.04-10.47, P = 0.00001). Feeling better was an independent predictor of in-hospital death along with vital sign changes and gait stability, and an independent predictor of independence at discharge along with vital sign changes, gait stability and female gender.CONCLUSION:
In this patient cohort a subjective feeling of improvement at the first re-assessment after admission to hospital is a powerful independent predictor of reduced in-hospital mortality.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Convalescence
/
Diagnostic Self Evaluation
/
Hospitalization
/
Locomotion
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Aspects:
Patient_preference
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
En
Journal:
QJM
Journal subject:
MEDICINA
Year:
2017
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Uganda