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BACKGROUND: Mentoring programmes in health research are beneficial for both mentors and mentees and are essential for the development of the next generation of research leaders. This study describes the self-assessment of research skills in health professionals participating in a research mentoring programme and determines the correlation between the participants' self-assessment of research skills and professional characteristics. METHOD: This was a quasi-experimental, time-series study conducted in a Brazilian tertiary hospital. Thirty-five health professionals holding a master's or PhD degree were included. The participants answered a survey in which they self-assessed their research skills distributed into eight domains, with one group responding before training and another group responding after training. The level of significance was set at 5% (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Those who received training scored better in research skills related to two domains: critical analysis of the literature and identification of appropriate research methods (p = 0.0245). CONCLUSION: Trained professionals performed better in the domains of critical thinking and knowledge and management of steps in the research process.
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Introduction: The Karnofsky Performance Status Scale is a relevant functional evaluation instrument that can be used to determine which patients should be followed by multidisciplinary palliative care teams. Objective: To analyze the clinical outcomes of patients with performance status lower than 70%, according to the Karnofsky Scale, who received care from a palliative care team compared to those who did not receive care from a palliative care team. Methods: In this retrospective cohort, follow-up of cancer patients by the palliative care team for 10 days was considered the exposure factor, while the dependent variable was patient survival. Data were extracted from medical records and descriptive and survival curve analyses were conducted. Results: Among 581 participants in the sample, 42.5% had metastasis, and the most prevalent medical diagnosis was gastrointestinal cancer (29.1%). Fifty-one (8.7%) were followed by the palliative care team. The mortality rate during the 10 days in the sample was 10.8%, and the rate was higher (15.7%) among patients followed by the palliative care team. Conclusion: Patients with a performance status below 70% who were followed by the palliative care team had poorer clinical conditions and a shorter survival than those who were not followed up by the team.
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Introduction: L'échelle de l'indice fonctionnel de Karnofsky (Karnofsky Performance Status Scale) est un instrument d'évaluation pertinent et fonctionnel qui sert à déterminer quelles personnes devraient être suivies par des équipes multidisciplinaires de soins palliatifs. Objectif: Analyser les résultats cliniques de patients, suivis par une équipe de soins palliatifs, dont l'indice fonctionnel de Karnofsky est inférieur à 70 %, et les comparer aux résultats de personnes n'ayant pas bénéficié de ce type de soins. Méthodologie: Dans la présente étude de cohorte rétrospective, le suivi pendant 10 jours des patients par l'équipe de soins palliatifs constituait le facteur d'exposition et la survie, la variable dépendante. Des données ont été extraites des dossiers médicaux afin de réaliser des statistiques descriptives et des analyses des courbes de survie. Résultats: Parmi les 581 participants de l'échantillon, 42,5 % avaient des métastases. Le cancer gastro-intestinal était le diagnostic plus prévalent (29,1 %). Du groupe, 51 participants (8,7 %) étaient suivis par l'équipe de soins palliatifs. Le taux de mortalité pendant les 10 jours de suivi s'élevait à 10,8 %; il était plus élevé encore (15,7 %) chez les patients suivis par l'équipe de soins palliatifs. Conclusion: Les patients ayant un indice fonctionnel inférieur à 70 % qui étaient suivis par l'équipe de soins palliatifs présentaient un piètre état clinique et une période de survie plus réduite comparativement aux autres patients.