Nursing diagnoses in elderly residents of a nursing home: a case in Turkey

There are limited studies on nursing diagnoses of the elderly living in nursing homes worldwide. This study aimed to define the most frequent nursing diagnoses in the elderly residents of a nursing home elder care and rehabilitation center. Seventy-four elderly individuals were included in the study. Data were collected using the “Elderly Individual’s Introduction Form” between April 2007 to August 2007. The content of the form was based on a guide to gerontologic assessment, and Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns. The nursing diagnoses (NANDA-I Taxonomy II) were identified by the 2 researchers separately according to the defining characteristics and the risk factors. The consistency between the nursing diagnoses defined by the 2 researchers was evaluated using Cohen’s kappa (κ). There was an 84.7% agreement about nursing diagnoses defined by the 2 researchers separately. The weighted kappa consistency analyses showed there was an adequate level of consistency (κ = 0.710), and the findings were significant (p < 0.0001). The most frequent diagnoses were ineffective role performance (86.5%), ineffective health maintenance (81.2%), risk for falls (77%), and impaired physical mobility (73%). The diagnosis of ineffective role performance was more frequent in patients with dementia (x² =10.993, df = 1, p = 0.001). There was a very significant relationship between dementia and the diagnosis of impaired verbal communication (x² = 32.718, df = 1, p = 0.0001). The relationship between mobility disorder and self-care deficit was also significant (x² = 19.411, df = 1, p = 0.0001). To improve quality in patient care, nurses should use nursing diagnoses with a systematic assessment and should help the elderly in health promotion or use of the maximum current potential.     

Periodontal treatment needs of patients with renal disease receiving haemodialysis

AIM/OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to perform periodontal assessment, using the CPITN index, on patients undergoing renal dialysis. METHODS: The periodontal conditions of 342 subjects undergoing renal dialysis from eight renal dialysis centres were examined using CPITN. Subjects were distributed into four age groups, 16-19, 20-34, 35-44 and > or =45 years. The study was conducted during a 6-month period. All clinical examinations were performed by one examiner. RESULTS: There was a significant positive relationship between the CPITN scores and age (r=0.164, p=0.002) and dialysis duration (r = 0.240, p=0.000). There was no statistically significant difference between male and female patients (p>0.05). None of the age groups had healthy sextants. The 35-44 year-age group had a higher number of sextants with deep pockets (0.19) than the other age groups and edentulous sextants were the highest among the oldest age group (1.89). CONCLUSION: A very small portion of the renal dialysis population is affected by severe forms of periodontitis requiring complex periodontal treatment. However, all such patients should be given oral hygiene education as a priority.     

Lexical effects and lexical properties associated with National Adult Reading Test (NART) stimuli in healthy young adults and healthy elderly adults

Fifty healthy younger adults and 45 healthy elderly adults performed a speeded lexical decision task (LDT). Stimuli consisted of 57 National Adult Reading Test (NART) words (the NART consists of “irregular” words that violate standard spelling-to-sound correspondence rules) and 57 pronounceable pseudowords (e.g., blant). Both groups displayed statistically equivalent lexicality (PW-W) effects, and error rates were lower in elderly adults. With groups equated on vocabulary ability, lexicality effects remained the same and error rates did not differ across either group. Correlational analyses confirmed the role played by word frequency and word familiarity in latencies to NART stimuli. Results are discussed regarding the importance of obtaining speeded latency measures for age-related word recognition comparisons. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 54: 577–584, 1998.     

Multicenter retrospective analysis regarding the clinical manifestations and treatment results in patients with hairy cell leukemia: twenty‐four year Turkish experience in cladribine therapy

In this multicenter retrospective analysis, we aimed to present clinical, laboratory and treatment results of 94 patients with Hairy cell leukemia diagnosed in 13 centers between 1990 and 2014. Sixty‐six of the patients were males and 28 were females, with a median age of 55. Splenomegaly was present in 93.5% of cases at diagnosis. The laboratory findings that came into prominence were pancytopenia with grade 3 bone marrow fibrosis. Most of the patients with an indication for treatment were treated with cladribine as first‐line treatment. Total and complete response of cladribine was 97.3% and 80.7%. The relapse rate after cladribine was 16.6%, and treatment related mortality was 2.5%. Most preferred therapy (95%) was again cladribine at second‐line, and third line with CR rate of 68.4% and 66.6%, respectively. The 28‐month median OS was 91.7% in all patients and 25‐month median OS 96% for patients who were given cladribine as first‐line therapy. In conclusion, the first multicenter retrospective Turkish study where patients with HCL were followed up for a long period has revealed demographic characteristics of patients with HCL, and confirmed that cladribine treatment might be safe and effective in a relatively large series of the Turkish study population. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effectiveness of training supervisors to improve reproductive health quality of care: a cluster-randomized trial in Kenya

Health facility supervisors are in a position to increase motivation, manage resources, facilitate communication, increase accountability and conduct outreach. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a training intervention for on-site, in-charge reproductive health supervisors in Kenya using an experimental design with pre- and post-test measures in 60 health facilities. Cost information and data from supervisors, providers, clients and facilities were collected. Regression models with the generalized estimating equation approach were used to test differences between study groups and over time, accounting for clustering and matching. Total accounting costs per person trained were calculated. The intervention resulted in significant improvements in quality of care at the supervisor, provider and client-provider interaction levels. Indicators of improvements in the facility environment and client satisfaction were not apparent. The costs of delivering the supervision training intervention totalled US$2113 per supervisor trained. In making decisions about whether to expand the intervention, the costs of this intervention should be compared with other interventions designed to improve quality.