scholarly journals Communication behavior of cognitively impaired older inpatients

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (S4) ◽  
pp. 264-272
Author(s):  
Eva-Luisa Schnabel ◽  
Hans-Werner Wahl ◽  
Susanne Penger ◽  
Julia Haberstroh

Abstract Background and objective Acutely ill older patients with cognitive impairment represent a major subgroup in acute care hospitals. In this context, communication plays a crucial role for patients’ well-being, healthcare decisions, and medical outcomes. As validated measures are lacking, we tested the psychometric properties of an observational instrument to assess Communication Behavior in Dementia (CODEM) in the acute care hospital setting. As a novel feature, we were also able to incorporate linguistic and social-contextual measures. Material and methods Data were drawn from a cross-sectional mixed methods study that focused on the occurrence of elderspeak during care interactions in two German acute care hospitals. A total of 43 acutely ill older patients with severe cognitive impairment (CI group, Mage ± SD = 83.6 ± 5.7 years) and 50 without cognitive impairment (CU group, Mage ± SD = 82.1 ± 6.3 years) were observed by trained research assistants during a standardized interview situation and rated afterwards by use of CODEM. Results Factor analysis supported the expected two-factor solution for the CI group, i.e., a verbal content and a nonverbal relationship aspect. Findings of the current study indicated sound psychometric properties of the CODEM instrument including internal consistency, convergent, divergent, and criterion validity. Conclusion CODEM represents a reliable and valid tool to examine the communication behavior of older patients with CI in the acute care hospital setting. Thus, CODEM might serve as an important instrument for researcher and healthcare professionals to describe and improve communication patterns in this environment.

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 670-670
Author(s):  
C. McNally ◽  
K. Khow ◽  
P. Shibu ◽  
S. Liberali ◽  
R. Adams ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Jonathan Plante ◽  
Karine Latulippe ◽  
Edeltraut Kröger ◽  
Dominique Giroux ◽  
Martine Marcotte ◽  
...  

Abstract Older persons experiencing a longer length of stay (LOS) or delayed discharge (DD) may see a decline in their health and well-being, generating significant costs. This review aimed to identify evidence on the impact of cognitive impairment (CI) on acute care hospital LOS/DD. A scoping review of studies examining the association between CI and LOS/DD was performed. We searched six databases; two reviewers independently screened references until November 2019. A narrative synthesis was used to answer the research question; 58 studies were included of which 33 found a positive association between CI and LOS or DD, 8 studies had mixed results, 3 found an inverse relationship, and 14 showed an indirect link between CI-related syndromes and LOS/DD. Thus, cognitive impairment seemed to be frequently associated with increased LOS/DD. Future research should consider CI together with other risks for LOS/DD and also focus on explaining the association between the two.


Author(s):  
Mª José Calero-García ◽  
Alfonso J. Cruz Lendínez

The first objective of this research is to establish and study how the different stages of cognitive impairment and the levels of dependence evolve in patients over 65 years of age, admitted to an acute care hospital, as well as the relationship between these factors and the different social and demographical variables. The results show that the level of dependence decreases suddenly at the time of admission and undergoes a slight recovery at the time of discharge. Although this recovery continues at home after discharge, patients do not get the same level of independence that they used to have before admission. In addition, significant differences in terms of age, marital status and education level were found. In general, our results show that elderly men over 80 years of age, without no education and widowers are more likely to suffer from severe cognitive impairment and be more functionally dependent when admitted to hospital.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Weldingh ◽  
Marte Mellingsæter ◽  
Bendik Hegna ◽  
Jūratė Šaltytė Benth ◽  
Gunnar Einvik ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Frail older persons with cognitive impairment (CI) are at special risk of experiencing delirium during acute hospitalisation. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a dementia-friendly hospital program contributes to improved detection and management of patients with CI and risk of delirium at an acute-care hospital in Norway. Furthermore, we aimed to explore whether the program affected the prevalence of delirium, pharmacological treatment, 30-day re-hospitalisation, 30-day mortality and institutionalisation afterwards. Methods This study had a non-equivalent control group design and a historical control group. It was conducted at two different medical wards at a large acute-care hospital in Norway from September 2018 to December 2019. A total of 423 acute hospitalised patients 75 years of age or older were included in the study. Delirium screening and cognitive tests were recorded by research staff with the Four Assessment Test (4AT) and the Confusion Assessment Measure (CAM), while demographic and medical information was recorded from patient journals. Results Implementation of the dementia-friendly hospital program did not show any significant effect on the identification of patients with CI. However, the proportion of the patients with CI who received preventive measures increased by 32.2% (P < .001), compared to the control group. The share of patients screened with 4AT within 24 hours increased from 0–35.5% (P < .001). Furthermore, the number of patients with CI who were prescribed antipsychotic/hypnotic medications was reduced by 24.5% (P < .001). There were no differences in delirium, 30-day readmission or 30-day mortality. Conclusions Implementation of a model for early screening and multifactorial nonpharmacological interventions for patients with CI and delirium using quality improvement methodology may improve management of this patient group, increase staff awareness of family involvement, and reduce prescriptions of antipsychotics, hypnotics and sedatives. Trial registration: The protocol of this study was retrospectively registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System with the registration number: NCT04737733 and date of registration: 03/02/2021.


2006 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Milisen ◽  
Courtney W. Brown ◽  
Sabina De Geest

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 13-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Voyer ◽  
Martin G. Cole ◽  
Jane McCusker ◽  
Éric Belzile

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