A cross- sectional survey of health professionals across Australia and New Zealand to determine what outcome measures are important from a clinical perspective post hand burn injury

Author(s):  
Andrea Mc Kittrick ◽  
Louise Gustafsson

Abstract Outcome measures are used in healthcare to evaluate clinical practice, measure efficiencies and to determine the quality of health care provided. The Burns Trauma Rehabilitation: Allied Health Practice Guidelines advocates for the collection of outcome measures post burn injuries across different time points. These guidelines recommend multiple tools which can be utilised when measuring outcomes post burn injuries. The aim of this study was to gather information from specialist clinicians regarding their clinical practice and the outcome measurement tools used post hand burn injuries. This cross-sectional study used a survey design to collect data at one given point in time across a sample population. A total of 43 clinical specialists allied health professionals responded to the survey. Respondents indicated that their patients considered hand dexterity was the most important outcome. Three months post burn injury was the most common timepoint for measurement (n= 31, 72.1%) followed by six months (n=27, 62.8%). Patient report of hand function (n=42, 97.7%) and observation (n=41, 95.3%) were the most frequently reported assessment methods. The Jamar Dynamometer (n=40, 93%), goniometer (n=39, 90.7%) and pinch gauge (n=36, 83.7) were the most frequency cited assessment tools. The findings of this study suggest that clinical specialist allied health collect some outcome measures in their routine practice. Based on the respondent’s perceptions of barriers when using outcome measures and lack of reliable/ validated tools to measure hand burn outcomes, there is a need for further studies in this area.

Healthcare ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deidre D. Morgan ◽  
Deb Rawlings ◽  
Carly J. Moores ◽  
Lizzie Button ◽  
Jennifer J. Tieman

CareSearch is an Australian Government Department of Health funded repository of evidence-based palliative care information and resources. The CareSearch Allied Health Hub was developed in 2013 to support all allied health professionals working with palliative care clients in all clinical settings. This cross-sectional online survey sought to elicit allied health professionals palliative care experiences and subsequent considerations for educational and clinical practice needs. The survey was disseminated nationally via a range of organisations. Data was collected about palliative care knowledge, experience working with palliative care clients and professional development needs. Data were evaluated by profession, experience and practice setting. In total, 217 respondents answered one or more survey questions (94%). Respondents (65%) reported seeing >15 palliative care clients per month with 84% seen in hospital and community settings. Undergraduate education underprepared or partially prepared allied health professionals to work with these clients (96%) and 67% identified the need for further education. Access to postgraduate professional development was limited by available backfill and funding. Study findings support the importance of free, accessible, relevant educational and professional development resources to support clinical practice. This is particularly relevant for allied health professionals who have limited opportunities to attend formal professional development sessions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 314-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Gaunaurd ◽  
Susan E Spaulding ◽  
Dagmar Amtmann ◽  
Rana Salem ◽  
Robert Gailey ◽  
...  

Background: Outcome measures can be used in prosthetic practices to evaluate interventions, inform decision making, monitor progress, document outcomes, and justify services. Strategies to enhance prosthetists’ ability to use outcome measures are needed to facilitate their adoption in routine practice. Objective: To assess prosthetists’ use of outcome measures and evaluate the effects of training on their confidence in administering performance-based measures. Study design: Cross-sectional and single-group pretest–posttest survey. Methods: Seventy-nine certified prosthetists (mean of 16.0 years of clinical experience) were surveyed about their experiences with 20 standardized outcome measures. Prosthetists were formally trained by the investigators to administer the Timed Up and Go and Amputee Mobility Predictor. Prosthetists’ confidence in administering the Timed Up and Go and Amputee Mobility Predictor was measured before and after training. Results: The majority of prosthetists (62%) were classified as non-routine outcome measure users. Confidence administering the Timed Up and Go and Amputee Mobility Predictor prior to training was low-to-moderate across the study sample. Training significantly (p < 0.0001) improved prosthetists’ confidence in administering both instruments. Conclusion: Prosthetists in this study reported limited use of and confidence with standardized outcome measures. Interactive training resulted in a statistically significant increase of prosthetists’ confidence in administering the Timed Up and Go and Amputee Mobility Predictor and may facilitate use of outcome measures in clinical practice. Clinical relevance Frequency of outcome measure use in the care of persons with limb loss has not been studied. Study results suggest that prosthetists may not regularly use standardized outcome measures and report limited confidence in administering them. Training enhances confidence and may encourage use of outcome measures in clinical practice.


Author(s):  
Olga Vyacheslavovna Zhukova ◽  
Ekaterina Sergeevna Nekaeva ◽  
Elena Sergeevna Khoroshavina ◽  
Ekaterina Alexeevna Kozlova ◽  
Yulia Alexandrovna Dudukina ◽  
...  

Objective: to conduct pharmacoepidemiological analysis and analysis of the costs of pharmacotherapy, taking into account the actual consumption of drugs in the real inpatient clinical practice at the federal center in Russia. Materials and methods. Data from the medical records of 14 patients with burn injury, who were hospitalized in 2018, was analyzed. Patients’ age was from 23 to 67 years (44,93 ± 14,66). Duration of hospitalization was from 17 to 62 days (35,93 ± 14,17). We calculated rate of prescription foe each drug and its share in general structure of all utilized drug courses (n = 460). We performed frequency analysis of prescription structure, DDD (defined daily doses) analysis, DU90% (Drug Utilization 90%) analysis, ABC-analysis and analysis of average cost of pharmacotherapy. Results. Most frequently used drugs, prescribed in 75-100% of all hospital cases, included 15 names, e.g. 2 antimicrobial drugs (vancomycin and amikacin), 19 were used commonly, including 4 antimicrobial drugs (co-trimoxazole, cefoperazone/sulbactam, tigecyclin and cefepime). Other drugs were used in less than 25% of cases. 33 drugs made 90% of all consumed NDDD, including 5 antimicrobial drugs (vancomycin, amikacin, co-trimoxazole, cefoperazone/sulbactam and tigecyclin). These drugs comprised 70,24% in the prescription structure. The cost of one DDD in DU90% segments (512,33 rubles) is 1,4 higher than in DU10% segment (649,34 rubles). Average cost of drugs included in DU90% group was 4735,89 rubles vs 4966,80 rubles for drugs from DU10% group. This finding shows positive tendency of burn injuries pharmacological treatment. Conclusion. We obtained the data, which can be used for comparison of real clinical practice costs with a current payment rates for medical care.


Author(s):  
Kayhan Gurbuz ◽  
Mete Demir ◽  
Koray Das

Abstract The study was designed on whether YouTube videos are useful as an information resource in the field of burn injury prevention and management. Current literature on the educational content and quality of burn-related first aid videos on YouTube was reported as inadequate and inaccurate. However, the quality of YouTube videos on various medical and clinical topics has been the subject of many previous studies, and there has been increasing evidence that the content ratio of usefulness was higher than that of non-useful. While hours and even minutes in burn injuries are as precious as gold in terms of outcomes, it would be a significant loss not to use the most popular and easily accessible free social media platform of our time as a tool that can contribute to the prevention of burns and raise awareness. Analysis was conducted with the remaining 96 videos from 240 videos obtained from YouTube, according to possible search terms and exclusion of videos according to predetermined criteria. The Global Quality Score (GQS) and modified DISCERN (m.DISCERN) tools were used to assess the quality and reliability of the videos. Viewer engagement metrics and video properties were also investigated according to the usefulness criteria (e.g., video length, duration on YouTube, topic contents, source uploads, reliability, and quality). Finally, it was revealed that nearly 80 percent of the YouTube videos contained information in the field of the prevention and management of burn injuries deemed useful in this study, comparable to the other medical disciplines' reports in the literature.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Mubashir Siddiqui

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The havoc caused by COVID-19 leads to have an adverse impact on medical priorities for consultation however e-consultation has been used widely by practitioners to aid the patient and healthcare providers. METHODOLOGY A cross-sectional survey was conducted on allied health professionals, considering physical and occupational therapists. A self-administered questionnaire regarding impact assessment and level of attained satisfaction was distributed to participants in Google Docs via email or Whatsapp groups. RESULTS A total number of 109 responses obtained from the participants showed (34.9%) were agreed to understand the completed condition of the patient, (38.5%) but (41.3%) disagreed to treat the patient same as physical appointment and (35.58%) disagreed to work more productively. Only (32.1%) were agreed to be satisfied during their consultation, (49.5%) agreed that e-consultation can never be adopted as a good substitute of physical appointments. CONCLUSION It was concluded that limited number of therapists were satisfied with their e-consultation services while majority were agreed that the service cannot be a good substitute for a physical appointment. Therefore, further trials needs to be conducted to evaluate the factors causing hindrance in healthcare delivery.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Tropeano ◽  
Domenico Corica ◽  
Alessandra Li Pomi ◽  
Giorgia Pepe ◽  
Letteria Anna Morabito ◽  
...  

Objective: Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardio-metabolic risk factors associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In the last two decades, several definitions of metabolic syndrome have been proposed for the pediatric population; all of them agree on the defining components but differ in the suggested criteria for diagnosis. This review aims to analyze the current diagnostic criteria of metabolic syndrome in pediatrics with a reference to their feasibility and reliability in clinical practice. Methods: The systemic research was conducted from January 2003 to June 2020 through MEDLINE via PubMed, Cochrane Library and EMBASE databases. Results: After the selection phase, a total of 15 studies (182 screened) met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and hence they were reported in the present review. Twelve studies were cross-sectional, 2 were longitudinal and 1 was a consensus report. The sample population consisted of multiethnic group or single ethnic group including Turkish, European, Asian and Hispanic subjects. Conclusions: To date, there is not a univocal, internationally accepted pediatric definition of metabolic syndrome, which guarantees a high sensitivity and stability of the diagnosis. The definition proposed by IDF results the most straightforward and easy to use in clinical practice, having the unquestionable advantage of requiring measurements quickly accessible in clinical practice, without the adoption of multiple reference tables. Further research is needed to validate a new version of such definition which includes the diagnostic cut-off points recently suggested by published guidelines.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 398-401
Author(s):  
Abdulkadir Basaran ◽  
Ozer Ozlu

Abstract Occupational burns are among the important causes of work-related injuries. We aimed to investigate the epidemiology and reasons of occupational burns and thereby to emphasize preventive measures. Between January 2017 and December 2018, the data of major occupational burn injury patients admitted to our burn center were evaluated in this cross-sectional retrospective study. During the study period 342 patients older than 16 years were admitted to the burn center. Among them 80 patients with occupational burns (23.4%) were identified. The mean age of the patients was 34.73 ± 12.3 years. Seventy-eight patients (97.5%) were male. Electrical burns and flame burns were the two leading type of occupational burns. The most common occupation of our patients was construction work. Dangerous behavior, carelessness, lack of protective equipment, and failure to follow instructions were causes of injury. Only 14 patients (17.5%) experienced unavoidable accident. Thirty-seven patients (46.3%) worked on temporary basis. Occupational experience was under 5 years in majority of the cases (62.5%). For the occupational burns the percentage of burned TBSA was 17.08 ± 14.5 (1–60) and the length of hospital stay was 23.94 ± 21.9 days (2–106). There were no significant differences between occupational and nonoccupational burn injuries considering TBSA, total length of hospital stay, and complications (P &gt; .05). Occupational burn injuries are common in less experienced and younger workers. Therefore, recognition of the problem and maintaining awareness is important. In order to prevent occupational accidents and burns, occupational health and safety rules must be obeyed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Seth Kwame Agyenkwa ◽  
Cosmos Yarfi ◽  
Adjoa Nkrumah Banson ◽  
Woyram Abla Kofi-Bediako ◽  
Ulric Sena Abonie ◽  
...  

Background. The use of standardized outcome measures is an aspect of good clinical practice and essential to the rehabilitation of patients suffering from stroke. Literature reports regarding the extent of usage of outcome measures in stroke rehabilitation by physiotherapists globally are inconsistent. In addition, the patronage of outcome measures in stroke rehabilitation in low-resourced countries is uncertain. Objective. This study was conducted to assess the current practice of physiotherapists in Ghana regarding the use of standardized outcome measures in the rehabilitation of stroke patients. Method. A descriptive cross-sectional survey, was used involving 105 registered physiotherapists in Ghana. A 35-item adapted questionnaire was used to collect data on some commonly used outcome measures and frequency of use by physiotherapists for stroke patients. Results. A total of 55 (52.4%) physiotherapists did not use outcome measures in their clinical practice. Physiotherapists below 40 years of age use outcome measures (64.7%) more than those 41 years and above (6.7%). Physiotherapists working in public facilities in Ghana are more likely to use outcome measures (56.2%) than those in private facilities (16.2%). Physiotherapists who attend to 1-10 patients in a week used outcome measures more (32.4%) than physiotherapists who attend to more than 30 patients (3.8%) in a week. Conclusion. There is poor usage of outcome measures by Ghanaian physiotherapists, with more than half of the participants not using any standardized outcome measures for rehabilitation of patients in their practice. Physiotherapists who attends to fewer number of patients in a week are more likely to use outcome measures. There is the need for implementation of policy and guidelines on the use of outcome measures by the Allied Health Professions Council and the Ghana Physiotherapy Association.


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