Evaluación de la calidad asistencial y posterior ajuste a la nueva situación tras el implante de un desfibrilador en pacientes ingresados en la Unidad Coronaria del Hospital Virgen Macarena (Sevilla)

[Care quality in intensive care evaluated by the patients using a service quality scale (SERVQUAL)]

INTRODUCTION

The evaluation made by the patients on the quality of service received is important to introduce improvement strategies in the care quality.

OBJECTIVES

1. To evaluate the care quality through the analysis of the differences obtained between expectations and perceptions, that the patients have of the service received in the ICU. 2. To analyze if there is any relationship between care quality evaluated by the patients and the sociodemographic variables.

METHOD

A total of 86 patients who were conscious and oriented during their stay in the ICU were studied prospectively. At 24h of the discharge from the ICU, the SERVQUAL (Service Quality) scale, adapted for the hospital setting by Babakus and Mangold (1992), was applied. This scale measures the care quality based on the difference in scores obtained between expectations and perceptions of the patients. The positive scores indicate that the perceptions of the patients exceed their expectations. The scale has 5 dimensions: Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurances and Empathy. It includes 15 items for perceptions and the same for expectations, with 5 grades of response (1 totally disagree - 5 totally agree).

RESULTS

The mean score of perceptions 66.92) exceeded that of the expectations (62.30). The mean score of the difference between perceptions and expectations for the total of the SERVQUAL scale was 4.62. It was also positive for each one of the dimensions: Tangibility=1.44, Reliability=0.53, Responsiveness=0.95, Assurances=0.99, Empathy=0.71. No statistically significant associations were found between care quality evaluated by the patients and the sociodemographic variables.

CONCLUSION

The care quality perceived by the patients in the ICU exceeds their expectations, and had no relationship with the sociodemographic characteristics.

[Quality of life analysis in patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator]

OBJECTIVES

To describe possible changes in the quality of life (QL) and to identify possible differences associated to sociodemographic and clinical variables after being given an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).

METHOD

Descriptive cross-sectional study, selecting 241 consecutive patients for a subcutaneous or subpectoral ICD implantation. One-hundred and fifty-seven patients met inclusion criteria. Introduction letter along with the assessment tool was mailed to them. Assessment tool used was the Euroqol-5D (EQ5D), validated and translated for a Spanish population. EQ5D describes health status in 5 domains: mobility (MO), self-care (SC), usual activity (UA), pain/discomfort (PD) and anxiety/depression (AD). It included a visual analogue scale (VAS) where the endpoints are labelled 'Best imaginable health state' and 'Worst imaginable health state'; one before and another after ICD implantation.

RESULTS

Ninety valid assessments were received: 80 males, mean age 61.2+/-13.1 years. Patients with EQ5D problems: MO 25 (27.7%), SC 8 (8.8%), UA 32 (35.5%), PD 22 (24.4%) and AD 29 (32.2%). Patients with ICD discharges had a higher percentage of problems in all EQ5D domains, being significant in PD and AD. Fifty four patients (60%) experienced a significant improvement in QL after ICD implant using the visual analogue scale score (75 points after vs. 50 points before; P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of ICD patients gain QL after implantation, but this gain is more limited in younger patients and those who have received discharges.