Prevalence and Related Factors of Ineffective Self-Health Management in Polymedicated Patients Over the Age of 65 Years

Ineffective health management in people with hypertension: Accuracy study

PURPOSE

To analyze the accuracy of the clinical indicators of the nursing diagnosis Ineffective Health Management in people with hypertension.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study. The ineffective health management was investigated in 120 people with hypertension in a referral public outpatient clinic in Brazil between August and November 2020. The accuracy measures were analyzed using Rasch analysis, considering the difficulty of clinical indicator and person's ability.

RESULTS

Ineffective health management is probably present in 37.5% of people with hypertension. 'Failure to include treatment regimen in daily living' was the clinical indicator with the highest sensitivity value, and 'failure to take action to reduce risk factor' had the highest specificity value.

CONCLUSIONS

Rasch analysis demonstrated that all clinical indicators contribute significantly to estimating the presence of ineffective health management in people with hypertension in the outpatient scenario.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

This research contributes by providing accurate clinical indicators of ineffective health management, helping nurses prescribe and deliver the appropriate nursing interventions for people with hypertension by telenursing.

Ineffective health management in people with type 2 diabetes

PURPOSE

To analyze the Nursing Diagnosis Ineffective Health Management in people with type 2 diabetes.

METHODS

Cross-sectional correlational study conducted with 112 patients from August 2018 to April 2019 in a primary healthcare facility, Ceará, Brazil. Used a structured interview and a form created by the authors specifically for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the data analysis.

FINDINGS

The Nursing Diagnosis Ineffective Health Management was present in 63.4% of the patients. The defining characteristics with the highest prevalence were difficulty with prescribed regimen (61.6%) and failure to include a treatment regimen in daily living (60.7%). The following significant associations were found: gender and failure to take action to reduce risk factors (P = 0.003), medication and difficulty with prescribed regimen (P = 0.003), and high blood pressure and ineffective choices in daily living for meeting health goals (P = 0.005). The following defining characteristics were associated with the presence of Ineffective Health Management: difficulty with prescribed regimen (P = 0.001), failure to take action to reduce risk factors (P = 0.008), ineffective choices in daily living for meeting health goals (P = 0.001), and failure to include the treatment regimen in daily living (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The Nursing Diagnosis Ineffective Health Management had a high prevalence in the sample. Its defining characteristics are associated with the nursing diagnosis itself and with sociodemographic and clinical variables.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Ineffective Health Management should be considered a priority for developing and implementing nursing care for people with type 2 diabetes, especially in primary health care settings.

Medicine self-administration errors in the older adult population: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Medicine self-administration errors (MSEs) are a longstanding issue in patient safety. Although many studies have examined MSEs in the general adult population, the MSEs that occur specifically in the older adult population and their contributing factors are not well understood.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the types of MSEs and their contributing factors among community-dwelling older adults.

METHODS

PubMed, Medline, Embase, CINAHL and Scopus were searched for primary studies published between January 1, 2014 and June 12, 2020. Studies which reported MSEs among community-dwelling older adults (≥50 years of age) and written in English were included in the review.

RESULTS

Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. The most commonly reported MSE was a dosing error, followed by missed dose, wrong medicine, incorrect administration methods, wrong administration time and wrong frequency. Seven of the included studies also described factors which contributed to the occurrence of MSEs. The most commonly reported factor contributing to MSEs was complex treatment regimens due to use of multiple medicines. Other factors identified included cognitive decline, decline in physical abilities, lack of social support, lack of knowledge about treatment regimens and negative attitudes and beliefs towards medicines. In most cases, MSEs occurred when multiple contributing factors were present.

CONCLUSION

The literature highlights a number of types of MSEs and their contributing factors which occur in the older adult population. Given that many MSEs are preventable, future research is needed into how pharmacists can support the identification and mitigation of factors contributing to MSEs in the older adult population.