Browsing by Author "Slaets, J"
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- A brief diagnostic screening instrument for mental disturbances in general medical wardsPublication . Fink, P; Ørnbøl, E; Huyse, F; Jonge, P; Lobo, A; Herzog, T; Slaets, J; Arolt, V; Cardoso, G; Rigatelli, M; Hansen, MOBJECTIVE: Mental illness is prevalent among general hospital ward patients but often goes unrecognised. The aim of this study was to validate the SCL-8d as a brief questionnaire for mental disturbances for use in general hospitals. METHODS: The study included 2040 patients, 18 years or older, consecutively admitted to 11 general internal medicine wards in seven European countries. All patients were screened on admission by means of the SCL-8d questionnaire. The psychometric performance (i.e., the internal validity) of the SCL-8d scale was tested using modern item response theory (IRT) in the form of the Rasch model. RESULTS: Differences between sample characteristics were considerable. Even so, the SCL-8d scale showed a remarkable, statistically significant fit in terms of internal homogeneity (P>.01) in all individual settings, except in Spain and Germany where the item "Everything is an effort" had to be excluded to obtain a fit. When pooling data from all centres, an excellent statistical significance of fit (P>.05) was obtained by exclusion of the "Effort" item. The scale was homogeneous as to gender (P>.05), but not age as it performed better among young patients than among patients older than 60 years (P<.01). In these two patient groups both internal and external homogeneity (gender, median age) was achieved. The SCL-8d sum score showed a marked correlation with current and previous treatment for mental illness. CONCLUSION: Apart from the "Effort" item ranking differently on the latent severity dimension as to age, the SCL-8d seems very robust from a psychometric point of view. Besides being short, the SCL-8d scale contains only emotional symptoms. It would therefore seem to be an excellent diagnostic tool for use in medical settings.
- Care complexity in the general hospital: results from a European studyPublication . de Jonge, P; Huyse, F; Lobo, A; Slaets, J; Herzog, T; Lyons, J; Opmeer, B; Stein, B; Arolt, V; Balogh, N; Cardoso, GThere is increasing pressure to effectively treat patients with complex care needs from the moment of admission to the general hospital. In this study, the authors developed a measurement strategy for hospital-based care complexity. The authors' four-factor model describes the interrelations between complexity indicators, highlighting differences between length of stay (LOS), objective complexity (such as medications or consultations), complexity ratings by the nurse, and complexity ratings by the doctor. Their findings illustrate limitations in the use of LOS as a sole indicator for care complexity. The authors show how objective and subjective complexity indicators can be used for early and valid detection of patients needing interdisciplinary care.
- COMPRI--an instrument to detect patients with complex care needs: results from a European studyPublication . Huyse, F; Jongue, P; Slaets, J; Lobo, A; Herzog, T; Lyons, J; Opmeer, B; Stein, B; Arolt, V; Cardoso, GThe authors developed a screening instrument to detect patients in need of complex care coordination at admission to a general hospital. On the basis of a series of risk factors for care complexity, the authors constructed a short, care complexity prediction instrument (COMPRI) and assessed its qualities. The COMPRI is an easily administered screening instrument that detects patients at risk for complex care needs for whom care coordination is indicated. COMPRI's predictive power exceeds all currently available case-mix instruments
- Risk factors for complex care needs in general medical inpatients: results from a European studyPublication . de Jonge, P; Huyse, F; Herzog, T; Lobo, A; Slaets, J; Lyons, J; Opmeer, B; Stein, B; Arolt, V; Balogh, N; Cardoso, GThe authors linked admission risk factors to a series of indicators for complex care delivery to enable detection of patients in need of care coordination at the moment of admission to the general hospital. The authors found 13 risk factors to be predictive of more than one indicator of care complexity. An admission risk screening procedure to detect patients in need of care coordination should focus on these risk factors and should include predictions made by doctors and nurses at admission and information collected from the patient and the medical chart