Preliminary testing of a proposition from the Roy Adaptation Model.
OBJECTIVE: To test a framework based on a proposition of the Roy Adaptation Model predicting the relationships of severity of illness, perceived control over visitation (PCV), hardiness, state anxiety, and length of stay in an intensive care unit (ICU). DESIGN: Descriptive-correlational. POPULATION, SAMPLE, SETTING: Convenience sample was 60 general medical-surgical ICU patients admitted to one regional medical center in the Southeastern U.S.A. Patients completed data collection instruments after a minimum of 20 hours in the ICU during January-March 1994. METHODS: Instruments included the PCV Scale, the State Anxiety Inventory, the Health Related Hardiness Scale, and the Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation II. Model testing and path analysis were done. FINDINGS: The study variables explained 18% of the variance in length of stay in the ICU, with anxiety and hardiness being the major contributing variables. The path between hardiness and PCV was the only path in the model supported by the data. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed model had inadequate support in this preliminary testing. However, interventions that increase a patient's feelings of control and hardiness could decrease length of stay in ICU's.