Biomedical subjects

Miel W Ribbe

Publications and source records attributed to Miel W Ribbe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

QUALIDEM: development and evaluation of a dementia specific quality of life instrument--validation.

OBJECTIVE: To validate the QUALIDEM, a quality of life measure for people with dementia within residential settings rated by professional caregivers. METHOD: In a sample of 202 residents of nursing homes Spearman rank correlations were calculated between the QUALIDEM subscales aand indices of convergent validity and discriminant validity, with dementia severity and need of care, with global QOL scores by the head nurse and family, and with self-report on COOP/WONCA Charts. RESULTS: The one-method multi-trait matrix showed 90.5% of the correlations to be in support for convergent and discriminant validity. Low to moderate correlations were observed with dementia severity and need of care, confirming that QOL is not merely disease severity. Support for concurrent validity was found in correlations with QOL ratings by the head nurse. The QUALIDEM did not correlate with most of the family ratings or with the COOP/WONCA Charts. CONCLUSION: The results of this validation study together with the obtained content validity through the method of construction provide sufficient support for validity of the QUALIDEM to be used for care evaluation and research in residential settings.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2007

QUALIDEM: development and evaluation of a dementia specific quality of life instrument. Scalability, reliability and internal structure.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a Quality of Life questionnaire rated by professionals that can be used for people with dementia in different stages of the disease, living in residential settings. METHOD: Development was performed in two phases: item generation and pilot testing, and a field survey to evaluate the psychometric properties. For unidimensionality we used a non-parametric model from item response theory: the Mokken scaling model, and computed the corresponding scalability coefficients, using a theory driven strategy. RESULTS: The pilot survey resulted in a list of 49 items. The field survey was performed in a sample of 238 people with dementia residing in ten nursing homes. The scalability of the subscales positive affect, negative affect, restless tense behavior, and social relations is strong (0.50 < H < 0.63); for care relationship, positive self image, feeling at home, and having something to do, scalability was moderate (0.40 < H < 0.49), and for social isolation it was weak (H = 0.34). The reliability coefficient Rho (under assumption of double monotonicity) varied from 0.60 for social isolation to 0.90 for positive affect (Cronbach's alpha varied from 0.59 to 0.89). Twenty-one of 40 items are suited for people with very severe dementia. CONCLUSION: The QUALIDEM is an easy to administer and sufficiently reliable rating scale that provides a QOL profile of persons with dementia in residential settings. The QUALIDEM can be used for evaluation as well as for research and practice innovation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Predictors of mortality for lower respiratory infections in nursing home residents with dementia were validated transnationally.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Generalizability of clinical predictors for mortality from lower respiratory infection (LRI) in nursing home residents has not been assessed for residents with dementia. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: In prospective cohort studies of LRI in 61 nursing homes in the Netherlands (n = 541) and 36 nursing homes in Missouri, USA (n = 564), we examined 14-day and 1- and 3-month mortality in residents with dementia who were treated with antibiotics. RESULTS: A logistic model predicting 14-day mortality derived from Dutch data included eating dependency, elevated pulse, decreased alertness, respiratory difficulty, insufficient fluid intake, high respiratory rate, male gender, and pressure sores. After adjusting coefficients with the heuristic shrinkage factor, the 14-day model showed good discrimination and calibration in both datasets. The apparent c-statistic for the original Dutch model was 0.80 (after correction for optimism, it was 0.75); the c-statistic was 0.74 in the U.S. validation population. The models predicting 1- and 3-month mortality showed moderate performance. A scoring system for estimating 14-day mortality performed equally well as the original model. CONCLUSION: We identified a set of credible clinical predictors that are easily assessed and demonstrated validity in identifying residents at low risk of dying from LRI across different nursing home populations. This tool should inform decision-making for families and doctors.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Predictors of survival in nursing home patients with severe dementia in whom artificial nutrition and hydration are [corrected] forgone.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the characteristics of patients in whom artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) is forgone, duration of survival after the decision and factors that are associated with duration of survival. METHODS: Observational study based on written questionnaires in 32 Dutch nursing homes. Of 178 nursing home patients with dementia, their treating nursing home physician (NHP) filled in a questionnaire directly after the decision was made to forgo ANH. The maximum follow-up was 6 weeks. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to determine predictors of survival. RESULTS: Decisions to forgo ANH in Dutch nursing homes were made most often in patients with severe dementia who also had an acute illness. More than half the patients (59%) died within 1 week after the decision. Patients with dyspnea and/or apathy were more likely to die during follow-up than patients without these symptoms. Patients who were considered more severely ill by the NHP were more likely to die than those who were considered less severely ill. The presence of restlessness indicated a higher chance of survival. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical judgment of the NHP of the severity of illness appeared to be a strong predictor of patient survival. NHPs should not rely solely on their clinical judgment concerning survival, but they should also consider the presence or absence of dyspnea, apathy and restlessness.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2006

Defining severe dementia with the Minimum Data Set.

BACKGROUND: Accurately defining severe dementia is important for care and prognosis, but is not explicitly included in the Minimum Data Set (MDS). OBJECTIVE: To define severe dementia using the MDS, we used data for nursing home residents with moderate to severe dementia. METHODS: Two cross-sectional studies enrolled 175 residents; 89 residents from one US Veterans Affairs nursing home, and 86 residents from nine Dutch nursing homes. Measurements included the Cognitive Performance Scale (CPS; range: 0-6), activities of daily living (ADL) dependency, and the Bedford Alzheimer Nursing Severity-Scale (BANS-S; range: 7-28), a staging instrument specific for severe dementia. RESULTS: Half of the residents received CPS scores of 5, and their BANS-S scores varied widely. There was fair agreement (kappa=0.36) between severe cognitive impairment as defined by the CPS (scores 5 and 6) and the BANS-S (score 17 or higher). Addition of an ADL dependency requirement to the CPS definition improved agreement (kappa=0.75). The observed patterns were similar but more obvious for US residents than for Dutch residents. CONCLUSION: Cognitively impaired residents comprise a heterogeneous group with a wide variety of function. Restriction with respect to ADL dependency allows for distinction between moderate and severe dementia. We propose the following MDS-based definition of severe dementia: a CPS score of 5 or 6 with a minimum score of at least 10 points on the MDS ADL-Short Form.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2006

Predicted survival vs. actual survival in terminally ill noncancer patients in Dutch nursing homes.

Studies on the prediction of survival have mainly focused on hospital and hospice patients suffering from cancer. The aim of this study was to describe the predicted vs. the actual survival in terminally ill, mainly noncancer patients in Dutch nursing homes (NHs). A prospective cohort study was conducted in 16 NHs representative for The Netherlands. A total of 515 NH patients with a maximum life expectancy of 6 weeks, as assessed by an NH physician, were included. NH physicians were accurate in more than 90% of their prognoses for terminally ill--mainly noncancer--NH patients, when death occurred within 7 days. For a longer period of time, their predictions became inaccurate. In the category of patients who were expected to die within 8-21 days, predictions were accurate in 16.0%, and in the category of patients expected to die within 22-42 days, this was 13.0%. Predictions in these categories were mainly optimistic (patient died earlier) in 68.6% and 52.2%, respectively. The findings of this study suggest that accurate prediction of survival of (mainly) noncancer patients in NHs is only possible when death is imminent and seems to be dependent on an intimate knowledge of patients. Prognostication over a longer period of time tends to be less accurate, and, therefore, continues to be a challenging task for NH physicians.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Incidence and outcome of depressive symptoms in nursing home patients in the Netherlands.

OBJECTIVES: To assess incidence and outcome of depressive symptoms among nursing home (NH) patients and to identify clinical characteristics predicting onset and persistence of depressive symptoms. METHODS: Depressive symptoms (GDS>10) and relevant correlates were assessed at baseline and at follow-up (6 months) in 350 NH-patients of 14 Dutch NH's with the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Predictors of onset and persistence were studied using chi-square statistics and multiple logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms decreased from 41.3% to 28.9% during six months follow-up. The onset of depressive symptoms in those without depressive symptoms at baseline was 4.7%, while the rate of persistence was 63.3%. Persistence of depressive symptoms was more frequent in patients with higher GDS-scores (18-30) at baseline. No baseline characteristics were associated with onset of depressive symptoms. Persistence of depressive symptoms was only associated with more years of education. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-admission factors and transition may largely be responsible for depressive symptoms among nursing home patients. The observed substantial decrease in prevalence of depressive symptoms over six months is largely due to remission of depressive symptoms present at baseline. Adaptation of nursing home patients to pre-admission factors, facilitated by the nursing home environment, may explain this observed decrease of depressive symptoms. Future studies should evaluate interventions targeted at patients with higher GDS-scores (18-30).

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Nursing assistants' behaviour during morning care: effects of the implementation of snoezelen, integrated in 24-hour dementia care.

AIM: This paper reports an investigation of the effects of the implementation of snoezelen, or multisensory stimulation, on the quality of nursing assistants' behaviour during morning care. BACKGROUND: Nursing assistants in long-term dementia care are often unaware of the impact of their behaviour on patient functioning. Snoezelen is a psychosocial intervention that might improve the quality of caregiver behaviour by combining a person-centred approach with the integration of sensory stimuli. METHODS: A quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design was implemented in 12 wards for older mentally infirm patients at six nursing homes. The experimental group intervention was a 4-day in-house 'snoezelen' training, stimulus preference screening and supervision meetings. The control group received usual nursing home care. The effectiveness of the intervention was studied by analysing 250 video recordings, which were assessed by independent observers using a 4-point measurement scale developed for this study and based on Kitwood's Dialectical Framework. RESULTS: The results showed a statistically significant increase in 'Positive Person Work' and decrease in 'Malignant Social Psychology' (total scores) after the implementation of snoezelen. Nursing assistants in the experimental group also improved by statistically significant amounts on all subitems of 'Positive Person Work'. The mean number of sensory stimuli, offered explicitly, increased. CONCLUSION: The implementation of snoezelen succeeded in effecting a change to a more person-centred approach during morning care. The results indicate that nursing assistants' behaviour can be positively changed provided that the new care model has been successfully implemented.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

The last two days of life of nursing home patients--a nationwide study on causes of death and burdensome symptoms in The Netherlands.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify the direct causes of death and to evaluate the presence of burdensome symptoms in the last two days of life of terminally ill nursing home (NH) patients. METHODS: Prospective study of patients with a maximum life-expectancy of six weeks in 16 nursing homes representative for The Netherlands (n = 463). Symptoms were measured after death in conscious patients with the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) and the Resident Assessment Instrument Minimum Data-Set Palliative Care (RAI MDS-PC draft 1.8). Direct causes of death were assessed in all patients. RESULTS: Most patients died from pneumonia, renal failure or dehydration. Loss of consciousness was common. The prevalence of burdensome symptom(s) at 48 and 24 hours before death was 51.3 and 28.4%, respectively. CONCLUSION: In practice, it appears that, for many patients, the last days of life are spent unconscious or conscious with one or more burdensome symptom(s), which suggests the potential for improvement of symptom management.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Attitudes of physicians, nurses and relatives towards end-of-life decisions concerning nursing home patients with dementia.

OBJECTIVE: For many nursing home patients in the advanced stages of dementia, a decision to start or forgo treatment has to be taken at the end of their life. It is very important for the peace of mind of all involved in such decision-making that there is agreement on which decision is in the best interest of the patient. It is thus important to investigate the attitude of physicians, nurses and relatives towards medical end-of-life decisions concerning patients with dementia, so that the policy in nursing homes can be tuned to stimulate dialogue and understanding between all parties. METHODS: Fifteen statements about artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH), advance directives, hastening death, self-determination and euthanasia, and nursing home policy were presented to physicians, nurses and relatives of nursing home patients suffering from dementia. RESULTS: In general, physicians, nurses and relatives agree on many aspects of end-of-life decision-making for nursing home patients with dementia. However, on some issues the outcomes of the decision-making may differ. Relatives attach more importance to advance directives than physicians, and have more permissive attitudes towards hastening death. CONCLUSION: Although physicians, nurses and relatives are all guided by the best interest of the patient, it seems that differences in religious beliefs, perspective of the patient, and responsibility can lead to different attitudes towards end-of-life decisions. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Physicians should discuss end-of-life decisions more openly. Physicians should be aware of the influences on attitudes and incorporate them into communication about end-of-life decisions.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Symptoms, signs, problems, and diseases of terminally ill nursing home patients: a nationwide observational study in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: Nursing homes (NHs) are less well studied than hospices or hospitals as a setting for terminal care. For more targeted palliative care, more information is needed about the patient characteristics, symptoms, direct causes and underlying diseases, and incidence of terminally ill NH patients. These aspects are examined in this study. METHODS: Prospective observational cohort study in 16 NHs representative of the Netherlands. All long-term care patients assessed by an NH physician to have a life expectancy of 6 weeks or less were enrolled in our study. RESULTS: The terminal disease phase was marked with symptoms of low fluid and food intake, general weakness, and respiratory problems or dyspnea. Direct causes of these conditions were diseases of the respiratory system (mainly pneumonia) and general disorders (eg, cachexia). The 2 main underlying diseases of the terminal phase were mental and behavioral disorders and diseases of the circulatory system. Cancer was the underlying disease in only 12% of the patients. Patients with cancer showed a different pattern of symptoms than those without cancer. Per 100 beds per year, 34 NH patients entered the terminal phase. Most patients (82.9%) died within 7 days of inclusion. CONCLUSIONS: For patients without cancer in Dutch NHs, the terminal disease phase is difficult to predict, and once diagnosed, patient survival time is short. A better identification of the symptom burden might improve the prognostication of life expectancy in elderly patients.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

A review of quality of life instruments used in dementia.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of QOL measures applicable for research in dementia, the scale content, method of data collection, and their psychometric properties. METHOD: Literature research. RESULTS: Six dementia-specific QOL measures were identified, eight generic measures were used in a demented population, and three dementia-specific measures related to QOL are described as well. Measures vary considerably in scale content, and method of data collection. Reliability indexes were always available, support of instrument validity was often reported, but reports of responsiveness to change were found only for two dementia-specific QOL measures. CONCLUSION: When the interest is primarily on people with dementia, a dementia-specific instrument is to be preferred. Further clarification of the concept of QOL and particularly its relation to disease severity is required.

Caregivers↗

PubMed2005

Effects of snoezelen, integrated in 24 h dementia care, on nurse-patient communication during morning care.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of snoezelen, integrated in 24-hour care, on the communication of Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) and demented nursing home residents during morning care. METHODS: A quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design was conducted, comparing sic psychogeriatric wards, that implemented snoezelen, to six control wards, that continued in giving usual care. Measurements were performed at baseline and 18 months after a training 'snoezelen for caregivers'. Independent assessors analysed 250 video-recordings directly from the computer, using an adapted version of the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) and non-verbal measurements. RESULTS: Trained CNAs showed a significant increase of resident-directed gaze, affective touch and smiling. The total number of verbal utterances also increased (more social conversation, agreement, talking about sensory stimuli, information and autonomy). Regarding residents, a significant treatment effect was found for smiling, CNA-directed gaze, negative verbal behaviours (less disapproval and anger) and verbal expressed autonomy. CONCLUSION: The implementation of snoezelen improved the actual communication during morning care. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Teaching CNAs to provide snoezelen has added value for the quality of care. Morning care by trained CNAs appeared to take more time. This suggests that (some) time investment might be required to achieve positive effects on CNA- resident communication.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

The concept of quality of life in dementia in the different stages of the disease.

In order to conceptually define quality of life (QOL) in dementia, the literature on QOL in the elderly population, in chronic disease and in dementia was studied. Dementia is a progressive, age-related, chronic condition and to avoid omissions within the dementia-specific concept of QOL, a broad orientation was the preferred approach in this literature study. Adaptation is a major outcome in studies investigating interventions aimed at improving QOL in chronic conditions, but to date, it has not been used in the definition of QOL. It is argued that adaptation is an important indication of QOL in people with chronic diseases and therefore also in dementia. Some crucial issues in assessing dementia-related QOL that are relevant to clarify the continuing debate on whether QOL, particularly in dementia, can be measured at all, are discussed. Then the following conceptual definition is offered: dementia-specific QOL is the multidimensional evaluation of the person-environment system of the individual, in terms of adaptation to the perceived consequences of the dementia.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

The effects of the implementation of snoezelen on the quality of working life in psychogeriatric care.

BACKGROUND: Dementia among nursing home residents is often accompanied by high care dependency and behavioral disturbances, resulting in an increased workload for the caregivers. Snoezelen, integrated into 24-hour dementia care, is an approach that might improve the quality of working life of dementia caregivers. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of integrated snoezelen on work-related outcomes (workload and psychological outcomes) of caregivers in psychogeriatric nursing homes. METHODS: A quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design was used, comparing six psychogeriatric wards that implemented snoezelen in 24-hour care to six control wards that continued giving usual care. One hundred and twenty-nine Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) were included in the pre-test and 127 CNAs in the post-test. The six intervention wards received a 4-day in-house training program. The intervention further consisted of implementation activities on the ward (e.g. stimulus preference screening, workgroup), three in-house follow-up meetings and two general meetings. Measurements on workload, perceived problems, stress reactions, job satisfaction and burnout were performed at baseline and after 18 months. RESULTS: A significant treatment effect in favor of the experimental group was found for time pressure, perceived problems, stress reactions and emotional exhaustion. CNAs of the experimental group also improved on their overall job satisfaction score. In particular, they were more satisfied with the quality of care and with their contact with residents. CONCLUSION: The implementation of snoezelen improved the quality of the working life of dementia caregivers.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Behavioral and mood effects of snoezelen integrated into 24-hour dementia care.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effectiveness of snoezelen, integrated in 24-hour daily care, on the behavior and mood of demented nursing home residents. DESIGN: Quasiexperimental pre- and posttest design. SETTING: Twelve psychogeriatric wards of six nursing homes, spread over different parts of the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred twenty-five patients with moderate to severe dementia and care dependency were included in the pretest and 128 in the posttest; 61 were completers (included in both pre- and posttest). INTERVENTION: Experimental subjects received an individual 24-hour snoezel program, based on family history taking and stimulus preference screening. Caregivers were trained, and (organizational) adaptations were made to fulfill the conditions for resident-oriented snoezel care. The control group received usual nursing home care. MEASUREMENTS: Observations were made on the wards using subscales of the Dutch Behavior Observation Scale for Psychogeriatric Inpatients, the Dutch version of the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory, and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. Independent assessors observed video recordings of morning care and rated residents' behavior and mood using INTERACT and FACE, respectively. RESULTS: Residents receiving snoezel care demonstrated a significant treatment effect with respect to their level of apathetic behavior, loss of decorum, rebellious behavior, aggressive behavior, and depression. During morning care, the experimental subjects showed significant changes in well-being (mood, happiness, enjoyment, sadness) and adaptive behavior (responding to speaking, relating to caregiver, normal-length sentences). CONCLUSION: Snoezel care particularly seems to have a positive effect on disturbing and withdrawn behavior. The results suggest that a 24-hour integrated snoezel program has a generalizing effect on the mood and behavior of demented residents.

Affect↗

PubMed2005

Comorbidity and 1-year mortality risks in nursing home residents.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of chronic diseases and disease combinations on 1-year mortality in nursing home residents. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using electronically submitted Minimum Data Set (MDS) information and Missouri death certificate data. SETTING: Five hundred twenty-two nursing homes in Missouri. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-three thousand five hundred ten nursing home residents with a full MDS assessment in 1999. MEASUREMENTS: Information about chronic diseases, age, sex, and performance in activities of daily living (ADLs) available from the first full MDS 2.0 assessment in 1999; death within 1 year after the first full MDS-assessment in 1999. RESULTS: After adjustment for age and sex, eight variables were predictive for 1-year mortality: seven chronic diseases (dementia, cancer, heart failure, renal failure, emphysema/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, and anemia) and an interaction variable containing age and cancer. Adding terms for disease combinations (e.g., diabetes mellitus and heart failure) did not enhance survival prediction. When there was also adjustment for ADL performance as measured using the MDS-ADL Short Form, dementia and anemia were not included, because they had no prognostic value above that of the other variables. CONCLUSION: Several chronic diseases were associated with 1-year mortality in the institutionalized elderly after adjustment for ADL performance, age, and sex. Evidence of a synergistic effect of disease combinations on mortality is lacking.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

The last days of life of nursing home patients with and without dementia assessed with the palliative care outcome scale.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to assess the Palliative care Outcome Scale (POS) for terminally ill nursing home (NH) patients in the Netherlands. METHODS: A prospective observational study of patients with a life-expectancy of six weeks or less in 16 Dutch NHs. NH staff rated the patient characteristics and measured palliative care with the POS, including items on physical, psychosocial, informational, spiritual and practical aspects. RESULTS: POS nonscores (not applicable; unknown) were mainly found in the psychosocial and spiritual domains, particularly in patients with dementia. Mean scores for non-demented patients and patients with dementia were favourable for the majority of the POS items. CONCLUSION: According to the NH staff, fairly good quality care was provided, but the psychosocial and spiritual aspects of care need to be addressed more in the last days of the dying NH patient's life. The results indicate that the POS is an appropriate instrument to assess not only cancer patients, but also non-cancer and (moderately) severely demented patients.

Aged↗