Impaired chair-to-bed transfer ability leads to longer hospital stays among elderly patients

BACKGROUND: The study objectives were to identify the main predictive factors for long hospital stays and to propose new and improved methods of risk assessment. METHODS: This prospective cohort study was conducted in the clinics and surgical wards of a tertiary hospital and involved 523 elderly patients over 60 years of age. Demographic, clinical, functional, and cognitive characteristics assessed between 48 and 72 h after admission were analyzed to investigate correlations with lengths of stay greater than 10 days. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed, and in the final model, long-term probability scores were estimated for each variable. RESULTS: Of the 523 patients studied, 33 (6.3%) remained hospitalized for more than 10 days. Multiple regression analysis revealed that both the presence of diabetes and the inability to perform chair-to-bed transfers (Barthel Index) remained significant risk predictors. Diabetes doubled the risk of prolonged hospital stays, while a chair-to-bed transfer score of 0 or 5 led to an eight-fold increase in risk. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we propose an easy method that can be used, after external validation, to screen for long-term risk (using diabetes and bed/chair transfer) as a first step in identifying hospitalized elderly patients who will require comprehensive assessment to guide prevention plans and rehabilitation programs

Follow-up of premature children with high risk for growth and development delay: a multiprofessional assessment

Objective: To describe the activities of a multiprofessional outpatient clinic performed by neonatologist, physiatrist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, audiologist and psychologist, who evaluated the development of premature newborns. Methods: Twenty children born at a tertiary-care hospital (São Paulo, Brazil), between April 2006 and April 2007, with birth weight below 1250 g or less than 32 weeks of gestation, were evaluated. The multiprofessional evaluation included assessment of development using the Bayley III scale, at the corrected age of 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months. Results: The mean gestation age at birth was 28.8 weeks; mean birth weight was 1055 g. The mean maternal age was 35 years and the mean length of stay of neonates was 46.3 days. Fifteen percent of children presented impaired sensory motor skills, 20% had hearing abnormalities and 10% motor alterations. Bayley III showed alterations in the communication area in 10% of subjects and in the motor area in 10% of individuals. The parents were oriented to stimulate the child or a specific intervention was suggested. The major development delay was observed between 6 and 18 months of age and the development was improved at 24 months of age. Conclusions: Most children evaluated had improved growth and development at 24 corrected-age months. Further studies with a larger sample are recommended, as well as the possibility to follow this population group up till the primary school