Biomaterial Database

Quantifying nursing needs in home health care. 1983

S Ballard, and R McNamara

A study was conducted to determine what factors were most predictive of the quantity of nursing service and total agency service required by cardiac and cancer patients in home-care agencies. A retrospective record review on 397 patients in 9 randomly selected Connecticut home-care agencies collected demographic data on referral and payment source, support system, discharge status, primary care provider, and health status, as well as total number of professional and nonprofessional visits and length of stay. The Health Status Score, which measured deficits in daily activities and nursing problems, proved to be the best predictor. The ability of the Health Status Score to predict the need for total agency visits was particularly strong for cancer patients. The agency variable was a significant predictor of resource utilization, especially for cardiac patients. A significant limitation of the study was the inconsistency among the agencies regarding closure of records. Future research into resource use in home care depends on consistent and complete recording practices across agencies.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009369	Neoplasms	New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.	Benign Neoplasm,Cancer,Malignant Neoplasm,Tumor,Tumors,Benign Neoplasms,Malignancy,Malignant Neoplasms,Neoplasia,Neoplasm,Neoplasms, Benign,Cancers,Malignancies,Neoplasias,Neoplasm, Benign,Neoplasm, Malignant,Neoplasms, Malignant
D009730	Nursing Assessment	Evaluation of the nature and extent of nursing problems presented by a patient for the purpose of patient care planning.	Nursing Protocols,Assessment, Nursing,Protocols, Nursing,Assessments, Nursing,Nursing Assessments,Nursing Protocol,Protocol, Nursing
D009739	Nursing Services	A general concept referring to the organization and administration of nursing activities.	Services, Nursing,Nursing Service,Service, Nursing
D012044	Regression Analysis	Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.	Regression Diagnostics,Statistical Regression,Analysis, Regression,Analyses, Regression,Diagnostics, Regression,Regression Analyses,Regression, Statistical,Regressions, Statistical,Statistical Regressions
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005260	Female		Females