This study retrospectively evaluated patient records from two cardiac rehabilitation (CR) service centers located in large urban hospitals using a Process Evaluation System (PES) recently developed through a collaborative project of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR), Madison, WI, and the Center for Clinical Quality Evaluation (CCQE), Washington, DC. The major aims were to: 1) evaluate the utility of the PES as an audit instrument for assessment of adherence to the 24 quality process criteria that comprised the PES; and 2) determine whether adherence to the PES criteria resulted in different patient outcomes for those cases where intervention need was documented at patient admission. Using the data abstraction manual and audit procedures developed by AACVPR/CCQE, a trained medical technician audited 150 CR records for consecutively treated outpatients who typically received 36 sessions of treatment in either Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, N.C. Heart Institute, Greensboro, NC, or Carolinaà ­s Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, covering a calendar period between 1995-97. The data were pooled from both sites for analyses and included patients with one or more of the following diagnoses: MI (37%), angina (14%), coronary revascularization (76%), and other (18%). The cost of utilizing the PES was assessed by evaluating the technician time required to abstract a patient record and this was observed to improve over the course of the review period, i.e., mean abstraction time for initial versus final 20 records = 13.2 min. and 4.6 min., respectively. Experience with the PES suggested areas where instrument revision should be considered, e.g., the operational guidelines for extracting acceptable markers were not always clear enough or sufficiently flexible to allow determination of adherence of a record to the 24 quality process criteria. Adherence to the PES was determined, case by case, for each of the 24 criteria. In 129 cases (86% of the sample), complete adherence was found, i.e. 100% adherence to all 24 criteria that included indicators of key clinical steps for patient intake, treatment planning, and follow-up. The remaining 21 records (14%) showed adherence to at least 21 of the 24 criteria (87.5%). Given the uniformly high levels of adherence to the PES documented by these two program sites, the data could not resolve the question of whether patient outcome effects were different between cases of high versus low adherence to PES. Nonetheless, outcome data were examined to evaluate achievement levels in four different areas widely considered by clinicians as important to treatment success: blood cholesterol, smoking status, exercise tolerance, and body mass index (BMI). Of the study patients diagnosed with dyslipidemia 12 of 27 (44%) had levels < 200 mg/dl by exit. Seven of 14 documented smokers (50%) reported quitting at exit from treatment. Forty-nine patients of 117 (42%) who initially could only maintain treadmill walking for 10 min. at levels below 4 METs, were able to exceed this level by treatment end. Six of 104 (6%) with BMI values > 24.9 kg/m2 had a documented decrease in this indicator of overweight by treatment end. The threshold levels for outcome criteria used here to describe achievement levels in this data set are somewhat arbitrary. However, the criteria are reflective of the standards typically suggested as meaningful for effective secondary risk reduction in CR programs (Franklin et al., 1996). The PES system was developed to audit the quality of CR process in treatment centers, as standardized by a consensus panel to reflect the content of the evidenced-based CR guideline recently published by the US Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (Cardiac Rehabilitation as Secondary Prevention: #17, 1995). The findings of this study suggest that the content markers of quality process in the PES are relevant and the instrument is efficient to administer. When field tested against two urban centers in North Carolina where state statutes require program certification for CR treatment centers, these centers demonstrated uniformly high adherence to the PES and a pattern of good achievement for several patient outcome measures accepted as relevant to evaluation of treatment success for individual patients. / Master of Science

The high prevalence of back and neck pain results in enormous social, psychological, and economic burden. Most seeking help for back or neck pain consult general practitioners or chiropractors. Chiropractic is a regulated health profession (serving approximately 10 – 15% of the population) that has contributed to the health and well-being of North Americans for over a century. Despite available evidence for optimal management of back and neck pain, poor adherences to guidelines and wide variations in services have been noted. For instance, overuse and misuse of imaging services have been reported in the chiropractic literature. Inappropriate use of spine imaging has a number of potential adverse outcomes, including inefficient and potentially inappropriate invasive diagnosis and subsequent treatment, and unnecessary patient exposure to ionizing radiation. Although evidence-based diagnostic imaging guidelines for spinal disorders are available, chiropractors are divided on whether these guidelines apply to them. While guidelines can encourage practitioners to conform to best practices and lead to improvements in care, reviews have demonstrated that dissemination of guidelines alone is rarely sufficient to optimise care. Evidence regarding effective methods to promote the uptake of guidelines is still lacking. There is growing acceptance that problem analysis and development of interventions to change practice should be guided by relevant theories and tailored to the target audience. To date, very little knowledge translation research has addressed research-practice gaps in chiropractic. This thesis reports rigorous methods to: (1) assess practice and providers’ characteristics, (2) determine baseline rates and variations in spine x-ray ordering, (3) evaluate the impact of disseminating guidelines to optimise spine x-ray ordering, and (4) assess determinants of spine x-ray ordering and potential targets for change prior to the design of a tailored intervention. A mixed method using two disciplinary perspectives (epidemiology and psychology) was undertaken. A cross-sectional analysis of administrative claims data was carried out on a sample of chiropractors enlisted in a large American provider network. Despite available clinical practice guidelines, wide geographical variations in x-ray use persist. Higher x-ray ordering rates were associated with practice location (Midwest and South US census regions), setting (urban, suburban), chiropractic school attended, male provider, employment, and years in practice. The impact of web-based guideline dissemination was evaluated over a five year period using interrupted time series and demonstrated a stepwise relative reduction of 5.3% in the use of x-rays. Passive guidelines dissemination appeared to be a simple, cost effective strategy in this setting to improve but not optimise x-ray ordering rates. Focus groups using the theoretical domains framework were conducted among Canadian and US chiropractors to explore their beliefs about managing back pain without x-rays. Findings were used to develop a theory-based survey to identify theoretical constructs predicting spine x-ray ordering practice. Psychological theories and theoretical constructs explained a significant portion of the variance in both behavioural simulation and intention. Results from this thesis provide an empirically-supported, theoretical basis to design quality improvement strategies to increase guidelines adherence and promote behaviour change in chiropractic. Other researchers interested in improving uptake of evidenced-based information could use this method in their own setting to investigate determinants of behaviour among other professional groups. Future research may use knowledge gained to inform the development and evaluation of a theory-based tailored intervention to improve guideline adherence and reduce the use of spine x-rays among targeted providers.

The objective of the thesis was to evaluate the quality of diabetes care in the Canadian Forces by determining the extent to which physicians adhere to recommendations outlined in the 2008 Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) clinical practice guidelines. In addition, the effect of patient age, sex, rank and size of base on quality of care was assessed and the accuracy of a diagnosis of diabetes in an extract of the electronic medical record (EMR) was evaluated. Fourteen bases within the Canadian Forces were selected for investigation, representing roughly half of the Canadian Forces population. Cases of diabetes were ascertained based on laboratory criteria following a chart review. Twenty-one CDA guideline recommendations were considered. The Canadian Forces demonstrated greater than 75% adherence with each of 9 recommendations, 50-75% adherence with each of 7 recommendations and less than 50% adherence with each of 5 recommendations. The overall adherence with all applicable recommendations per patient was 60.3% (SE 0.66). Age, sex, rank and size of base were not important factors influencing guideline adherence. The sensitivity of a diabetes diagnosis in an extract of the EMR was 84.5%, the specificity was 99.8%, the positive predictive value was 85.1% and the negative predictive value was 99.8%. This is similar to the performance of provincial and national diabetes registries. The quality of diabetes care in the Canadian Forces compared favourably with that of the civilian population within Canada and internationally. The creation of a diabetes registry is expected to lead to further improvements in diabetes care.

O propósito desta pesquisa descritiva foi examinar o conhecimento e a prática de enfermeiros referente à prevenção e tratamento da úlcera de pressão e as fontes utilizadas para obter informação. Após a aprovação pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa, foi solicitado que os enfermeiros de um hospital geral do interior paulista fornecessem os dados demográficos, completassem o teste de conhecimento sobre úlcera de pressão e que identificassem a freqüência de ocorrência de algumas práticas nas situações clínicas referentes à prevenção, ao tratamento e à fonte de informação utilizada. Dos 25 participantes, 96% eram mulheres entre 30 e 40 anos de idade, tendo terminado a graduação em 5 anos ou menos. Somente 8% tinham feito algum curso de especialização. Dos 46 ítens do teste, os enfermeiros responderam corretamente entre 31,1% e 89,1%. O escore mais baixo foi 18 e o mais alto foi 41. O escore médio foi 32,48 (DP 4,7). Nove enfermeiros (36%) responderam corretamente entre 51% a 69,9% dos ítens e 15 (60%) responderam corretamente mais de 70% dos ítens. Considerando os ítens relacionados a avaliação da úlcera, os escores mais baixos foram relacionados a descrição do descolamento e a presença do tecido desvitalizado no leito da ferida. Em relação à classificação da úlcera, os escores mais baixos foram relacionados a descrição do estágio I e II. Os ítens do conhecimento sobre a prevenção que obtiveram escores mais baixos foram em relação ao significado da escala de Braden e recomendações quanto a técnicas de posicionamento. Considerando a prática dos enfermeiros, 56% relataram que sempre fazem a avaliação do risco do paciente na admissão, e que documentam as medidas preventivas no prontuário do paciente (76%). Entretanto, 50% dos enfermeiros mencionaram realizar práticas inadequadas como massagem nas regiões de proeminências ósseas. Na opinião dos enfermeiros, o curativo da ferida é sempre feito pelo auxiliar de enfermagem (83.3%); entretanto, a decisão sobre o tratamento é sempre realizada pelo enfermeiro (79.2%), e às vezes pelo médico (66.7%). As práticas do tratamento da ferida mostraram uma grande variação. Alguns enfermeiros ainda usam luvas com água para proteger os calcâneos dos pacientes e às vezes usam almofadas com orifício no meio para tratar úlceras de estágio I e II. Em relação às fontes de nformações para manter-se atualizados 12,24% mencionaram que sempre participam de cursos, discussões científicas ou eventos e grupos de estudo, e 75,5% reportaram que participam às vezes. Alguns (12%) enfermeiros reportaram que sempre assinam revistas científicas ou lêem artigos científicos ou usam a biblioteca, enquanto 66,21% mencionaram que algumas vezes fazem estas atividades. Enquanto 58,3% dos enfermeiros mencionaram sempre ter acesso à Internet, somente um (4%) citou um site específico sobre úlcera de pressão. A maior parte dos enfermeiros (68%) sempre procuram outros enfermeiros da mesma instituição como fonte de informação, enquanto médicos e enfermeiros pesquisadores são consultados com menor freqüência. Os enfermeiros que referiram sempre participar em atividades de educação continuada oferecidas pela instituição(73,7%) obtiveram escores mais elevados no teste. A pesquisa identificou que, apesar dos enfermeiros apresentarem um bom nível de conhecimento no teste, algumas áreas da prevenção e tratamento da úlcera precisam de investimentos para facilitar a implementação das recomendações baseadas em pesquisa ou outras evidências para que a prática clínica seja aperfeiçoada. / The purpose of this descriptive research was to examine a group of nurses’ knowledge concerning pressure ulcers’ prevention and management, and the sources used to get information for nursing care. Twenty-five nurses, working in a middle size general hospital in an inner city of Sao Paulo state, were asked to provide demographic information, to complete the Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test as well to identify the frequency of some practice at clinical setting related to pressure ulcer prevention and management, and their source of information. Most nurses were female (96%), in their 30’s (56%), and had finished their BSN in 5 years or less (48%). Only 8% had any specialty education after graduating from university. Of the 46 items, nurses correctly answered between 34,1% to 89,1% . The lowest score was 18 and the highest was 41. The average score was 32,48 (SD 4,7). Nine nurses (36%) correctly answered 51% to 69,9% of the items; and 15 (60%) answered correctly more than 70% of the items. Considering the items related to pressure ulcer evaluation, lower scores were obtained related to description of undermining and the presence of slough in wound bed. Related to ulcer staging, lower scores were obtained related to description of stage II and III. Knowledge about pressure ulcer prevention was lower related to meaning of Braden scale, positioning techniques while sitting or use of the 30 degree sidelying . Regarding ulcer management, nurses reported that they always (56%) performed patient’s risk evaluation at admission and document prevention measures on patients’ records (76%). However, 50% of nurses mentioned inadequate practices as giving massages on bone prominence; 12.5% reported always giving massages, 37.5% sometimes. In the nurses’ opinion, wound care is mostly performed by nurses’ aides (83.3%); however, the decision of treatment is always made by nurses (79.2%), and sometimes by the physician (66.7%). Wound care practices showed a great variability. Some nurses still use water filled gloves to protect patients’ heels and sometimes use ring cushions to treat stage I and stage II ulcers. Related to sources of information to keep updated knowledge, 12,24% of nurses mentioned that always participated of courses, scientific discussions or meetings and study groups and 75,5 % reported that participated sometimes. Some nurses (12 %) reported that always subscribes a scientific journal or reads scientific articles or uses the library, while 66,21% mentioned that sometimes do those activities. While 58,3% of nurses always had access to the Internet, only one (4%) mentioned a specific site about pressure ulcers. Most of nurses (68%) always seek nurses from the same institution as source of information and physicians and nurse researcher are seeing less frequently. Nurses that refered to always participating in activities of continuing education offered by the institution (73,7%), obtained better scores on the knowledge test. The research has shown that although nurses have a good level of knowledge in some areas of pressure ulcer prevention, more needs to be done to facilitate the implementation of research or evidenced based recommendations in this institution in order to enhance clinical practice.

O zumbido (ou tinnitus) pode ser descrito como a percepção de um som ou ruído sem nenhuma estimulação acústica externa. Apesar de freqüente, ainda existem muitas dúvidas envolvendo o zumbido, no que se refere à sua origem e tratamento para a totalidade dos casos. Os objetivos do presente trabalho foram estudar a supressão das Emissões Otoacústicas Transitórias com estimulação contralateral e as latências, intervalos interpicos, bem como as amplitudes das ondas dos Potenciais Auditivos Evocados de Tronco Cerebral, em pacientes com zumbido e perda auditiva neurossensorial, causada possivelmente por exposição prolongada a níveis de pressão sonora elevados. Foram avaliados 30 sujeitos com zumbido (grupo Z) e 30 sujeitos sem zumbido (grupo C), ambos os grupos do sexo masculino e pareados quanto à faixa etária, tempo de exposição ao ruído e grau de perda auditiva neurossensorial em agudos. Os resultados mostraram homogeneidade dos dois grupos quanto à faixa etária, tempo de exposição ao ruído e limiares auditivos. Observou-se supressão das emissões menores para o grupo Z, com diferença estatística somente para a orelha esquerda e indícios de diferença significante para a orelha direita. Quanto aos Potenciais Auditivos Evocados de Tronco Cerebral, houve um aumento das latências e redução das amplitudes para o grupo Z, com resultados significantes para a latência de onda III da orelha direita e para as latências das ondas I e III da orelha esquerda. Com base nos achados descritos, hipotetizou-se que, nos pacientes com zumbido, o sistema auditivo eferente olivococlear medial seria possivelmente menos eficiente, já que a supressão das emissões foi menor nestes pacientes. Além disso, poder-se-ia supor a existência de uma possível alteração na atividade do Tronco Cerebral em indivíduos com zumbido, evidenciadas pelos prolongamentos das latências e redução das amplitudes. / Tinnitus can be described as a perception of a particular sound or noise without any external acoustic stimulation. Though frequent, there are still many unanswered questions regarding tinnitus, the origin and treatment for all cases. The aim of this work was to study the suppression of Transitory Otoacoustic Emissions with contralateral stimulus and the latencies, interpeak intervals and amplitudes of Auditory Brainstem Response waves in patients with tinnitus and sensorineural hearing loss, possibly caused by prolonged exposition to high sound pressure levels. For that purpose, 30 individuals with tinnitus (group Z) and another 30 without it (group C) were studied. Both groups formed by males matched according with age, time exposed to noise and high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss. The results show homogeneous age, noise exposure time and hearing thresholds of both groups. Weaker suppression of emissions in group Z was observed, with significant statistical difference only for left ear and indicia of significant difference for the right ear. As for auditory brainstem response, there was an increase in latencies and reduction of amplitudes for group Z, with significant results for wave III latency of right ear and for I and III waves of left ear. Based on these findings, the theory is that in patients with tinnitus the medial olivocochlear efferent auditory system could possibly be less efficient, since the emission suppression was weaker in such patients. Besides, an assumption could be made that a possible alteration of brainstem activity takes place in patients with tinnitus, made clear by prolonged latencies and reduction of amplitudes in that group.

O propósito desta pesquisa descritiva foi examinar o conhecimento e a prática de enfermeiros referente à prevenção e tratamento da úlcera de pressão e as fontes utilizadas para obter informação. Após a aprovação pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa, foi solicitado que os enfermeiros de um hospital geral do interior paulista fornecessem os dados demográficos, completassem o teste de conhecimento sobre úlcera de pressão e que identificassem a freqüência de ocorrência de algumas práticas nas situações clínicas referentes à prevenção, ao tratamento e à fonte de informação utilizada. Dos 25 participantes, 96% eram mulheres entre 30 e 40 anos de idade, tendo terminado a graduação em 5 anos ou menos. Somente 8% tinham feito algum curso de especialização. Dos 46 ítens do teste, os enfermeiros responderam corretamente entre 31,1% e 89,1%. O escore mais baixo foi 18 e o mais alto foi 41. O escore médio foi 32,48 (DP 4,7). Nove enfermeiros (36%) responderam corretamente entre 51% a 69,9% dos ítens e 15 (60%) responderam corretamente mais de 70% dos ítens. Considerando os ítens relacionados a avaliação da úlcera, os escores mais baixos foram relacionados a descrição do descolamento e a presença do tecido desvitalizado no leito da ferida. Em relação à classificação da úlcera, os escores mais baixos foram relacionados a descrição do estágio I e II. Os ítens do conhecimento sobre a prevenção que obtiveram escores mais baixos foram em relação ao significado da escala de Braden e recomendações quanto a técnicas de posicionamento. Considerando a prática dos enfermeiros, 56% relataram que sempre fazem a avaliação do risco do paciente na admissão, e que documentam as medidas preventivas no prontuário do paciente (76%). Entretanto, 50% dos enfermeiros mencionaram realizar práticas inadequadas como massagem nas regiões de proeminências ósseas. Na opinião dos enfermeiros, o curativo da ferida é sempre feito pelo auxiliar de enfermagem (83.3%); entretanto, a decisão sobre o tratamento é sempre realizada pelo enfermeiro (79.2%), e às vezes pelo médico (66.7%). As práticas do tratamento da ferida mostraram uma grande variação. Alguns enfermeiros ainda usam luvas com água para proteger os calcâneos dos pacientes e às vezes usam almofadas com orifício no meio para tratar úlceras de estágio I e II. Em relação às fontes de nformações para manter-se atualizados 12,24% mencionaram que sempre participam de cursos, discussões científicas ou eventos e grupos de estudo, e 75,5% reportaram que participam às vezes. Alguns (12%) enfermeiros reportaram que sempre assinam revistas científicas ou lêem artigos científicos ou usam a biblioteca, enquanto 66,21% mencionaram que algumas vezes fazem estas atividades. Enquanto 58,3% dos enfermeiros mencionaram sempre ter acesso à Internet, somente um (4%) citou um site específico sobre úlcera de pressão. A maior parte dos enfermeiros (68%) sempre procuram outros enfermeiros da mesma instituição como fonte de informação, enquanto médicos e enfermeiros pesquisadores são consultados com menor freqüência. Os enfermeiros que referiram sempre participar em atividades de educação continuada oferecidas pela instituição(73,7%) obtiveram escores mais elevados no teste. A pesquisa identificou que, apesar dos enfermeiros apresentarem um bom nível de conhecimento no teste, algumas áreas da prevenção e tratamento da úlcera precisam de investimentos para facilitar a implementação das recomendações baseadas em pesquisa ou outras evidências para que a prática clínica seja aperfeiçoada. / The purpose of this descriptive research was to examine a group of nurses’ knowledge concerning pressure ulcers’ prevention and management, and the sources used to get information for nursing care. Twenty-five nurses, working in a middle size general hospital in an inner city of Sao Paulo state, were asked to provide demographic information, to complete the Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test as well to identify the frequency of some practice at clinical setting related to pressure ulcer prevention and management, and their source of information. Most nurses were female (96%), in their 30’s (56%), and had finished their BSN in 5 years or less (48%). Only 8% had any specialty education after graduating from university. Of the 46 items, nurses correctly answered between 34,1% to 89,1% . The lowest score was 18 and the highest was 41. The average score was 32,48 (SD 4,7). Nine nurses (36%) correctly answered 51% to 69,9% of the items; and 15 (60%) answered correctly more than 70% of the items. Considering the items related to pressure ulcer evaluation, lower scores were obtained related to description of undermining and the presence of slough in wound bed. Related to ulcer staging, lower scores were obtained related to description of stage II and III. Knowledge about pressure ulcer prevention was lower related to meaning of Braden scale, positioning techniques while sitting or use of the 30 degree sidelying . Regarding ulcer management, nurses reported that they always (56%) performed patient’s risk evaluation at admission and document prevention measures on patients’ records (76%). However, 50% of nurses mentioned inadequate practices as giving massages on bone prominence; 12.5% reported always giving massages, 37.5% sometimes. In the nurses’ opinion, wound care is mostly performed by nurses’ aides (83.3%); however, the decision of treatment is always made by nurses (79.2%), and sometimes by the physician (66.7%). Wound care practices showed a great variability. Some nurses still use water filled gloves to protect patients’ heels and sometimes use ring cushions to treat stage I and stage II ulcers. Related to sources of information to keep updated knowledge, 12,24% of nurses mentioned that always participated of courses, scientific discussions or meetings and study groups and 75,5 % reported that participated sometimes. Some nurses (12 %) reported that always subscribes a scientific journal or reads scientific articles or uses the library, while 66,21% mentioned that sometimes do those activities. While 58,3% of nurses always had access to the Internet, only one (4%) mentioned a specific site about pressure ulcers. Most of nurses (68%) always seek nurses from the same institution as source of information and physicians and nurse researcher are seeing less frequently. Nurses that refered to always participating in activities of continuing education offered by the institution (73,7%), obtained better scores on the knowledge test. The research has shown that although nurses have a good level of knowledge in some areas of pressure ulcer prevention, more needs to be done to facilitate the implementation of research or evidenced based recommendations in this institution in order to enhance clinical practice.

O desenvolvimento de úlceras de pressão em pacientes hospitalizados é um grande problema de saúde que envolve vários fatores relacionados com o paciente e com o meio externo. A prática baseada em evidências torna-se uma proposta eficaz na adoção de medidas para a prática clínica que promovam a melhoria da qualidade do cuidado. Esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida com os objetivos de avaliar os efeitos de intervenções educativas no conhecimento dos profissionais de enfermagem em Centro de Terapia Intensiva, nas medidas prevenção utilizadas em sua prática clínica e nas taxas de incidência de úlcera de pressão e avaliar os fatores de risco presentes nos pacientes e a adequação das ações realizadas pela equipe de enfermagem. Foi desenvolvida em um Centro de Terapia Intensiva de um hospital universitário, de nível terciário e de grande porte no interior do Estado de São Paulo. O caminho metodológico foi construído considerando as fases do processo de adoção de uma inovação proposta por Rogers. Foram realizadas intervenções educativas junto à equipe de enfermagem visando à persuasão para a adoção de inovações para prevenção de úlceras de pressão baseadas em evidências. Para avaliar os efeitos das intervenções educativas, foram conduzidos três estudos na fase pré-intervenção e repetidos na fase pós-intervenção. No primeiro estudo, buscou-se identificar o nível de conhecimento dos profissionais da equipe de enfermagem sobre a úlcera de pressão e medidas de prevenção por meio de instrumento que continha questões fechadas. No segundo estudo, foi identificada a prática clínica adotada pela equipe de enfermagem para a prevenção de úlcera de pressão, por meio de observação não participativa. O terceiro estudo tratou da identificação da taxa de incidência de úlcera de pressão em pacientes internados no CTI e dos fatores de risco relacionados a esses. Os resultados evidenciaram que a intervenção educativa influenciou no conhecimento dos profissionais da equipe de enfermagem e em alguns aspectos de suas práticas clínicas referentes aos cuidados de prevenção, porém, não influenciou na incidência de úlcera de pressão, que foi de 62,5% nas fases pré e pós-intervenção. As variáveis estudadas associadas desenvolvimento de úlceras de pressão foram os escores das Escalas de Braden e Glasgow tempo de internação do paciente. Destaca-se a pouca participação dos enfermeiros nos cuidados básicos de higiene e avaliação do paciente. Alguns pontos importantes devem ter maior atenção dos enfermeiros e ter maior enfoque em programas educacionais. São eles: cuidados básicos de higiene; intensificação dos cuidados de prevenção, especialmente mobilização do paciente; adoção de instrumentos para avaliação do risco para o desenvolvimento de úlcera de pressão; realização de programas educacionais periódicos, enfocando a prevenção e adoção de estratégias para monitoramento do problema. Considerando os aspectos da prevenção de úlceras de pressão, uma prática criteriosa e de qualidade deve ser prioritária, utilizando-se estratégias que possam envolver a instituição e a equipe multidisciplinar que atua no CTI. / The development of pressure ulcers in hospitalized patients is a large health problem that involves various patient and environment-related factors. Evidence-based practice is an effective proposal for the adoption of clinical practice measures that promote improvements in health care quality. This research aimed to evaluate the effects of educational interventions on nursing professionals’ knowledge at an intensive therapy center, on the prevention measures used in their clinical practice and on pressure ulcer incidence rates, as well as patients’ risk factors and the adequacy of the nursing team’s actions. The study was carried out at the Intensive Therapy Center (ITC) of a large tertiary-care university hospital in the interior of São Paulo State. The methodological course was constructed in view of the innovation adoption curve proposed by Rogers. Educational interventions were realized involving the nursing team, with a view to convincing them to adopt innovations to prevent pressure ulcers, based on evidences. In order to assess the effects of educational interventions, we conducted three studies in the pre-intervention phase, which were repeated after the intervention. In the first study, we aimed to identify nursing team professionals’ knowledge about pressure ulcers and prevention measures, using an instrument with closed questions. In the second study, we identified the clinical practice the nursing team adopted to prevent pressure ulcer, using non-participant observation. The third study was aimed at identifying pressure ulcer incidence levels in patients hospitalized at the ITC and related risk factors. Results demonstrated that the educational intervention influenced nursing team professionals’ knowledge and some clinical practice aspects related to preventive care, but did not affect pressure ulcer incidence levels, which corresponded to 62.5% in the pre- and post-intervention phases. We studied the Braden Score, the Glasgow Scale and hospitalization times as variables associated with the development of pressure ulcers. Nurses participated little in basic hygiene care and patient assessment. Both nurses and education programs should give more attention to some important points. These are: basic hygiene care; intensification of preventive care, especially patient mobilization; adoption of risk assessment instruments for the development of pressure ulcer; realization of periodical education programs focused on prevention and adoption of problem-monitoring strategies. In view of aspects of pressure ulcer prevention, a discerning and high-quality practice should be prioritized, using strategies that can involve the institution and the multidisciplinary team active at the institution.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating chronic illness that can prevent older adults from accomplishing their activities of daily living or ambulate without pain. The project's purpose was to develop and disseminate multidisciplinary educational practice guidelines to nurses for use in older homebound male Veteran's Administration OA patients to improve home-based pain management and self-care preventative strategies. Orem's theory of self-care management constituted the theoretical framework. The design was a quality improvement project and involved formation of 6 panels of interdisciplinary teams who reviewed the American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) and Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) guidelines. The ASA and OARSI guideline components were evaluated via a scoring sheet for pain control and self-management effectiveness for the OA patient. The panels assessed these treatment plans in terms of suitability, tolerance, and patient adherence for inclusion into the educational program. The panel members independently reviewed both sets of guidelines and then convened as a group to share their scores and reach a consensus on these guidelines, in the patient population served. Agreement of 85% among the panel members was needed for inclusion into the practice guideline. Based on the scoring results the panel concluded that the ASA and OARSI guidelines would likely improve pain control, functional ability, and psychological well-being essential to lifestyle modifications and OA symptoms management education program. The social impact of developing nursing practice guidelines for the self-management of OA pain in home-based settings will be manifested in better patient lifestyle and behavior modification leading to better symptom management.

The high prevalence of back and neck pain results in enormous social, psychological, and economic burden. Most seeking help for back or neck pain consult general practitioners or chiropractors. Chiropractic is a regulated health profession (serving approximately 10 – 15% of the population) that has contributed to the health and well-being of North Americans for over a century. Despite available evidence for optimal management of back and neck pain, poor adherences to guidelines and wide variations in services have been noted. For instance, overuse and misuse of imaging services have been reported in the chiropractic literature. Inappropriate use of spine imaging has a number of potential adverse outcomes, including inefficient and potentially inappropriate invasive diagnosis and subsequent treatment, and unnecessary patient exposure to ionizing radiation. Although evidence-based diagnostic imaging guidelines for spinal disorders are available, chiropractors are divided on whether these guidelines apply to them. While guidelines can encourage practitioners to conform to best practices and lead to improvements in care, reviews have demonstrated that dissemination of guidelines alone is rarely sufficient to optimise care. Evidence regarding effective methods to promote the uptake of guidelines is still lacking. There is growing acceptance that problem analysis and development of interventions to change practice should be guided by relevant theories and tailored to the target audience. To date, very little knowledge translation research has addressed research-practice gaps in chiropractic. This thesis reports rigorous methods to: (1) assess practice and providers’ characteristics, (2) determine baseline rates and variations in spine x-ray ordering, (3) evaluate the impact of disseminating guidelines to optimise spine x-ray ordering, and (4) assess determinants of spine x-ray ordering and potential targets for change prior to the design of a tailored intervention. A mixed method using two disciplinary perspectives (epidemiology and psychology) was undertaken. A cross-sectional analysis of administrative claims data was carried out on a sample of chiropractors enlisted in a large American provider network. Despite available clinical practice guidelines, wide geographical variations in x-ray use persist. Higher x-ray ordering rates were associated with practice location (Midwest and South US census regions), setting (urban, suburban), chiropractic school attended, male provider, employment, and years in practice. The impact of web-based guideline dissemination was evaluated over a five year period using interrupted time series and demonstrated a stepwise relative reduction of 5.3% in the use of x-rays. Passive guidelines dissemination appeared to be a simple, cost effective strategy in this setting to improve but not optimise x-ray ordering rates. Focus groups using the theoretical domains framework were conducted among Canadian and US chiropractors to explore their beliefs about managing back pain without x-rays. Findings were used to develop a theory-based survey to identify theoretical constructs predicting spine x-ray ordering practice. Psychological theories and theoretical constructs explained a significant portion of the variance in both behavioural simulation and intention. Results from this thesis provide an empirically-supported, theoretical basis to design quality improvement strategies to increase guidelines adherence and promote behaviour change in chiropractic. Other researchers interested in improving uptake of evidenced-based information could use this method in their own setting to investigate determinants of behaviour among other professional groups. Future research may use knowledge gained to inform the development and evaluation of a theory-based tailored intervention to improve guideline adherence and reduce the use of spine x-rays among targeted providers.

The objective of the thesis was to evaluate the quality of diabetes care in the Canadian Forces by determining the extent to which physicians adhere to recommendations outlined in the 2008 Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) clinical practice guidelines. In addition, the effect of patient age, sex, rank and size of base on quality of care was assessed and the accuracy of a diagnosis of diabetes in an extract of the electronic medical record (EMR) was evaluated. Fourteen bases within the Canadian Forces were selected for investigation, representing roughly half of the Canadian Forces population. Cases of diabetes were ascertained based on laboratory criteria following a chart review. Twenty-one CDA guideline recommendations were considered. The Canadian Forces demonstrated greater than 75% adherence with each of 9 recommendations, 50-75% adherence with each of 7 recommendations and less than 50% adherence with each of 5 recommendations. The overall adherence with all applicable recommendations per patient was 60.3% (SE 0.66). Age, sex, rank and size of base were not important factors influencing guideline adherence. The sensitivity of a diabetes diagnosis in an extract of the EMR was 84.5%, the specificity was 99.8%, the positive predictive value was 85.1% and the negative predictive value was 99.8%. This is similar to the performance of provincial and national diabetes registries. The quality of diabetes care in the Canadian Forces compared favourably with that of the civilian population within Canada and internationally. The creation of a diabetes registry is expected to lead to further improvements in diabetes care.