A major burn is one of the most severe traumas a person can experience, and recovery can be a protracted process. The principal aim was to increase the knowledge base regarding factors related to return to work and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after burns. Patients treated at the Uppsala Burn Center between 2000 and 2007 were included on a consecutive basis. Assessments were made at hospitalization, and thereafter and included a home visit 2 to 7 years after injury. The psychometric properties of the generic HRQoL instrument EQ-5D were investigated. The results support the use of EQ-5D as an adjunct to burn-specific assessments of HRQoL. Most former patients exhibited a good HRQoL at 2 to 7 years postburn. Not working at the time of injury and having PTSD at 12 months, as well as having low scores on the EQ VAS at 12 months, were related to a worse EQ VAS score at 2 to 7 years after injury. The majority of former patients had returned to work 2 to 7 years postburn. Time to return to work was predicted by length of hospital stay and a personality disorder diagnosis. Predictors for not returning to work were length of stay and having any anxiety or substance use disorder prior to injury. Those who were not back at work reported lower generic and burn-specific health, and exhibited more psychiatric morbidity at follow-up than those who were working. The latter group exhibited HRQoL that was comparable to that of the general population. Participants emphasized their own psychological resources and capabilities as facilitators in the process of returning to active work. The findings suggest that an early and systematic approach for assessing recognized risk factors enhances the possibility of discovering patients at risk of developing problems during postburn adaptation.

Professional research project (Au.D.)--University of South Florida, 2002. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 45 pages. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to measure the effects of audiologic intervention on self-perceived quality of life in the elderly hearing-impaired population. The tested hypothesis was that hearing aid use would result in improved quality of life as measured by utilities. In this study, utilities were obtained using the U-Titer II, an interactive software program designed to measure an individual's health state preference or utility. This study also examined the issue of numeracy, which is described as an understanding of basic probability, and its effect with an individual's ability to accurately complete utilities. / Data from 54 individuals fit with hearing aids in this randomized, controlled, pre-test/post-test experimental design study were analyzed. The participants completed the U-Titer II, a test of numeracy and the International Outcome Inventory for hearing Aids (IOI-HA). Three utility approaches were used in this study: Time Trade-Off (TTO), Standard Gamble (SG) and Rating Scale (RS). With each of the utility approaches, disease-specific (e.g., deafness vs. perfect hearing) and generic (death vs. perfect health) anchors were incorporated. / Several research questions were posed to examine the sensitivity of utilities to hearing aid intervention. Question 1: Can the effects of hearing aid intervention be determined with a utility approach? Statistically significant differences between pre- and post-intervention utility scores were measured with disease-specific and generic anchors for only the TTO and RS approaches. These findings suggest that hearing aid intervention outcomes can be measured using either the TTO or RS utility approaches. / Question 2: Is numeracy ability a factor in the usefulness of a utility approach for assessing the effects of hearing aid intervention? Statistical analysis showed that mean utility scores changed very little as a function of numeracy ability. These findings suggest that numeracy ability does not appear to affect utility scores. Question 3: What, if any, are the relationships between hearing aid benefit as measured by a utility approach and hearing aid benefit as measured by the IOI-HA? / Spearman Rho correlations were conducted on the benefit data obtained from the two self-report measures (IOI-HA and utilities). The major findings from these analyses determined that the IOI-HA total scores were significantly correlated with utility outcomes as measured by TTO generic, TTO disease-specific, and RS disease-specific anchors. In general, correlations between the measures were higher with the disease-specific anchors than the generic anchors. Also, none of the correlations between any IOI-HA outcome domains and utility change scores with generic anchors obtained with the RS scale were significant. / For utilities measured with disease-specific anchors, significant correlations were found with two IOI-HA outcome domains (benefit and satisfaction) and utility change scores as measured by the TTO technique. When the RS technique was utilized, significant correlations were found for four of the seven outcome domains (benefit, satisfaction, participation and impact of others). Thus, if the IOI-HA is used as a measure against which to validate the utility approach as a measure of hearing aid outcomes, the measure with the most face validity is a RS method with disease-specific anchors. However, if one wished to compare hearing aid intervention to intervention in other areas of health care, these data support the use of a TTO approach. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 11, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-76).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of South Florida, 2007. / Title from PDF of title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 20 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Oct. 31, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-45).

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2002. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Nursing) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-188). Free to UCD affiliates. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-82).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Public Health Sciences. Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on September 20, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

A crescente necessidade dos enfermeiros em mensurar os resultados de suas intervenções junto aos pacientes motivou a realização deste trabalho, que teve como objetivo realizar a validação de conteúdo dos Resultados de Enfermagem NOC, selecionados a partir da ligação NOC-NANDA-I, para os Diagnósticos de Enfermagem Padrão Respiratório Ineficaz e Ventilação Espontânea Prejudicada na prática clínica de uma unidade de terapia intensiva adulto. Esta validação foi realizada seguindo o modelo proposto por Fehring, tendo este sido adaptado para a validação de resultados. A validação de conteúdo dos resultados de enfermagem foi realizada através do preenchimento de um instrumento composto por uma escala Likert de cinco pontos, na qual os enfermeiros peritos assinalaram seu julgamento quanto ao grau de importância de cada resultado aos diagnósticos estudados. Participaram do estudo 15 enfermeiros peritos da três unidades de terapia intensiva do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. Os dados foram analisados através de estatística descritiva, calculando-se a média ponderada dos escores obtidos para cada resultado. Foram considerados prioritários os resultados que obtiveram média ponderada igual ou superior a 0.8. Para o diagnóstico Padrão Respiratório Ineficaz, dos 26 resultados propostos pela NOC, cinco (19,23%) foram considerados prioritários, sendo um sugerido e quatro associados adicionais. Para o diagnóstico Ventilação Espontânea Prejudicada, dos 16 resultados propostos pela NOC, cinco (31,25%) foram considerados prioritários, sendo um sugerido e quatro associados adicionais. Os indicadores dos resultados de enfermagem sugeridos na ligação NOC-NANDA-I, validados como prioritários na primeira etapa deste estudo, foram também submetidos à validação, seguindo a mesma proposta metodológica. A Classificação dos Resultados de Enfermagem NOC, ainda tema recente e pouco pesquisado em nosso meio, apresenta-se como aliada na busca pela qualidade assistencial de enfermagem, avaliando as respostas do pacientes frente às ações de cuidados implementadas. / The growing need for nurses in measuring the results of their interventions with patients, motivated this work, which aimed to perform content validation NOC Nursing Outcomes, selected from linkage NOC-NANDA-I diagnoses for Nursing Ineffective Breathing Pattern and Impaired Spontaneous Ventilation in the practice of an adult intensive care unit. This validation was performed following the model proposed by Fehring, the latter was adapted for the validation of results. The content validation of the results of nursing was conducted by completing an instrument composed of a five-point Likert scale, in which expert nurses reported their trial of the degree of importance of each outcome studied to the diagnoses. Study participants were 15 nurses experts from three intensive care units of Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, calculating the weighted average scores for each outcome. We prioritized the results obtained weighted average equal to or greater than 0,8. For the diagnosis Ineffective Breathing Pattern, the results proposed by the NOC 26, five (19.23%) were considered a priority, and suggested an additional and four associates. For the diagnosis Impaired Spontaneous Ventilation, of the 16 NOC outcomes proposed by five (31.25%) were considered a priority, one suggested and four additional associates. The nursing outcome indicators suggested in linkage NOC-NANDA-I, validated as a priority in the first stage of the study were also subjected to validation, following the same methodological approach. The Nursing Outcomes Classification NOC, recent and still little researched topic in our country presents itself as an ally in the search for quality nursing care by assessing the responses of patients against the actions of care implemented. / La creciente necesidad de enfermeras en la medición de los resultados de sus intervenciones con los pacientes, motivó este trabajo, cuyo objetivo era llevar a cabo la validación del contenido los resultados de enfermería NOC, seleccionados a partir de enlace NOC-NANDA-I para el diagnóstico de enfermería Patrón Respiratorio Ineficaz y la Ventilación Espontánea con Discapacidad en la práctica de una unidad de cuidados intensivos de adultos. Esta validación se realizó siguiendo el modelo propuesto por Fehring, el último fue adaptado para la validación de los resultados. La validación del contenido de los resultados de la enfermería se llevó a cabo al completar un instrumento compuesto de una escala de Likert de cinco puntos, en el que las enfermeras experto informó de su juicio sobre el grado de importancia de cada resultado de los diagnósticos estudiados. Los participantes del estudio fueron 15 enfermeras de tres unidades de cuidados intensivos del Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. Los datos fueron analizados utilizando estadística descriptiva, el cálculo de los puntajes promedio ponderado para cada resultado. Dimos prioridad a los resultados obtenidos promedio ponderado igual o superior a 0,8. Para el diagnóstico Patrón Respiratorio Ineficaz, de los 26 resultados propuestos por NOC, cinco (19,23%) fueron considerados una prioridad, un sugiere y cuatro asocia adicionales. Para el diagnóstico de Ventilación Espontánea con Discapacidad, de los 16 resultados NOC propuesto por cinco (31,25%) fueron considerados una prioridad, un sugiere y cuatro asocia adicionales. Los indicadores de resultados de enfermería sugerido en relación NOC-NANDA-I, validado como una prioridad en la primera etapa del estudio también fueron sometidos a la validación, siguiendo el mismo enfoque metodológico. La Clasificación de Resultados de Enfermería NOC, reciente y todavía poco investigado tema en nuestro país se presenta como un aliado en la búsqueda de unos cuidados de calidad mediante la evaluación de las respuestas de los pacientes frente a las acciones de atención implementado.