Infections in Patients Followed By Home Care Services Unit

Abstract

Objective: Home care services (HCS) is delivery of the healthcare and attendant care service to the patients living with their families by healthcare professionals in accordance with physicians' recommendations so as to meet their medical needs including rehabilitation, physiotherapy, psychological therapy. In our study, it was aimed to evaluate the infections developing in the patients followed by HCS. Methods: Follow-up forms of 361 patients visited by the staff of the HCS unit between January 20-11 and January 2013 were evaluated retrospectively. Results: 143 (39.6%) of the patients followed up by HCS unit were male and the mean age was 69.2±17.8 years. In terms of underlying diseases, 201 (55.7%) of patients had cerebrovascular disease, 187 (51.8%) had ischemic heart disease, 165 (45.7%) had hypertension, 65 (18%) had diabetes mellitus and 67 (18.6%) had solid organ malignancy. 153 (42.4%) patients were completely bedridden. 53 (14.7%) of them had an indwelling urinary catheter. 53 (14.4%) patients had decubitus ulcer. 18 (5%) of the patients were feeding with parenteral nutrition, 13 (3.6%) were feeding via a nasogastric tube and 10 (2.8%) were feeding via a jejunal tube. 88 episodes of infection were identified in 68 (18.8%) of 361 patients followed up throughout the study period. Urinary system infections (41%) and lower respiratory tract infections (26%) were the most common infections in patients. Conclusions: In our study, urinary system infections and lower respiratory tract infections are most commonly observed among patients receiving HCS. Being completely bedridden is a risk factor for developing infection among the patients receiving HCS. Klimik Dergisi 2018; 31(1): 41-5.

The Effect on Home Caregivers of a Family Support Program Based on a Nurse-Led Case Management Model: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

“…It is noticeable that in the literature, most of the patients receiving care at home are women. 26,27 According to data for the year 2020 from the Turkish Institute of Statistics, the population of old people grew by 22.5% in the previous 5 years, and 55.8% of that elderly population were female. 28 In the world in general, there are approximately 1 billion people aged 60 and over, and in the future this number is expected to double.…”

“…30 It has been stated that the clinical situations which bring about dependence in patients are very varied, but the foremost of these is cerebrovascular illnesses. 25,26,31 When patients become dependent, they may end up in a quieter place, using medical equipment such as a urinary catheter, a tracheostomy cannula, or a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy catheter. More than half of the patients in our study (61.5%) stated that they had used some kind of equipment at least once.…”

“…It has been found in many studies that a large proportion of the patients receiving care at home are older people. [24][25][26] Also, a large proportion of the patients in these studies were female. It is noticeable that in the literature, most of the patients receiving care at home are women.…”