Nursing research
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Analgesic trials have been advocated as a means to reduce pain in persons with dementia (PWDs), but few systematic studies have been reported. ⋯ Acetaminophen use reduced pain behaviors associated with musculoskeletal pain in this sample of PWDs. This provides preliminary evidence that acetaminophen is an effective pain reliever for this population. In addition, the study supports the use of a within-subjects design to examine daily variability in pain behaviors and to demonstrate treatment effects in PWDs.
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Western research studies have found that sleep disturbances reduced quality of life and daily functioning of patients with heart failure; however, information about sleep disturbance is lacking in Taiwanese people with heart failure. ⋯ The importance of ongoing screening for sleep disturbances in people with heart failure is highlighted based on the study findings about the prevalence of sleep disturbances among the participants in this study. Healthcare providers must understand the often multifactorial nature of sleep disturbances to achieve a better and more effective management.
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Lack of randomization of nursing intervention in outcome effectiveness studies may lead to imbalanced covariates. Consequently, estimation of nursing intervention effect can be biased as in other observational studies. Propensity score analysis is an effective statistical method to reduce such bias and further derive causal effects in observational studies. ⋯ Propensity score analysis provides an alternative statistical approach to the classical multivariate regression, stratification, and matching techniques for examining the effects of nursing intervention with a large number of confounding covariates in the background. It can be used to derive causal effects of nursing intervention in observational studies under certain circumstances.
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In the absence of an instrument to predict risk of early readmission, examination of the well-validated probability of repeated admission (Pra) for this new purpose is indicated. ⋯ Within this heterogeneous sample, prediction of readmission using the Pra was better than chance. These findings may facilitate development of a better predictive model by combining select Pra variables with other variables associated with early readmission.