Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the profile of patients treated by Speech-Language therapists in a Critical Patient Unit. Methods: an ex post facto, observational and descriptive study was carried out. Monthly statistical data of patients hospitalized in the period January-December 2018 were analyzed, in the Intensive Care Unit at a public hospital. Data were described from the analysis of frequency and measures of central tendency. The distribution of the variables was determined through the skewness-kurtosis test, considering a significance level of p<0.05. Results: 217 individuals got 868 speech-language therapy services. Men (57.26%), older than 65 years old, required a more frequent intervention. The main medical diagnosis of admission to the unit corresponded to non-specific pathologies (57.14%), respiratory disease (15.21%) and cerebrovascular disease (12.79%). The speech-language therapy functions were related to the evaluation of swallowing (54.31%) and voice (32.4%). In relation to the intervention, the treatment of dysphagia (25.82%) and oral motor functions (25.04%) was predominant in the duties. Functions associated with language, speech and cognition were secondary. Conclusion: the profile of the critical patient and the speech-language therapy work in this field represent a first step to characterize the role of the speech-language therapist in Intensive Medicine teams.
Highlights
Speech-Language Therapy, as a discipline focused in communication and human swallowing[1], has recently been incorporated into the Chilean Society of Intensive Medicine, recognizing their work as part of the professional team in the care of critical patients[2].The Critical Patient Units (CPU) comprehend a clinical structure of low and medium stay, which include the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the Intermediate Care Unit (IMCU)[3].This hospital service has mainly medical and nursing professionals, for the advanced treatment and to support people in life risk[4,5]
The medical diagnosis of critical patients was organized into related groups for statistical purpose
The people admitted at the adult CPU were between 16 and 89 years old, this variable is not following a normal distribution (p
Summary
Speech-Language Therapy, as a discipline focused in communication and human swallowing[1], has recently been incorporated into the Chilean Society of Intensive Medicine, recognizing their work as part of the professional team in the care of critical patients[2].The Critical Patient Units (CPU) comprehend a clinical structure of low and medium stay, which include the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the Intermediate Care Unit (IMCU)[3].This hospital service has mainly medical and nursing professionals, for the advanced treatment and to support people in life risk[4,5]. Speech-Language Therapy, as a discipline focused in communication and human swallowing[1], has recently been incorporated into the Chilean Society of Intensive Medicine, recognizing their work as part of the professional team in the care of critical patients[2]. The Critical Patient Units (CPU) comprehend a clinical structure of low and medium stay, which include the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the Intermediate Care Unit (IMCU)[3]. This hospital service has mainly medical and nursing professionals, for the advanced treatment and to support people in life risk[4,5]. The population admitted at the adult CPU is usually elderly and can present alterations in areas of relevance to speech-language therapy[15]
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