Nursing Open (Sep 2021)

Factors associated with length of stay and death in tube‐fed patients: A cross‐sectional multicentre study

  • Leticia Alves Freitas,
  • Alex Luís Fagundes,
  • Patrícia Rezende doPrado,
  • Marta Cristiane Alves Pereira,
  • Adriane Pinto deMedeiros,
  • Ligia Menezes deFreitas,
  • Thalyta Cardoso Alux Teixeira,
  • Janine Koepp,
  • Rhanna Emanuela Fontenele Lima deCarvalho,
  • Fernanda Raphael Escobar Gimenes

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.774
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 5
pp. 2509 – 2519

Abstract

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Abstract Objectives To analyse the factors associated with length of stay (LOS) and death in nasogastric/nasoenteric tube (NG/NET)‐fed patients. Design A cross‐sectional multicentre study. Method Data collection took place from October 2017–April 2019, and the sample consisted of 365 participants from seven Brazilian hospitals. Demographic, clinical and therapeutic data were collected from the patients’ medical records. Data analysis was performed using bivariate and multivariate tests, considering a significance level of p<.05. Results Most patients were male, older adults, with high risk of death and highly dependent on nursing care. The LOS was associated with age, patient care complexity and length of NG/NET use. Death was associated with patient age. In the multivariate analysis, patients highly dependent on nursing care, and intensive and semi‐intensive care had a greater chance of dying when compared with patients receiving minimal care. Screening for factors affecting LOS and death is important to plan effective nursing care.

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