Proposed Topic (Most preferred): :
Clinical Safety and Quality Service III (Projects aiming at quality service to patients and their carers)
Proposed Topic (Second preferred): :
Clinical Safety and Quality Service I (Projects aiming to improve efficiency and effectiveness of care delivery to meet international standards)
Authors (including presenting author) :
Chan SWW(1), Lam J(1), Chan MY(1), Hui WW(1), PL Wong(1), Tung WL(1), Leung KKY(2)
Affiliation :
(1) Allied Health Department (Physiotherapy), Hong Kong Children’s Hospital (2) Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children’s Hospital
Introduction :
Health-related functioning monitoring is crucial for clinicians in Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU); it allows clinicians to identify potential health-related problems early and promptly assess the impact of rehabilitation intervention after treatment. A convenient measurement tool is required for this purpose. However, there is a paucity of instruments allowing this rapid measurement in PICU. The PedsQL Present Functioning Visual Analogue Scale (PedsQL VAS) is a psychometrically validated tool to assess multiple health-related functioning including anxiety, sadness, anger, worry, fatigue, and pain in children. It was translated and culturally validated by our team in 2021.
Objectives :
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the use of this assessment tool for paediatric patients in the PICU.
Methodology :
Participants were recruited from the PICU of the Hong Kong Children's Hospital between Jan 2022 and June 2022. They were asked to complete the self-reported PedsQL VAS (consists of six continuous horizontal line with 10 cm in printed length). The scale is commonly ranged from 0 (left, least extreme) to 10 (right, most extreme) to assess their level of anxiety, sadness, anger, worry, fatigue, and pain. It was measured before and after the 20-mins Nintendo RingFit-based exercise (the intervention) in a seated position. Furthermore, a self-rated single ease question regarding the overall comprehension of each item in the PedsQL VAS was given to the participants to complete (1-7; 1=very difficult, 7=very easy). The time required to complete the measurement tool was recorded. To gain further insight into the feedback regarding the use of this assessment tool, a debriefing interview was conducted for each participant.
Result & Outcome :
Five participants (Age: 9.4 years±3.4, 3 male; 2 female) participated in the pilot study. Before the intervention, the mean scores of PedsQL VAS including anxiety, sadness, anger, worry, fatigue, and pain were 5.8, 4.7, 1.9, 6.4, 3.8 and 2.6 respectively. The mean scores were reduced by 36.8% to 74.1% immediately following the intervention, to 1.5, 1.9, 1.2, 2.1, 2.5, and 1.5, respectively. Among all domains, the anxiety (decreased by 74.1%), sadness (decreased by 59.6%), and worry (decreased by 67.2%) scores showed the most improvement. The completion time of the self-reported PedsQL VAS ranged from 30 seconds to 2 minutes and 45 seconds. The overall ease of understanding of each item among children was rated as average 6.2 to 6.8 out of 7. All children reflected that the self-reported PedsQL VAS was easy to understand and there were no difficulties encountered with the evaluation tool. CONCLUSIONS:The PedsQL VAS is appropriate for use in PICU as a convenient evaluation instrument of children's health-related functioning, which was demonstrated by the result of the Nintendo RingFit-based fitness program. This assessment tool can be used in PICU when a quick review of intervention effects is required. The use of PedsQL VAS in the PICU context may therefore potentially improve patient-centered treatment.
