2014 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 37-44
The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between the accuracy rates of prognostic predictions by visiting nurses and the symptoms, explored by three categories of chronic diseases including cancer. A questionnaire survey of visiting nurses was conducted and 138 responses was obtained from 61 home care station facilities. For analysis, chi-squared test was used to investigate the discrepancies between the prognostic predictions and the actual progress, and one-way analysis of variance, paired t-test and two-way analysis of variance to investigate discrepancies between the prognostic predictions and the symptoms manifested at the second point in the terminal stage. We found that diagnostic predictions made by the visiting nurses had 50% accuracy in specifying the actual progress. The visiting nurses checked the basis of pain, general malaise, constipation and diarrhea, and edema for group A diseases, general malaise, edema, dyspnea and depression for group B, constipation and diarrhea and general malaise for group C. In addition, in all disease groups, worsening of dyspnea was observed when diseases are developing into the aggravation stage. We have realized that it is necessar y to conduct a prospective study to clarify the symptoms observed by visiting nurses and the standards of judgment they use to make judgments.
