Selection of quality indicators for nutritional therapy in pediatrics: a cross-sectional study conducted in Brazil

Abstract

BackgroundQuality indicators for nutritional therapy (QINT) are important in assessing care and monitoring of resources. Among the 30 indicators proposed by International Life Sciences Institute, Brazil, there is still no evaluation of the most pertinent for Pediatrics.ObjectiveTo list the 10 main quality indicators for nutritional therapies (QINTs) for Pediatrics.MethodsThis was a two-phase cross-sectional study. Firstly, a questionnaire was answered by physicians, nutritionists, nurses, and pharmacists, all with having experience in nutritional therapy (NT) with Pediatrics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Participants assessed four attributes of QINT by using the Likert scale. A Top 10 ranked QINT list for Pediatrics was established. To verify the consistency of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient was calculated. Secondly, the opinions of the participants on the results that were obtained were requested and the percentages of the positive responses were calculated.ResultsA total of 33 professionals participated in the first phase and 92% (n = 23 of 25) in the second phase approved the results of the selected indicators. Among the Top 10 QINTs, the three main ones were: #1: “Frequency of diarrhea in those patients on enteral nutrition” (mean = 13.194; α = 0.827); #2: “Frequency of dietary nutritional prescriptions upon the hospital discharge of the NT patients” (mean = 12.871; α = 0.822); #3: “Frequency of the NT patients who recovered their oral intake” (mean = 12.839; α = 0.859).ConclusionWhen considering the consistency and the concordance that were obtained, it can be suggested that the list of Top 10 QINTs as proposed in this study will help in the evaluation of NT quality indicators for Pediatrics.

Development of Quality Indicators for Geriatric Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) Services

“…Actually, there are some indicators in the literature that are useful in evaluating the quality of the nutritional therapy itself [ 22 , 23 ]. The quality indicators for home EN therapy should measure, in the first place, to what extent EN therapy has been provided at home and with what level of safety and effectiveness it is carried out in that setting.…”