Healthcare Statistics and Research

Healthcare Statistics and Research

The selected healthcare statistic is ventilator-associated pneumonia which is a hospital-acquired condition. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is common in patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation and develops within or more than 48 hours after admission (Papazian et al., 2020). VAP increases the morbidity and mortality rates of patients (Papazian et al., 2020). Furthermore, it has a negative financial impact because the cost of managing a patient with VAP is approximately $40,000 (Papazian et al., 2020). This paper evaluates a peer-reviewed journal article to identify the purpose of data collection, the source of data, types of descriptive statistics, research questions, and the application of the findings.

The Reason for the Research that was Performed

The journal article “Diagnosis of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Critically Ill Adult Patients—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” is authored by Fernando et al. (2020). The authors aimed to evaluate the diagnosis of VAP in adult patients who were critically ill. Specifically, they targeted various indicators that facilitate the diagnosis of VAP and determined the specificity and sensitivity of the indicators (Fernando et al., 2020). The indicators rely on clinical, imaging, and laboratory data. The specific data include hypoxemia, fever, chest infiltrates on imaging results, leukocytosis, and the evaluation of culture performed on the endotracheal aspirates (Fernando et al., 2020). Bronchoalveolar lavage is also sampled and cultured to determine the growth of specific bacteria (Fernando et al., 2020). Therefore, the authors researched to determine the relevance of these indicators in VAP diagnosis. We offer assignment help with high professionalism.

The Source of the Data Presented

The authors conducted a systematic review of specific medical databases to get data for their research. The databases that were used include PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Database, Scopus, and MEDLINE (Fernando et al., 2020). These databases contain numerous peer-reviewed articles that can be sought to access adequate information (Fernando et al., 2020. In this context, the authors used keywords such as ventilator-associated pneumonia when seeking the best journals (Fernando et al., 2020). The inclusion criteria for the sources were English-language articles, research articles with more than or equal to 90% of participants aged above sixteen years, and research articles whose participants had received mechanical ventilation within or more than 48 hours (Fernando et al., 2020). These articles involved randomized controlled studies and observational studies (Fernando et al., 2020). All research articles involving pediatrics were excluded from the study (Fernando et al., 2020).

Types of Descriptive Statistics and Graphical Representations

According to Fleming and Zegwaard (2018), descriptive statistics enables researchers to provide a summary of their findings and organize them. These researchers used various descriptive statistics to present their findings. They used frequency distribution to identify the articles, the study design used, and the years they were published (Fernando et al., 2020). This was accomplished using frequency distribution tables. The authors also used measures of central tendencies, such as the mean, to identify the average of patients who had been diagnosed using a specific diagnostic indicator (Fernando et al., 2020). Measures of variability that were used include the standard deviation and range. The authors did not utilize graphical representations such as bar graphs and line graphs. However, they presented their data using tables and flowcharts.

The Research Questions and the Significant Findings

Four research questions can be formulated from the study: what is the specificity and sensitivity of physical examination in the diagnosis of VAP? What is the specificity and sensitivity of chest radiographic findings in the diagnosis of VAP? What is the specificity and sensitivity of bronchoalveolar and endotracheal aspirate cultures in VAP diagnosis? What is the specificity and sensitivity of the Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score in VAP diagnosis? The authors reported that the clinical, laboratory, and radiographic indicators had poor specificity and sensitivity in VAP diagnosis.

Fever had approximately 66% and 54% sensitivity and specificity, respectively.

Purulent sections had approximately 77% and 39% sensitivity and specificity, respectively (Fernando et al., 2020).

Chest radiographic infiltrates had approximately 88% and 26% sensitivity and specificity, respectively (Fernando et al., 2020).

Endotracheal aspirate cultures had approximately 75% and 67% sensitivity and specificity, respectively (Fernando et al., 2020).

Bronchoalveolar aspirate cultures had approximately 71% and 79% sensitivity and specificity, respectively (Fernando et al., 2020).

Clinical Pulmonary Infection Scores had approximately 73% and 66% sensitivity and specificity, respectively (Fernando et al., 2020).

The results reveal that chest radiographic infiltrates had the highest sensitivity and the lowest specificity. Bronchoalveolar aspirate had the highest specificity. However, none of the indicators had adequate specificity and sensitivity.

Application of the Findings to Inform Decisions or Improvements

The findings revealed that none of the diagnostic indicators demonstrated adequate specificity and sensitivity for VAP diagnosis. Accordingly, this necessitates research and the adoption of alternative diagnostic tools with higher sensitivity and specificity. These new diagnostic indicators will increase the accuracy of diagnosis and enable the rational use of antibiotics. However, in the absence of the new diagnostic indicators’ chest radiographic infiltrates and bronchoalveolar aspirate cultures should be used because they demonstrated the highest sensitivity and specificity respectively.

Conclusion

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is common in patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation and develops within or more than 48 hours after admission (Papazian et al., 2020). Clinical imaging and laboratory data provide indicators used to diagnose VAP (Fernando et al., 2020). These indicators have inadequate sensitivity and specificity. Chest radiographic infiltrates and bronchoalveolar aspirate cultures demonstrated the highest sensitivity and specificity, respectively (Fernando et al., 2020).

References

Fernando, S. M., Tran, A., Cheng, W., Klompas, M., Kyeremanteng, K., Mehta, S., English, S. W., Muscedere, J., Cook, D. J., Torres, A., Ranzani, O. T., Fox-Robichaud, A. E., Alhazzani, W., Munshi, L., Guyatt, G. H., & Rochwerg, B. (2020). Diagnosis of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Critically Ill Adult Patients—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Intensive Care Medicine, 46(6), 1170–1179. Https://Doi.Org/10.1007/S00134-020-06036-Z

Fleming, J., & Zegwaard, K. E. (2018). Methodologies, Methods and Ethical Considerations for Conducting Research in Work-Integrated Learning. International Journal Of Work-Integrated Learning, 19(3), 205–213.

Papazian, L., Klompas, M., & Luyt, C. E. (2020). Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Adults: A Narrative Review. Intensive Care Medicine, 46(5), 888–906. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-020-05980-0

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Statistics play an important role in the management of healthcare organizations and in decision-making and strategic planning. Collecting, analyzing, and utilizing data appropriately impacts the financial management of the organization and the quality of patient care delivered. Decisions in clinical medicine are driven by evidence-based practice, as are those in health care management. A healthcare manager must understand and use evidence in making informed decisions that improve the operations and financial status of the organization as well as deliver quality care accessible to those who need it and with consideration of the costs involved.

In this assignment, you will choose a utilization review statistic from the following list and review a research paper or government publication, as outlined below.

Choose a healthcare statistic that healthcare managers would use, such as one of the following:

Hospital-acquired condition (HAC)
Emergency department visits
Labor and delivery suite usage
Ambulatory surgery procedures
Hospital death rates
Cesarean-section rate
Wait time
Adverse drug events
Research your chosen statistic, and provide information from an outside source—such as a journal article, accreditation agency report, government site, and so forth—that discusses the health care statistic in a real-life setting or situation.

Write a paper of 3-4 pages, not including the title page and reference page, in APA format that discusses the following:

What was the reason for the research that was performed or for the data being collected?
What was the source of the data presented?
What types of descriptive statistics and graphical representations of data were used?
What were the research question(s) and the significant findings of the article?
How could the information presented be used to inform decisions or improvements?
Cite references using APA format, and remember to include a citation for the article that you are describing.

Please submit your assignment.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.