University of Technology Sydney, Graduate School of Health, Australia; Speech Pathology Department, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Australia; Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia.
Speech Pathology Department, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Australia.
Aust Crit Care. 2019 Sep;32(5):373-377. doi: 10.1016/j.aucc.2018.09.002. Epub 2018 Oct 20.
To summarise the patient communication status in an intensive care unit (ICU), including methods of communication used and the frequency, degree and nature of communication breakdown.
A multidisciplinary daily ward audit was conducted on ten consecutive weekdays in a 30-bed general ICU of a tertiary Australian hospital. Data included patient demographics, patients' mode of communication and the level of difficulty in communicating. Descriptive statistics and means (standard deviation)/medians (interquartile range) were used to summarise the data.
Over the audit period, data were collected from 87 patients (median age 58 years, interquartile range 43 to 67; 60% males), equivalent to 232 occupied bed days. Patients from non-English-speaking backgrounds accounted for 14% of the cohort, with Mandarin the most common non-English language. Altered cognition occurred on 11% of bed days. Staff reported difficulty in communicating with patients on 35% of bed days, with an inability to communicate with patients in 49% of these cases. Alternate modes of communication were reported, with gesture the most common, but they were not used with all suitable patients.
About one-third of the caseload in the ICU experienced difficulty in communicating. While alternate communication methods were reported, they were not used with all patients. A multidisciplinary approach to enhance communication ability may be beneficial.
总结重症监护病房（ICU）中的患者沟通状况，包括使用的沟通方式以及沟通障碍的频率、程度和性质。
在澳大利亚一家三级医院的 30 张床位的综合 ICU 中，连续 10 个工作日进行了多学科的日常病房审核。数据包括患者人口统计学信息、患者的沟通方式以及沟通困难程度。使用描述性统计和平均值（标准差）/中位数（四分位间距）来总结数据。
在审核期间，共收集了 87 名患者（中位年龄 58 岁，四分位间距 43 至 67 岁；60%为男性）的 232 个占用床位日的数据。来自非英语国家背景的患者占队列的 14%，其中普通话是最常见的非英语语言。11%的床位日患者出现认知障碍。35%的床位日工作人员报告与患者沟通困难，其中 49%的情况下无法与患者沟通。报告了替代沟通方式，手势最常见，但并非所有适合的患者都使用这些方式。
约三分之一的 ICU 患者存在沟通困难。虽然报告了替代沟通方法，但并非所有患者都使用。多学科方法来增强沟通能力可能会有所帮助。
