Department of Geriatric Medicine, National University Hospital, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Rd, Singapore, 119074, Singapore.
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University, Singapore, Singapore.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 1;11(1):13636. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-93048-4.
Thirst is distressing but overlooked by healthcare professionals. Patients experience thirst due to comorbidities, physical or cognitive limitations, and iatrogenesis. Nasogastric tube (NGT) use and nil-by-mouth(NBM) orders are common practices that can lead to thirst. However, thirst in these populations has never been formally studied. We aim to examine prevalence of recognition and treatment of thirst among NGT + NBM and NBM patients. Our descriptive study was conducted intermittently over 25 weeks, across 1.5 years, in 12 adult general medicine wards of a tertiary hospital. Cognitively intact NGT + NBM or NBM inpatients, defined as Abbreviated Mental Test score ≥ 8, were studied. One-time questionnaire was administered. Variables included: demography, co-morbidities, clinical condition, feeding route, thirst defined by thirst distress and/or intensity ≥ 3, pain, hunger and volume status. 88 NGT + NBM and NBM patients were studied. 69.3% suffered from thirst. Thirsty patients experienced significant thirst-related distress (mean score ± SD: 5.7 ± 2.5). Subjects with previous stroke and who were euvolemic tended towards thirst. 13.6% were asked about thirst by doctors or nurses. Thirst was a major source of patient distress in our study. We suggest that thirst needs to be actively identified and targeted to achieve person-centred care.
口渴是一种令人痛苦的症状，但却经常被医护人员忽视。患者会因合并症、身体或认知障碍以及治疗相关因素而感到口渴。鼻胃管（NGT）的使用和禁食（NBM）医嘱是常见的做法，可能会导致患者口渴。然而，这些人群中的口渴问题从未得到过正式研究。我们旨在研究 NGT+NBM 和 NBM 患者口渴的识别和治疗情况。我们的描述性研究在一家三级医院的 12 个成人综合医学病房中进行，间歇性地进行了 25 周，历时 1.5 年。研究对象为认知功能正常的 NGT+NBM 或 NBM 住院患者，定义为简易精神状态检查评分≥8 分。我们进行了一次性问卷调查。变量包括：人口统计学、合并症、临床状况、喂养途径、定义为口渴困扰和/或强度≥3 的口渴、疼痛、饥饿和容量状况。研究了 88 名 NGT+NBM 和 NBM 患者。69.3%的患者感到口渴。口渴的患者经历了明显的与口渴相关的困扰（平均评分±标准差：5.7±2.5）。有既往中风史和血容量正常的患者更容易感到口渴。13.6%的患者被医生或护士询问过口渴问题。在我们的研究中，口渴是患者痛苦的主要来源。我们建议应积极识别和治疗口渴，以实现以患者为中心的护理。
