ciTechCare - Comunicações em conferências com publicação em atas
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- HIV AIDS Length of Stay OutliersPublication . Dias, S. Sara; Martins, Maria F.O.Costs with HIV/AIDS hospitalizations are one of the major financial burdens on healthcare systems worldwide. In Portugal, hospitalizations related to HIV infection are some of the most expensive and the second major diagnosis category, and also accounts for the greatest average length of stay. As a result, it is crucial to understand and identify HIV/AIDS hospital length of stay outliers. The objective of this study is to analyse HIV/AIDS length of stay high outliers during five consecutive years (2009-2013) and to identify its determinants for a specific HIV/AIDS diagnosis related group. To attain these objectives we will use a logistic regression model with random effects.
- A Playful Panacea – Exploring the Role of Board Games to Assess Behaviour in People with DementiaPublication . Lopes, Susana; Cavaleiro, Alexandre; Rosa, MarleneAssessing behaviour in people with dementia is crucial for managing disease progression yet remains a significant challenge. This study explores the relationship between engagement and performance in a board game, aiming to position board games as a potential tool for assessing behaviour in people with dementia. An observational study was conducted with 13 individuals diagnosed with dementia, analyzing their engagement in cognitive and functional tasks and their relationship with the Ta!Ti! game performance. Despite clinical variability among participants, they tended to show higher engagement in cognitive tasks, particularly those involving visual processing. Qualitative game performance was found to correlate with both behavioural and verbal engagement during cognitive tasks. These findings suggest that board games could serve as valuable, complementary tools for evaluating engagement across different activities in people with dementia.
- Co-designing a monitoring system to support patient safety in emergency carePublication . Neves, Sandra; Guarino, Maria PedroGoing to a hospital can be a stressful and anxious experience for many patients, particularly those needing emergency care. These individuals are more likely to wait long hours to be treated, admitted, or discharged. Portuguese emergency departments (EDs) are struggling to treat patients quickly and safely due to the increased number of patients going into Eds (Brazão et al. 2016). This situation highlights concerns about patients’ safety issues and their implications for timely detection of clinical deterioration in patients during their waiting times in EDs. Identifying signs of clinical deterioration at the earliest stages can allow for prompt intervention that can significantly impact on patient outcomes, especially in emergency care settings where patients’ health conditions can deteriorate quickly. However, the available resources are limited, and innovative approaches to support clinical practice are required.
- A Review of Wearable Sensor Patches for Patient MonitoringPublication . Santos, Sónia; Guarino, Maria Pedro; Neves, Sandra; Lopes, Nuno VieiraWearable sensor patches are potent tools for patient monitoring in hospital care, with a particular focus on the Emergency Department waiting areas. They can enhance patient safety by alerting healthcare professionals to abnormal changes in vital physiological signals. Wearable sensors have been shown to be useful in monitoring patients’ vital signs continuously and in real-time in emergency rooms. However, there are still some challenges that need to be addressed before they can be widely adopted in emergency rooms. Some of these challenges include sensor stability with minimized signal drift, on-body sensor reusability, and long-term continuous health monitoring. This paper reviews wearable sensor patches that have the potential for use in hospital patient monitoring, considering the key variables monitored in emergency rooms. Eligible patches must be wearable, present at least one approval (CE or FDA), and measure more than one physiological parameter.
- 2ARTs: A Platform for Exercise Prescriptions in Cardiac Recovery PatientsPublication . Pereira, Andreia; Martinho, Ricardo; Pinto, Rui; Rijo, Rui; Grilo, CarlosDue to limited access, increasing costs and an ageing population, the global healthcare system faces significant coverage problems that call for innovative approaches. Health professionals are actively seeking alternative methods to provide care to an increasingly needy population, without increasing human effort and associated costs. eHealth platforms, which use technology to provide patient care, are emerging as transformative solutions for addressing these problems. This study is centered on the demand for a Decision Support System (DSS) in cardiology to enable doctors to prescribe individualized care inside Cardiac Rehabilitation Programmes (CRPs). The 2ARTs project’s main objective is to include a cardiac rehabilitation platform with a DSS within the hospital infrastructure. This DSS uses models to classify patients into different groups, delivering crucial information to assist with decisions regarding treatment. Regarding the DSS, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) emerged as a standout technique for dimensionality reduction, due to its interoperability with clustering algorithms and superior evaluation metrics. The most appropriate clustering technique was determined to be the K-means algorithm, which was supported by the experts analysis. In accordance with the goals of the 2ARTs project, this integration of PCA and K-means provides meaningful insights that improve reasoned decision-making.
- A Board Game Performance Index – a disruptive innovation to assess people with dementia with different apathy levelsPublication . Rosa, Marlene; Lopes, Susana; Martins, Natália; Lacomba-Arnau, ElenaTraditional observation scales could be subjective and less sensitive to behavioural changes in people with dementia with different levels of apathy. This pilot study aims to explore if there is a difference in a comprehensive game index between people with dementia with different levels of apathy. Patients with dementia were recruited and thirteen were selected for this study. Sociodemographic data, apathy levels (APADEM) and a game performance index were collected. Patients were divided into two groups according to the percentile 50 in APADEM and the game performance index was compared. Results demonstrated that patients with different levels of apathy have significant differences in the Board Game Performance Index. Future studies should explore other dimensions in a comprehensive game index and strengthen the methodology with a more representative sample of people with dementia.
- Evaluation of the structural strength of anisotropic PLA components manufactured by 3D printingPublication . Ramalho, Armando; Freitas, Dino; Amorim Almeida, HenriquePredicting the mechanical strength of components manufactured by additive processes is a challenging task that is difficulted by the complexity of the geometries fabricated by these processes, along with the anisotropy enhanced by the layer-by-layer manufacturing method and the difficulty in quickly obtaining the elastic and strength properties of the materials, which are strongly influenced by the manufacturing parameters. The use of 3D CAD models in the design phase of components manufactured by 3D printing facilitates the use of the finite element method in assessing their strength and simulating their in-service behavior. However, the finite element analysis of 3D printed parts using anisotropic material behaviour are rare and restricted to simple geometries. To deal with the anisotropy of materials, intense research has been carried out for the last decades in the field of evaluating the mechanical strength of composite materials, introducing several specific failure criteria. In this article, the in-service behaviour of PLA components manufactured by 3D printing is simulated, applying criteria usually used in the study of composite materials to evaluate their mechanical strength. The simulation through the finite element method was developed on the Hexagon Marc/Mentat software, using the Maximum Stress and Hoffman failure criteria.
- Desenvolvimento de uma app para regulação das crianças com PEA entre os 3-6 anos de idade, em contexto de casaPublication . Reis, Helena; Eusébio, Inês; Sousa, Margarida; Ferreira, Mariana; Pereira, RaquelIntrodução: Crianças com PEA são caracterizadas por apresentarem respostas atípicas aos estímulos sensoriais, tendo impacto no envolvimento e na participação funcional. O presente estudo descreve o processo de desenvolvimento de uma app com o intuito de ajudar as famílias a regular as crianças com PEA, entre os 3-6 anos, através da aplicação de estratégias sensoriais, para melhorar a participação nas rotinas diárias em contexto de casa. Material e Métodos: Para o estudo foi selecionado um focus group composto por quatro terapeutas ocupacionais com vários anos de experiência em trabalhar com crianças com PEA e com formação especializada na área da Integração Sensorial, de forma a desenvolver e a analisar o conteúdo da app. Estabeleceu-se uma colaboração com o Departamento de Engenharia Informática, e através de reuniões quinzenais conjuntas, foi possível desenvolver toda a configuração e programação da app de forma articulada. Resultados: “Regul-A” foi o nome atribuído à app, uma vez que apresenta como principal finalidade ajudar na regulação de crianças com PEA. Os resultados abrangem as diversas estratégias sensoriais selecionadas pelo focus group, assim como, a estrutura da app, desenvolvida em colaboração com o Departamento de Engenharia Informática. Conclusões: Acredita-se que a app “Regul-A” venha a constituir-se uma potencial ferramenta para reunir, analisar e gerir dados da criança relativos ao seu desempenho ocupacional, facilitando a implementação de estratégias e a partilha de informação entre os pais e os terapeutas ocupacionais.
- Efeitos de Terapias/Intervenções não Farmacológicas em Doentes Oncológicos com DorPublication . Costeira, Cristina Raquel Batista; Pais, Nelson Jacinto; Carvalho, Dulce Helena Ferreira deA utilização de terapias ou intervenções não farmacológicas são atualmente recomendadas, como importantes estratégias complementares na gestão de dor oncológica. Desde 2005 que numa Instituição de saúde oncológica Portuguesa, existe um grupo de enfermeiros que desenvolveu um projeto que utiliza intervenções não farmacológicas na gestão de dor crónica em doentes oncológicos. Este grupo desenvolveu um estudo comparativo-correlacional com 40 doentes que integraram o programa de terapias não farmacológicas da unidade de dor da instituição, num período temporal de nove meses com o objetivo de avaliar e verificar quais os efeitos destas intervenções/ terapias em parâmetros de saúde (pressão arterial; frequência cardíaca; frequência respiratória, temperatura e dor). Recorreu-se a uma grelha de dados onde foram anotadas as informações relevantes ao estudo, contempladas em registos de enfermagem do programa de tratamento e processo do doente. Os resultados encontrados, sugerem a existência de diferenças estatisticamente significativas nos valores de intensidade de dor. Os resultados sugerem que os valores de pressão arterial (PA- mmHg); frequência cardíaca (FC- bat/min); frequência respiratória (FR- ciclos/min) temperatura (TºC) apesar de não apresentaram diferenças estatisticamente significativas, quando comparados os dois momentos de avaliação, antes e depois da sessão de tratamentos, obtiveram-se valores mais baixos no final da sessão, sugerindo uma indução de relaxamento. Na amostra estudada podemos afirmar que as intervenções não farmacológicas tiveram efeito significativo na gestão da intensidade álgica.
- Saúde das Mulheres em Cabo VerdePublication . Henriques, Carolina; Frade, João; Santos, PauloFalarmos da saúde das mulheres é falarmos da saúde genésica das populações, já que as mulheres são as principais responsáveis pelo cuidado ao outro. Neste estudo procurámos conhecer a saúde e o bemestar das mulheres em cabo verde, seja a nível físico, seja do ponto de vista emocional, através de um estudo quantitativo e descritivo, dirigido a 104 mulheres cabo-verdianas. Os dados mostram-nos que é necessário investirmos na saúde da mulher em Cabo-Verde, já que as experiências de doença nas mulheres tendem a ser ocultadas e vivenciadas em silêncio, parecendo que a mulher carrega o fardo da resignação e sofrimento, já que as mulheres cabo-verdianas tendem a continuar como de costume, guardando esse facto somente para elas.