[Development and validation of a short battery of tests for the assessment of aphasia: 'bedside assessment of language'. Its use in a rehabilitation centre]. / Desarrollo y validación de una batería corta de evaluación de la afasia: 'bedside de lenguaje'. Utilización en un centro de rehabilitación.

INTRODUCTION: A formal and complete language assessment requires too much time and also tires the patient out during the first recovery stages after brain injury. The aim of this paper is to introduce a bedside screening, short and sensitive to diagnose aphasias in patients with brain injury. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The results of the Bedside Assessment of Language (BAL) was studied in 121 aphasic patients and in 77 dysarthric patients after brain injury. The five linguistic areas assessed in this short battery are: spontaneous language, comprehension, repetition, writing and reading. Each area has a maximum of 5 points, and the test has a total score of 25. Statistics tests used were: median test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Fisher's exact test, receiver operating characteristics curves and correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The BAL showed an excellent internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient: 0.9419); sensitivity was of 79.3% and specificity of 84.4%. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the BAL has been a potentially useful tool for the diagnose of the type of aphasia and it has been sensitive to evolutionary changes in sub-acute stages of language disorders.

Desarrollo y validación de una batería corta de evaluación de la afasia: ‘bedside de lenguaje’. Utilización en un centro de rehabilitación / Development and validation of a short battery of tests for the assessment of aphasia: “bedside assessment of language”. Its use in a rehabilitation centre

Una evaluación del lenguaje formal y completa requiere mucho tiempo y fatiga al paciente que se encuentraen las primeras fases de recuperación de una lesión cerebral. El objetivo del presente trabajo es presentar un instrumento corto y sensible de cribado, aplicable al pie de la cama y diseñado con el propósito de diagnosticar afasias en pacientescon lesión cerebral. Pacientes y métodos. Se estudiaron los resultados del ‘bedside de lenguaje’ (BL) en 121 pacientes afásicos y en 77 pacientes disártricos después de una lesión cerebral. Las cinco áreas lingüísticas evaluadas en esta batería corta incluyen: lenguaje espontáneo, comprensión, repetición, escritura y lectura. Cada subárea tiene una puntuación máximade 5 puntos, por lo que suman un total de 25. Las pruebas estadísticas usadas fueron: prueba de la mediana, test de Kruskal-Wallis, prueba exacta de Fisher, curvas ROC y coeficiente de correlación. Resultados. El BL demostró una excelente fiabilidad(coeficiente alfa de Cronbach para evaluar la consistencia interna: 0,9419); la sensibilidad fue del 79,3% y la especificidad, del 84,4%. Conclusiones. Los resultados indicaron que el BL fue una herramienta potencialmente útil para la determinacióndel tipo de afasia y sensible a los cambios evolutivos en etapas subagudas de trastornos del lenguaje

A formal and complete language assessment requires too much time and also tires the patient outduring the first recovery stages after brain injury. The aim of this paper is to introduce a bedside screening, short and sensitive to diagnose aphasias in patients with brain injury. Patients and methods. The results of the Bedside Assessment of Language (BAL) was studied in 121 aphasic patients and in 77 dysarthric patients after brain injury. The five linguistic areas assessed in this short battery are: spontaneous language, comprehension, repetition, writing and reading. Each area has a maximum of 5 points, and the test has a total score of 25. Statistics tests used were: median test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Fisher’s exact test, receiver operating characteristics curves and correlation coefficient. Results. The BAL showed an excellent internal consistencyreliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient: 0.9419); sensitivity was of 79.3% and specificity of 84.4%. Conclusions. These results indicate that the BAL has been a potentially useful tool for the diagnose of the type of aphasia and it has been sensitiveto evolutionary changes in sub-acute stages of language disorders

Prevalance of and risk factors for hospital-acquired infections in Slovenia-results of the first national survey, 2001.

A one-day survey was conducted in all (19) Slovenian acute-care hospitals in October 2001 to estimate the prevalence of all types of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and to identify predominant micro-organisms and risk factors. Among 6695 patients surveyed, the prevalence of patients with at least one HAI was 4.6%. The prevalence of urinary tract infections was highest (1.2%), followed by pneumonia (1.0%), surgical wound infection (0.7%), and bloodstream infection (0.3%). In intensive care units (ICUs) the prevalence of patients with at least one HAI was 26.9% and the ratio of episodes of HAI per number of patients was 33.3%. One or more pathogens were identified in 55.8% of HAIs episodes. Among these, the most frequently single isolated micro-organisms were Staphylococcus aureus (18.2%) and Escherichia coli (10.2%). Risk factors for HAI included central intravascular catheter (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 3.2; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 2.1-4.9), peripheral intravascular catheter (adjusted OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.2-2.4), urinary catheter (adjuster OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.6-3.4), and hospitalization in ICUs (adjusted OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.4-4.3). The results provide the first national estimates for Slovenia.