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Frits J Huyse

Publications and source records attributed to Frits J Huyse.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

Reflections and perspectives.

Complex patients who have biopsychosocial comorbidities represent a major challenge for the current health care system. Unlike standard medical situations for which medical care can be based on an evidence-based approach, complex patients require a broader concept of care. As demonstrated throughout this issue, such an integrated approach that takes into account the concepts of case- and care complexity is not only possible, it is cost-effective. Integrated care, however, needs assessment tools and a communications-based approach that fosters exchange and collaboration between different medical disciplines and professions and patients.

Decision Support Systems, Clinical↗

Case and care complexity in the medically ill.

The authors have argued that complexity in general health care is increasingly prevalent because of the increase in patients who have multimorbid conditions, and the increased professional and technical possibilities of medicine. In the increasingly complex care systems, it is necessary-specifically when treating patients in need of integrated care by several providers-that an optimal match between case and care complexity be found in order to prevent poor outcomes in this vulnerable group. The authors discussed several approaches to case complexity that can be identified in the literature. Most of them seem unsuitable for adjusting case and care complexity, and inadequate for designing multidisciplinary care. Theoretic approaches to case complexity may be of interest, but did not result in clinically meaningful information. The INTERMED, which can be considered the first empirically based instrument to link case and care complexity, is an attempt to improve care delivery and outcomes for the complex medically ill.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

Identifiers, or "red flags," of complexity and need for integrated care.

Because complex medical patients are a subgroup of the medical population and because complexity assessment involves extra effort, preselection of these patients through identifiers is necessary. There is no best identifier for complexity, and the one most suitable for the population served should be selected. This article provides a table with potential identifiers and discusses the difference between disease-oriented screening and treatment and a more generic approach such as complexity screening and complexity management.

Decision Support Systems, Clinical↗

Operationalizing integrated care on a clinical level: the INTERMED project.

During the last 10 years the INTERMED method has been developed as a generic method for the assessment of bio-psychosocial health risks and health needs and for planning of integrated treatment. The INTERMED has been conceptualized to counteract divisions and fragmentation of medical care. Designed to enhance the communication between patients and the health providers as well as between different professions and disciplines, the INTERMED is a visualized, action-oriented decision-support tool. This article presents various aspects of the INTERMED, such as its relevance, description, scoring, the related patient interview and treatment planning, scientific evaluation, implementation, and support for the method.

Decision Support Systems, Clinical↗

Operationalization of biopsychosocial case complexity in general health care: the INTERMED project.

OBJECTIVE: Lack of operationalization of the biopsychosocial model hinders its effective application to the increasingly prevalent problems of comorbidities in clinical presentations. Here, we describe the INTERMED, an instrument to assess biopsychosocial case complexity in general health care, and provide an overview of its psychometric evaluation. METHOD: Review and summary of our publications to date, and re-analysis of findings. RESULTS: The INTERMED has face-validity, is brief and easy to use, and several research reports support its reliability and validity. It has the capacity to detect patients at risk for poor clinical outcome and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The INTERMED project is relevant to various agents involved in the care process. It provides a basis for effective multidisciplinary treatment of patients with a high case complexity.

Comorbidity↗

A brief diagnostic screening instrument for mental disturbances in general medical wards.

OBJECTIVE: Mental illness is prevalent among general hospital ward patients but often goes unrecognised. The aim of this study was to validate the SCL-8d as a brief questionnaire for mental disturbances for use in general hospitals. METHODS: The study included 2040 patients, 18 years or older, consecutively admitted to 11 general internal medicine wards in seven European countries. All patients were screened on admission by means of the SCL-8d questionnaire. The psychometric performance (i.e., the internal validity) of the SCL-8d scale was tested using modern item response theory (IRT) in the form of the Rasch model. RESULTS: Differences between sample characteristics were considerable. Even so, the SCL-8d scale showed a remarkable, statistically significant fit in terms of internal homogeneity (P>.01) in all individual settings, except in Spain and Germany where the item "Everything is an effort" had to be excluded to obtain a fit. When pooling data from all centres, an excellent statistical significance of fit (P>.05) was obtained by exclusion of the "Effort" item. The scale was homogeneous as to gender (P>.05), but not age as it performed better among young patients than among patients older than 60 years (P<.01). In these two patient groups both internal and external homogeneity (gender, median age) was achieved. The SCL-8d sum score showed a marked correlation with current and previous treatment for mental illness. CONCLUSION: Apart from the "Effort" item ranking differently on the latent severity dimension as to age, the SCL-8d seems very robust from a psychometric point of view. Besides being short, the SCL-8d scale contains only emotional symptoms. It would therefore seem to be an excellent diagnostic tool for use in medical settings.

Adolescent↗

A simple risk score predicts poor quality of life and non-survival at 1 year follow-up in dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QoL) in end-stage renal disease patients has become an important focus of attention in evaluating dialysis. We studied risk factors of poor QoL at 1 year follow-up. METHODS: Of a baseline sample of 80 dialysis patients, we contacted 60 patients who were alive at 1 year follow-up. QoL data were obtained for 46 (76.7%) of these patients. QoL measured with the SF-36 [physical health component score (PCS) and mental health component score (MCS)] at 1 year-follow-up was predicted by means of multivariate regression analysis by data collected at baseline using INTERMED-an observer-rated method to assess biopsychosocial care needs-and several indicators for disease severity and comorbidity. RESULTS: The regression models explained 32% of the variance in PCS and 40% in MCS. INTERMED score (P < 0.01) was the only independent risk factor for low MCS, while for low PCS, diabetic comorbidity (P = 0.02) and age (P = 0.03) were independent risk factors. A simple risk score consisting of INTERMED > or =21, diabetic comorbidity and age > or =65 was significantly correlated with non-survival (P = 0.02) and with PCS (P < 0.01) and MCS (P < 0.01) in surviving patients, although not with hospital admissions during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: A simple risk score based on INTERMED, age (> or =65) and comorbid diabetes (yes/no) can be used to detect patients at risk of poor QoL and non-survival at an early stage of treatment.

Adolescent↗

Interrater reliability of the INTERMED in a heterogeneous somatic population.

The INTERMED has been developed to score biopsychosocial case complexity and care needs. In this study, the interrater reliability of the INTERMED was assessed by calculating the agreement of two independent raters, based on the same information. Forty-three in- and outpatients with varying somatic complaints were double scored by a psychologist and a psychiatric C-L nurse. Correlations between total scores of the two raters were ranging from 0.91-0.96. On item level, in 83% there were no differences between the raters, in 16% there was a 1-point difference and in 1% a 2-point difference. Based on a cut-off score of 20/21, a constant k of 0.85 was found. We concluded that the two experienced raters had a high agreement, and that after sufficient training the INTERMED can be reliably scored. Its utility in improving health care delivery for patients with complex biopsychosocial care needs still has to be demonstrated.

Adolescent↗

INTERMED: a measure of biopsychosocial case complexity: one year stability in Multiple Sclerosis patients.

The 1-year temporal stability of the INTERMED in a sample of patients with relatively stable care needs, patients with established Multiple Sclerosis (MS) was analyzed. Seventy MS patients underwent an interview to assess the INTERMED by a trained nurse, and two examinations of disability, EDSS and GNDS by medical doctors. At the following appointment with the nurse, approximately 1 year later, a second INTERMED assessment was done. Spearman correlations and change scores between the INTERMED assessments were calculated. Correlations between the two assessments were considerable: 0.75 for the total score and 0.55-0.74 for the domain scores (all P <.05). Median change of all four INTERMED domain scores and total score were 0. Changes in INTERMED total scores tended to be associated with changes in EDSS scores over time (P = 0.09), but not with changes in GNDS scores (P = 0.67). Patients with INTERMED scores above 20 on at least one of the two assessments had longer disease duration (P < 0.01), were more frequently suffering from a chronic form of MS (P < 0.01), and had more disability on EDSS (P < 0.01) and GNDS (P < 0.01) assessments. In a sample of patients with an established diagnosis of MS, INTERMED scores remained fairly stable over the period of a year. Implementing the INTERMED in routine care of patients with chronic conditions may help the clinician to structure interdisciplinary care.

Persons with Disabilities↗

Medical inpatients at risk of extended hospital stay and poor discharge health status: detection with COMPRI and INTERMED.

OBJECTIVE: To detect the patients in medical wards at risk of extended LOS and poor discharge health status with the use of complexity prediction instrument (COMPRI) and interdisciplinary medicine (INTERMED) instruments. METHODS: STUDY 1: In a sample of 275 consecutively admitted medical inpatients, a hierarchical cluster analysis on INTERMED variables was performed. The clusters were compared on length of hospital stay (LOS) and Short Form 36 (SF-36) at discharge. STUDY 2: Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to optimal cut-off points for the COMPRI and INTERMED. Patients detected with COMPRI and INTERMED were then compared with undetected patients on LOS and SF-36. RESULTS: STUDY 1: In concordance with previous findings, a cluster of patients with high biopsychosocial vulnerability was identified with significantly higher scores on LOS (p <.05) and lower scores on SF-36 (p <.001) than patients in other clusters. STUDY 2: A cut-off point for the COMPRI of 5/6 was found to detect patients at risk of long LOS. A cut off score for the INTERMED of 20/21 was found to detect patients at risk of poor discharge health status. Patients detected with COMPRI and INTERMED had a significantly longer LOS (p <.001) and a poorer discharge health status (SF-36 MCS: p <.001; SF-36 PCS: p =.05) than nondetected patients. Of the detected patients, 37% had an extended hospital stay and poor discharge health status; of the nondetected patients, this was only 7%. CONCLUSIONS: The COMPRI-INTERMED can help to detect complex patients admitted to medical wards within the first days of admission, and rule out those with a small chance of poor outcomes.

Case Management↗

Implementing psychiatric interventions on a medical ward: effects on patients' quality of life and length of hospital stay.

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the effects of implementing psychiatric interventions on a general medical ward by means of a stepped detection and treatment strategy conducted by a consultation-liaison (CL) nurse in terms of reducing length of hospital stay (LOS) and improving quality of life (QOL) at discharge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred ninety-three patients participated in a controlled trial, in which patients were screened with COMPRI and INTERMED. A nurse under supervision of a CL psychiatrist conducted interventions, consisting of simple psychiatric interventions by herself, referral to auxiliary services, or initiation of postdischarge care. Intervention patients were compared with historic controls on LOS and QOL (SF36) at discharge. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis of variance, a significant effect of the intervention on QOL (p = 0.037) was found, which diminished after controlling for confounders (p = 0.28). No significant effect on LOS was found for the whole sample (p = 0.72), but in patients age 65 years or older, a reduction in LOS (p = 0.05) was found. This effect remained after controlling for confounders (p = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that screening for risk of increased health care might improve outcomes in general medical inpatients. Because of the design of the study, however, these findings should be considered preliminary and confirmed in a larger, multicenter, randomized controlled trial.

Adult↗

Psychotropic drugs and the perioperative period: a proposal for a guideline in elective surgery.

Evidence-based guidelines for the perioperative management of psychotropic drugs are lacking. The level of evidence is low and is based on case reports, open trials, and non-systematic reviews. However, the interactions and effects mentioned indicate that patients who use psychotropics and require surgery have an enhanced perioperative risk. A group of clinicians from several clinical disciplines determined which risks should be considered in an integrated preoperative assessment, as well as how psychotropics might interfere with these risks. The risks that should be considered in the perioperative period are the extent of the surgery, the patient's physical state, anesthesia, the direct and indirect (Phase I and II) effects of psychotropics, risk of withdrawal symptoms, and risk of psychiatric recurrence or relapse. Because of new drug developments, the risk of interactions increases. The literature has not provided articles that systematically address these risks. On the basis of a systematic analysis of the available literature guided by the formulated perioperative risks, a proposal for the perioperative management of psychotropics was formulated. Patients who use lithium, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, tricyclics, and clozepine have serious drug-drug interactions, with increased physical risks, including withdrawal, and therefore qualify for American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Classification 3. From the perspective of the physical risk, they require discontinuation. However, from the perspective of the risk of withdrawal and psychiatric relapse and recurrence, these patients deserve intensive, integrated anesthetic/psychiatric management. For patients on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) who are mentally and physical stable (ASA Classification 2), the risk of withdrawal seems to justify their continuation. Yet, patients on SSRIs with higher physical or psychiatric risks should be seen in consultation. Both the physical and psychiatric risks of patients who use antipsychotics and other antidepressants should be regarded as enhanced. From a physical perspective, they qualify for ASA Classification 2. From the perspective of withdrawal and psychiatric recurrence or relapse, they should be seen by (their) psychiatrists. Preoperative assessment clinics offer the opportunity to assess and evaluate these risks in order to deliver patient-tailored integrated care. Authors propose a model for quality management.

Anesthesia↗

Effectiveness of post-discharge case management in general-medical outpatients: a randomized, controlled trial.

This study was initiated to determine the impact of post-discharge, nurse-led, home-based case management intervention on the number of emergency readmissions, level of care utilization, quality of life, and psychological functioning. Patients discharged home from a general hospital (N=147) were randomly assigned to usual care or nurse-led, home-based, case management intervention. During the 24 weeks of follow-up, no difference between the two groups was found for readmission, care utilization, quality of life, or psychological functioning. Patients in the control group tended to move sooner to non-independent living accommodation than patients in the nurse-led, home-based, case management intervention group.

Aftercare↗