OBJECTIVES Previous studies regarding nursing documentation focused primarily on documentation quality, for instance, in terms of the accuracy of the documentation. The combination between accuracy measurements and the quality and frequencies of outcome variables such as the length of the hospital stay …

Purpose/objective: Stereotactic radiosurgery of brain metastases requires highly conformal dose distributions. Besides beams setup, characteristics of the linear accelerator collimator may also play a role. In this study we compared the impact of leaf width on the dose outside the target for stereotactic …

In this thesis the research on the automatic constructing of intelligible digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR’s) of the hips is described. This project was initialized when the Department of Orthopedic surgery, within UMC Utrecht, decided to research the relation between spinopelvic parameters and …

It is important for caregivers and patients to know which wounds are at risk of prolonged wound healing to enable timely communication and treatment. Available prognostic models predict wound healing in chronic ulcers, but not in acute wounds, that is, originating after trauma or surgery. We developed …

Rationale: The Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) is a validated instrument to assess malnutrition and its risk factors in clinical populations. Its patient component, PG-SGA Short Form (SF), can be used as screening instrument. In this cross-sectional study we aimed to assess agreement …

Objectives: In patients with burns an early accurate diagnosis of burn depth is essential to determine optimal treatment. The combination of Laser Doppler imaging (LDI) and clinical assessment leads to an accurate estimate of burn depth. However, the actual effects of the introduction of LDI on therapeutic …

The issue surrounding body-esteem and dissatisfaction is a growing issue in Western societies. Societal pressures force women to focus on their appearance. The societal ideal that women have to be in shape, slender and attractive at all times has a negative influence on women’s body image and body esteem. …

Background: Delirium is a high prevalent postoperative complication in older cardiac surgery patients and can have drastic consequence for the patient. Preventive interventions, diagnosis and treatment of delirium require specialized knowledge and skills. Objective: To gain insight …

Background: A quality improvement collaborative is an intensive project involving a combination of implementation strategies applied in a limited “breakthrough” time window. After an implementation project, it is generally difficult to sustain its success. In the current study, sustainability was described …

Purpose With current diagnostic methods, the majority of patients with symptomatic colorectal anastomotic leakage (CAL) is identified approximately 1 week after operation. The aim of this study is to determine whether real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detection of Escherichia coli and …