Nursing interventions that improve the quality of life

In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 71% of deaths in the world were due to chronic diseases, and this situation was expected to worsen. In this context, the IDIVAL Nursing Group led by Professor Carmen Sarabia, a nurse from the University Nursing School of the University of Cantabria, has recently published a systematic review with meta-analysis aimed to determine the characteristics of interventions conducted by nurses who try to improve the quality of life related to the health of people over 18 with chronic diseases.

The review summarizes 24 studies conducted in 10 countries, which assessed health-related quality of life through the validated “Short-Form Health Survey” (SF). These studies provided a sample of 4324 chronic patients of 63.4 years.

When comparing all the results of the different studies, only a slight improvement was found in the mental health component of health-related quality of life. The interventions that produced the most impact were those that were based on a theory, were shorter and had a follow-up period.

In conclusion, nurses perform multiple interventions intended for people with chronic diseases worldwide, in which the evaluation of HRQL is common. These interventions are too heterogeneous and, although they produced a general improvement in health-related quality of life, it was small.

One of the obstacles to nursing visibility is that, in many contexts, it is not recognized as a rigorous scientific discipline. For this reason, we believe that reviews like this help make the contribution of nurses measurable and visible.

Reference: Amo-Setién FJ, Abajas-Bustillo R, Torres-Manrique B, Martín-Melón R, Sarabia-Cobo C, Molina-Mula J, Ortego-Mate C. Characteristics of nursing interventions that improve the quality of life of people with chronic diseases A systematic review with meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2019 Jun 24; 14 (6): e0218903. doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0218903. eCollection 2019. PubMed PMID: 31233569