Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 1, 2026
Manual Muscle Testing: A Method of Measuring Extremity Muscle Strength Applied to Critically Ill Patients
Published on: April 12, 2011
A Novel Research Method for Determining Sedative Exposure in Critically Ill Patients
Mary Fran Tracy1, Linda Chlan, Kay Savik
1Mary Fran Tracy, PhD, RN, APRN, CNS, FAAN, is Associate Professor, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, and Nurse Scientist, University of Minnesota Medical Center, Minneapolis. Linda Chlan, PhD, RN, ATSF, FAAN, is Associate Dean for Nursing Research and Professor of Nursing, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, Minnesota. Kay Savik, MS, is Senior Statistician, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, Minneapolis. Debra J. Skaar, PharmD, FCCM, is Associate Professor of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, Minneapolis. Craig Weinert, MD, MPH, is Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine Division, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis.
Background:
Although potent sedative and opioid drugs are some of the most commonly used medications to manage pain, anxiety, and discomfort in critically ill patients, conducting clinical trials where sedative and opioid medications are outcome variables within a longitudinal research design can be a methodological challenge.
Objectives:
The purpose of this article is to provide in detail a conceptual discussion of the concept and analysis of sedative exposure: A novel research analysis method for aggregating sedative and opioid medication doses from disparate drug classes commonly administered to critically ill patients and used by our team in several clinical research studies.
Methods:
Comparing the dose of each sedative and opioid administered to an individual patient (within a defined time interval) to all other patients in a research study receiving the same medications allows for ranking of dosages for each medication by quartiles. Rank values for all sedatives and opioids received can be summed to a single value resulting in a Sedation Intensity Score. In addition, a simple count of how many hours at least one dose of a sedative or opioid medication has been administered can determine sedation frequency.
Results:
This method can allow for comparison of sedative exposure with medications from disparate drug classes and for analysis of estimates of change in medication use over time.
Discussion:
This novel research analysis method can overcome the challenges and limitations of determining changes in sedative and opioid medication regimens in cohort and clinical trial study designs.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:21Critical Numbers and the Closed Interval Method
01:23Sedatives and Hypnotics: Overview
Sedative-hypnotics are categorized into barbiturates, benzodiazepines (BZDs), and non-benzodiazepines or Z-drugs. These drugs work by suppressing central nervous system activity, and this suppression is dose-dependent. Older sedative medications, like barbiturates, follow a linear curve in...
01:20Sedatives and Hypnotics Drugs: Barbiturates
01:19Sedatives and Hypnotics Drugs: Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. They bind to the GABAA receptor, increasing its affinity for GABA, which opens chloride...
01:16Critical Region, Critical Values and Significance Level
In hypothesis testing, a sample statistic is converted to a test statistic using z, t, or chi-square distribution. A critical region is an area under the curve in probability distributions demarcated by the critical value. When the test statistic falls in this region, it suggests that the null hypothesis must be rejected. As this region contains all those values of the...
01:31Critical Values