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Published on: July 27, 2018
A Nursing Homecare Data Science Investigation Using "Persons with ALS" (PALS) Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
Sally Remus1, Lorie Donelle1, Michael Bauer2
1Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, ON Canada.
Data science in nursing research identified key factors predicting homecare needs for persons with ALS (PALS). This analysis of electronic health records (EHRs) helps ensure safe, sustainable care at home.
Area of Science:
- Data science applications in healthcare
- Nursing informatics and big data analytics
- Knowledge discovery in databases (KDD)
Background:
- Advancing healthcare research through data science insights from big data.
- Limited engagement of Canadian nurse researchers in data science.
- Study initiated to address the gap in Canadian nursing research.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate homecare electronic health records (EHRs) for persons with ALS (PALS).
- Identify care-related factors influencing PALS' preferences and ability for safe home support.
- Utilize data science to understand homecare needs in neurodegenerative diseases.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective secondary analysis of integrated EHR data (clinical assessments and administrative data).
- Utilized a nursing informatics Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom (DIKW) framework.
- Employed Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) methodology with logistic regression to model institutionalization risk factors.
Main Results:
- Generated five significant models predicting PALS institutionalization status with comparable performance.
- Final model identified six key factors (four disease-related, two assessment measures) predicting institutionalization.
- MAPLe and CHESS assessment measures strongly predicted institutionalization and caregiver burden.
Conclusions:
- Big data science offers a transformative approach for nurse researchers.
- Enhances knowledge development for high-quality, sustainable healthcare delivery.
- Fulfills the intended benefits of electronic health records (EHRs) for patient care.
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