Accuracy of clinical indicators of the nursing diagnosis of dysfunctional gastrointestinal motility in infants

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the accuracy of the clinical indicators of the nursing diagnosis of dysfunctional gastrointestinal motility in infants from neonatal units and identify their association with clinical variables. This is a study of the diagnostic accuracy of clinical indicators of the diagnosis of dysfunctional gastrointestinal motility, with a cross-sectional design, performed on 228 hospitalized infants in neonatal units. A high prevalence of dysfunctional gastrointestinal motility was identified in the studied population. Regarding accuracy measures, clinical indicators such as increased gastric residual, changes in bowel sounds, bile-colored gastric residual, regurgitation, absence of flatus, and hard and formed stool were useful to discriminate between infants with and without dysfunctional gastrointestinal motility. The findings can help nurses during the diagnostic process, as they identify which defining characteristics can be used to confirm or rule out the probability of occurrence of the diagnosis.