When seeking to identify a patient’s health condition, advanced practice nurses can use a diverse selection of diagnostic tests and assessment tools; however, different factors affect the validity and reliability of the results produced by these tests or tools. Nurses must be aware of these factors in order to select the most appropriate test or tool and to accurately interpret the results.

Not only do these diagnostic tests affect adults, but body measurements can also provide a general picture of whether a child is receiving adequate nutrition or is at risk for health issues. These data, however, are just one aspect to be considered. Lifestyle, family history, and culture—among other factors—are also relevant. That said, gathering and communicating this information can be a delicate process.
For this Assignment, you will consider the validity and reliability of different assessment tools and diagnostic tests. You will explore issues such as sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. You will also consider examples of children with various weight issues. You will explore how you could effectively gather information and encourage parents and caregivers to be proactive about their children’s health and weight.

To Prepare

1. Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider factors that impact the validity and reliability of various assessment tools and diagnostic tests. You also will review examples of pediatric patients and their families as it relates to BMI.
2. By Day 1 of this week, you will be assigned to one of the following Assignment options by your Instructor: Adult Assessment Tools or Diagnostic Tests (option 1), or Child Health Case (Option 2). Note: Please see the “Course Announcements” section of the classroom for your assignments from your Instructor.
3. Search the Walden Library and credible sources for resources explaining the tool or test you were assigned. What is its purpose, how is it conducted, and what information does it gather?
4. Also, as you search the Walden library and credible sources, consider what the literature discusses regarding the validity, reliability, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, ethical dilemmas, and controversies related to the test or tool.
5. If you are assigned Assignment Option 2 (Child), consider what health issues and risks may be relevant to the child in the health example.
   1. Based on the risks you identified, consider what further information you would need to gain a full understanding of the child’s health. Think about how you could gather this information in a sensitive fashion.
   2. Consider how you could encourage parents or caregivers to be proactive toward the child’s health.

The Assignment

Overweight  5-year-old black boy with overweight parents who work full-time and the boy spends his time after school with his grandmother

Include the following:

1. An explanation of the health issues and risks that are relevant to the child you were assigned.
2. Describe additional information you would need in order to further assess his or her weight-related health.
3. Taking into account the parents’ and caregivers’ potential sensitivities, list at least three specific questions you would ask about the child to gather more information.
4. Provide at least two strategies you could employ to encourage the parents or caregivers to be proactive about their child’s health and weight.

 

 

 

Assessment Tools and Diagnostic Tests in Adults and Children

 

 

 

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Assessment Tools and Diagnostic Tests in Adults and Children

The Validity and Reliability of Different Assessment Tools and Diagnostic Tests

When seeking to identify a patient’s health situation, advanced practice nurses uses a diverse selection of diagnostic test and assessment tools. However, various factors affect the validity and reliability of the results produced by the test tools. Some factors affecting the reliability of the test tool’s results include the assessment length, which a more extended assessment generally produces. Other factors include the suitability of the questions or tasks for the student being assessed, the terminology and the phrasing of the question, the design of the marking schedule and the moderation of making procedures. The validity of an assessment tool is the expanse to which it measures what it was designed to measure without contaminating from another characteristic. Factors affecting the study’s validity include the size of the subject or specimen, the type of variability of the subject, the attrition of the samples, and the instrument or assessment sensitivity (Chen et al., 2022). Nurses must be aware of such factors to select the most necessary test or tool and accurately interpret the results. The diagnostic test does not affect adults only; body measurements can provide a general picture indicating whether a child receives adequate nutrition or is at risk for health issues. This essay aims to provide an explanation of the health issues relevant to the assigned child, additional information needed to assess her weight-related health, look at the questions to ask the patient according to the information, and lastly, explore two strategies to encourage the parents or caregivers to be proactive on the child’s health and weight.

Health Issues Relevant to the Child

When one is underweight, their overall health and life span can be impacted by health concerns and issues. from the information above, the patient is underweight which causes concern for poor nutrition which eventually will impact her growth and development, inability to fight off infections and illnesses, high risk for heart attacks and impaired thinking like deceased concentration (Chaparro & Suchdev, 2019). The parents are also underweight, indicating that their socioeconomic status is poor, and they are not able to afford food of some form of genetic and diseases that affect the endocrine and digestive systems. Another factor contributing to her being underweight is her mental health, as she may have a traumatic event where she is ashamed of her body and controls her life through her weight and eating disorder or, to some extent, being bullied at school and she is depressed.

Additional Information Needed to Assess her Weight-Related Health

When figuring out the health concerns and issues, the nutritional factors for the family are required. This information would include what they eat, how often they buy food and if they think their condition is a healthy weight. The healthcare provider will gather the patient’s body mass index and her family’s to check if they are healthy or underweight (Nichols, 2020). During this process, the provider will be required to apply the formula of calculating the body mass index, where the provider will take the weight of the patient and divide it by her height where if the number is under 19.5, the patient will be considered underweight and have poor nutrition. Body mass index is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of one’s risk for diseases that occurs with more body fat. The higher the BMI, the higher the risk for certain diseases, such as heart disease among others.

Three Specific Questions for the Patient Gather More Information

Focusing on the case study and the additional information needed to further investigate the patient’s health history, specific questions will need to be asked of the patient. The three targeted questions the provider should ask the patient and parents include how the patient would describe her weight. This question would be essential as it would enable the provider to asses her mental health status on how she understands herself. The second question the provider would ask the patient would be based on her family members and the provider would ask the patient if her family members are as slim as she is. This question will enable the provider to gather information on genetics being a possible factor in the patient’s health or if the condition is for the patient alone. The third and the last question that a provider would ask the patient is what type of food the patient takes within a period of 24hrs. This would enable the provider to understand whether poor nutrition would cause the girl’s poor health, and the provider could guide the patient on the nutritious food to take to improve her overall health.

Strategies to Encourage the Parents or Caregivers to Be Proactive on the Child’s Health and Weight

Some strategies have to be applied for the parent or caregiver to be proactive on the child’s health and weight. Such strategies include educating patients on their health and management (Fu et al., 2020). if the patient is not aware of the risk factors associated with their health history, family history and habits, they may fail in a positive health outcome. The scenario clearly shows that the family requires nutrition education to improve their health. It can include a nutrition consult, information about the plate one takes, details on the amount of servings needed for fruits, veggies and meat, and what can happen if the body does not meet the nutritional requirement. To promote education, the provider should understand the patient’s health literacy. Another strategy to promote healthy eating is advocating for the patient and supplying her with resources that can help her get food if she is experiencing a hard time meeting her needs due to finances (Schwarzenberg et al., 2018). Most of the government offices have special supplement nutrition programs for women, infants and children, and nutrition services that can give the family vouchers to buy food needed to keep their bodies healthy and meet the plate guidelines, which is a balanced diet. Such strategies can significantly play a crucial role in improving their overall health.

Conclusion

For healthcare providers to help their patient improve their health and have a healthy lifestyle and understand how to prevent health problems, the providers require a detailed history and a physical of the patient. Asking the patient, the right questions and understanding the patient’s background can also enable the providers to plump for the correct treatments and medication. Developing a good rapport with the patient and their families is essential to be open, honest and not fearing judgment. Strategies such as educating the patient on the essence of healthy eating and advocating for the patient, and supplying them with resources that can help them get food are vital as they can help in improving their health.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Chaparro, C. M., & Suchdev, P. S. (2019). Anemia epidemiology, pathophysiology, and etiology in low‐and middle‐income countries. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1450(1), 15-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14092

Chen, G., Pine, D. S., Brotman, M. A., Smith, A. R., Cox, R. W., Taylor, P. A., & Haller, S. P. (2022). Hyperbolic trade-off: the importance of balancing trial and subject sample sizes in neuroimaging. NeuroImage, 247, 118786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118786

Fu, E., Grimm, K. J., Berkel, C., & Smith, J. D. (2020). Parenting and social‐ecological correlates with children’s health behaviours: A latent profile analysis. Pediatric Obesity, 15(10), e12721. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12721

Hedge, C., Powell, G., & Sumner, P. (2018). The reliability paradox: Why robust cognitive tasks do not produce reliable individual differences. Behavior research methods, 50, 1166-1186. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-0935-1

Nichols, C. E. (2020). The wazan janch: The body-mass index and the socio-spatial politics of health promotion in rural India. Social Science & Medicine, 258, 113071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113071

Schwarzenberg, S. J., Georgieff, M. K., Daniels, S., Corkins, M., Golden, N. H., Kim, J. H., … & Magge, S. N. (2018). Advocacy for improving nutrition in the first 1000 days to support childhood development and adult health. Pediatrics, 141(2). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-3716

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