Defining Characteristics and Aetiological Factors of the Nursing Diagnosis Disrupted thought process : A Clinical Validation Study

Aim To evaluate the clinical validity of the defining characteristics and the aetiological factors of the nursing diagnosis Disrupted thought process (00493) among institutionalized elderly people. Methods Cross-sectional analytical study. Data were collected between 2021 and 2022, in 7 nursing homes in Spain. Beyond sociodemographic profiling, the accuracy of the diagnosis's defining characteristics was analyzed with diagnostic test validity tests (sensitivity and specificity). Prevalence of the nursing diagnosis was estimated through Latent Variable Modeling. Results In a sample of 252 residents (59.8% female), nine of the 14 defining characteristics showed a frequency above 20%. Latent Class Analysis revealed a 31.7% prevalence rate for the nursing diagnosis Disrupted Thought Process . Accuracy measures identified 6 defining characteristics with high specificity and sensitivity values. Conclusions These results contribute to establish the clinical validity of the diagnosis among institutionalized elderly people. The results suggest the inclusion of new diagnostic elements for this nursing diagnosis. This study enables nurses in the development of targeted, individualized care plans to respond to the needs of individual with impairment of cognitive function.