Clinical Utility of the Care Dependency Scale for Stroke Patients in Indonesia: A Descriptive Study

Introduction: Nurses require a care dependency instrument that can be useful for caring stroke survivors. This study aim was to evaluate the clinical utility of the care dependency scale (CDS) in stroke patients. Methods: This is descriptive study with a consecutive sample of 36 nurses included from a pool of 45 eligible nurses. Nurses who had experience using the CDS to assess stroke patients on inpatient wards and in outpatient clinics in four hospitals in Indonesia were asked to use a Staff View Assessment Instrument (SVAI) to evaluate the CDS. The SVAI includes closed-ended and open-ended questions. A descriptive analysis of the answers to the closed-ended questions was performed, while a text analysis were conducted to analyze the answers to the open-ended questions. Results: Thirty-six nurses participated in this study. The results indicate that most nurses agreed that the CDS had clinical utility in the assessment of stroke patients in the hospitals. The majority of nurses stated that the use of the CDS helped them monitor care (in) dependency and support care planning. In addition, the CDS could be used to improve communication among members of the care team between different institutions, as well as help educate family caregivers. The median time required to perform the assessment using the CDS was 15 minutes. Conclusion: Concerning the usefulness of the instrument in practice, we conclude that using the CDS in both inpatient and outpatient care settings presents a solution to the challenge of offering continuous care for stroke patients.