The Journal of Science Extension Research – Vol. 3, 2024
severity of POD. POCD is where cognitive impairment arises after surgery. This is brought on by preoperative neurological issues such as Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease and is a biomarker of POD, as mentioned in Ganna Androsova’s research about biomarkers of POD and POCD (2015). This correlation between baseline cognitive dysfunction and POD would remarkably benefit from further analysis. Aim 3: Furthermore, with data gathered from aims 1 and 2, strategies and treatment options for POD were evaluated through peer-reviewed secondary research and qualitative interviews. Referring to Table 4, four standard assessment methods were evaluated by their sensitivity and specificity coefficient, which showed that the CAM-ICU assessment was the most effective and beneficial POD diagnostic tool. Its sensitivity and specificity coefficient were 83% and 100%, indicating that this test could conclusively tell if a patient was negative for POD. In addition, the MMSE strategy was the most unreliable as research had a vast range of how efficient the assessment results were, with a sensitivity ranging from 27% to 89% (Health Direct, 2023). In addition, the interviews provided a more holistic approach to treating POD, emphasising the importance of social and personal environments in reducing the severity. Interviewer 5 states, “Attempt to reorientate a patient, create a calming environment (dark, quiet, warm) when the patient wakes up, ensure pain is well controlled, and re-introduce familiar items.” This notion is elucidated with secondary research that states that making a soothing environment could reduce confusion and delirium in patients (Padideh, 2023). Both sources highlight the importance of keeping a patient calm, and cognitive awareness is a significant and effective treatment to reduce the severity of POD.
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Reliability, Validity and Accuracy of the Research: All secondary research studies were published in various high-impact journals, with many peer-reviewed and multiple researchers that decreased bias, ensuring validity. Furthermore, the articles all provide a thorough, well-reasoned theory and extensive discussion based on primary data. Moreover, to guarantee that the results were reliably sourced, all of the effects used in this metastudy came from studies published within the last 15 years and met the inclusion criteria. However, this report can be considered valid due to the absence of presented statistical data such as standard deviation, mean and median in every result set. Limitations of the Investigation: There were few publications to gather research because the elements that affect the risk and severity of POD following general anaesthetic is a highly specialised study issue, which decreased the report’s reliability. Furthermore, many studies about the effects of POD lacked clarity and breadth since all the results were gathered from secondary research. Therefore, a more thorough examination would have been possible from first-hand investigations or accessing a more extensive database that included particular POD patient data. In addition, to gather comprehensive qualitative data, interviewing more than five medical professionals would increase the amount and minutiae of details about POD. Future Direction of Scientific Research: This secondary study intends to enhance knowledge of the factors that increase the risk of severity of POD because there is relatively little research on the condition. More studies and tests on this particular subject must be published in the future for a thorough assessment. Studies can look at understanding ‘WHY’ age, sex and baseline cognitive dysfunction increases the risk of 111
