The impact of paediatric tracheostomy on both patient and parent

OBJECTIVE

We set out to assess the impact of paediatric tracheostomy, performed in a central London hospital, on patients and their families.

METHODS

We conducted structured interviews with caregivers of tracheostomised children using the Pediatric Tracheotomy Health Status Instrument during all in-patient admissions for airway endoscopy over a 6-month period.

RESULTS

Completed questionnaires were received from 26 caregivers, 7 (27%) of whose children had been successfully decannulated. Carers reported adverse effects on all aspects of their quality of life, including sleep, relationships, social life and ability to work. The families included in the study had gross household incomes below the mean for SE London. There is a shortfall in the provision of home nursing when compared with the needs of the caregivers.

CONCLUSIONS

Tracheostomy has wide ranging effects on the quality of life of both the patient and their caregivers. We identified the need for better pre-operative preparation where possible, and greater support for such families in the community.

A simple and rapid method for determining the linearity of a flow cytometer amplification system

We describe a simple and rapid method for determining the linearity of a flow cytometer amplification system. The method is based on a fundamental characteristic of linear amplifiers: The difference between two amplified signals increases linearly with increasing amplifier gain. Two populations of beads or cells, differing slightly in fluorescence intensity, are analyzed by the flow cytometer at increasing photomultiplier tube high-voltage settings. The distribution of the populations' mean difference versus mean position is a straight line intersecting the origin for linear amplifiers. Although some types of nonlinearities cannot be detected with this technique, deviations from linearity indicate nonlinear components in the flow cytometer amplification system. The correlation coefficient is used to quantify degree of nonlinearity. We also describe a method for amplifier nonlinearity compensation.