title: The knowledge of intensive care professionals about diarrhea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the opinions and practices of intensive care professionals with regard to diarrhea in critically ill patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among health care professionals working at three adult intensive care units.Participants responded individually to a self-administered questionnaire about their length of work experience in intensive care; the definition,characterization, and causes of diarrhea;types of records in the patient's medical record; and training received.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 78 professionals participated in this study, of whom 59.0% were nurse technicians, 25.7%were nurses, and 15.3% were physicians;77.0% of them had worked in intensive care for over 1 year. Only 37.2% had received training on this topic. Half of the interviewees defined diarrhea as "liquid and/or pasty stools" regardless of frequency, while the other 50.0% defined diarrhea based on the increased number of daily bowel movements. The majority of them mentioned diet as the main cause of diarrhea, followed by "use of medications" (p<0.001). Distinct nutritional practices were observed among the analyzed professionals regarding episodes of diarrhea, such as discontinuing, maintaining, or reducing the volume of enteral nutrition; physicians reported that they do not routinely communicate the problem to other professionals (for example, to a nutritionist) and do not routinely record and quantify diarrhea events in patients' medical records.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different opinions and practices were observed in intensive care professionals with regard to diarrhea.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Nutrição, Hospital Universitário do Oeste do Paraná, Cascavel, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Cláudia Regina Felicetti
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Lordani
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Nutrição, União Oeste Paranaense de Estudos e Combate ao Câncer, Cascavel, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Raquel Goreti
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Eckert
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Nutrição, Hospital São Lucas, Faculdade Assis Gurgacz, Cascavel, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Altevir Garcia
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Tozetto
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Enfermagem, Hospital São Lucas, Faculdade Assis Gurgacz, Cascavel, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Tarcísio Vitor Augusto
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Lordani
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Terapia Intensiva, Hospital Universitário do Oeste do Paraná, Cascavel, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Péricles Almeida Delfino
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Duarte
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016638:Critical Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000628:therapy*; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult