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- Browall, Maria, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Health care staff's opinions about existential issues among patients with cancer.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Palliative & supportive care. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1478-9523 .- 1478-9515. ; 8:1, s. 59-68
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore health care staff's opinions about what existential issues are important to patients with cancer and staff's responsibility when existential issues are raised by patients. METHOD: Four focus group interviews were conducted with health care staff (N = 23) at an in-patient hospice, on an oncology ward, on a surgical ward, and with a palliative home health care team. The focus group interviews focused on two questions, first, about health care staff's opinions about patients' important existential questions and, second, about health care staff's responsibility when existential issues are raised by the patient. The interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by qualitative content analysis into subcategories and categories. RESULTS: Four categories and 11 subcategories emerged from the first question. The first category, "life and death," was based on joy of living and thoughts of dying. The second category "meaning," consisted of acceptance, reevaluation, hope, and faith. The third category, "freedom of choice," consisted of responsibility and integrity, and the fourth and last category, "relationships and solitude," consisted of alleviation, dependency, and loss. One category emerged from the second question about the health care staff's responsibility, "to achieve an encounter," which was based on the subcategories time and space, attitudes, and invitation and confirmation. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: The strength of this study was that the findings were fairly congruent in different settings and in different geographical areas. Health care staff were aware of the importance of existential issues to patients. The existential issues, mentioned by health care staff, are similar to findings from studies conducted among patients, which is another strength of the present study. Health care staff are also confident about how to act when these issues are raised by the patients. The challenge for the future is to implement the findings from this study among health care staff in different settings.
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| 2. |
- Dahl, Anna K., et al.
(författare)
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Agreement between self-reported and measured height, weight and body mass index in old age : a longitudinal study with 20 years of follow-up
- 2010
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Ingår i: Age and Ageing. - : Oxford University Press. - 0002-0729 .- 1468-2834. ; 39:4, s. 445-451
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: self-reported body mass index (BMI) based on self-reported height and weight is a widely used measure of adiposity in epidemiological research. Knowledge about the accuracy of these measures in late life is scarce.Objective: the study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and changes in accuracy of self-reported height, weight and BMI calculated from self-reported height and weight in late life.Design: a longitudinal population-based study with five times of follow-up was conducted.Participants: seven hundred seventy-four community-living men and women, aged 40–88 at baseline (mean age 63.9), included in The Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging.Methods: participants self-reported their height and weight in a questionnaire, and height and weight were measured by experienced research nurses at an in-person testing five times during a 20-year period. BMI was calculated as weight (kilogramme)/height (metre)2.Results: latent growth curve modelling showed an increase in the mean difference between self-reported and measured values over time for height (0.038 cm/year) and BMI (0.016 kg/m2/year), but not for weight.Conclusions: there is a very small increase in the mean difference between self-reported and measured BMI with ageing, which probably would not affect the results when self-reported BMI is used as a continuous variable in longitudinal studies.
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