| 1. |
- Bernspång, Birgitta, 1951-, et al.
(författare)
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Motor and perceptual impairments in acute stroke patients : effects on self-care ability
- 1987
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Ingår i: Stroke. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0039-2499 .- 1524-4628. ; 18:6, s. 1081-1086
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relative importance of motor, perceptual, and some cognitive functions for self-care ability was analyzed in a representative sample of 109 subjects within 2 weeks of acute stroke. Forty-nine patients (45%) were dependent or partly dependent in self-care. Profound motor dysfunction was present in 39%, low-order perceptual deficits in 10%, high-order perceptual deficits in 60%, and disorientation in time and space in 13% of the patients. There was a significant covariation between motor function and self-care ability and between low-order perception and orientation function. Low-order and high-order perception covaried only weakly. Discriminant analyses showed that the actual level of self-care proficiency could be correctly predicted in 70% of the cases by the 4 indexes of motor function, low-order perception, high-order perception, and orientation. The dominating predictor was motor function, and the next highest was high-order perception. When a program for early training is designed with the aim to alleviate long-term self-care disability after stroke, correct assessment of motor and perceptual functions in the individual stroke patient is essential.
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| 2. |
- Glader, Eva-Lotta, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Large variations in the use of oral anticoagulants in stroke patients with atrial fibrillation : A Swedish national perspective
- 2004
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Ingår i: Journal of Internal Medicine. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0954-6820 .- 1365-2796. ; 255:1, s. 22-32
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives. To explore nation-wide use of anticoagulation in stroke patients with atrial fibrillation, in routine clinical practice in Sweden.Design. Cross-sectional cohort study.Setting. Patients included in Riks-Stroke, the Swedish national quality register for stroke care, during 2001.Subjects. Hospitals with incomplete coverage were excluded, leaving 4538 stroke patients with atrial fibrillation amongst 18 276 stroke patients from 75 hospitals in six health care regions.Main outcome measure. Treatment with oral anticoagulants.Results. At stroke onset, the proportion of patients with atrial fibrillation and first-ever stroke, receiving oral anticoagulants as primary prevention was 11.0% (range 8.4–13.5% between regions and 2.5–24.4% between hospitals). Younger age, male sex and diabetes at stroke onset independently predicted primary prevention with oral anticoagulants. The proportion of stroke patients with atrial fibrillation receiving oral anticoagulants as secondary prevention at discharge was 33.5% (range 29.9–40.6% between regions and 16.4–61.9% between hospitals). Independent predictors for secondary prevention were younger age, male sex and independent activities of daily life (ADL) function before the stroke, being discharged to home, being fully conscious on admission and health care region.Conclusion. There were variations between hospitals and regions that differences in age, sex, functional impairments and comorbidities could not fully explain. This indicates that evidence-based primary and secondary prevention of embolic stroke is insufficiently practised. Local factors seem to determine whether patients with atrial fibrillation gain access to optimal prevention of stroke or not.
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| 3. |
- Glader, Eva-Lotta, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Poststroke Fatigue : A 2-Year Follow-Up Study of Stroke Patients in Sweden
- 2002
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Ingår i: Stroke. - : American Heart Association, Inc.. - 0039-2499 .- 1524-4628. ; 33, s. 1327-1333
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and Purpose— Fatigue is common among stroke patients. This study determined the prevalence of fatigue among long-term survivors after stroke and what impact fatigue had on various aspects of daily life and on survival.Methods— This study was based on Riks-Stroke, a hospital-based national register for quality assessment of acute stroke events in Sweden. During the first 6 months of 1997, 8194 patients were registered in Riks-Stroke, and 5189 were still alive 2 years after the stroke. They were followed up by a mail questionnaire, to which 4023 (79%) responded. Patients who reported that they always felt depressed were excluded.Results— To the question, “Do you feel tired?” 366 (10.0%) of the patients answered that they always felt tired, and an additional 1070 (29.2%) were often tired. Patients who always felt tired were on average older than the rest of the study population (74.5 versus 71.5 years, P<0.001); therefore, all subsequent analyses were age adjusted. Fatigue was an independent predictor for having to move into an institutional setting after stroke. Fatigue was also an independent predictor for being dependent in primary activities of daily living functions. Three years after stroke, patients with fatigue also had a higher case fatality rate.Conclusions— Fatigue is frequent and often severe, even late after stroke. It is associated with profound deterioration of several aspects of everyday life and with higher case fatality, but it usually receives little attention by healthcare professionals. Intervention studies are needed.
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| 4. |
- Persson, Mats, 1954-, et al.
(författare)
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1999 WHO/ISH Guidelines applied to a 1999 MONICA sample from northern Sweden
- 2002
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Ingår i: Journal of Hypertension. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0263-6352 .- 1473-5598. ; 20:1, s. 29-35
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background : Treating hypertension with drugs is so far the most cost-effective way to reduce this important risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is, however, important to determine absolute risk, and thereby estimate indication for drug treatment, in order to maintain a cost-effective drug treatment. WHO/ISH Hypertension Guidelines from 1999 propose a risk stratification for estimating absolute risk for CVD based on blood pressure and additional risk factors, target organ damage (TOD) and CVD. Objectives : We studied the consequences of applying the recent WHO/ISH risk stratification scheme to a MONICA sample of 6000 subjects from a geographically defined population in northern Sweden, regarding indications for treatment, target blood pressure and risk distribution. Methods : We have risk-classified each of these patients using a computer program, according to the WHO/ISH scheme. Data on TOD were not available. Results : In all, 917 (15%) had drug-treated hypertension. Three-quarters (n = 737) were inadequately treated, with blood pressure levels at or above 140 or 90 mmHg. 1773 (30% of 5997) untreated subjects had a blood pressure of 140/90 or above; 16% in the low-, 62% in the medium-, 8% in the high-, and 14% in the very-high-risk group. The corresponding risk-group pattern for the inadequately treated hypertensives (n = 737) was 5.5, 48.3, 11.1 and 35.2%, respectively. If we shifted the target blood pressure from below 140/90 to below 130/85 for drug-treated subjects under 60 (n = 278) the number of inadequately treated subjects increased by 34 (12.2% of 278); 14 in the low-risk group, 15 in the medium-risk group, and only five in the high- or very-high-risk groups. Conclusions : Only one-fifth of the drug-treated hypertensives were well controlled. Moreover, the incidence of newly detected blood pressure elevation was high. The majority of younger subjects with high blood pressure had low risk, but in those aged 45-54 this had already risen to a medium risk. Changing the target blood pressure to below 130/85, for subjects aged below 60, as recommended by WHO/ISH, affects predominantly low- and medium-risk groups.
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| 5. |
- Åström, Monica, 1941-, et al.
(författare)
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Different linkage of depression to hypercortisolism early versus late after stroke : A 3-year longitudinal study
- 1993
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Ingår i: Stroke. - : American Heart Association. - 0039-2499 .- 1524-4628. ; 24:1, s. 52-57
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using the dexamethasone suppression test, we studied the suppressibility of the cortisol axis and its clinical determinants at various time points after stroke. A major aim was to examine the dexamethasone test as a diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of major depression in stroke patients.The dexamethasone suppression test, major depression, functional ability, and disorientation were assessed in a cohort of 70 patients with acute stroke and after 3 months (n = 63) and 3 years (n = 43).Early after stroke, 24% of the patients were nonsuppressors, with about the same proportion at 3 months (22%) and 3 years (21%). None of the controls (17 healthy elderly volunteers) were nonsuppressors. High cortisol levels early after stroke were significantly associated with functional impairment (r = 0.35; p = 0.003) and disorientation (r = 0.27; p = 0.03). Three years after stroke, high postdexamethasone cortisol levels were significantly associated with major depression (r = 0.57; p < 0.001). The sensitivity of the dexamethasone test was 70% and the specificity 97%. In a longitudinal analysis of the long-term survivors (n = 42), postdexamethasone cortisol values at 3 months predicted major depression at 3 years.Hypercortisolism is associated with major depression late (3 years) but not early (0-3 months) after stroke. Patients with hypercortisolism 3 months after stroke are at risk of major depression later in the course and warrant careful follow-up from a psychiatric viewpoint.
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| 6. |
- Åström, Monica, 1941-, et al.
(författare)
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Life before and after Stroke : Living Conditions and Life Satisfaction in Relation to a General Elderly Population
- 1992
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Ingår i: Cerebrovascular Diseases. - : S. Karger. - 1015-9770 .- 1421-9786. ; 2:1, s. 28-34
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Living conditions and life satisfaction before and after stroke were assessed in 80 patients with acute stroke (mean age 73 years). The results were compared with a general elderly population. Already prior to their stroke the patients had more health problems, lower functional ability, more passive leisure time and lower global life satisfaction. Low life satisfaction was associated with dependence in the activities of daily living (ADL). Economic resources, social network and psychiatric morbidity before stroke did not differ from the general elderly population. At 3 months of follow-up, almost half of the patients reported low life satisfaction, compared to only 2% in the national sample. Major depression and ADL dependence were associated with low life satisfaction after stroke. We conclude that much of the disability and handicap seen in stroke patients is present already before the stroke. Stroke-related deterioration of ADL performance, major depression and social disintegration after stroke interact to further reduce life satisfaction for the stroke victims and their families.
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| 7. |
- Åström, Monica, 1941-, et al.
(författare)
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Major depression in stroke patients : A 3-year longitudinal study
- 1993
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Ingår i: Stroke. - : American Heart Association. - 0039-2499 .- 1524-4628. ; 24:7, s. 976-982
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This prospective study was designed to examine the contributions of neurobiological, functional, and psychosocial factors to major depression after stroke. In addition, the prevalence and longitudinal course of major depression were studied. METHODS: Major depression, functional ability, and social network were assessed repeatedly for a period of 3 years in a population-based cohort of 80 patients with acute stroke (mean age, 73 years). Cerebral atrophy and brain lesion parameters were determined from computed tomographic scans performed acutely and after 3 years. RESULTS: The prevalence of major depression was 25% at the acute stage and approximately the same at 3 months (31%). It decreased to 16% at 12 months, was 19% at 2 years, and increased to 29% at 3 years. The most important predictors of immediate major depression were left anterior brain lesion, dysphasia, and living alone. Dependence in activities of daily living was the most important predictor at 3 months. From 12 months on, the patient's having few social contacts outside the immediate family contributed most to depression, and at 3 years cerebral atrophy also contributed. At 1 year, 60% of the patients with early depression (0 to 3 months) had recovered; those not recovered at this follow-up had a high risk of development of chronic depression. CONCLUSIONS: The study has provided evidence of a differentiation of factors likely to be implicated in the development of depression after stroke based or the period of time since the stroke event.
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| 8. |
- Åström, Monica, 1941-, et al.
(författare)
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Psychosocial function and life satisfaction after stroke
- 1992
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Ingår i: Stroke. - : American Heart Association. ; 23:4, s. 527-531
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This prospective study was designed to describe different aspects of psychosocial function after stroke and the development of changes over time. A major aim has been to identify mental, functional, and social factors associated with low life satisfaction late after stroke.Social network, functional ability, leisure-time activities, experience of ill health, major depression, and life satisfaction were assessed repeatedly over 3 years in a population-based sample of 50 long-term survivors of stroke (mean age 71.4 years).Compared with a general elderly population, patients 3 years poststroke had more psychiatric symptoms, lower functional ability, and reduced life satisfaction. Contacts with children were maintained over the 3-year follow-up period, whereas contacts with friends and neighbors declined early after stroke and remained lower than in the general elderly population (p less than 0.05). When time dependency was analyzed, activities of daily living and somatic/neurological symptoms were found to change little after 3 months, while psychiatric symptoms showed changes later. Between 3 and 12 months poststroke, the prevalence of major depression decreased, leisure-time activities and social contacts were partly resumed, and life satisfaction improved (p less than 0.01). Once good life satisfaction was restored it was maintained, and poor life satisfaction at 1 year remained poor for the entire 3 years.It is concluded that major depression early after stroke, functional disability, and an impaired social network interact to reduce life satisfaction for the long-term survivors of stroke.
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