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- Yngman-Uhlin, Pia, 1964-
(författare)
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Sleep Problems in Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis : Prevalence, Effects on Daily Life and Evaluation of Non-Pharmacological Interventions
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sleep problems affect a considerable number (49-86%) of patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment. Insomnia i.e. difficulties to initiate and/or maintain sleep or too early wakening, combined with daytime symptoms, seems to be the dominating problem. Despite these facts there is a lack of research in PD-patients, especially studies with objective data on the sleep-wake cycle and evaluation of sleep promoting non-pharmacological interventions.The overall aim of this thesis was to describe sleep problems from different perspectives, and how these problems affect daily life and health in patients treated with PD at home. The aim was also to evaluate an individualised non-pharmacological intervention for improvement of sleep quality outcomes.Four studies were conducted during eight years, starting in 2002. Patients from six hospitals in the south-east of Sweden were invited to participate. In addition, data from a reference group with Coronary Artery Disease and a population group were used for comparisons with PD-patients in one of the studies. Data was collected by self-reported questionnaires, actigraphy registrations and interviews. Sleep was evaluated in a 17-week single-case study with an intervention focusing on sleep hygiene advice.Data from a total of 700 sleep-wake cycles was collected in the patients’ homes. The main findings clearly demonstrated that PD-patients have seriously fragmented sleep compared to the CAD- and population group, and that the PD-patients have a high prevalence of insomnia. The sleep was mainly disturbed by pruritus and Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). Daytime impairments and a frequent napping behaviour were detected. The prevalence of fatigue was also reported to be extremely high. The patients described that an ever-present tiredness and poor sleep had consequences in their everyday life both physically, mentally, socially and existentially. The nurse-led intervention demonstrated that individual, non-pharmacological sleep interventions can improve sleep and daytime activities in PD-patients.This thesis elucidates that deteriorated sleep with serious fragmentation leads to a variety of daytime impairments and fatigue. By adopting “renal supportive care” in clinical work a more elaborate assessment and individualised non-pharmacological treatment of sleep problems may improve sleep quality and activity in frail patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis at home.
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| 2. |
- Enblom, Anna, 1978-
(författare)
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Nausea and vomiting in patients receiving acupuncture, sham acupuncture or standard care during radiotherapy
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background and aim: Many patients with cancer experience emesis (nausea and vomiting) during radiotherapy. The overall aim of this thesis was to improve the situation for patients with risk for emesis during radiotherapy, by evaluating emesis in patients receiving verum (genuine) acupuncture, sham (simulated) acupuncture or standard care during radiotherapy.Methods: In study I, a cross-sectional sample (n=368) treated with radiotherapy over various fields answered a study-specific questionnaire. In study II, 80 healthy volunteers were randomized to receive needling with verum acupuncture or non-penetrating telescopic sham needles by one of four physiotherapists. In study III, 215 patients were randomly allocated to verum (n=109) or non-penetrating telescopic sham (n=106) acupuncture during their entire radiotherapy period over abdominal or pelvic fields. The same 215 patients were also included in study IV. They were compared to 62 patients irradiated over abdominal or pelvic fields, selected from study I.Results: In study I, the weekly prevalence of nausea was 39 % in all radiotherapy-treated patients and 63 % in abdominal or pelvic irradiated patients. Age younger than 40 years and previous experience of nausea in other situations were characteristics associated with an increased risk for nausea. Of the 145 nauseous patients, 34 % considered their antiemetic treatment as insufficient. Patients with nausea reported lower level of quality of life compared to patients free from nausea. In study II, most individuals needled with verum (68 %) or sham (68 %) acupuncture could not identify needling type, and that blinding result varied from 55 to 80 % between the four therapists. In study III, nausea was experienced by 70 % (mean number of days=10.1) and 25 % vomited during the radiotherapy period. In the sham group 62 % experienced nausea (mean number of days=8.7) and 28 % vomited. Ninety five percent in the verum and 96 % in the sham group believed that the treatment had been effective for nausea. In both groups, 67 % experienced other positive effects, on relaxation, mood, sleep or pain-reduction, and 89 % were interested in receiving the treatment again. In study IV, the weekly prevalence of nausea and vomiting was 38 and 8 % in the verum group, 37 and 7 % in the sham group and 63 and 15 % in the standard care group. The nausea difference between the acupuncture and the standard care cohort was statistically significant, also after overall adjustments for potential confounding factors. The nausea intensity in the acupuncture cohort was lower compared to the standard care cohort (p=0.002). Patients who expected nausea had increased risk for nausea compared to patients who expected low risk for nausea (Relative risk 1.6).Conclusions and implications: Nausea was common during abdominal or pelvic field irradiation in patients receiving standard care. Verum acupuncture did not reduce emesis compared to sham acupuncture, while reduced emesis was seen in both patients treated with verum or sham acupuncture. Health-care professionals may consider identifying and treating patients with increased risk for nausea in advance. The telescopic sham needle was credible. Researchers may thus use and standardize the sham procedure in acupuncture control groups. The choice of performing acupuncture during radiotherapy cannot be based on arguments that the specific characters of verum acupuncture have effects on nausea. It is important to further study what components in the acupuncture procedures that produce the dramatic positive but yet not fully understood antiemetic effect, making it possible to use those components to further increase quality of care during radiotherapy.
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| 3. |
- Frödin, Ulla, 1958-
(författare)
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Health-related quality of life during and after stem cell transplantation
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an established treatment for a variety of malignant diseases, as well as a small proportion of non-malignant disorders. The treatment before the HSCT (called conditioning) can be either myeloablative (MAC) or given with reduced intensity (RIC). MAC is associated with high toxicity due to high doses of chemotherapy with or without total body irradiation (TBI), and is used in both autologous and allogeneic HSCT. In autologous HSCT the patient is the donor, and in allogeneic HSCT the donor is a sibling or an unrelated donor. RIC regimens are associated with reduced toxicity and are only for patients undergoing allogeneic HSCT. Both autologous and allogeneic HSCT have a strong effect on the patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQL). The two studies in this thesis were initiated when RIC was introduced at a hematological department in south-east Sweden in 2001. The overall purpose was to evaluate HRQL in patients undergoing HSCT. The studies covered the whole inpatient period and the following three years in order to have a comprehensive assessment of the patients’ HRQL over time. HRQL was assessed 13 times from baseline up to three years after HSCT with the instrument EORTC QLQ-C-30. The instrument consists of 30 items divided into three major domains: functional status, symptom status, and global health/QoL. Almost all functional scales, global health status/QoL, symptom scales and single items were significantly affected in the two studies during the first two to three weeks from baseline. The symptoms that patients estimated to be the most severe in the studies were nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, and diarrhea. Two months after HSCT nearly all functional scales, global health status/QoL, symptom scales and single items in Study I had returned to the same value as at baseline in patients undergoing autologous HSCT. It took up to two years for patients undergoing allogeneic HSCT in Study II to return to the same value as at baseline. For patients in Study I, role-, emotional-, and social function, fatigue and dyspnea had significantly improved at the 3-year follow-up compared to baseline, whereas role function was the only function that had improved in Study II. Patients with lymphoma in Study I experienced significantly worse HRQL in week 2 and appetite loss at month 2 than patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Patients treated with MAC in Study II had significantly worse fatigue and nausea and vomiting at baseline and pain, sleep disturbance, appetite loss and diarrhea at weeks 3 and 4 than patients treated with RIC. Patients with extensive chronic Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD) in Study II reported significantly impaired physical function, role function, and global health status/QoL than patients with limited or no chronic GvHD. These results provide a good overview of patients’ symptoms and HRQL during and after HSCT and indicate when they require increased support from healthcare professionals. The results also demonstrate the importance of close follow-ups during the first year after HSCT in order to improve preventive interventions. The quick recovery of patients in Study I suggests that the extensive treatment is well tolerated.
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