| 1. |
- Afrell, Maria, 1953-
(författare)
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Att leva med en kropp som värker : samtal med fysioterapeuten
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background and aim: Physiotherapists in primary care meet, assess and treat patients with long-standing benign musculoskeletal pain. As a clinical condition, long-standing pain is common but nonetheless it is quite complex. The aim of this thesis has been, from a bodily existential perspective, to investigate and conceptualise the experience of living with longstanding benign musculoskeletal pain, and from there, to work out a method for conversation and assessment within non-specialised physiotherapy.Methods: Our first study was an interview study where we applied a phenomenological approach and investigated the ways individuals suffering from long-standing pain experienced their body and their illness. Four aspects of body experience were described, and based on these aspects, four typologies of attitudes to pain were distinguished. In the second study, we made two group interviews with six physiotherapists about their experiences of using, in their clinical work, questions from the interview guide in study I that had given particularly rich responses. Transcripts were analysed using phenomenography. In the third study, patients’ verbal responses to the key questions, directed to them by physiotherapists in clinical situations, were investigated, and the four aspects of body experience from study I formed the concepts of a deductive analysis. In study IV, finally, the key questions and typologies were tried by a larger group (31), and their experiences and the possible applicability of the method were studied by qualitative content analysis combined with the counting of codes.Results: We created four typologies of attitudes to long-standing pain: “Surrendering to one’s fate”, “Accepting by an active process of change”, “Balancing between hope and resignation” and “Rejecting the body”. These typologies, in turn, were based on four aspects of body experience: “The body as an aspect of identity”. “Body reliance”, “Body awareness”, and “Ways of understanding pain”. In study II, by the aid of key questions, patient and physiotherapist managed to have a conversation on bodily existential matters. The physiotherapist learnt to know the patient as a person, a process appeared to be initiated in the patient, and their relation changed. The patient was willing to talk about her body in pain, and had the words to do this. In study III, the key questions opened ways to reflections on body, existence, and biography. The four aspects of body experience were central to the patients’ descriptions. In study IV, the participating physiotherapists reported by large positive experiences from applying key questions and typologies. The patients reflected, emotions were evoked, and the relation and the communication often improved. The typologies helped in giving a comprehensive perspective of the patient’s problem, and to grasp where in the process of rehabilitation the patient was to be found.Conclusions: The method, seven key questions combined with the tentative frame of interpretation of the answers, seemed to be easily applied by interested physiotherapists in non-specialised practice. The application of the method addresses the need of developing the professional role of the physiotherapist. The challenge is to face the whole person, who is her lived body as well as her identity crisis, carried by emotions such as grief and anger. This may inspire the use of the full potential of the physiotherapist’s professional role in the clinical encounter.
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| 2. |
- Segernäs Kvitting, Anna, 1977-
(författare)
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Dementia diagnostics in primary care : with a focus on cognitive testing
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- BackgroundAge is the greatest risk factor for developing dementia and the total number of people aged 60 years and above is expected to more than double globally from 2013 to 2050 (1). Primary health care (PHC) is important for basic diagnostic evaluations. Objective test measurements have been shown to be more reliable than a patient's subjective memory complaints in dementia assessments (2). However, several studies indicate the low use of objective cognitive screening tools in dementia diagnostics in PHC (3). Some general practitioners (GPs) do not perceive today’s cognitive instruments as helpful in the diagnostic process and administration problems have been reported in PHC (4, 5).The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the accuracy of several cognitive tests used in dementia assessments in PHC, especially among older patients: A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed (AQT), Cognistat and Cognitive Assessment Battery (CAB). The normative values of the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) in the oldest old was also studied.MethodsThe studies included in this thesis are from two different study populations.Studies I, II and IV. Patients with and without cognitive symptoms were recruited from four primary health care centres in Sweden between 2007 and 2009.Study III. The Elderly in Linköping Screening Assessment (ELSA 85) cohort-population examined people born in 1922 in the municipality of Linköping, Sweden.ResultsStudy I. Results showed that AQT is a usable test for dementia diagnosis in PHC. Sensitivity for AQT is superior to the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), equivalent to MMSE and the combination MMSE and CDT. The AUC for AQT was 0.773, valued good enough.Study II. Overall, the results for Cognistat in this study are superior to MMSE and CDT, also in combination. Cognistat is promising for improved dementia diagnosis in PHC with a quick and easily administered multi-domain test for dementia assessments.Study III. This study presents valuable information about normative MMSE data for the oldest patients. Results, suggest using the 25th percentile in MMSE of 25 to 26 points, and indicate that MMSE 26 is as a reasonable cut-off for cognitive decline and further medical evaluation in older persons aged from 85 to 93 years.Study IV. In summary, the additive value of the CAB test in dementia investigations in PHC is not obvious. In addition to questionable accuracy, the test is quite time consuming and normative values are scarce. By introducing the numerical sum (CABsum) the accuracy was increased.ConclusionIn conclusion, objective cognitive tests are an important part of dementia diagnosis in PHC and there is a need for improved instruments and norm-values. From our results, several cognitive quick tests are usable in PHC - MMSE, AQT and Cognistat - but they have some disadvantages. MMSE 26 is a reasonable cut-off for cognitive decline in the oldest patients 85 to 93 years from a well-educated population with quite good socioeconomic. There is a great interest in finding short and better multi-domain instruments but the additive value of CAB in dementia investigations in PHC is questionable.
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| 3. |
- Agvall, Björn, 1963-
(författare)
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Heart failure in primary care with special emphasis on costs and benefits of a disease management programme
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background and aim. Heart failure (HF) is a common condition associated with poor quality of life (QoL), high morbidity and mortality and is frequently occurring in primary health care (PHC). It involves a substantial economic burden on the health care expenditure. There are modern pharmacological treatments with evident impact on QoL, morbidity, mortality, and proved to be cost-effective. Despite this knowledge, the treatment of HF is considered somewhat insufficient. There are several HF management programmes (HFMP) showing beneficial effects but these studies is predominantly based in hospital care (HC).The first aim of this thesis was to describe patients with HF in the PHC regarding gender differences, diagnosis, treatment and health related costs (I, II).The second aim was to evaluate whether HFMP have beneficial effects in the PHC regarding cardiac function, quality of life, health care utilization and health care-related costs (III,IV).Methods. The initial study involved retrospective collection of data from 256 patients with symptomatic HF in PHC (I). The data collected were gender, age, diagnostics and ongoing treatment. The second study was an economic calculation performed on 115 patients (II). The economic data was retrospectively retrieved as the number of hospital days, visits to nurses and physicians in HC and PHC, prescribed cardiovascular drugs and performed investigation during retrospectively for one year. The third and fourth study was based on a randomized, prospective, open-label study which was subsequently performed (III,IV). The study enrolled 160 patients with systolic HF who were randomized to either an intervention or a control group. The patients in the intervention group retrieved follow-up of HF qualified nurses and physicians in the PHC, involving education about HF and furthermore, optimizing the treatment according to guidelines if possible. The patients in the control group had a followup performed by their regular general practitioner (GP) receiving customary management according to local routines but there was no contact with HF nurses. The primary endpoint of the study was a composite endpoint consisting of changes in survival, hospitalization, heart function and quality of life (QoL) and to compare differences in resource utilization and costs (III,IV).Results. In the first study, the prevalence was 2% and the average age was 78 years (I). The most frequent cause of HF was IHD followed o hypertension. The diagnosis in the study population was based on clinical criteria and only 31% had been subjected to echocardiography. The most common treatment was diuretics (84%) and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) were used in 56% of patients. In the following prospective study, the intervention group had significant improvements in composite endpoints. There were in the intervention group more patients with reduced levels of NTproBNP (p=0.012) and improved cardiac function (p=0.03). No significant changes were found in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class or QoL. The intervention involved less health care contacts (p=0.04), less emergency ward visits (p=0.002) and hospitalizations (p=0.03). The total cost for HC and PHC was EUR 4471 in the intervention group and EUR 6638 in the control group which implies a cost reduction of EUR 2167 (33%).Conclusions. HF is common in PHC with a prevalence of 2% the study population had an average age of 78 years. Only 31 % of the HF patients have performed an echocardiographic investigation. Treatment with ACEI occurred in 56 %. Differences were found between genders since women had performed significantly fewer echocardiographic investigations and, had less treatment with ACEI. When implementing HFMP in PHC, beneficial effects were found regarding cardiac function and health care-related costs in patients with systolic HF. These findings indicate that HFMP might be used even in PHC.
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| 4. |
- Foldevi, Mats, 1952-
(författare)
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Implementation and evaluation of problem-based learning in general practice.
- 1995
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping, Sweden, started the reformedmedical curriculum in 1986. Problem-based Learning as an educational method was introduced into the entire curriculum. It was a response to requests for community-orientation by increasing the involvement of general practice. A new extensive communication skills training - the 'Strand', a new form of examination- 'phase examination', and recurrent clerkships in general practice in the clinical phase were also introduced. The medical cuniculum, with its focus on general practice, together with these innovations are presented in a case report of its implementation and development.The similarities between quality assurance and problem-based learning, as processes and methods, are also identified, described and discussed.Two of the innovations where general practice is a main contributor, namely, the clerkships in general practice and the phase examination 1 and 2 have been evaluated. Of the 115 students, in semester six to nine in the autumn of 1992, 74% filled in the clerkship evaluation questionnaire. The overall rating was very positive. Regression analysis of the rated variables showed that the quality of the tutoring was the strongest determinator of the overall rating. No decline in the students' ratings in the latter semesters was found.A qualitative study was made on all free comments made by the same study group in the same questionnaires. This study identified an area not covered in the quantitative evaluation, the important elements of the student-tutor relationship.The 'phase examinations' have been found to be a valid assessment ofcommunication skills, integrative knowledge and the search for scientificinformation. The use of general practitioners as assessors has strengthened the role of general practice in the curriculum.
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| 5. |
- Johansson, Kajsa, 1971-
(författare)
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Patients with subacromial pain : Diagnosis, treatment and outcome in primary care
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Syftet med avhandlingen var att beskriva diagnostiken och utvärdera handläggningen i primärvård av patienter med subacromial smärta.Avhandlingen omfattar fyra studier.I den första studien användes ett frågeformulär och resultaten beskriver hur distriktsläkare och distriktssjukgymnaster i ett svenskt län diagnosticerar och handlägger primärvårdspatienter med subacromial smärta.Den andra studien beskriver distriktsläkares och distriktssjukgymnasters tilltro till effekten av olika behandlingsmetoder för dessa patienter. Med utgångspunkt från de tilltrodda behandlingsmetoderna genomfördes en systematisk litteraturöversikt.Den tredje studien utvärderar intra- och interbedömar reliabilitet för ett styrketest som ingår i ett utvärderingsinstrument ‘the Constant-Murley shoulder assessment’.Den avslutande studien är en randomiserad klinisk studie som utvärderar och jämför effekten av två behandlingsstrategier, akupunktur och ultraljud, båda i kombination med hemträning.Distriktsläkare och distriktssjukgymnaster visade sig använda en likartad diagnostik. Det troligaste valet av behandling för distriktsläkare var antiinflammatoriska läkemedel och kortisoninjektion i den subacromiala bursan och för distriktssjukgymnaster rörelseträning samt ergonomiska åtgärder.Dock var de flesta behandlingsalternativen troliga val, vilket tolkas som en osäkerhet om behandlingarnas effekt.Med utgångspunkt från de behandlingsmetoder som distriktsläkare och distriktssjukgymnaster tilltrodde som effektiva för patienter med subacromial smärta, genomfördes en systematisk kritisk litteraturöversikt. Fyrtio studier inkluderades och deras evidensnivå utvärderades. Endast kortisoninjektion i den subacromiala bursan visade sig ha definitiva bevis för effekt. Akupunktur visade sig ha troliga bevis för effekt och ultraljudsbehandling konkluderades som ineffektivt för patienter med subacromial smärta. Det förelåg en låg grad av samstämmighet mellan tilltro och tillgängliga vetenskapliga bevis.En digital dynamometer kan ersätta den konventionella fjädervågen i det standardiserade styrketestet. En nästan perfekt överensstämmelse vad gäller både intra- och interbedömarreliabilitet vid test av unga skulderfriska personer, oberoende av om en ”håll emot-” eller ”dragteknik” användes eller om medel- eller maxvärden användes vid beräkningen av överensstämmelse.I den randomiserade kliniska studien inkluderades 85 patienter. Tre utvärderingsinstrument, kombinerade i resultatanalysen, utvärderade förändringen under en uppföljningsperiod på 12 månader tillsammans med patienternas subjektiva skattning av resultatet.Resultaten visade att akupunktur i kombination med hemträning är att föredra. Båda behandlingsgrupperna förbättrades signifikant och fortsatte förbättras över tid oberoende av behandling. De flesta patienter uppnådde ett tillfredställande behandlingsresultat efter 12 månader. Åtminstone tre fjärdedelar i varje behandlingsgrupp skattade sig mycket förbättrade eller helt återställda. Detta tolkas som en behandlingseffekt i kombination med naturalförloppet.Avhandlingen har beskrivit handläggningen i primärvård av patienter med subacromial smärta och har bidragit med vetenskapliga bevis för distriktsläkare att behandla med kortisoninjektion i subacromiala bursan och för distriktssjukgymnaster att behandla med akupunktur kombinerat med hemträning.
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