| 1. |
- Gustafson, Lars, et al.
(författare)
-
A factor analytic approach to symptom patterns in dementia.
- 2010
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - : Hindawi Limited. - 2090-0252 .- 2090-8024.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous publications have shown a high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of three short clinical rating scales for Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and vascular dementia (VaD) validated against neuropathological (NP) diagnoses. In this study, the aim was to perform an exploratory factor analysis of the items in these clinical rating scales. The study included 190 patients with postmortem diagnoses of AD (n = 74), VaD (n = 33), mixed AD/VaD (n = 31), or FTD (n = 52). The factor analysis produced three strong factors. Factor 1 contained items describing cerebrovascular disease, similar to the Hachinski Ischemic Score. Factor 2 enclosed major clinical characteristics of FTD, and factor 3 showed a striking similarity to the AD scale. A fourth symptom cluster was described by perception and expression of emotions. The factor analyses strongly support the construct validity of the diagnostic rating scales.
|
|
| 2. |
- Sandgren, Anna, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
-
Symptoms, care needs and diagnosis in palliative cancer patients in acute care hospitals: A 5-year follow-up survey
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Acta Oncologica. - : Informa Healthcare. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 49:4, s. 460-466(7)
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Palliative cancer care in acute hospitals is scarcely studied. We therefore described and compared symptoms, care needs and types of cancer sites in 2002 compared to 2007 and analysed the relationships between these factors. METHODS: The study was population-based with a cross-sectional design and was carried out in medical, surgical and oncology wards in two acute care hospitals with no advanced palliative home care service. In 2002, 82 one-day-inventories were done (1 352 patients) compared to 142 one-day-inventories in 2007 (2 972 patients). Symptoms, care needs and cancer site were registered according to a questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyse associations between symptoms, care needs and cancer site. RESULTS: The proportion of palliative cancer patients had decreased during a five year period (14% vs. 11%, p<0.01). The patients were older in 2007 (74 vs. 70 years, p<0.001) and had more symptoms and care needs per patient (2.6 vs. 1.6, p<0.001). The most common symptoms were pain and deterioration and the most common cancer sites were prostate and colorectal cancer in both samples. Associations between symptoms, care needs and cancer site were mostly weak. Deterioration was associated with colorectal cancer, whereas pain was not associated with any specific cancer site. In haematological malignancies there was a high occurrence of infections and a high need of blood transfusions and infusions. Stomach/oesophagus cancers were significantly associated with nausea, nutritional problems and need of infusions while unknown primary malignancies were associated with abdominal surgery and infusions. DISCUSSION: Although we do not know all the causes for hospitalization, this study indicates that more focus should be on the symptoms instead of the specific cancer diagnosis. The findings also indicate that many palliative cancer patients' problems would be suitable for advanced palliative home care instead of acute hospital care.
|
|
