1.
Franzén, Kristofer, et al.
(författare)
Impact of chronic heart failure on elderly persons' daily life : a validation study
2006
Ingår i: European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. - : Sage Publications. - 1474-5151 .- 1873-1953. ; 5:2, s. 137-145
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
BACKGROUND: Knowledge about how elderly persons perceive the impact of chronic heart failure (CHF) on daily life is important when planning nursing care. For this purpose, disease specific instruments are needed. However, few instruments have been developed or tested specifically on elderly persons. AIM: To validate a Swedish version of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (LHFQ) on elderly persons with CHF, and use it to describe the impact of CHF on daily life in the same population. METHODS: The sample comprised of 357 persons, aged between 65 and 99, diagnosed with CHF. A questionnaire including background data, the LHFQ and the SF-12 was used. RESULTS: A factor analysis resulted in four dimensions: physical, emotional, treatment and pleasure. LHFQ showed convergent validity and ability to discriminate between known groups. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0.94. Impairments in the physical dimension were most common, especially fatigue (88%) and shortness of breath (87%). CONCLUSIONS: The LHFQ showed satisfying psychometric properties in an elderly Swedish population with CHF and can, with minor alterations, be recommended for research and clinical use. The impact of chronic heart failure on daily life was mostly physical, but other impairments were also common.
2.
Franzén, Kristofer, et al.
(författare)
Predictors for health related quality of life in persons 65 years or older with chronic heart failure
2007
Ingår i: European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. - : Oxford University Press. - 1474-5151 .- 1873-1953. ; 6:2, s. 112-120
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
BackgroundA main goal in nursing care of persons with chronic heart failure (HF) is to strengthen their health related quality of life (HRQoL). This presupposes knowledge about the relation between heart failure and HRQoL. Existing studies have shown incongruent results about whether HRQoL is affected differently depending on age or sex of elderly persons with chronic HF.AimThis study aimed to investigate if age, sex, disease severity, comorbidity and living conditions predict health related quality of life among persons 65 years or older with chronic HF.MethodsThe study included a sample of 357 persons. HRQoL was measured by the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire and the Short Form-12 Health Survey Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses were performed to analyse the relation between the predictors and HRQoL.ResultsThe main finding was that self-rated disease severity was strongly associated with HRQoL, but also age, sex, diabetes and respiratory diseases was associated with some of the dimensions of HRQoL.ConclusionsInterventions aimed at delaying the progress of the disease, assist persons' to cope with the disease and maintain the domains of HRQoL that are still feasible could be important to improve HRQoL in elderly persons with chronic HF.
3.
4.
Kim, M.-Y., et al.
(författare)
Respondent burden and patient-perceived validity of the PDQ-39
2006
Ingår i: Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0001-6314 .- 1600-0404. ; 113:2, s. 132-137
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the respondent burden and patient-perceived content validity of the Parkinson's disease (PD)-specific health status questionnaire PDQ-39, and the linguistic validity of its revised Swedish version.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen PD patients completed the revised Swedish version of the PDQ-39. Respondent burden was assessed by recording the time taken to complete the questionnaire. Content and linguistic validity was evaluated qualitatively.RESULTS: Patients with mild, moderate and advanced PD needed a mean time of 9.5, 11.3 and 20.1 min, respectively, to complete the PDQ-39. One-third of the patients identified irrelevant items and 50% identified important health-related areas that were missing. Revisions had eliminated previous linguistic problems with the Swedish PDQ-39.CONCLUSIONS: Undue respondent burden challenged the appropriateness of the PDQ-39 among patients with more advanced disease. Overall content validity was acceptable but compromised by lack of important content areas. Observations supported the linguistic validity of the revised Swedish PDQ-39.
5.
Laurell, Helena, et al.
(författare)
Acute abdominal pain among elderly patients
2006
Ingår i: Gerontology. - : S. Karger AG. - 0304-324X .- 1423-0003. ; 52:6, s. 339-344
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Background: Diagnosis of acute abdominal pain in older persons is a challenge, with the age-related increase in concurrent diseases. In most western countries the number of elderly people is constantly rising, which means that an increasing proportion of patients admitted for abdominal pain at the emergency department are elderly. Objective: To characterize differences in clinical presentation and diagnostic accuracy between younger and more elderly patients with acute abdominal pain. Methods: Patients admitted to Mora Hospital with abdominal pain of up to seven days' duration were registered according to a detailed schedule. From 1st February 1997 to 1st June 2000, 557 patients aged 65-79 years and 274 patients aged ≥80 years were registered. Patients aged 20-64 years (n = 1,458) served as a control group. Results: A specific diagnosis, i.e. other than 'non-specific abdominal pain', was established in 76 and 78% of the patients aged 65-79 and ≥80 years respectively, and in 64% of those aged 20-64 (p < 0.001). Pain duration before admission increased with age (p < 0.003), as did frequency and duration of hospitalization (p < 0.0001). Hospital stay increased from 170 days per 100 emergency admissions in the control group to 320 and 458 days in the younger and older study groups, respectively. At the emergency department, older patients were more often misdiagnosed than control patients (52 vs. 45%; p = 0.002). At discharge the diagnosis was more accurate in the control group (86 vs. 77%; p < 0.0001). Hospital mortality was higher among older patients (23/831 vs. 2/1,458; p < 0.001). The admission-to-surgery interval was increased (1.8 vs. 0.9 days, p < 0.0001) in patients ≥65 years. Rebound tenderness (p < 0.0001), local rigidity (p = 0.003) and rectal tenderness (p = 0.004) were less common in the older than in the control patients with peritonitis. In patients ≥65 years, C-reactive protein did not differ between patients operated on and those not, contrary to the finding in patients <65 years (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Both the preliminary diagnosis at the emergency department and the discharge diagnosis were less reliable in elderly than in younger patients. Elderly patients more often had specific organic disease and arrived at the emergency department after a longer history of abdominal pain compared to younger patients.
6.
Franzén, Kristofer (current name Årestedt, Kristofer), et al.
(författare)
Impact of Chronic Heart Failure on Elderly Persons' Daily Life : A Validation Study
2006
Ingår i: European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. - : Sage Publications. - 1474-5151 .- 1873-1953. ; 5:2, s. 137-145
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
BACKGROUND: Knowledge about how elderly persons perceive the impact of chronic heart failure (CHF) on daily life is important when planning nursing care. For this purpose, disease specific instruments are needed. However, few instruments have been developed or tested specifically on elderly persons.AIM: To validate a Swedish version of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (LHFQ) on elderly persons with CHF, and use it to describe the impact of CHF on daily life in the same population.METHODS: The sample comprised of 357 persons, aged between 65 and 99, diagnosed with CHF. A questionnaire including background data, the LHFQ and the SF-12 was used.RESULTS: A factor analysis resulted in four dimensions: physical, emotional, treatment and pleasure. LHFQ showed convergent validity and ability to discriminate between known groups. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0.94. Impairments in the physical dimension were most common, especially fatigue (88%) and shortness of breath (87%).CONCLUSIONS: The LHFQ showed satisfying psychometric properties in an elderly Swedish population with CHF and can, with minor alterations, be recommended for research and clinical use. The impact of chronic heart failure on daily life was mostly physical, but other impairments were also common.
7.
Franzén, Kristofer, et al.
(författare)
Predictors for health related quality of life in persons 65 years or older with chronic heart failure.
2006
Ingår i: European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1474-5151 .- 1873-1953. ; 6:2, s. 112-120
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Background A main goal in nursing care of persons with chronic heart failure (HF) is to strengthen their health related quality of life (HRQoL). This presupposes knowledge about the relation between heart failure and HRQoL. Existing studies have shown incongruent results about whether HRQoL is affected differently depending on age or sex of elderly persons with chronic HF. Aim This study aimed to investigate if age, sex, disease severity, comorbidity and living conditions predict health related quality of life among persons 65 years or older with chronic HF. Methods The study included a sample of 357 persons. HRQoL was measured by the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire and the Short Form-12 Health Survey Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses were performed to analyse the relation between the predictors and HRQoL. Results The main finding was that self-rated disease severity was strongly associated with HRQoL, but also age, sex, diabetes and respiratory diseases was associated with some of the dimensions of HRQoL. Conclusions Interventions aimed at delaying the progress of the disease, assist persons' to cope with the disease and maintain the domains of HRQoL that are still feasible could be important to improve HRQoL in elderly persons with chronic HF.
8.
Dahl, Anna, 1975-
(författare)
Body mass index, cognitive ability, and dementia : prospective associations and methodological issues in late life
2009
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The aims of the present study were to investigate the association between overweight and cognitive ability and dementia, and to evaluate the usefulness of self-reported body mass index (BMI) in late life and various data sources commonly used in epidemiological studies to identify persons with dementia. Data were drawn from three population-based studies: the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA), Aging in Women and Men: A Longitudinal Study of Gender Differences in Health Behaviour and Health among Elderly (the Gender Study), and the Finnish Lieto Study. In Study I, the agreement between self-reported and measured BMI over time was evaluated among 774 men and women, ages 40 to 88 years at baseline (mean age 63.9) participating in both the questionnaire phase and in-person testing of SATSA. Latent growth curve (LGC) modeling showed a small but significant increase between self-reported and measured BMI (0.02 kg/m2/y) over time, which would probably not affect the results if self-reported BMI were used as a continuous variable in longitudinal research. In Study II, the agreement between dementia diagnoses from various sources and dementia diagnoses set at a consensus conference was evaluated. Among the 498 elderly people ages 70 to 81 at baseline (mean age 74.5) enrolled in the Gender Study, 87 were diagnosed with dementia during an eight-year period. Review of medical records and nurse evaluations yielded the highest sensitivity (0.83 and 0.80, respectively) and a high specificity (0.98 and 0.96), indicating that these sources might be good proxies of dementia, while data extraction from the Swedish Inpatient Discharge Registry underestimated the prevalence of dementia (sensitivity 0.26). In Study III, the association between being overweight in midlife and cognitive ability in late life was examined in SATSA. The 781 participants ages 25 to 63 at baseline (mean age 41.6) in 1963 or 1973 self-reported their height and weight. From 1986 until 2002, they were assessed five times using a cognitive test battery. LGC models showed that people with higher midlife BMI scores had significantly lower cognitive ability and a significantly steeper decline than their thinner counterparts, an association that persisted when those who developed dementia during the study period were excluded from the analysis. This finding indicates that being overweight might affect cognitive ability independently of dementia. In Study IV, the association between BMI and dementia risk in older persons was described among 605 persons without dementia and ages 65 to 92 at baseline (mean age 70.8) in the Lieto Study. Among these, 86 persons were diagnosed with dementia during eight years of follow-up. Cox regression analyses indicated that for each unit increase in BMI score, the risk of dementia decreased 8% (hazard ratio = 0.92, 95% confidence interval = 0.87–0.97) and the association remained significant when individuals who developed dementia during the first four years of follow-up were excluded from the analyses. This result suggests that low BMI scores are present almost a decade before clinical dementia onset.
9.
Dahl, Anna, et al.
(författare)
Identification of dementia in epidemiological research : A study on the usefulness of various data sources
2007
Ingår i: Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. - : Springer Nature Switzerland AG. - 1594-0667 .- 1720-8319. ; 19:5, s. 381-389
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Background and aims: Prevalence and incidence ratios of dementia in epidemiological studies vary according to the data source used. Medical records, cognitive tests, and registry information are sources frequently used to differentiate dementia from normal aging. The aim of the present study was to compare the identification of dementia from these different sources with that from consensus diagnosis. Methods: 498 elderly people (age range 70–81 at baseline) enrolled in a Swedish population-based longitudinal twin study (Gender) were evaluated on physical and mental health and interviewed for their socio-demographic background three times during an eight-year period. Reviews of medical records and the Swedish Discharge Registry (DR) were conducted. The 10th percentile was used to differentiate between dementia and non-dementia in all cognitive tests. Scores of 24 or below on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (range 1–30) indicated dementia. A consensus conference diagnosed dementia on the basis of total information. The consensus diagnosis was used as the gold standard. Results: MMSE scores (sensitivity 64%, specificity 96%, kappa 0.65) and the review of medical records (sensitivity 57%, specificity 99%, kappa 0.65) were good sources for dementia identification. The precision of medical records increased when recordings of cognitive impairment were included (sensitivity 83%, specificity 98%, kappa 0.84). The discharge registry had low sensitivity (26%) and kappa coefficient (0.31). Conclusions: The present study shows that both review of medical records and MMSE scores are good although not perfect identifiers of dementia. The discharge registry is an uncertain source of dementia identification.
10.
