| 1. |
- Luoma, ML, et al.
(författare)
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Prognostic value of quality of life scores for time to progression (TTP) and overall survival time (OS) in advanced breast cancer
- 2003
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Ingår i: European Journal of Cancer. - 1879-0852 .- 0959-8049. ; 39:10, s. 1370-1376
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of the study was to investigate whether baseline quality of life (QoL) and changes in QoL scores from baseline are prognostic for time to progression (TTP) and/or overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced breast cancer receiving docetaxel (T) or sequential methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil (MF). QoL was assessed at baseline and before each treatment using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30). Survival curves and probabilities were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier technique. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for both the univariate and multivariate analyses to explore relationships between baseline QoL variables and TTP, as well as OS. In the univariate analysis, more severe pain and fatigue at baseline were predictive for a shorter OS; global QoL, physical functioning and appetite loss had a borderline significance (P=0.0130 for global QoL; P=0.0256 for physical functioning: P=0.0149 for appetite loss). World Health Organization (WHO) performance status was significantly predictive for OS. In the multivariate analysis, more severe pain at baseline was predictive for a shorter OS. In contrast, baseline QoL had no prognostic value for the duration of TTP. QoL change scores from baseline QoL predicted neither OS nor TTP. Our findings suggest that while QoL measurements are important in evaluating patients' QoL, they have no great importance in predicting primary clinical endpoints such as TTP or OS in advanced breast cancer patients. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Lundberg, C., et al.
(författare)
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Driving tests with older patients : Effect of unfamiliar versus familiar vehicle
- 2003
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Ingår i: Transportation Research Part F. - 1369-8478 .- 1873-5517. ; 6:3, s. 163-173
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the study was to study the effect, for older license holders, of taking a driving test with an unfamiliar vehicle, as compared to their own cars. The study population consisted of licensed patients 65-85 years referred to the Traffic Medicine Centre (TrMC), Huddinge University Hospital, for an evaluation of their medical and cognitive fitness to drive. In the clinical practice of TrMC, driving tests have been used since 1997, with inspectors from the Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA) acting as evaluators. Initially, patients were allowed to use their own cars. From the beginning of the year 2000, however, dual brakes were made mandatory and most evaluations were then made with SNRA cars. When comparing the outcomes of driving tests from the period prior to 2000 (n=96) and after 2000 (n=69), it was found that the number of drivers who failed the test increased by 16%. Also, those who passed the test after more than one trial decreased by 20%. The potential of the neuropsychological assessment to correctly classify drivers in outcome groups was considerably reduced in the period after 2000. These results support the view that, for older drivers with cognitive deterioration, the need to adapt to an unfamiliar vehicle represents a supplementary cognitive load that may compromise their driving ability and the validity of the assessment. A measure aimed only at increasing the safety of examiners and examinees thus had an unintended side-effect that is detrimental to older clinical populations. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 4. |
- Lundberg, C, et al.
(författare)
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License suspension revisited: A 3-year follow-up study of older drivers
- 2003
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Ingår i: JOURNAL OF APPLIED GERONTOLOGY. - : SAGE Publications. - 0733-4648 .- 1552-4523. ; 22:4, s. 427-444
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This 3-year follow-up study addressed changes in health, cognitive functioning, and driving status among 37 older drivers and 37 individually matched controls. Initially, the study group had suspended driver’s licenses due to traffic violations. The in-person follow-up medical and neuropsychological examinations concerned 20 case participants and 22 controls. Mortality tended to be higher with case participants than with controls (p = .085), and there was more dementia or cognitive impairment with case participants (5/37) than with controls (0/37,p = .027). Initially, crash-involved case participants performed consistently worse on measures of cognitive functioning than did controls and noncrashed case participants and showed greater deterioration over time. Compared to controls, more crash-involved drivers had died (p = .019) or had stopped driving (p = .040). Because some older drivers with unsafe driving behavior may be in early phases of dementing processes or serious medical conditions, they should be medically and cognitively assessed.
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| 5. |
- Lundberg, C., et al.
(författare)
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The assessment of fitness to drive after a stroke : The Nordic Stroke Driver Screening Assessment
- 2003
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. - : Wiley. - 0036-5564 .- 1467-9450. ; 44:1, s. 23-30
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The British Stroke Driver Screening Assessment (SDSA) is a set of four simple cognitive tests to evaluate driving fitness in stroke patients. To evaluate its usefulness in a Scandinavian context, we adapted the tests and assessed a group of 97 stroke patients from Sweden and Norway, using a driving test as the criterion. When results were calculated according to the original method, based on a discriminant function, less than 70% of the participants were correctly classified. To improve the predictive potential, a new discriminant analysis was performed, using the scores of a subsample of 49 patients, and validated on the remaining 48 participants. In total, 78% of the patients were correctly classified, but specificity was superior to sensitivity. We conclude that the Nordic version of the SDSA is a useful instrument, provided that test scores are interpreted in a balanced manner, taking into account the possibility of compensatory traffic behavior.
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