| 1. |
- Westius, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Views of life and sense of identity in people with Alzheimer's disease
- 2010
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In: Ageing & Society. - Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge university press. - 0144-686X .- 1469-1779. ; 30:7, s. 1257-1278
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Making it possible for people with Alzheimer's disease to retain a sense of identity during the process of the disease poses a great challenge to care-givers, professionals and family carers. The aim of this study is to elucidate the role of the view of life of people with Alzheimer's in framing their sense of identity. Is their view of life a vital aspect of their sense of identity? ‘View of life’ was interpreted as a vital aspect of sense of identity, understood as the individual's beliefs about their life history and about the attributes that characterised them. Twenty-one people with mild to moderate stages of Alzheimer's disease were interviewed about their life story. The narratives were interpreted using a phenomenological hermeneutic method. By telling their life story, the participants also narrated their view of life, i.e. their conception of reality, their central system of values and their basic emotional attitudes. By their own accounts, the origins of the narrators' central values and basic emotional attitudes were established in early life. They also expressed a sense of meaningfulness and continuity when looking back on their lives. The findings suggest that for a care-giver or confidant, having knowledge of a person with dementia's view of life is valuable when seeking to confirm that person's sense of identity.
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| 2. |
- Lewerin, Catharina, 1961, et al.
(author)
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Low holotranscobalamin and cobalamins predict incident fractures in elderly men: the MrOS Sweden.
- 2014
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In: Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1433-2965 .- 0937-941X. ; 25:1, s. 131-140
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In a population-based study on cobalamin status and incident fractures in elderly men (n = 790) with an average follow-up of 5.9 years, we found that low levels of metabolically active and total cobalamins predict incident fractures, independently of body mass index (BMI), bone mineral density (BMD), plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), and cystatin C.
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| 3. |
- Vuorinen, Miika, et al.
(author)
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Changes in vascular factors 28 years from midlife and late-life cortical thickness
- 2013
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In: Neurobiology of Aging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0197-4580 .- 1558-1497. ; 34:1, s. 100-109
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We assessed midlife blood pressure (BP), body mass index, total cholesterol, and their changes over time in relation to cortical thickness on magnetic resonance imaging 28 years later in 63 elderly at risk of dementia. Participants in the population-based Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Dementia study were first examined at midlife. A first follow-up was conducted after 21 years, and a second follow-up after an additional 7 years. Magnetic resonance images from the second follow-up were analyzed using algorithms developed at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Midlife hypertension was related to thinner cortex in several brain areas, including insular, frontal, and temporal cortices. In elderly with thinner insular cortex, there was a continuous decline in systolic BP and an increase in pulse pressure after midlife, while in elderly with thicker insular cortex the decline in systolic BP started at older ages, paralleled by a decline in pulse pressure. No associations were found between body mass index, cholesterol, or apolipoprotein E ε4 allele and cortical thickness in this group of elderly at risk individuals.
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| 4. |
- Magnusson, Lennart, et al.
(author)
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Extended safety and support systems for people with dementia living at home
- 2014
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In: Journal of Assistive Technologies. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1754-9450 .- 2042-8723. ; 8:4, s. 188-206
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to highlight the complexity surrounding the implementation of advanced electronic tracking, communication and emergency response technologies, namely, an extended safety and support (ESS) system for people with dementia (pwd) living at home. Results are presented from a Swedish demonstration study (2011-2012) conducted in 24 municipalities.Design/methodology/approach– It is a descriptive intervention study with a pre-post test design. Questionnaires were administered to pwd, carers and professionals at the outset and eight months later. ESS logging data were analyzed.Findings– ESS usage rates varied widely. A total of 650 alerts were triggered, mainly when the pwd was outdoors. Activities were reduced amongst pwd, most likely due to a progression of their disease. Carers noted that pwd were more independent than previously on those occasions when they engaged in outdoor activities. Staff considered that nearly half of pwd could remain living at home due to the ESS, compared with a third amongst carers. In total, 50 per cent of carers felt it was justified to equip their relative with an ESS without their explicit consent, compared to one in eight staff.Research limitations/implications– A limitation is the amount of missing data and high drop- out rates. Researchers should recruit pwd earlier in their illness trajectory. A mixed-methods approach to data collection is advisable.Practical implications– Carers played a crucial role in the adoption of ESS. Staff training/supervision about assistive devices and services is recommended.Social implications– Overall, use of ESS for pwd living at home was not an ethical problem.Originality/value– The study included key stakeholder groups and a detailed ethical analysis was conducted.
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| 5. |
- Dahl, Anna K., et al.
(author)
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Agreement between self-reported and measured height, weight and body mass index in old age : a longitudinal study with 20 years of follow-up
- 2010
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In: Age and Ageing. - : Oxford University Press. - 0002-0729 .- 1468-2834. ; 39:4, s. 445-451
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: self-reported body mass index (BMI) based on self-reported height and weight is a widely used measure of adiposity in epidemiological research. Knowledge about the accuracy of these measures in late life is scarce.Objective: the study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and changes in accuracy of self-reported height, weight and BMI calculated from self-reported height and weight in late life.Design: a longitudinal population-based study with five times of follow-up was conducted.Participants: seven hundred seventy-four community-living men and women, aged 40–88 at baseline (mean age 63.9), included in The Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging.Methods: participants self-reported their height and weight in a questionnaire, and height and weight were measured by experienced research nurses at an in-person testing five times during a 20-year period. BMI was calculated as weight (kilogramme)/height (metre)2.Results: latent growth curve modelling showed an increase in the mean difference between self-reported and measured values over time for height (0.038 cm/year) and BMI (0.016 kg/m2/year), but not for weight.Conclusions: there is a very small increase in the mean difference between self-reported and measured BMI with ageing, which probably would not affect the results when self-reported BMI is used as a continuous variable in longitudinal studies.
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| 6. |
- Lindgren, Helena, et al.
(author)
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Sociotechnical integration of decision support in the dementia domain
- 2010
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In: Information Technology in Health Care. - : IOS Press. - 9781607505686 - 9781607505693 ; , s. 79-84
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The need for improving dementia care has driven the development of the clinical decision support system DMSS (Dementia Management and Support System). A sociotechnical approach to design and development has been applied, with an activity-centered methodology and user participation throughout the process. Prototypes have been developed based on the characteristics of clinical practice and domain knowledge, while clinical practice has been subjected to different efforts for development such as education and organizational change. This paper addresses the lessons learned and role and impact DMSS has had, and is expected to have on the clinical assessment of dementia in different clinics in Sweden, South Korea and Japan. Furthermore, it will be described in what way the development of DMSS and the development of dementia care in these three areas are interlinked. Results indicate that the most important contribution of DMSS at the point of care, is the educational support that DMSS provides, part from the tailored explanatory support related to a patient case. This effect was partly manifested in a change of routines in the encounter with patients.
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| 7. |
- Gustafson, Lars, et al.
(author)
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A factor analytic approach to symptom patterns in dementia.
- 2010
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In: International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - : Hindawi Limited. - 2090-0252 .- 2090-8024.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Karlsson, Christina, 1961-, et al.
(author)
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Registered Nurses´ View of Performing Pain Assessment among Persons with Dementia as Consultant Advisors
- 2012
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In: Open Nursing Journal. - : Bentham Open. - 1874-4346. ; 6, s. 62-70
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Pain assessment in persons with dementia is well known as a challenging issue to professional caregivers, because of these patients´ difficulties in verbalising pain problems. Within municipal dementia care in Sweden, pain assessment has become problematic for registered nurses, as they have entered a new role in their nursing profession, from being clinical practitioners to becoming consultant advisers to other health care staff.AIM: To present municipal registered nurses´ view of pain assessment in persons with dementia in relation to their nursing profession as consultant advisers.METHODS: Purposive sampling was undertaken with 11 nurses invited to participate. Data were collected by focus groups. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data.FINDINGS: Four categories were identified to describe registered nurses´ view of pain assessment: estrangement from practical nursing care, time consuming and unsafe pain documentation, unfulfilled needs of reflection possibilities, and collaboration and coordination.CONCLUSIONS: The performance of pain assessment through a consultant advising function is experienced as frustrating and as an uncomfortable nursing situation. The nurses feel resistance to providing nursing in this way. They view nursing as a clinical task demanding daily presence among patients to enable them to make accurate and safe assessments. However, due to the consultative model, setting aside enough time for the presence seems difficult to accomplish. It is necessary to promote the quality of systematic routines in pain assessment and reflection, as well as developing professional knowledge of how pain can be expressed by dementia patients, especially those with communication difficulties.
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