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- Lundgren, Oskar, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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A journey through chaos and calmness : experiences of mindfulness training in patients with depressive symptoms after a recent coronary event - a qualitative diary content analysis.
- 2018
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Ingår i: BMC Psychology. - : BioMed Central. - 2050-7283. ; 6:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Psychological distress with symptoms of depression and anxiety is common and unrecognized in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Efforts have been made to treat psychological distress in CAD with both conventional methods, such as antidepressant drugs and psychotherapy, and non-conventional methods, such as stress management courses. However, studies focusing on the experiences of mindfulness training in this population are still scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore immediate experiences of mindfulness practice among CAD patients with depressive symptoms.METHODS: A qualitative content analysis of diary entries, written immediately after practice sessions and continuously during an 8-week long Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course (MBSR), was applied.RESULTS: Twelve respondents participated in the study. The main category: a journey through chaos and calmness captured the participants' concurrent experiences of challenges and rewards over time. This journey appears to reflect a progressive development culminating in the harvesting of the fruits of practice at the end of the mindfulness training. Descriptions of various challenging facets of mindfulness practice - both physical and psychological - commonly occurred during the whole course, although distressing experiences were more predominant during the first half. Furthermore, the diary entries showed a wide variety of ways of dealing with these struggles, including both constructive and less constructive strategies of facing difficult experiences. As the weeks passed, participants more frequently described an enhanced ability to concentrate, relax and deal with distractions. They also developed their capacity to observe the content of their mind and described how the practice began to yield rewards in the form of well-being and a sense of mastery.CONCLUSIONS: Introducing MBSR in the aftermath of a cardiac event, when depressive symptoms are present, is a complex and delicate challenge in clinical practice. More nuanced information about what to expect as well as the addition of motivational support and skillful guidance during the course should be given in accordance with the participants' experiences and needs.TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was retrospectively registered in clinicaltrials.gov (registration number: NCT03340948 ).
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| 2. |
- Lundgren, Oskar, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Inverted items and validity : A psychobiological evaluation of two measures of psychological resources and one depression scale
- 2018
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Ingår i: Health psychology open. - : Sage Publications. - 2055-1029. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Psychological resources and risk factors influence risk of coronary heart disease. We evaluated whether inverted items in the Self-esteem, Mastery, and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scales compromise validity in the context of coronary heart disease. In a population-based sample, validity was investigated by calculating correlations with other scales (n = 1004) and interleukin-6 (n = 374), and by analyzing the relationship with 8-year coronary heart disease risk (n = 1000). Negative items did not affect the validity of the resource scales. In contrast, positive items from Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression showed no significant relationships with biological variables. However, they had no major impact on the validity of the original scale.
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| 3. |
- Lundgren, Oskar, 1979-
(författare)
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Psychological Resources and Risk Factors in Coronary Heart Disease : Assessment, Impact and the Influence of Mindfulness Training
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is strong evidence for the observation that psychological risk factors, such as depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and anxiety are associated with higher risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD), and also contribute to a worse prognosis among CHD patients. Much less is known about psychological resources, such as Mastery, and their role in cardiovascular medicine. Although the current state of science about the importance of psychological factors has advanced during the last decades, the mental health status of patients is often neglected in clinical practice. The reason behind this gap is multifaceted, including unawareness of the current state of science among professionals and a lack of clear guideline, which in turn, results from a lack of evidence-based ways to address the issues. Furthermore, the measurement of psychological resources is complex and a debated topic in psychology. The aim of this thesis was to investigate: 1) If the use of inverted items in three questionnaires that measure psychological resources and risk factors represent a validity risk in the context of CHD. 2) If psychological resources and risk factors are independently associated with incidence in CHD. 3) If an eight-week course in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a feasible psychological intervention, as an addition to cardiac rehabilitation. 4) How CHD patients experience the practices of mindfulness and yoga in MBSR.In Study I and II, data from 1007 participants randomly selected from a Swedish community sample, aged 45-69 at baseline (50 % women), were analysed. To study the validity of the self-report instruments Mastery, Self-esteem and Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CESD), subscales with only positive and negative items were created. The new subscales were evaluated against three criterion measures; cross-sectional against each other and the circulatory marker of inflammation interleukine-6 (IL-6) (concurrent construct validity); prospectively against 8-year incidence in CHD (predictive validity), and in addition, a factor analysis was used to investigate construct dimensionality. The instruments seemed to be valid measures of psychological resources and risk factors in the context of CHD risk. The new subscales showed the same associations as the original scales, except for the positive items in CES-D. However, this did not have a major influence on the full scale. In Study II a prospective analysis of the impact of psychological factors on 8-year incidence in CHD was performed. The psychological resources Mastery and Self-esteem were negatively associated with CHD, also after adjustment for nine traditional cardiovascular risk factors in Cox proportional hazard models. The protective effect of the two resources, and the increased risk of Hopelessness, remained after adjustment for depressive symptoms. In Study III and IV, a group of CHD patients with depressive symptoms (n=79) was invited to participate in MBSR as a complement to cardiac rehabilitation. Twenty-four patients started MBSR and 16 completed it. The results were compared with a reference group (n=108) of patients from the same clinic, which showed stability in psychological variables over 12 months. MBSR was appreciated by the patients and improvements in psychological risk factors (e.g., depressive symptoms), and an increase in Mastery were observed. Study IV made use of a qualitative content analysis of diary entries written by patients immediately after practice sessions throughout MBSR. Participants described difficulties, both physical and psychological, during the whole course, but as the weeks passed they more frequently described an enhanced ability to concentrate, relax and deal with distractions. From the combined findings in Study III and IV, we conclude that MBSR could be a promising complement to cardiac rehabilitation for a selection of patients.The overall picture, emerging from this thesis, strengthens the argument that psychological factors should be recognized and addressed in clinical practice. It also encourages further studies of how psychological resources could be built, which could inform the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies for CHD patients with psychological distress and also contribute to improved public health interventions.
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| 4. |
- Mazya, Amelie Lindh, et al.
(författare)
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Outpatient comprehensive geriatric assessment : effects on frailty and mortality in old people with multimorbidity and high health care utilization
- 2019
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Ingår i: Aging clinical and experimental research. - Milan, Italy : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1594-0667 .- 1720-8319. ; 31:4, s. 519-525
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Multimorbidity and frailty are often associated and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is considered the gold standard of care for these patients. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of outpatient Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) on frailty in community-dwelling older people with multimorbidity and high health care utilization. Methods: The Ambulatory Geriatric Assessment—Frailty Intervention Trial (AGe-FIT) was a randomized controlled trial (intervention group, n = 208, control group n = 174) with a follow-up period of 24 months. Frailty was a secondary outcome. Inclusion criteria were: age ≥ 75 years, ≥ 3 current diagnoses per ICD-10, and ≥ 3 inpatient admissions during 12 months prior to study inclusion. The intervention group received CGA-based care and tailored interventions by a multidisciplinary team in an Ambulatory Geriatric Unit, in addition to usual care. The control group received usual care. Frailty was measured with the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) criteria. At 24 months, frail and deceased participants were combined in the analysis. Results: Ninety percent of the population were frail or pre-frail at baseline. After 24 months, there was a significant smaller proportion of frail and deceased (p = 0.002) and a significant higher proportion of pre-frail patients in the intervention group (p = 0.004). Mortality was high, 18% in the intervention group and 26% in the control group. Conclusion: Outpatient CGA may delay the progression of frailty and may contribute to the improvement of frail patients in older persons with multimorbidity.
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