scholarly journals Health-related quality of life among frequent attenders in Swedish primary care: a cross-sectional observational study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e026855
Author(s):  
Ylva Strömbom ◽  
Peter Magnusson ◽  
Jan Karlsson ◽  
Mats Fredrikson

ObjectivesThe aim was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL), patient characteristics and reasons for visits to general practitioners (GPs) by frequent attenders (FAs) and a comparison group (CG) in primary care.MethodsPatients aged 18–64 years were eligible for the study. Medical records were scrutinised concerning reasons for visits. Questionnaires including short-form health survey (SF-36) were mailed to 331 FAs (≥5 visits at GPs during 2000) and 371 patients in a CG randomly selected from two healthcare centres and returned by 49% and 57%, respectively. FAs’ SF-36 health profiles were compared both to CG and general Swedish population norms.ResultsFAs report lower HRQoL than CG and below the general Swedish population norms in all eight SF-36 domains including both mental and physical component summary scores (MCS and PCS). Effect sizes (ESs) for differences between FAs and norms ranged from 0.79 to 1.08 for specific domains and was 0.94 for PCS and 0.71 for MCS. ESs of FAs versus CG ranged between 0.60 and 0.95 for the domains and was 0.76 for PCS and 0.49 for MCS. There were no significant differences between the FAs and CG with regard to sex, being married or cohabiting, number of children in household or educational level. FAs were more often unemployed, obese, slightly older and used complementary medicine more frequently. Except for injuries, all health complaints as classified in 10 categories were more common among FAs than CG, particularly musculoskeletal pain and psychosocial distress related to compromised HRQoL.ConclusionThe HRQoL is compromised in FAs, both when compared with patients who do not often seek care and to general Swedish population norms. Commonly reported reasons for visiting GPs among FAs were musculoskeletal pain and psychosocial distress. Thus, perceived ill health, particularly pain and distress, seems important for high utilisation of healthcare resources.

2019 ◽  
Vol 404 (7) ◽  
pp. 807-814
Author(s):  
Lo Hallin Thompson ◽  
Erik Nordenström ◽  
Martin Almquist ◽  
Anders Bergenfelz

Abstract Purpose The aim of the study was to examine subjective health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients undergoing adrenalectomy. Methods The study included patients scheduled for adrenalectomy 2014–2017 after giving informed consent. The SF-36 questionnaire was administrated before operation and 1 year postoperatively. Results were compared with published normative values in Sweden. Results Some 50 patients were included. SF-36 scores for the whole cohort improved significantly after adrenalectomy in all dimensions except for bodily pain. Compared with the general Swedish population, the patients reported a significantly reduced HRQoL before and after adrenalectomy in all domains except for bodily pain postoperatively. Patients with benign functional tumours had lower HRQoL in physical domains before adrenalectomy than patients with benign non-functional tumours; Physical Component Summary (PCS), median 33.1 (range 17.1–62.9) vs. 44.2 (20.0–66.5), p = 0.018. Postoperatively, HRQoL was similar in the two groups of patients. Patients with benign functional tumours reported significantly improved HRQoL in all dimensions after adrenalectomy: PCS 33.1 (17.1–62.9) preoperatively vs. 47.6 (19.8-57.3) postoperatively, p = 0.005; Mental Component Summary (MCS) 33.8 (11.8–62.0) preoperatively vs. 52.7 (16.4–59.8) postoperatively, p = 0.004. These improvements were not seen in patients with benign non-functional or malignant tumours. Patients with malignant tumours reported no difference in SF-36 scores before or after adrenalectomy compared with patients with benign non-functional tumours. Conclusions Adrenalectomy improved HRQoL in patients with benign functional tumours. Adrenalectomy did not improve HRQoL in patients with benign non-functional tumours or in patients with malignant tumours.


2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. e7-e8
Author(s):  
Ann-Sophie Lindqvist Bagge ◽  
Anders Carlander ◽  
Claudia Fahlke ◽  
Roger Olofsson Bagge

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Daniela Viramontes-Hörner ◽  
Zoe Pittman ◽  
Nicholas M Selby ◽  
Maarten W Taal

Abstract Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is severely impaired in persons receiving dialysis. Malnutrition has been associated with some measures of poor HRQoL in cross-sectional analyses in dialysis populations, but no studies have assessed the impact of malnutrition and dietary intake on change in multiple measures of HRQoL over time. We investigated the most important determinants of poor HRQoL and the predictors of change in HRQoL over time using several measures of HRQoL. We enrolled 119 haemodialysis and 31 peritoneal dialysis patients in this prospective study. Nutritional assessments (Subjective Global Assessment [SGA], anthropometry and 24-hour dietary recalls) and HRQoL questionnaires (Short Form-36 [SF-36] mental [MCS] and physical component scores [PCS] and European QoL-5 Dimensions [EQ5D] health state [HSS] and visual analogue scores [VAS]) were performed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Mean age was 64(14) years. Malnutrition was present in 37% of the population. At baseline, malnutrition assessed by SGA was the only factor independently (and negatively) associated with all four measures of HRQoL. No single factor was independently associated with decrease in all measures of HRQoL over 1 year. However, prevalence/development of malnutrition over one year was an independent predictor of 1-year decrease in EQ5D HSS and 1-year decrease in fat intake independently predicted the 1-year decline in SF-36 MCS and PCS, and EQ5D VAS. These findings strengthen the importance of monitoring for malnutrition and providing nutritional advice to all persons on dialysis. Future studies are needed to evaluate the impact of nutritional interventions on HRQoL and other long-term outcomes.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e047812
Author(s):  
Takuya Aoki ◽  
Shunichi Fukuhara ◽  
Yasuki Fujinuma ◽  
Yosuke Yamamoto

ObjectivesLongitudinal studies, which consider multimorbidity patterns, are useful for better clarifying the effect of multimorbidity on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and for identifying the target population with poorer clinical outcomes among patients with multimorbidity. This study aimed to examine the effects of different multimorbidity patterns on the decline in HRQoL.DesignNationwide prospective cohort study.SettingJapanese adult residents.ParticipantsResidents aged ≥50 years selected by the quota sampling method.Primary outcome measureClinically relevant decline in HRQoL was defined as a 0.50 SD (5-point) decrease in the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) component summary scores for 1 year.ResultsIn total, 1211 participants completed the follow-up survey. Among the multimorbidity patterns identified using confirmatory factor analysis, multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that high cardiovascular/renal/metabolic and malignant/digestive/urologic pattern scores were significantly associated with the clinically relevant decline in SF-36 physical component summary score (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.25, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.44 and aOR=1.28, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.58, respectively). High cardiovascular/renal/metabolic pattern score was also significantly associated with the clinically relevant decline in SF-36 role/social component summary score (aOR=1.23, 95% CI: 1.06 to 1.42).ConclusionsOur study revealed that multimorbidity patterns have different effects on the clinically relevant decline in HRQoL for 1 year. These findings can be useful in identifying populations at high risk and with poor clinical outcomes among patients with chronic diseases and multimorbidity for efficient resource allocation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-351
Author(s):  
Julie Cleuziou ◽  
Anna-Katharina Huber ◽  
Martina Strbad ◽  
Masamichi Ono ◽  
Alfred Hager ◽  
...  

Background: Long-term morbidity and mortality outcomes of the arterial switch operation (ASO) in patients with transposition of the great arteries and Taussig-Bing anomaly are excellent. With an increasing number of patients reaching adolescence and adulthood, more attention is directed toward quality of life. Our study aimed to determine the health-related quality of life (hrQoL) outcomes in patients after the ASO and identify factors influencing their hrQoL. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, hrQoL of patients after ASO was assessed with the German version of the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the potential association of specified clinical factors was analyzed. Patients of at least 14 years of age who underwent ASO in our institution from 1983 were considered eligible. Results: Of the 355 questionnaires sent to eligible patients, 261 (73%) were available for analysis. Compared to the reference population, patients who had undergone ASO had a significantly higher score in all subscales of the SF-36 except for vitality ( P < .01). Patients with an implanted pacemaker ( P = .002), patients who required at least one reoperation ( P < .001), and patients currently taking cardiac medication ( P < .004) or oral anticoagulation ( P = .036) had lower physical component scores compared to patients without these factors. Conclusions: Patients’ self-assessed and self-reported hrQoL after ASO (using German version of the Short Form 36) is very good. In this population, hrQoL is influenced by reoperation, the need for a pacemaker, and current cardiac medication or anticoagulant use. The development of strategies designed to mitigate or minimize the requirements for, and/or impact of these factors may lead to better hrQoL in this patient population.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-I Tsai ◽  
Yi-Chang Su ◽  
Shih-Yi Lin ◽  
I-Te Lee ◽  
Cheng-Hung Lee ◽  
...  

Aim. To evaluate how health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitutions of Yin-Xu, Yang-Xu, and Stasis are related in type 2 diabetes patients. Method. Seven hundred and five subjects were recruited in 2010 for this study from a Diabetes Shared Care Network in Taiwan. Generic and disease-specific HRQOL were assessed by the short form 36 (SF-36) and the diabetes impact measurement scale (DIMS). Constitutions of Yin-Xu, Yang-Xu, and Stasis were then assessed by the body constitution questionnaire (BCQ), a questionnaire consisting of 44 items that evaluate the physiological state based on subjective symptoms and signs. Results. Estimated effects of the Ying-Xu and Stasis on all scales of the SF-36 were significantly negative, while estimated effects of the Yang-Xu on all scales (except for SF, RE, MH, and MCS) were significantly negative. For DIMS, the estimated effects of the Ying-Xu and Stasis on all scales were significantly negative except for Stasis on well-being, while Yang-Xu has a significantly negative effect only on symptoms. Conclusions. This study demonstrates that TCM constitutions of Yin-Xu, Yang-Xu, and Stasis are closely related to a reduction in HRQOL. These findings support the need for further research into the impact of intervention for TCM constitutions on HRQOL in patients with type 2 diabetes.


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