Biomedical subjects

Helene Ekström

Publications and source records attributed to Helene Ekström.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Trends in middle-aged women's reports of symptoms, use of hormone therapy and attitudes towards it.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate changes in middle-aged women's attitudes towards hormone therapy (HT), use of HT and reports of symptoms between 1995 and 2003. METHODS: All women (n = 2209) in two primary health-care districts received a questionnaire, when aged 45, 50, 55 or 60. The questionnaire consisted of quality of life instruments and items concerning menopause, health, symptoms, attitudes towards HT and use of it. RESULTS: A total of 1681 women (76%) responded to the questionnaire. Thirty-one percent had used HT, with a mean duration of 4 years. A shift from mainly positive attitudes towards HT and increasing use of HT in the 1990s to largely negative attitudes and decreasing use became evident in 2002-2003. In comparison, current HT users in 2002-2003 were older and had used HT for longer than users in previous years. The number of general symptoms reported tended to increase successively and satisfaction with health to decrease during the period. Women with a history of HT continuously reported a greater number of symptoms than those women who had never used it. Reports of vasomotor symptoms did not change over time. CONCLUSIONS: The changes that have occurred in beliefs regarding HT have had an impact both on attitudes towards HT and on use of HT among the women we surveyed. The increase in number of general symptoms is discussed in relation to perception of menopause, prescription patterns of HT and changes at the societal level.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2004

["Grounded theory" develops medicine. Popular research method for exploring human behavior can discover new connections].

Grounded theory (GT) is a popular research method for exploring human behavior. GT was developed by the medical sociologists Glaser and Strauss while they studied dying in hospitals in the 1960s resulting in the book "Awareness of dying". The goal of a GT is to generate conceptual theories by using all types of data but without applying existing theories and hypotheses. GT procedures are mostly inductive as opposed to deductive research where hypotheses are tested. A good GT has a core variable that is a central concept connected to many other concepts explaining the main action in the studied area. A core variable answers the question "What's going on?". Examples of core variables are: "Cutting back after a heart attack"--how people adapt to life after a serious illness; and "Balancing in palliative cancer care"--a process of weighing, shifting, compensating and compromising when treating people with a progressive and incurable illness trajectory.

Behavior↗

PubMed2003

Associations between attitudes toward hormone therapy and current use of it in middle-aged women.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between attitudes toward hormone therapy (HT) and use of it and explanatory factors for the association found. METHODS: All women in two primary healthcare districts aged 45, 50, 55 or 60 in 2000 or 2001 (n=771) received a questionnaire consisting of quality-of-life instruments and items concerning menopause, health, healthcare, symptoms, sociodemographic factors and attitudes toward HT. RESULTS: A total of 564 women (74%) responded to the questionnaire. In the women with a positive or a neutral attitude, rather than a negative one, the age- and menopause-adjusted odds ratios for current HT use were 18.55 (95% CI 8.55, 40.11) and 2.61 (1.15, 5.93), respectively. Health-related factors, factors concerning one's own person and psychosocial factors were the groups of factors found to contribute to explaining the association between attitudes and current HT use. Together, the three groups of factors explained 42 and 98%, respectively, of a positive and a neutral attitude's association with current use of HT. Individual factors of importance in these factor groups were a feeling of being appreciated outside the home, satisfaction with one's work, marital status, own climacteric period, visits to a physician and past use of hormonal contraceptives. In contrast, level of education and the occurrence of cold sweats/hot flushes was not found to contribute to the explanation. CONCLUSIONS: Factors concerned with women's everyday life, contentment with oneself and use of healthcare services were of importance in explaining the associations between attitudes toward HT and current use of it. Consideration at these factors in counselling women about HT is recommended.

Activities of Daily Living↗