Biomedical subjects

Seija Arve

Publications and source records attributed to Seija Arve.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Impaired glucose tolerance as a risk factor for stroke in a cohort of non-institutionalised people aged 70 years.

OBJECTIVE: to determine whether impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) is associated with an increased likelihood for ischaemic stroke. DESIGN: prospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: a sample of 1,032 non-institutionalised people aged 70 years in the Turku Elderly Study, Turku, Finland. MEASUREMENTS: the association between IGT (defined as plasma glucose level between 7.80 and 11.09 mmol/l 2 h after administration of 75 g of an oral glucose load) and diabetes mellitus (DM) (defined as the current use of insulin or an oral hypoglycaemic medication, a fasting plasma glucose level of >/=7 mmol/l or a plasma glucose level of >/=11.1 mmol/l 2 h after administration of an oral glucose load) with 12-year follow-up for the development of ischaemic stroke. RESULTS: a total of 742 (71.9%) subjects had normal glucose tolerance, 127 (12.3%) subjects had IGT and 163 (15.8%) had DM. Patients were examined in the year 1990 and followed up for stroke occurrence until death or until the end of 2002. Mean follow-up time was 9.6 years (SD +/-3.3 years). In total, 119 patients (11.5%) suffered a stroke during the follow-up. In logistic regression model, previous stroke, previous TIA, DM and atrial fibrillation were risk factors for stroke occurrence. CONCLUSION: stroke tended to happen more often in the IGT group than in the normal group, but the difference was not statistically significant. Statistically significant risk factors for stroke in elderly people are previous TIA or stroke, DM and atrial fibrillation.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Physical functioning, health and survival: a ten-year follow-up study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cutbacks in human resources are putting home care personnel under increasing pressure in their work. Home health care personnel need to know how they can prevent undesirable conditions and support older people towards successful aging. The aim of this ten-year follow-up study was to identify factors associated with increased mortality among 70-year-old subjects living in the community. METHODS: Data were collected in 1991 by a postal questionnaire sent to all residents of Turku, Finland, born in 1920. A physical examination was also conducted. Ten years later, in 2001, the mortality rate of this population was determined. The data were examined statistically. RESULTS: Many health-related factors, such as smoking, poor subjective health, and mobility, were related to an increased level of mortality. In addition, several diseases (e.g., diabetes, angina pectoris, cancer) at age 70 were associated with increased mortality over ten years. Difficulties in daily activities at age 70 also increased the risk of mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The findings offer useful clues for planning health care services and preventive interventions provided by home health care personnel. Home health care personnel should give special attention to older people who feel ill or very ill.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

Informational and emotional support received by relatives before and after the cancer patient's death.

The purpose of this study is to find out what cancer patients' relatives think about the informational and emotional support they receive from health care professionals before and after the patient's death. The data were collected with a structured questionnaire administered to relatives of cancer patients who had died in one of seven health care centres and in one hospice in south-western Finland during a 2-year period before data collection. The questionnaires were sent out by staff to one family member of each adult patient (n=910). The final sample comprised 376 family members, most of whom were the deceased patient's spouses or children. Relatives felt that they had received fairly much support from health care professionals, both before and after the patient's death. Before the patient's death most of the information received by relatives concerned the patient's illness and treatment. They received less information about forms of financial support available. Communication had been honest and the information provided was easy to understand and based upon the relatives' needs. Emotional support before the patient's death consisted mainly of acceptance of the relative and listening to what relatives had to say. However, relatives had only limited opportunity to talk about their difficulties in everyday life. After the death of the patient, staff had mostly supported relatives by showing their acceptance of them and by giving them the time they wanted. Some background variables for both patients and relatives correlated with the support received by relatives before and after the patient's death.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Geriatric rehabilitation nursing: developing a model.

In this paper, we describe a geriatric rehabilitation nursing model developed on the basis of the nursing and rehabilitation literature. That literature comprised some 120 articles addressing the rehabilitation of elderly patients and the work done by nurses in that process, various philosophical questions and the results of geriatric rehabilitation. One-third of these articles has been evaluated on the strength of the articles' evidence, and these are discussed in this paper. The findings show that the main factors in geriatric rehabilitation nursing are the patient with health or functional problems and the nurse with professional values, knowledge and skills. The patient is part of a family and the nurse works as part of a multidisciplinary team. In the geriatric rehabilitation process, the patient and the nurse work in close interaction. The aims of rehabilitation depend upon the patient's commitment to the objective and upon the nurse's commitment to help the patient achieve that objective. A health orientation, goal-oriented work, nursing decision-making and a rehabilitative approach to work are all central to this effort. Work is organized in multidisciplinary teams where nurses have equal responsibilities with other professional staff. Testing and development of the model is ongoing.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Older patients' first 72 hours in hospital.

The aim of this study was to determine what kind of care older patients receive in hospital during the first 72 h after admission. This was examined through four categories: patient's arrival on the hospital ward; patient's daily schedule on the ward; information and guidance; and interaction during the hospital stay. The focus was on five patients aged over 70 who had been admitted for prescribed examinations and care, including starting insulin medication, colonoscopy and a computed tomography scan of the colon. The data were collected by means of non-participant observation; interpretation was based on the method of content analysis. The results showed that the patients' arrival on the ward consisted of routine procedures and periods of waiting. The patients' daily schedule was determined by the ward's routines. They had very little control or influence over their own care, and limited privacy. Interaction between the patient and personnel was minimal, and lasted for only short periods of time. Patients were important sources of information for one another. There was also good cooperation among patients, helping one another to cope with minor everyday problems. It is concluded that nursing staff on the ward were preoccupied by their own routines and largely failed to take into account the views of their patients.

Age Factors↗