The objective of this study was to assess clinical effectiveness and costs of launching point-of-care monitoring of warfarin treatment in community dwelling frail elderly patients. A prospective multicentre controlled randomised study over 12 months comparing a point-of-care strategy with usual monitoring routines was carried out in primary healthcare centres and anticoagulation clinics in southeast Sweden. The subjects were community dwelling elderly across rural southeast Sweden on chronic warfarin treatment. Main outcome measures were time in therapeutic range (TTR), rate of treatment-related adverse events and costs. The study comprised 103 elderly people (61% women) mean age 86 yrs (range 75-98) treated with warfarin for median 9 yrs (range 1-18). Patients randomised to start point-of-care monitoring (n = 55) showed 75.9% in TTR before trial vs. 72.6% during trial (ns). The patients randomised to continue on usual monitoring routines (n = 48) showed 75.2% in TTR prior to trial vs. 72.9% during trial (ns). The point-of-care monitoring showed potential savings of SEK 624 per patient annually (based partly on effects that were not statistically significant). The study shows that point-of-care monitoring of warfarin treatment in community dwelling elderly in rural areas is as effective as usual monitoring routines and that it may offer savings to society.

Purpose: To investigate whether celiac disease risk haplotypes HLA-DQ2 and DQ8 also increase the risk for developing small intestinal neuroendocrine tumor (SI-NET).

Methods: Thirty-five patients with serotonin-producing jejunal and ileal SI-NET were examined with HLA-DQ genotyping and serology for IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies.

Results: Twenty-one patients (60 %) carried HLA-DQ2 or DQ8, twice the frequency of the general population (P < 0.001). In particular DQ2 was overrepresented (P = 0.013). Gender, age, disease stage, histopathological grade, or multifocality of primary tumor did not differ between patients with DQ2 or DQ8 and patients with other HLA-DQ haplotypes. No patient in the study was diagnosed with celiac disease (latent or symptomatic) as anti-tTG antibodies were negative in all 35.

Conclusion: HLA-DQ haplotypes associated with celiac disease are overrepresented also in patients with SI-NET, in particular HLA-DQ2.

The aim of this research was to explore how women with celiac disease experience everyday life. It is important that healthcare professionals understand what it is like to live with a chronic illness, and also the factors that affect the lives of women who have celiac disease. The study has a qualitative approach and the data were collected using interviews with 16 women. A conventional content analysis was used for the subjective interpretation of the qualitative interviews. Three main themes emerged in the analysis: illness trajectory and treatment, socializing with others, and feelings of loneliness and worry. The findings indicate that living with celiac disease affects the person's entire life from the past, in the present, and into the future, especially when daily routines must be altered. The women expressed a sense of loneliness and invisibility, especially when socializing with others. The diet could be a friend, enemy, obstacle, or opportunity in terms of enjoying a good life. Supporting women diagnosed with celiac disease appears to be a major task for healthcare professionals. Such professionals need to pay attention to women's symptoms, worries, and their feeling of being invisible.

Background

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a hidden public health disease that affects up to 20% of the general population. Although co-morbidity can affect diagnose setting and treatment of the disease, there are few studies concerning diagnosed and registered co-morbidity for IBS patients in primary care. The aim of this study was to analyse co-morbidity among IBS-patients compared to age- and sex-matched controls from the general population using data from a county-wide computerized medical record system.

Methods

IBS cases were recruited from three Swedish primary health care centres during a five-years period and controls from the same corresponding geographical areas. Co-morbidity data for IBS-patients and morbidity data for controls were derived from a population-based Health Care Register (HCR) covering all diagnoses in primary as well as hospital care in the region. Odds Ratios with 95% confidence intervals for morbidity in gastro-intestinal and non-gastrointestinal diagnoses for cases with irritable bowel syndrome compared to controls were calculated separately for each gender and diagnosis.

Results

We identified more co-morbidity among IBS patients of both sexes, compared to matched controls in the general population. Patients with IBS were particularly more worried about having a serious disease than their control group. The risk among male IBS-cases to get this latter diagnose was three times higher compared to the male controls.

Conclusions

In this population based case–control study, the analysis of diagnoses from the HCR revealed a broad spectrum of common co-morbidity and significantly more physician-recorded diagnoses among IBS-patients in comparisons to the control group.

Aim. This paper is a report of a descriptive study on what life is like as a woman living with coeliac disease (CD).

Background. The therapy for CD is a gluten-free diet (GFD), and if sufferers keep strictly to this it is suggested that they will stay well. However, previous studies point out that people who are treated for CD, particularly women, experience various kinds of inconvenience in relation to having CD and to being treated with GFD.

Methods. A phenomenological approach as devised by Giorgi was used. Taperecorded qualitative interviews with a total of 15 women who were being treated for CD were conducted in 2008 in Sweden.

Results. The results demonstrated that CD can influence women’s lives in different ways. The general structure of being a woman with coeliac disease was described as a striving towards a normalised lifeworld. Three  conditions necessary to achieve a normalised life were described, namely being secure, being in control and being seen and included.

Conclusion. The results of this study can help caregivers, and others, to understand and develop support for women with this condition.

Background: Many public health problems in modern society affect the gastrointestinal area. Knowledge of the disease occurrence in populations is better understood if viewed in a psychosocial context including indicators of the social environment where people spend their lives. The general aim of this study was to estimate the occurrence in the population and between sexes of common gastrointestinal conditions in two neighborhood cities representing two different social environments defined as a "white-collar" and a "blue-collar" city. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods: We conducted a retrospective register study using data of diagnosed gastrointestinal disorders (cumulative incidence rates) derived from an administrative health care register based on medical records assigned by the physicians at hospitals and primary care. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults: Functional gastrointestinal diseases and peptic ulcers were more frequent in the white-collar city, while diagnoses in the gallbladder area were significantly more frequent in the blue-collar city. Functional dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, and unspecified functional bowel diseases, and celiac disease, were more frequent among women while esophageal reflux, peptic ulcers, gastric and rectal cancers were more frequent among men regardless of social environment. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusions: Knowledge of the occurrence of gastrointestinal problems in populations is better understood if viewed in a context were the social environment is included. Indicators of the social environment should therefore also be considered in future studies of the occurrence of gastrointestinal problems.

Background: More than half of patients admitted to hospital for acute chest pain are diagnosed as having non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP). While there are well established guidelines for diagnosing and treating patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD), an international consensus approach to treat patients with NCCP is lacking. This lack of structured care may possibly cause mental distress in patients and increased health care utilization.

Objectives: To compare depressive symptoms and health care utilization in patients admitted for NCCP and patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and angina pectoris (AP) post-hospitalization and at one-year follow-up.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative design was used. In total 131 patients with NCCP, 66 with AMI and 70 with AP completed two depression screening questionnaires 2-3 weeks after the hospital stay and one year later. Data on health care utilization were collected from a population-based diagnose-related database.

Results: Depressive symptoms were found in 27% of the participants post-hospitalization and in 26% one year later. At follow-up, 17 patients had recovered from their depressive symptoms, 37 patients had continuous depressive symptoms, and 26 patients had developed depressive symptoms. No difference in depressive symptoms was found between the different diagnose groups neither at baseline nor at follow-up. Patients diagnosed with NCCP visited health care providers in primary care as often as patients diagnosed with AMI, but had fewer hospital admissions. Patients with AP and patients with depressive symptoms utilized most health care services.

Conclusion: Persisting depressive symptoms are frequently seen among patients with NCCP as well as in patients with IHD. NCCP patients utilize as much primary care resources as AMI patients. This might imply a need for interventions targeting depressive symptoms in patients with both NCCP and IHD.

OBJECTIVES: We compared depressive symptoms and healthcare utilization in patients admitted for noncardiac chest pain, acute myocardial infarction, and angina pectoris after hospitalization and at 1-year follow-up. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-one patients with noncardiac chest pain, 66 with acute myocardial infarction, and 70 with angina pectoris completed a depression screening questionnaire and the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. Healthcare utilization data were collected from a population-based, diagnosis-related database. RESULTS: More than 25% of respondents reported depressive symptoms, regardless of diagnosis. At follow-up, 9% had recovered, 19% were still experiencing depressive symptoms, and 13% had developed depressive symptoms. Noncardiac patients with chest pain had similar primary care contacts, but fewer hospital admissions, than patients with an acute myocardial infarction. Patients with angina pectoris and depressive symptoms used the most healthcare services. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms were common. Patients with noncardiac chest pain used as much primary care as did patients with an acute myocardial infarction. Interventions should focus on identifying and treating depressive symptoms.

Aim and objective.  To assess the effects of an active method of patient education on the psychological well-being of women with coeliac disease in remission.

Background.  Despite remission with a gluten-free diet, adults with coeliac disease and especially women experience a subjective poor health. Self-management education seems to be promising tool to help patients suffering from coeliac disease to cope with their disorder.

Design.  A randomised controlled trial. Methods.  A total of 106 women, ≥20 years, with confirmed coeliac disease, who had been on a gluten-free diet for a minimum of five years. The intervention group (n = 54) underwent a 10-session educational programme, 'Coeliac School', based on problem-based learning. The controls (n = 52) received information regarding coeliac disease sent home on a regular basis. The primary outcomes were psychological general well-being measured with a validated questionnaire.

Results.  Participants in the Coeliac School reported a significant improvement in psychological well-being at 10 weeks, whereas the controls given usual care reported a worsening in psychological well-being. After six months, a significant improvement remained for the index of vitality.

Conclusions.  Patient education increased psychological well-being in women with coeliac disease. There is a need to refine the methods of patient education to make the effects of well-being more pronounced over time.

Relevance to clinical practice. Patient education using problem-based learning promotes self-management in coeliac disease by improving the well-being of patients who have been struggling with the gluten-free diet for years.

Despite living with a gluten-free diet Swedish women with celiac disease report a higher rate of gastrointestinal symptoms than women without the disease. This study was designed to assess the impact of active patient education on gastrointestinal symptoms in women with a gluten-free diet. A total of 106 Swedish women, > 20 years, with celiac disease on a gluten free diet for minimum five years took part in a randomized, controlled trial. The intervention group (n=54) underwent a ten-session educational program “Celiac School”, based on problem-based learning. Controls (n=52) were sent information regarding celiac disease at home. Outcome measure was gastrointestinal symptoms at ten weeks and six months after intervention, assessed with the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale. After ten weeks “Celiac school” (p=0.013) the participating women reported significant improvements that remained six months later (p=0.029). The controls did not improve significantly. A comparison of the development of scores, from baseline to 10 weeks, could not demonstrate a significant difference in the overall index between the two groups but showed a significant improvement concerning one of its components, namely the index reflecting Abdominal Pain (p= 0.007). Intervention methods should be refined in order to reach an even more pronounced effect.