Quality of life in primary school children: The Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP).

Aims: The primary aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between parents' level of education, measurements of physical attributes, and quality of life in a general sample of primary school children.

Methods: The children's and the parents' versions of the Inventory of Life Quality in Children and Adolescents (ILC) were used to measure health-related quality of life (QOL) in 2140 school children (response rate 93%) and 1639 parents (response rate 71%) recruited from nine primary schools in Norway. A set of physical characteristics were also measured in the children: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, average daily minutes of physical activity, aerobic fitness, and handgrip strength.

Cancer and depression: A comparison of cancer victims with the general population, findings from the European Social Survey 2014.

An increasing number of people in Europe are living with cancer, either as an active disease or as a past experience. Depressive symptoms may impair quality of life in cancer patients and may constitute increased risks for disability, as well as being a risk factor for increased mortality. Our study compared self-reported symptoms of depression in people who currently or previously have experienced cancer with self-reported symptoms of depression in the general population.

Quality of life and living with cancer: findings from the European social survey (2014) special module on the social determinants of health.

Background: This study is a comparison of quality of life (QOL) of current and previous cancer victims with people who never had experienced cancer in samples from the general population from the 19 countries in the European Social Survey (ESS) 2014.

Methods: The study was based on the ESS 2014 with representative samples from 19 countries. QOL was measured by combining two questions on happiness and life satisfaction into a QOL scale.

War Experiences and General Health Among People in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.

War experiences may have an extensive impact on the health status of the exposed populations. This population-based study aimed to examine the relationship between war experiences and self-reported general health in representative sample surveys from Bosnia-Herzegovina (n = 3,313) and Kosovo (n = 1,000). Data were collected with face-to-face interviews fielded in the winter of 2003-2004.

A first step in the development of an international self-report instrument for physical functioning in palliative cancer care: a systematic literature review and an expert opinion evaluation study.

Decline in physical functioning (PF) in progressive cancer increases risk of psychological problems, dependence, and distress, and it considerably affects quality of life. Despite this, assessment of PF has received little attention. Standardized, internationally endorsed assessment tools are needed that assess activities of relevance to palliative cancer patients from very low to high levels of PF.

The importance of key personnel and active management for successful implementation of computer-based technology in palliative care: results from a qualitative study.

Symptom assessment is an important issue in palliative care. Computer technology is now available for use in such assessments. The aims of the present study were to investigate the factors that can promote implementation of computer technology in a palliative care unit.

War experiences and war-related distress in Bosnia and Herzegovina eight years after war.

Aim: To examine the relationship between war experiences and war-related distress in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Methods: The survey was performed in the late 2003 on a representative sample of 3313 respondents. The face-to-face interviews included 15 items on war-related distress and 24 items on war experiences.

Assessing physical functioning: a systematic review of quality of life measures developed for use in palliative care.

Background: Physical decline is experienced by all palliative care patients and affects most aspects of life. Physical functioning (PF) is therefore a crucial domain for quality of life (Qol) assessments. The purpose of this study was to review how PF assessments are performed in Qol instruments developed for palliative care

Methods: For identification of instruments, Medline searches up to April 2005 were performed using the terms (palliative care OR end of life care OR terminal care) AND quality of life AND (assessment OR instrument OR questionnaire).

Does social support from family and friends work as a buffer against reactions to stressful life events such as terminal cancer?

Objective: To examine the relationship between social support and emotional functioning and stress reactions. Our hypothesis is that patients who reported a high degree of social support will experience better emotional functioning and less serious stress reactions than patients with a low degree of social support.

Method: The sample was comprised of 434 patients at the Palliative Medicine Unit (PMU), University Hospital of Trondheim in Norway.

Meta-analysis of the effects of psychosocial interventions on survival time in cancer patients.

Objective: To provide a quantitative summary of effects of psychosocial interventions on cancer survival, and to present an overview of methodological and reporting aspects of the studies.

Method: Electronic searches and manual searches of reference lists from review articles and retrieved papers. Two coders independently coded study, participant, treatment, and outcome characteristics of the studies meeting selection criteria.

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in family members of cancer victims: results from a longitudinal intervention study in Norway and Sweden.

This study compared the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of family members of patients who participated in a program of palliative care (intervention family members) with those in conventional care (control family members). The HRQOL was measured by the short-form (SF-36) health survey questionnaire, including eight subscales. The longitudinal intervention study includes two sites: Trondheim, Norway and Malmø, Sweden.

Measuring quality of palliative care: psychometric properties of the FAMCARE Scale.

This study measures quality of palliative care in 181 family members (i.e. spouse, child) to cancer victims with terminal disease 1 month after the time of death.

Family satisfaction with end-of-life care for cancer patients in a cluster randomized trial.

The main aim of this study was to examine similarities and differences in satisfaction with care between 112 family members who were close to patients who had participated in an intervention with a comprehensive palliative care program and the 68 family members in a conventional care program (controls). The FAMCARE Scale measured satisfaction with care at one month after the time of death. The majority of respondents reported high satisfaction with care.