[Assessment of the quality of life of patients with peripheral vascular diseases].

The Medical Outcome Short Form 36 is commonly used as a generic quality of life measure in the assessment of vascular disease. The Claudication Scale CLAU-S, the PAVK-86 Fragebogen, and the Walking Impairment Questionnaire WIQ are validated disease-specific questionnaires for intermittent claudication. A disease specific tool for critical ischaemia is lacking.

[Changes in the quality of life after organ transplantations].

138 patients with end-stage kidney disease and 118 patients with end-stage liver disease were included in an observational cohort study regarding their quality of life. Instruments used were the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), a scale for Activities of Daily Life (ADL), a Symptom Check List (SCL-90-R), and the Center of Epidemiology and Statistics Depression Scale (CES-D), all for self rating, as well as the indices of Spitzer and Karnofsky for foreign rating of life quality. Apart from the early postoperative period in both groups there was significant and persistent improvement in quality of life already three months after transplantation.

[Prolonged intensive care stay after abdominal surgery interventions with special reference to quality of life, occupational rehabilitation and economics].

Owing to increasing limitations on resources in health care, there is an urgent need to investigate effectiveness and efficiency of medical procedures. Therefore, we retrospectively studied the courses of 62 surgical patients who required at least 30 days of intensive care regarding mortality, long-term prognosis and quality of life. Additionally, a cost analysis was made using quality-adjusted life years (QALYs).

[Analysis of prolonged intensive care after abdominal surgery interventions with special reference to quality of life and economy].

In a retrospective study of 62 surgical patients with at least 30 days of intensive care, a hospital mortality rate of 40.3% with a median survival time of 3.7 years for the discharged patients (n = 37) was found.