Posterior laryngitis: a disease with different aetiologies affecting health-related quality of life: a prospective case-control study.

Background: Laryngo-pharyngeal reflux (LPR) is assumed to be the most common cause of posterior laryngitis (PL). Since LPR is found in healthy subjects, and PL patients are not improved by acid-reducing therapy, other aetiologies to PL must be considered. The aims of this study in PL were to investigate the prevalence of acid reflux in the proximal oesophagus and functional gastrointestinal symptoms, to analyse motilin levels in plasma, and to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) before and after treatment.

Posterior laryngitis: a study of persisting symptoms and health-related quality of life.

Posterior laryngitis is a common cause of chronic cough, hoarseness, voice fatigue and throat pain. The aim of the present study was to examine how patients with posterior laryngitis have been examined, treated and followed up, and to assess their present health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Patients treated for posterior laryngitis at consultation at the ear-, nose- and throat clinic during 2000-2008 were contacted by mail.

Nursing students' experiences of assessment by the Swedish National Clinical Final Examination.

The Swedish National Clinical Final Examination (NCFE) was established in 2007 in order to examine nursing students' clinical competence upon completing their Bachelor's degree in nursing. The NCFE constitutes an innovative method of examination, divided into two parts: a written and bedside test. The aim of this study was to evaluate nursing students' experiences of being assessed by means of the NCFE, in order to obtain information that could be used to improve the examination.

A multi-centre study on quality of life and absenteeism in patients with CRS referred for endoscopic surgery.

Aims: This study summarises the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores and absenteeism caused by sinus problems in patients awaiting surgery with the diagnoses recurrent acute rhinosinusitis (RARS), chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRS+NP) or CRS without nasal polyps (CRS-NP), in a prospective multi-centre study.

Methodology: Two hundred and seven patients with RARS, CRS+NP or CRS-NP were enrolled. EP3OS definitions of CRS and NP were used.

Clinical learning environment, supervision and nurse teacher evaluation scale: psychometric evaluation of the Swedish version.

Aim: This article is a report of the development and psychometric testing of the Swedish version of the Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher evaluation scale.

Background: To achieve quality assurance, collaboration between the healthcare and nursing systems is a pre-requisite. Therefore, it is important to develop a tool that can measure the quality of clinical education.

Health-related quality of life during the last three months of life in patients with advanced cancer.

Goals Of Work: The aim of the study was to explore the development of functioning impairments and symptom occurrence during the last months of life of advanced cancer patients.

Materials And Methods: Self-reported data from 116 patients who all completed the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) at 3, 2 and 1 month before death were analysed.

Main Results: All functioning aspects deteriorated.

Characteristics and quality of life of patients who choose home care at the end of life.

Cancer patients with advanced disease and short-survival expectancy were given hospital-based advanced home care (AHC) or conventional care (CC), according to their preference. The two groups were compared at baseline to investigate whether there were differences between the AHC and the CC patients that may help explain their choice of care. The patients were consecutively recruited over 2(1/2) years.

Quality of life in oral carcinoma: a 5-year prospective study.

Background: We conducted this prospective longitudinal multicenter study to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of patients with oral carcinoma at diagnosis, and after 1 and 5 years in relation to tumour location and treatment modality.

Methods: One hundred twenty-two patients (mean age, 61; 62% males) with oral carcinoma were evaluated with standardized HRQL questionnaires, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the EORTC Head and Neck Cancer Module (EORTC QLQ-H&N35).

Results: Problems with teeth, dry mouth, and sticky saliva got worse between diagnosis and 5 years after diagnosis.

Quality of life and head and neck cancer: a 5 year prospective study.

Objectives: Assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in head and neck cancer patients from diagnosis to 5 years after start of treatment.

Study Design: A prospective, descriptive study

Methods: three hundred fifty-seven patients from Norway and Sweden filled in HRQL questionnaires, the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and the EORTC QLQ-H and N35, six times during the first year and then after 5 years. At 5 years, 167 (87%) of the 192 living patients filled in questionnaires.

Health-related quality of life in patients with pharyngeal carcinoma: a five-year follow-up.

Purpose: The purpose was to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of patients with pharyngeal carcinoma at diagnosis and after 1 and 5 years in relation to tumor location and treatment modality in a prospective multicenter study.

Methods: Eighty-nine patients with pharyngeal carcinoma (mean age, 60.0 years; 76% men) were evaluated using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Head and Neck Cancer Module (EORTC QLQ-H&N35).

Place of death: hospital-based advanced home care versus conventional care. A prospective study in palliative cancer care.

The purpose of this prospective nonrandomized study was to evaluate time spent at home, place of death and differences in sociodemographic and medical characteristics of patients, with cancer in palliative stage, receiving either hospital-based advanced home care (AHC), including 24-hour service by a multidisciplinary palliative care team or conventional hospital care (CC). Recruitment to the AHC group and to the study was a two-step procedure. The patients were assigned to either hospital-based AHC or CC according to their preferences.

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.

Which cancer patients die in nursing homes? Quality of life, medical and sociodemographic characteristics.

In this study, cancer patients' characteristics associated with death in nursing homes were explored. The study sample included 395 cancer patients who had participated in a trial of palliative care, 260 (66%) patients died in hospital, 80 (20%) at home and 55 (14%) in nursing homes. Health-related quality of life was prospectively recorded using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire.

Health-related quality of life five years after diagnosis of laryngeal carcinoma.

Purpose: To evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of patients with laryngeal carcinoma in a prospective longitudinal multicenter study at diagnosis, after 1 and 5 years in relation to tumor location and treatment modality.

Subjects And Methods: Eighty-six patients (mean age 66 years; 84% males) with laryngeal carcinoma were evaluated with standardized HRQL questionnaires: the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), the EORTC QLQ-Head and Neck Cancer Module (EORTC QLQ-H&N35), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).

Results: Some significant changes in HRQL were found between diagnosis and 5 years after diagnosis, depending on the treatment given.

Prospective, Longitudinal Quality-of-Life Study of Patients With Head and Neck Cancer: A Feasibility Study Including the EORTC QLQ-C30.

Despite modern advances in the treatment of head and neck cancer, the survival rate fails to improve. Considering the different treatment modalities involved, quality of life has been thought of as an additional end point criterion for use in clinical trials. A Nordic protocol to measure the quality of life of head and neck cancer patients before, during, and after treatment was established.