Spiritual well-being correlates with quality of life of both cancer and non-cancer patients in palliative care - further validation of EORTC QLQ-SWB32 in Finnish.

Background: The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) has developed the Spiritual Well-being Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-SWB32), a measure of spiritual well-being validated with people receiving palliative care for cancer, although its usefulness is not restricted to that population. We aimed to translate and validate this tool in Finnish and to study the relationship between spiritual well-being (SWB) and quality of life (QOL).

Methods: A Finnish translation was produced according to the guidelines of EORTC and included forward- and back-translations.

Patient participation in shared decision-making in palliative care - an integrative review.

Background: Shared decision-making is a process where the decisions regarding patients' care are done in collaboration with the patient, the patient's family and a healthcare professional or an interdisciplinary team. Shared decision-making is considered to be a part of patient centred care, and it enables patient autonomy which is a cornerstone of palliative care. In the past, research on the experiences of palliative care patients' participation in shared decision-making involving a nurse has been limited as the focus has mainly been on specific medical interventions, rather than holistic palliative care.

Insulin Resistance Predicts Cognitive Decline: An 11-Year Follow-up of a Nationally Representative Adult Population Sample.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine whether insulin resistance, assessed by HOMA of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), is an independent predictor of cognitive decline.

Research Design And Methods: The roles of HOMA-IR, fasting insulin and glucose, HbA, and hs-CRP as predictors of cognitive performance and its change were evaluated in the Finnish nationwide, population-based Health 2000 Health Examination Survey and its 11-year follow-up, the Health 2011 study ( = 3,695, mean age at baseline 49.3 years, 55.

Insulin resistance is associated with poorer verbal fluency performance in women.

Aims/hypothesis: Type 2 diabetes is an independent risk factor for cognitive decline. Insulin resistance occurring during midlife may increase the risk of cognitive decline later in life. We hypothesised that insulin resistance is associated with poorer cognitive performance and that sex and APOE*E4 might modulate this association.

Diabetes, glycaemia, and cognition-a secondary analysis of the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study.

Background: Type 2 diabetes is linked with cognitive dysfunction and dementia in epidemiological studies, but these observations are limited by lack of data on the exact timing of diabetes onset. We investigated diabetes, dysglycaemia, and cognition in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study, in which the timing and duration of diabetes are well documented.

Methods: The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study comprised middle-aged, overweight participants with impaired glucose tolerance but no diabetes at baseline (n = 522), randomized to lifestyle intervention or a control group.

Cognition in the Finnish diabetes prevention study.

We studied cognition in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study (DPS), a trial of lifestyle intervention that prevented diabetes in persons with impaired glucose tolerance. Cognition was similar in the randomization arms 9 years after the intervention in 364 participants, suggesting that the intervention did not benefit cognition.

A 2 year multidomain intervention of diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk monitoring versus control to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk elderly people (FINGER): a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Modifiable vascular and lifestyle-related risk factors have been associated with dementia risk in observational studies. In the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER), a proof-of-concept randomised controlled trial, we aimed to assess a multidomain approach to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk elderly people from the general population.

Methods: In a double-blind randomised controlled trial we enrolled individuals aged 60-77 years recruited from previous national surveys.

Recruitment and baseline characteristics of participants in the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER)-a randomized controlled lifestyle trial.

Our aim is to describe the study recruitment and baseline characteristics of the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) study population. Potential study participants (age 60-77 years, the dementia risk score ≥ 6) were identified from previous population-based survey cohorts and invited to the screening visit. To be eligible, cognitive performance measured at the screening visit had to be at the mean level or slightly lower than expected for age.

The Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER): study design and progress.

Background: Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) is a multi-center, randomized, controlled trial ongoing in Finland.

Materials: Participants (1200 individuals at risk of cognitive decline) are recruited from previous population-based non-intervention studies. Inclusion criteria are CAIDE Dementia Risk Score ≥6 and cognitive performance at the mean level or slightly lower than expected for age (but not substantial impairment) assessed with the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychological battery.

Methodological challenges in designing dementia prevention trials - the European Dementia Prevention Initiative (EDPI).

Recent epidemiological studies have indicated numerous associations between vascular and lifestyle related risk factors and incident dementia. However, evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCT) showing effectiveness of interventions aimed at these risk factors in preventing or postponing dementia onset is still lacking. Three large RCTs on multi-component interventions to prevent dementia (preDIVA, FINGER, MAPT) have been initiated in Europe to address these issues.