Reliability and applicability of the Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) in a Swedish general practice setting.

Background: The Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI), which has been used to evaluate core ingredients in primary care consultations, has been proposed as a means of moving beyond patient satisfaction evaluations. The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability and applicability of the PEI to the Swedish context.

Methods: The original PEI was translated to Swedish and included in a questionnaire that was given to consecutively scheduled patients in four primary care settings.

Somali women's view of physical activity--a focus group study.

Background: Physical inactivity presents a major public health challenge and is estimated to cause six to ten percent of the major non-communicable diseases. Studies show that immigrants, especially women, have an increased risk of non-communicable diseases compared to ethnic Swedes. Somali immigrant women have increased rates of overweight and obesity, low fitness levels and low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness compared to non-immigrant women.

A computerized neuropsychological test battery designed for idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Background: A tool for standardized and repeated neuropsychological assessments in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH) is needed. The objective of this study was to develop a computerized neuropsychological test battery designed for INPH and to evaluate its reliability, validity and patient's ability to complete the tests.

Methods: Based on a structured review of the literature on neuropsychological testing in INPH, the eight tests most sensitive to the INPH cognitive profile were implemented in a computerized format.

Ulcer pain in patients with venous leg ulcers related to antibiotic treatment and compression therapy.

The aim of this study was to compare venous leg ulcer patients with and without ulcer pain to see whether ulcer pain affected the use of antibiotic treatment and compression therapy throughout healing. A total of 431 patients with venous leg ulcers were included during the study period. Every patient was registered in a national quality registry for patients with hard-to-heal leg, foot, and pressure ulcers.

The influence of smoking and impaired glucose homoeostasis on the outcome in patients presenting with an acute coronary syndrome: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Smoking, diabetes, male sex, hypercholesterolaemia and hypertension are well-established risk factors for the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, less is known about their role in influencing the outcome in the event of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aim of this study was to determine if these risk factors are associated specifically with acute myocardial infarction (MI) or unstable angina (UA) in patients with suspected ACS.

Association between Sleep Disturbances and Leisure Activities in the Elderly: A Comparison between Men and Women.

It has been suggested that physical or social activity is associated with fewer sleep disturbances among elderly people. Women report more sleep disturbances than men, which could indicate a variation in activity patterns between the genders. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between sleep disturbances and leisure activities in men and women (n = 945) aged ≥60 years in a Swedish population.

Physical activity on prescription (PAP) from the general practitioner's perspective - a qualitative study.

Background: Physical activity on prescription (PAP) is a successful intervention for increasing physical activity among patients with a sedentary lifestyle. The method seems to be sparsely used by general practitioners (GPs) and there is limited information about GPs' attitudes to counselling using PAP as a tool. The aim of the study was to explore and understand the meaning of prescribing physical activity from the general practitioner's perspective.

Ulcer healing time and antibiotic treatment before and after the introduction of the Registry of Ulcer Treatment: an improvement project in a national quality registry in Sweden.

Objectives: To investigate changes in ulcer healing time and antibiotic treatment in Sweden following the introduction of the Registry of Ulcer Treatment (RUT), a national quality registry, in 2009.

Design: A statistical analysis of RUT data concerning the healing time and antibiotic treatment for patients with hard-to-heal ulcers in Sweden between 2009 and 2012.

Setting: RUT is a national web-based quality registry used to capture areas of improvement in ulcer care and to structure wound management by registering patients with hard-to-heal leg, foot and pressure ulcers.

Distance to hospital and socioeconomic status influence secondary health care use.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate how distance to hospital and socioeconomic status (SES) influence the use of secondary health care (SHC) when taking comorbidity into account.

Design And Setting: A register-based study in Östergötland County.

Subjects: The adult population of Östergötland County.

Licit prescription drug use in a Swedish population according to age, gender and socioeconomic status after adjusting for level of multi-morbidity.

Background: There is a great variability in licit prescription drug use in the population and among patients. Factors other than purely medical ones have proven to be of importance for the prescribing of licit drugs. For example, individuals with a high age, female gender and low socioeconomic status are more likely to use licit prescription drugs.

Promoting the implementation of evidence-based practice: a literature review focusing on the role of nursing leadership.

Objectives: Despite a growing interest in evidence-based practice (EBP), the implementation into clinical practice of knowledge derived from research has proved to be a cumbersome process. Additionally, the literature seems to present a fragmented picture with research mainly focusing on a few factors of possible importance, among which leadership appears to be one of the more important. Thus, this study aimed to systematically review the literature regarding leadership and its possible influence on the process of implementing EBP.

Simplified routines in prescribing physical activity can increase the amount of prescriptions by doctors, more than economic incentives only: an observational intervention study.

Background: Physical inactivity is one well-known risk factor related to disease. Physical activity on prescription (PAP) has been shown in some studies to be a successful intervention for increasing physical activity among patients with a sedentary lifestyle. The method involves motivational counselling that can be time-consuming for the prescribing doctor and might be a reason why physical activity on prescription is not used more frequently.

Validation of ACG Case-mix for equitable resource allocation in Swedish primary health care.

Background: Adequate resource allocation is an important factor to ensure equity in health care. Previous reimbursement models have been based on age, gender and socioeconomic factors. An explanatory model based on individual need of primary health care (PHC) has not yet been used in Sweden to allocate resources.