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The main aim of the Swedish physical activity and fitness cohort study ( SPAF-1958) was to describe physical fitness, physical activity, health, and lifestyle across part of the lifespan, and to assess the influences on these factors from the environment, personal factors, and genetics. There is inevitable dropout from longitudinal studies, and it may be systematic. The aim of this first paper of the second follow-up of SPAF-1958 was to provide a dropout analysis to consider to what extent the participants, at 52 years of age, remain a representative sample of the original adolescent study population. Additional aims were to provide an overview of the study protocol and the ongoing study population. Ongoing study participants in SPAF born in 1958 were, at the second follow-up at the age of 52, still representative of the study cohort in terms of sex, adolescent geographical area, upper secondary school program, adolescent body composition, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. However, a higher physical activity and, among women, a higher aerobic capacity in adolescence decreased the risk for dropout. It is important when interpreting results from longitudinal studies to adjust for the systematic dropout that could bias the conclusions drawn from the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The probability of pregnancy after in vitro fertilisation (IVF) declines with age in parallel with a reduction in the ovarian reserve. However, there is considerable variation in the ovarian reserve in women of advanced reproductive age; so to give such women accurate advice about the prospects of treatment success, factors other than age must be considered. Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) has been shown to be a good indicator of ovarian reserve, and its utility is explored in this paper. Aims: To determine the utility of AMH serum levels for prediction of ovarian response to gonadotropin stimulation and outcome in IVF in women of advanced reproductive age. Methods: The material consists of 127 women with a median age of 42 years (range 39-46) having had their first cycle of IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment from November 2006 to December 2008. During this period, a total of 772 oocyte retrievals and 715 embryo transfers were performed at the clinic (median age 36.4 years). AMH was analysed with the Beckman Coulter DSL ELISA. Agonist and antagonist protocols were used and monitored by ultrasound and oestradiol; embryo transfer was performed on day 2, 3 or 5 of culture. Results: The lower the AMH, the higher the risk of cycle cancellation, low oocyte yield and treatment failure. Women with a serum AMH above 8.6 pmol/L had a good chance of achieving live birth after IVF/ICSI treatment. Conclusions: Anti-Müllerian hormone is useful for identifying a good prognosis group in women of advanced reproductive age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scand J Caring Sci; 2011; 25; 510-516 Oral health-related quality of life in older Swedish people with pain problems Objectives: The aim of the present paper was to explore the oral health-related quality of life in old Swedish people with pain problems, with special reference to demography, socio-economic factors, health, and general health-related quality of life. Method: Individuals ≥80 years (n = 186) who earlier reported pain problems answered two multi-item instruments on oral health-related quality of life (Oral Health Impact Profile, OHIP-14) and general health-related quality of life (Short Form Health Survey, SF-12), respectively. Socio-demographic and health questions were also inquired. Results: Both the oral and general health-related quality of life were rated very low. Two thirds (67.2%) reported at least one of the aspects in the OHIP-14 fairly often, very often or all the time. The mean additive score of the OHIP-14 was 14.6 (SD 10.5). The mean value of the physical component scale (PCS) of SF-12 was 25.9 (SD 6.2) and of the mental component scale (MCS) 44.1 (SD 11.5). The OHIP-14 was consistently and significantly correlated with self-rated general and oral health, chewing ability and MCS. The associations between self-rated general and oral health in relation to the OHIP-14 were independent of possible confounders: OR 3.63 (95% CI 1.58-8.32) and OR 2.68 (95% CI 1.44-4.99), respectively. Conclusion: Old people with pain problems experienced very low oral and general health-related quality of life. Personnel caring for the oldest with pain problems should be aware that oral health problems can contribute to a low quality of life and that oral care should be included in the general care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to compare selected indication parameters for patients scheduled for hip and knee replacement at orthopaedic units in Sweden. Swedish orthopaedic clinics performing joint replacement were invited to enrol in the study. The study time was set to 2 years (from June 2006 to June 2008). The study subjects were patients undergoing hip or knee replacement for osteoarthritis (OA). For data collection, we used a Swedish priority criteria tool based on a translation from a form used in Canada with minor changes. The reliability and validity of the Swedish tool were investigated, with good reproducibility. The questionnaires (one for the doctor and one for the patient) were completed during decision making for surgery. Eleven hospitals enrolled in the study. In total, 2961 patients were included during the study period. Among these, 1662 were hip replacement patients and 1299 were knee replacement patients. The vast majority of patients undergoing hip or knee replacement had findings indicating severe OA, both clinically and radiologically according to the clinical priority tool. Statistically significant self-reported problems with pain at rest, walking and impaired activities of daily living were also observed. There were statistically significant differences in reported indications between the hospitals, both for hip OA patients and for knee OA patients. A clinical priority criteria tool is a useful means of following changes in indications for certain procedures. It could also contribute to explaining differences in case mix when evaluating clinical outcome and patient satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]