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Background and aims: Elevated body weight in adolescence is associated with early cardiovascular disease, but whether this association is traceable to weight in early adulthood, weight in midlife or to weight gain is not known. The aim of this study is to assess the risk of midlife coronary atherosclerosis being associated with body weight at age 20, body weight in midlife and body weight change. Methods: We used data from 25,181 participants with no previous myocardial infarction or cardiac procedure in the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS, mean age 57 years, 51% women). Data on coronary atherosclerosis, self-reported body weight at age 20 and measured midlife weight were recorded together with potential confounders and mediators. Coronary atherosclerosis was assessed using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and expressed as segment involvement score (SIS). Results: The probability of having coronary atherosclerosis was markedly higher with increasing weight at age 20 and with mid-life weight (p < 0.001 for both sexes). However, weight increase from age 20 until mid-life was only modestly associated with coronary atherosclerosis. The association between weight gain and coronary atherosclerosis was mainly seen in men. However, no significant sex difference could be detected when adjusting for the 10-year delay in disease development in women. Conclusions: Similar in men and women, weight at age 20 and weight in midlife are strongly related to coronary atherosclerosis while weight increase from age 20 until midlife is only modestly related to coronary atherosclerosis.

In late 2010, an outbreak of Cryptosporidium hominis affected 27,000 inhabitants (45%) of Östersund, Sweden. Previous research shows that abdomen and joint symptoms commonly persist up to 5 years post-infection. It is unknown whether Cryptosporidium is associated with sequelae for a longer duration, how persisting symptoms present over time, and whether sequelae are associated with prolonged infection. In this prospective cohort study, a randomly selected cohort in Östersund was surveyed about cryptosporidiosis symptoms in 2011 (response rate 69.2%). A case was defined as a respondent reporting new diarrhoea episodes during the outbreak. Follow-up questionnaires were sent after 5 and 10 years. Logistic regressions were used to examine associations between case status and symptoms reported after 10 years, with results presented as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals. Consistency of symptoms and associations with case status and number of days with symptoms during outbreak were analysed using X2 and Mann–Whitney U tests. The response rate after 10 years was 74% (n = 538). Case status was associated with reporting symptoms, with aOR of ~3 for abdominal symptoms and ~2 for joint symptoms. Cases were more likely to report consistent symptoms. Cases with consistent abdominal symptoms at follow-up reported 9.2 days with symptoms during the outbreak (SD 8.1), compared to 6.6 days (SD 6.1) for cases reporting varying or no symptoms (p = 0.003). We conclude that cryptosporidiosis was associated with an up to threefold risk for reporting symptoms 10 years post-infection. Consistent symptoms were associated with prolonged infection.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined whether sociodemographic factors, including distance to hospital, were associated with differences in the diagnostic interval and the treatment interval for colorectal cancer in northern Sweden. METHODS: Data were retrieved from the Swedish cancer register on patients (n = 446) diagnosed in three northern regions during 2017-2018, then linked to data from Statistics Sweden and medical records. Also, Google maps was used to map the distance between patients' place of residence and nearest hospital. The different time intervals were analysed using Mann-Whitney U-test and Cox regression. RESULTS: Differences in time to diagnosis were found between groups for income and distance to hospital, favouring those with higher income and shorter distance. The unadjusted regression analysis showed higher income to be associated with more rapid diagnosis (HR 1.004, CI 1.001-1.007). This association remained in the fully adjusted model for income (HR 1.004, CI 1.000-1.008), but not for distance. No differences between sociodemographic groups were found in the treatment interval. CONCLUSION: Higher income and shorter distance to hospital were in the unadjusted models associated with shorter time to diagnosis for patients with CRC in northern Sweden. The association remained for income when adjusting for other variables even though the difference was small.

In 2010, 27,000 inhabitants (45% of the population) of Östersund, Sweden, contracted clinical cryptosporidiosis after drinking water contaminated withThis observational study included adult patients (≥18 years old) from the local health care region who were diagnosed with pathology-confirmed IBD or MC during 2006-2019. We collected and validated the diagnosis, date of diagnosis, age at diagnosis, and sex from the Swedish quality register SWIBREG and electronic patient records. Population data were collected from Statistics Sweden. The incidences for 2006-2010 (pre-outbreak) and 2011-2019 (post-outbreak) were evaluated by negative binomial regression analysis and presented as incidence rate ratios (IRRs). Data were analyzed for IBD, for UC and CD separately, and MC.During the study period, we identified 410 patients with new onset IBD and 155 new cases of MC. Overall, we found a trend toward an increased incidence of IBD post-outbreak (IRR 1.39, confidence interval (CI) 0.99-1.94). In individuals ≥40 years old, the post-outbreak incidence significantly increased for IBD (IRR 1.69, CI 1.13-2.51) and CD (IRR 2.23, CI 1.08-4.62). Post-outbreak incidence of MC increased 6-fold in all age groups (IRR 6.43, CI 2.78-14.87).The incidence of late-onset IBD and MC increased after the

Due to population ageing and medical advances, people with advanced chronic diseases (ACD) live longer. Such patients are even more likely to face either temporary or permanent reduced functional reserve, which typically further increases their healthcare resource use and the burden of care on their caregiver(s). Accordingly, these patients and their caregiver(s) may benefit from integrated supportive care provided via digitally supported interventions. This approach may either maintain or improve their quality of life, increase their independence, and optimize the healthcare resource use from early stages. ADLIFE is an EU-funded project, aiming to improve the quality of life of older people with ACD by providing integrated personalized care via a digitally enabled toolbox. Indeed, the ADLIFE toolbox is a digital solution which provides patients, caregivers, and health professionals with digitally enabled, integrated, and personalized care, supporting clinical decisions, and encouraging independence and self-management. Here we present the protocol of the ADLIFE study, which is designed to provide robust scientific evidence on the assessment of the effectiveness, socio-economic, implementation, and technology acceptance aspects of the ADLIFE intervention compared to the current standard of care (SoC) when applied in real-life settings of seven different pilot sites across six countries. A quasi-experimental trial following a multicenter, non-randomized, non-concurrent, unblinded, and controlled design will be implemented. Patients in the intervention group will receive the ADLIFE intervention, while patients in the control group will receive SoC. The assessment of the ADLIFE intervention will be conducted using a mixed-methods approach.

ObjectivesIn 2010-2011, a waterborne outbreak of the parasite, Cryptosporidium hominis, affected approximately 27,000 inhabitants in the city of Östersund, Sweden. Previous research suggested that post-infectious symptoms, such as gastrointestinal symptoms and joint pain, could persist for up to two years after the initial infection. In this study, we investigated whether the parasite caused post-infectious sequelae for up to five years after the outbreak. This prospective cohort study examined whether individuals infected during the outbreak were more likely than uninfected individuals to report post-infectious symptoms five years later. The participants completed a questionnaire on whether they experienced a list of symptoms. We analysed data using logistic regression and calculated odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals.Results The analysis included 626 individuals. Among the 262 individuals infected during the outbreak, 56.5% reported symptoms at follow-up. Compared to uninfected individuals, infected individuals were significantly more likely to report watery diarrhoea, diarrhoea, swollen joints, abdominal pain, bloating, joint discomfort, acid indigestion, alternating bowel habits, joint pain, ocular pain, nausea, and fatigue at the follow-up, after adjusting for age and sex. Our findings suggested that cryptosporidiosis was mainly associated with gastrointestinal- and joint-related post-infectious symptoms for up to 5 years after the infection.

Background The introduction of new tools can bring unintended consequences for organizational routines. Cancer Patient Pathways (CPP) were introduced into the Swedish healthcare system in 2015 to shorten time to diagnosis and treatment. Primary healthcare (PHC) plays a central role since cancer diagnosis often begins in PHC units. Our study aimed to understand how PHC units adjusted organizational routines to utilizing CPPs. Method Six PHC units of varied size from both urban and rural areas in northern Sweden were included. Grounded theory method was used to collect and analyse group interviews at each unit. Nine group interviews with nurses and physicians, for a total of 41 participants, were performed between March and November 2019. The interviews focused on CPPs as tools, the PHC units’ routines and providers’ experiences with using CPPs in their daily work. Results Our analysis captured how PHC units adjusted organizational routines to utilizing CPPs by fusing existing practices with new practices to offer better quality of care. Specifically, three overarching organizational routines within the PHC units were identified. First, Manoeuvring diverse patient needs with easier patient flow, the PHC units handled the diverse needs of the population while simultaneously drawing upon CPPs to ease the patient flow within the healthcare system. Second, (Dis) integrating internal know-how, the PHC units drew upon internal competence even when PHC know-how was not taken into account by those driving the CPP initiative. Third, Coping with unequal relationships toward secondary care, the PHC units dealt with being in an unequal position while adopting CPPs instead further decreased possibilities to influence decision-making between care-levels. Conclusion Adopting CPPs as a tool within PHC units brought various unintended consequences in organizational routines. Our study from northern Sweden illustrates that the PHC know-how needs to be integrated into the healthcare system to improve the use of new tools as CPP. Further, the relationships between different levels of care should be taken in account when introducing new tools for healthcare. Also, when adopting innovations, unintended consequences need to be further explored empirically in diverse healthcare contexts internationally in order to generate deeper knowledge in the research area.

Objective This study aimed to compare metabolic control measured as hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), the risk of severe hypoglycemia, and body composition measured as body mass index standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) in a nationwide sample of children and adolescents with Type 1 diabetes with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) and multiple daily injections (MDI), respectively. Research Design and Methods Longitudinal data from 2011 to 2016 were extracted from the Swedish National Quality Register (SWEDIABKIDS) with both cross-sectional (6 years) and longitudinal (4 years) comparisons. Main end points were changes in HbA1c, BMI-SDS, and incidence of severe hypoglycemia. Results Data were available from 35,624 patient-years (54% boys). In general, HbA1c decreased approximately 0.5% (2-5 mmol/mol) from 2011 to 2016 (p(trend) < 0.001) and the use of CSII increased in both sexes and all age groups. Mean HbA1c was 0.1% (0.7-1.5 mmol/mol) lower in the CSII treated group. Teenagers, especially girls, using CSII tended to have higher BMI-SDS. There was no difference in the number of hypoglycemias between CSII and MDI over the years 2011-2016. Conclusions There was a small decrease in HbA1c with CSII treatment but of little clinical relevance. Overall, mean HbA1c decreased in both sexes and all age groups without increasing the episodes of severe hypoglycemia, indicating that other factors than insulin method contributed to a better metabolic control. Funding Agencies|Department or Research and Development Region Jamtland Harjedalen; Stiftelsen Samariten; Thuringstiftelsen

This article describes a user-centred approach taken by a group of five procurers to set specifications for the procurement of value-based research and development services for IT-supported integrated hypertension management. The approach considered the unmet needs of patients and health systems of the involved regions. The procurers established a framework for requirements and a solution design consisting of nine building blocks, divided into three domains: service delivery, devices and integration, and health care organisation. The approach included the development of questionnaires, capturing patients’ and professionals’ views on possible system functionalities, and a template collecting information about the organisation of healthcare, professionals involved and existing IT systems at the procurers’ premises. A total of 28 patients diagnosed with hypertension and 26 professionals were interviewed. The interviewees identified 98 functional requirements, grouped in the nine building blocks. A total of nine use cases and their corresponding process models were defined by the procurers’ working group. As result, a digitally enabled integrated approach to hypertension has been designed to allow citizens to learn how to prevent the development of hypertension and lead a healthy lifestyle, and to receive comprehensive, individualised treatment in close collaboration with healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND There is an increasing need to organize the care around the patient and not the disease, while considering the complex realities of multiple physical and psychosocial conditions, and polypharmacy. Integrated patient-centered care delivery platforms have been developed for both patients and clinicians. These platforms could provide a promising way to achieve a collaborative environment that improves the provision of integrated care for patients via enhanced information and communication technology solutions for semiautomated clinical decision support. OBJECTIVE The Collaborative Care and Cure Cloud project (C3-Cloud) has developed 2 collaborative computer platforms for patients and members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and deployed these in 3 different European settings. The objective of this study is to pilot test the platforms and evaluate their impact on patients with 2 or more chronic conditions (diabetes mellitus type 2, heart failure, kidney failure, depression), their informal caregivers, health care professionals, and, to some extent, health care systems. METHODS This paper describes the protocol for conducting an evaluation of user experience, acceptability, and usefulness of the platforms. For this, 2 “testing and evaluation” phases have been defined, involving multiple qualitative methods (focus groups and surveys) and advanced impact modeling (predictive modeling and cost-benefit analysis). Patients and health care professionals were identified and recruited from 3 partnering regions in Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom via electronic health record screening. RESULTS The technology trial in this 4-year funded project (2016-2020) concluded in April 2020. The pilot technology trial for evaluation phases 3 and 4 was launched in November 2019 and carried out until April 2020. Data collection for these phases is completed with promising results on platform acceptance and socioeconomic impact. We believe that the phased, iterative approach taken is useful as it involves relevant stakeholders at crucial stages in the platform development and allows for a sound user acceptance assessment of the final product. CONCLUSIONS Patients with multiple chronic conditions often experience shortcomings in the care they receive. It is hoped that personalized care plan platforms for patients and collaboration platforms for members of MDTs can help tackle the specific challenges of clinical guideline reconciliation for patients with multimorbidity and improve the management of polypharmacy. The initial evaluative phases have indicated promising results of platform usability. Results of phases 3 and 4 were methodologically useful, yet limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03834207; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03834207 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR1-10.2196/21994

Background Rectal bleeding is considered an alarm symptom for colorectal cancer (CRC) but it is common and mostly caused by benign conditions. Qualitative faecal immunochemical tests (FITs) for occult blood have been used as diagnostic aids for many years in Sweden when CRC is suspected. The study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of FITs requested by primary care physicians for patients with and without histories of rectal bleeding, in the diagnosis of CRC. Methods Results of all FITs requested in primary care for symptomatic patients in the Örebro region during 2015 were retrieved. Data on each patient’s history of rectal bleeding was gathered from electronic health records. Patients diagnosed with CRC within 2 years were identified from the Swedish Cancer Register. The analysis focused on three-sample FITs, the customary FIT in Sweden. Results A total of 4232 patients provided three-sample FITs. Information about the presence/absence of rectal bleeding was available for 2027 patients, of which 59 were diagnosed with CRC. For 606 patients with the presence of rectal bleeding, the FIT showed sensitivity 96.2%, specificity 60.2%, positive predictive value 9.8% (95% CI 6.1–13.4) and negative predictive value 99.7% (95% CI 99.2–100) for CRC. For 1421 patients without rectal bleeding, the corresponding figures were 100%, 73.6%, 8.3% (95% CI 5.6–10.9) and 100% (95% CI 99.6–100). Conclusion The diagnostic performance of a qualitative three-sample FIT provided by symptomatic patients in primary care was similar for those with and without a history of rectal bleeding. FITs seem useful for prioritising patients also with rectal bleeding for further investigation.

Introduction Persons with Advanced Chronic Diseases can greatly benefit from digitally supported interventions to improve or maintain their health, avoid unnecessary deterioration, extend their independence and optimize health resources utilization. Digitalisation is expected to lead a profound transformation of health services. It is important to evaluate its impact. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has pushed forward the paradigm shift towards telehealth, highlighting the need worldwide for enabling and promoting digital care. Theory/Methods The project ADLIFE (H2020, SC1-DTH-11-2019, 875209) aims to provide innovative integrated intelligent personalized care to aged patients with complex chronic diseases. Care will be supported by an ICT solution, the ADLIFE Toolbox. The target population is senior (55+) patients with severe Heart failure and/or COPD. In total in the seven pilot sites, 882 patients, 1243 caregivers and 577 healthcare professionals from specialized and primary care services will be involved in pilot operation and evaluation activities. Care delivery models, level of integration, scope and content of the Clinical Decision Support Services (CDSS) and health outcomes has been explored and defined involving relevant stakeholders at each pilot site. Results and Discussion Each pilot has identified improvement areas required to enable the delivery of care proposed in ADLIFE. A conceptual framework has been developed to that includes and categorize health outcomes. Data will be used for evaluation and CDSS. A set of PROMs has been proposed to capture the information on the effectiveness and the quality of the care delivered as perceived by the patients. CDSS are based on computable flowcharts as defined in evidence based clinical guidelines (single disease and reconciled for multimorbidity). AI algorithms will be developed and trained to identify Potentially Preventable Situations. Conclusions (comprising key findings) The project seeks to demonstrate that a personalized care model that integrates clinical and patient stakeholders´ analysis with ICT tools is effective and flexible and can be deployed and replicated in different health care systems. Lessons learned Assessing care models and having trusted personalised digital solutions are key for ADLIFE implementation and operation in the seven ICT health systems. Limitations Multimorbidity covers a wide range of conditions. ADLIFE focuses on COPD and/or Heart Failure with or without co morbidities. Further analytical and development work will be needed to be done. Suggestions for future research The effectiveness and efficiency of deploying digitally enabled holistic and integrated supportive care will be assessed by evaluating health gain, quality of life, use of resources and economic costs. The authors are on behalf of the ADLIFE Consortium. The ADLIFE project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 875209.

Objective: We aim to explore how GPs assign meanings and act upon patients’ symptoms in primary care encounters in the context of standardized cancer patient pathways (CPPs). Design, setting and subjects: Thirteen individual interviews were conducted with GPs, at primary healthcare centers (n = 4) in one county in northern Sweden. Interviews were analyzed using grounded theory method. The results were then linked to symbolic interactionism. Main outcome measures: GPs’ perspectives about assigning meanings to patients’ presented symptoms and perception about CPPs. Results: In the encounter, GPs engaged in two simultaneous interactions, one with patients’ symptoms – and the other with CPPs. The core category Disentangling patients’ care trajectory consists of three categories, interpreted as GPs’ strategies developed to assign meaning to symptoms. These strategies are carried out not in a straightforward manner but rather in a conflicting way, illuminating the complexity of GPs’ daily work. Conclusions: Interacting with patients is vital for assigning meaning to presented symptoms. However, nowadays GPs are not only required to interact with patients, they are also required to interact with CPPs. These standardized routines might create pressure and demands on GPs, especially for those experiencing a lack of information about CPPs. Beside of carrying out the challenging patient/person-centered dialogues and interpreting presented symptoms, GPs also need to link the interpreted symptoms to CPPs. Therefore, it is essential that GPs are given opportunities at their workplaces to continuously be informed and be supported in order to practice CPPs and thereby optimize trajectories for patients undergoing cancer diagnostics.Key points Current awareness: • GPs deliberation about patients’ trajectories is a complex process, often dealing with vague symptoms. How CPPs influence this process within the encounter has not been studied. Main statements: • GPs in our study were involved in two simultaneous interactions, one with patients’ symptoms in the encounter – and the other with CPPs within the healthcare organization. • Symbolic interactionism helped capture how GPs deliberated about conflicting and paradoxical aspects of the encounter, in terms of balancing two contradictory ways of action that GPs face when providing patient/person-centered care and linking to CPPs. • Based on our results, primary care needs support from healthcare organizations to build capacity about CPPs and how to use them.

BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) diagnostics are challenging in primary care and reliable diagnostic aids are desired. Qualitative faecal immunochemical tests (FITs) have been used for suspected CRC in Sweden since the mid-2000s, but evidence regarding their effectiveness is scarce. Anaemia and thrombocytosis are both associated with CRC.AimTo evaluate the usefulness of qualitative FITs requested for symptomatic patients in primary care, alone and combined with findings of anaemia and thrombocytosis, in the diagnosis of CRC.Design and settingA population-based cohort study using electronic health records and data from the Swedish Cancer Register, covering five Swedish regions.MethodPatients aged ≥18 years in the five regions who had provided FITs requested by primary care practitioners from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015 were identified. FIT and blood-count data were registered and all CRC diagnoses made within 2 years were retrieved. Diagnostic measurements were calculated.ResultsIn total, 15 789 patients provided FITs (four different brands); of these patients, 304 were later diagnosed with CRC. Haemoglobin levels were available for 13 863 patients, and platelet counts for 10 973 patients. Calculated for the different FIT brands only, the sensitivities for CRC were 81.6%–100%; specificities 65.7%–79.5%; positive predictive values 4.7%–8.1%; and negative predictive values 99.5%–100%. Calculated for the finding of either a positive FIT or anaemia, the sensitivities increased to 88.9–100%. Adding thrombocytosis did not further increase the diagnostic performance.ConclusionQualitative FITs requested in primary care seem to be useful as rule-in tests for referral when CRC is suspected. A negative FIT and no anaemia indicate a low risk of CRC.

The number of patients with multimorbidity has been steadily increasing in the modern aging societies. The European C3-Cloud project provides a multidisciplinary and patient-centered "Collaborative Care and Cure-system" for the management of elderly with multimorbidity, enabling continuous coordination of care activities between multidisciplinary care teams (MDTs), patients and informal caregivers (ICG). In this study various components of the infrastructure were tested to fulfill the functional requirements and the entire system was subjected to an early application testing involving different groups of end-users. MDTs from participating European regions were involved in requirement elicitation and test formulation, resulting in 57 questions, distributed via an internet platform to 48 test participants (22 MDTs, 26 patients) from three pilot sites. The results indicate a high level of satisfaction with all components. Early testing also provided feedback for technical improvement of the entire system, and the paper points out useful evaluation methods.

To explore patients' experiences of contact and interaction with healthcare professionals (HCPs) during the diagnostic process of melanoma.In Sweden, most patients with suspected skin lesions seek care at the primary level of services in the first instance. Previous research describes the diagnostic process as a complex journey with uncertainty. Nonetheless, the importance of contact and interaction between patient and HCPs during the diagnostic process is rarely explored.This study adopted a qualitative design in which semi-structured interviews were conducted and the COREQ-checklist for qualitative studies employed (EQUATOR guidelines).A sample of 30 patients (15 women, 15 men) diagnosed with melanoma was included. Secondary analysis of interviews was carried out using qualitative content analysis.One theme emerged: Wishing to be perceived as a capable and resourceful person that consisted of three categories: (a) The need of being valued, (b) The need of being informed and (c) The need of taking actions.Our results suggest that patients wish to be valued as capable and resourceful persons as well as to be provided with honest and sufficient information about the diagnosis and subsequent procedures. By fulfilling these wishes, HCPs can involve patients in the diagnostic process and reduce patients' uncertainty. A need of supportive and accessible health care to manage the diagnostic process and to reduce patients' struggle for care was also identified.Patients are satisfied when health care is organised in a patient-/person-centred manner, that is, in accordance with patients' needs, avoiding gatekeeping, and when HCPs interact respectfully in encounters. Accessible HCPs during the diagnostic process of melanoma are required to inform, support and navigate patients within the healthcare system and through their diagnostic journey.

We investigated sick leave from work, studies, preschool, and kindergarten occurring between 1 November 2010 and 31 January 2011 and associated with a waterborne outbreak of diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium hominis in late November 2010 in Östersund, Sweden with 45.2% of 60,000 residents being symptomatic. A questionnaire defining acute watery diarrhoea and/or ≥3 diarrhea episodes/day as cryptosporidiosis was sent to 1,508 residents in late January 2011 (response rate 69.2%). Among adults aged 18–60 years, 24.0% took sick leave for a mean of 4.6 (SD ± 4.0) days due to cryptosporidiosis, and an additional 10.6% were absent from work a mean of 4.0 (±2.2) days to care for symptomatic children. Among children (aged ≤17 years), 35.0% stayed home sick from kindergarten/preschool or school/university for a mean of 5.2 (±3.8) days resulting in 5.1 (±4.4) days of absence from work per sick child shared between parents/guardians. The estimated total number of sick leave days was 50,000 for adults and 20,700 for children, with an estimated direct cost of €7 million for employers. The potential impact on society of sick leave caused by waterborne diseases must be considered in decisions regarding the quality of drinking water.

Older age is associated with an increased accumulation of multiple chronic conditions. The clinical management of patients suffering from multiple chronic conditions is very complex, disconnected and time-consuming with the traditional care settings. Integrated care is a means to address the growing demand for improved patient experience and health outcomes of multimorbid and long-term care patients. Care planning is a prevalent approach of integrated care, where the aim is to deliver more personalized and targeted care creating shared care plans by clearly articulating the role of each provider and patient in the care process. In this paper, we present a method and corresponding implementation of a semi-automatic care plan management tool, integrated with clinical decision support services which can seamlessly access and assess the electronic health records (EHRs) of the patient in comparison with evidence based clinical guidelines to suggest personalized recommendations for goals and interventions to be added to the individualized care plans.

The article presents diagnostic criteria for diabetes and treatment goals for diabetes type 2.

BACKGROUND: Concurrent multifactorial treatment is needed to reduce consequent risks of diabetes, yet most studies investigating the relationship between sociodemographic factors and health outcomes have focused on only one risk factor at a time. Swedish health care is mainly tax-funded, thus providing an environment that should facilitate equal health outcomes in patients, independent of background, socioeconomic status or health profile. This study aimed at investigating the association between several sociodemographic factors and diabetes-related health outcomes represented by HbA1c , systolic blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, predicted 5-year risk of cardiovascular disease as well as statin use. METHODS: This large retrospective registry-study was based on patient-level data from individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus during 2010-2011 (n = 416,228) in any of seven Swedish regions (~65% of the Swedish population). Health equity in diabetes care was analyzed through multivariate regression analyses on intermediary outcomes (HbA1c , systolic blood pressure, LDL), predicted 5-year risk of cardiovascular disease and process (i.e. statin use) after one-year follow-up, adjusting for several sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: We observed differences in intermediary risk measures, predicted 5-year risk of cardiovascular disease as well as process dependent on place of birth, sex, age, education and social setting, despite Sweden's articulated vision of equal health care. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes patients' health was associated with sociodemographic prerequisites. In addition to demographics (age, sex) and disease history; educational level, marital status and region of birth are important factors to consider when benchmarking health outcomes, e.g. average HbA1c level, between organizational units or between different administrative regions.

Elevated body weight in adolescence is strongly associated with early cardiovascular disease, but whether this association is traceable to weight in early adulthood, or to weight gain with subsequent high adult weight is not known. Using data from the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS

Objective To evaluate the value, risks, and shortcomings of immunochemical faecal occult blood tests (iFOBTs) in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) and adenomas with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) in patients initially presenting to primary care. Design A retrospective population-based study. Setting and subjects All 495 cases of CRC and adenomas with HGD diagnosed in the county of Jämtland, Sweden from 2005 to 2009. Results Of 495 patients 323 (65%) initially presented to primary care. IFOBTs were performed in 215 of 323 (67%) patients. The sensitivity of iFOBT for CRC and adenomas with HGD was 88% (83% when patients with a history of rectal bleeding were excluded). Of 34 patients with anaemia found en passant, 10 had negative iFOBTs. Time to diagnosis was longer for patients with negative iFOBTs (p < 0.0005). Conclusion IFOBT might be helpful in selecting which patients to refer for colonoscopy. However, iFOBT has a limited sensitivity as a diagnostic test for CRC and adenomas with HGD. Relying only on iFOBT for colonoscopy referral could delay diagnosis, especially for patients with anaemia found en passant.

Most Swedish studies show stable diabetes prevalence despite increasing obesity, but glucose levels may shift upwards below the diagnostic threshold for diabetes. Our aim was to explore trends in glucose distribution in northern Sweden; whether these trends were uniformly distributed throughout the spectrum of glucose concentrations; and to relate trends to traditional risk factors and the obesity-related adipokine leptin.The project consisted of four cross-sectional surveys between 1990 and 2009, with 7069 participants aged 25-64 years. The overall participation rate was 74.4%. Trend analyses of glucose concentrations along the entire distribution and linear regression in relation to survey years and risk markers were used.Fasting and post-load glucose increased in women (both P0.001) and post-load glucose in men (P = 0.004). The increase was seen in most deciles of glucose concentrations. The prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance doubled in women to 14.5% and tripled in men to 10.1% (both P = 0.004). The prevalence of impaired fasting glucose rose in women from 4.5 to 7.7% (P0.001). The prevalence of diabetes was unchanged-6.4% in 2009. In men, leptin, together with traditional risk factors, explained 7.8 and 10.8% of the variance in fasting (P = 0.008) and post-load (P0.001) glucose, respectively.Increasing fasting and post-load glucose concentrations were seen in most deciles of the glucose distribution, indicating a shift in the entire population. Leptin was significantly associated with fasting and post-load glucose in men.

Cryptosporidium is a major cause of diarrheal disease worldwide. In developing countries, this infection is endemic and in children, associated with growth faltering and cognitive function deficits, with the most severe impact on those aged

Objective: Faecal immunochemical tests (FITs) are used to screen for colorectal cancer (CRC) and as diagnostic aids in symptomatic patients. However, the number of samples per FIT varies. It is unclear if there is any advantage to analyse multiple-sample FITs in symptomatic patients. Design and setting: This is a post hoc analysis of a retrospective study that included all cases of CRC and adenomas with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) between 2005 and 2009 in the county of Jämtland, Sweden. Subjects: All patients with CRC and adenomas with HGD that initially presented with symptoms to primary care and delivered FITs. Main outcome measure: The likelihood of a positive FIT in cases of CRC and adenomas with HGD; when analysing one, two or three samples. Results: Of 195 patients, 160 delivered three-sample FITs. Using the 139 cases in which at least one sample was positive, the likelihood of detecting a positive sample upon analysis of only one of the three samples was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.85–0.95), indicating that 13 positive cases may have been missed. Conclusion: Use of a one-sample FIT instead of a three-sample FIT as a diagnostic aid may result in the missing of one tenth of symptomatic CRCs and adenomas with HGD.

Abdominal complaints are common reasons to consult primary care but they are seldom caused by colorectal cancer (CRC), high-risk adenomas (HRAs), or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Reliable diagnostic aids would be helpful in deciding which patients to refer for bowel imaging. Our aim was to assess the value of a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) and a faecal calprotectin (FC) test in detecting CRC, HRAs and IBD in primary care, and the value of combining these tests with anaemia and iron-deficiency tests.This prospective study included 373 consecutive patients that received a FIT or a FC test ordered by a primary care physician. We collected samples for FITs, FC tests, full blood counts and iron-deficiency tests. Physicians were instructed to refer patients with a positive FIT or FC test (cut-off ≥100μg/g) for bowel imaging. The patients' presenting symptoms were recorded. Patients were followed for 2 years.The best test for detecting CRC and IBD was the combination of the FIT and haemoglobin concentration. This test had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 100%, 61.7%, 11.7% and 100%, respectively. The FIT detected a significantly larger proportion of CRC, HRAs and IBD than the FC test (0.92 versus 0.46, 95% confidence interval 0.22-0.67).A negative FIT combined with a normal haemoglobin concentration could rule out CRC and IBD with a high degree of safety. This could be useful in prioritising referrals for bowel imaging from primary care.

Adiponectin and leptin and their ratio have been associated with incident type 2 diabetes (T2DM), although the data presented are conflicting and the populations studied have been small. In this large, prospective, nested, case referent study, we hypothesized that these associations are sex specific and may be modified by insulin resistance.Men and women aged 30-60 years with incident T2DM (n=640) and a prior health survey within the Västerbotten Intervention Programme (VIP) and matched referents (n=1564) were identified. Using conditional logistic regression analyses, we tested whether baseline plasma adiponectin and leptin levels and their ratio independently predicted incident T2DM, stratified for gender and insulin resistance.Adjusted for traditional risk factors, fourth-quartile levels of adiponectin were associated with a reduced risk of T2DM in men [odds ratio (OR) 0.55 (0.36-0.86)] and women [OR 0.47 (0.27-0.83)]. Quartile four of the leptin/adiponectin ratio predicted T2DM in both men [OR 3.08 (1.68-5.67)] and women [OR 3.31 (1.56-7.03)], whereas quartile-four levels of leptin predicted T2DM only in men [OR 2.30 (1.32-4.02)]. When stratified for insulin sensitivity and adjusted for body mass index (BMI), log(e)-transformed leptin predicted T2DM in insulin-sensitive men [OR 1.56 (1.13-2.17)] but not in insulin-resistant men [OR 1.03 (0.76-1.39)]. The effect of adiponectin and the leptin/adiponectin ratio was not influenced by the insulin sensitivity status.Leptin in men and adiponectin in both sexes were independent predictors of T2DM. The association was modified by the degree of insulin sensitivity. The leptin/adiponectin ratio may add predictive information beyond the separate hormones.

Background In 2010–2011, two large waterborne outbreaks caused by Cryptosporidium hominis affected two cities in Sweden, Östersund and Skellefteå. We investigated potential post-infection health consequences in people who had reported symptoms compatible with cryptosporidiosis during the outbreaks using questionnaires. Methods We compared cases linked to these outbreaks with non-cases in terms of symptoms present up to eleven months after the initial infection. We examined if cases were more likely to report a list of symptoms at follow-up than non-cases, calculating odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) obtained through logistic regression. Results A total of 872 (310 cases) and 743 (149 cases) individuals responded to the follow-up questionnaires in Östersund and Skellefteå respectively. Outbreak cases were more likely to report diarrhea (Östersund OR: 3.3, CI: 2.0-5.3. Skellefteå OR: 3.6, CI: 2.0-6.6), watery diarrhea (Östersund OR: 3.4, CI: 1.9-6.3. Skellefteå OR: 2.8, CI: 1.5-5.1) abdominal pain (Östersund OR: 2.1, CI: 1.4-3.3, Skellefteå OR: 2.7, CI: 1.5-4.6) and joint pain (Östersund OR: 2.0, CI: 1.2-3.3, Skellefteå OR: 2.0, CI: 1.1-3.6) at follow-up compared to non-cases. Conclusions Our findings suggest that gastrointestinal- and joint symptoms can persist several months after the initial infection with Cryptosporidium and should be regarded as a potential cause of unexplained symptoms in people who have suffered from the infection. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1871-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.