Background: Today, many patients undergo surgical procedures in a day surgery setting. The shift from inpatient care to care at the patients' own home following discharge places various demands on patients and their families during the recovery process. There is a need for knowledge of how the postoperative recovery process is perceived, as research indicates a lack of support for patients managing recovery at home.

Objective: To explore day surgery patients' different perceptions of postoperative recovery.

Design: A qualitative design with a phenomenographic approach was used.

Methods and settings: Semi-structured interviews with 31 patients undergoing an orthopaedic, general or urologic day surgical procedure were carried out face to face at the patients' homes, 11-37 days post-discharge. Patients were recruited from two day surgery settings: one private unit and one unit associated with a local county hospital.

Results: The patients perceived postoperative recovery as comprising internal and external prerequisites and implying changes in ordinary life with varying levels of support. The effective production at the day surgery unit was perceived as having an impact on patients' prerequisites for recovery. The results are elucidated in three descriptive categories: 'Conditions for recovery at home', 'The rollback to ordinary life' and 'Being a cog in a flow of care'.

Conclusions: The postoperative phase seems to be a weak link in day surgery care. From the patients' perspective, postoperative recovery following day surgery implies extensive responsibility at home. Patients need knowledge and understanding concerning what constitutes the normal range in recovery and how to manage self-care following their specific surgical procedure. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Background: The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) is a short instrument, developed to assess perceived social support. The original English version has been widely used. The original scale has demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties in different settings, but no validated Swedish version has been available. The aim was therefore to translate, adapt and psychometrically evaluate the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support for use in a Swedish context.

Method: In total 281 participants accepted to join the study, a main sample of 127 women with hirsutism and a reference sample of 154 nursing students. The MSPSS was translated and culturally adapted according to the rigorous official process approved by WHO. The psychometric evaluation included item analysis, evaluation of factor structure, known-group validity, internal consistency and reproducibility.

Results: The original three-factor structure was reproduced in the main sample of women with hirsutism. An equivalent factor structure was demonstrated in a cross-validation, based on the reference sample of nursing students. Known-group validity was supported and internal consistency was good for all scales (alpha = 0.91-0.95). The test-retest showed acceptable to very good reproducibility for the items (kappa(w) = 0.58-0.85) and the scales (ICC = 0.89-0.92; CCC = 0.89-0.92).

Conclusion: The Swedish version of the MSPSS is a multidimensional scale with sound psychometric properties in the present study sample. The simple and short format makes it a useful tool for measuring perceived social support.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe how patients perceive the use of the numeric rating scale in postoperative pain assessments.

Background: There are recommendations to use a pain scale to follow patients' postoperative pain. Most patients prefer the NRS but there is a discrepancy between patients and healthcare professionals how to interpret the ratings from the pain assessments.

Methods: A descriptive design with a phenomenographic approach was used. Semi structured interviews were held with 25 patients.

Results: Three description categories emerged that illustrate patients' perceptions; use of the NRS facilitated communication of pain, it put demands on healthcare professionals and care routines and it contained interpretation difficulties.

Conclusion: The NRS has a place in pain management according to the patients but there is a need for a dialogue to give the patients the opportunity to describe their pain and set a common goal. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CONTEXT: Previous studies have supported the psychometric properties of the 22-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-22) scale among family caregivers of people with various disorders, including Parkinson´s disease (PD). However, its short-forms have not been psychometrically tested among PD family caregivers, and available psychometric analyses have not accounted for the ordinal nature of item-level data.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the psychometric properties of the ZBI-22 and its short forms among family caregivers of people with PD, while taking account for the ordinal nature of data.

METHODS: Cross-sectional postal survey ZBI-22 data from 66 family caregiver members (59% women; mean age, 69.6 years) of a local Swedish PD society branch were analysed according to classical test theory methods based on polychoric/polyserial correlations.

RESULTS: Missing item responses were ≤5%. Corrected item-total correlations were ≥0.42 and floor-/ceiling effects were <20%, besides for the briefest (4- and 1-item) short-forms (20% and 40% floor effects, respectively). Reliability was good for all scales (ordinal alpha, 0.89-0.95). External construct validity was in general accordance with a priori expectations. Short-forms demonstrated good criterion-related validity (rs 0.87-0.99) and discriminative ability (AUC, 0.91-0.98) relative to the full ZBI-22.

CONCLUSION: This study provides support for the reliability and validity of the ZBI-22 and its various short forms for use among PD family caregivers. In studies where caregiver burden is a central outcome, either ZBI-22 or -12 is suggested for use; other short-forms can be used when caregiver burden is of less central focus or for clinical screening.

Objectives: Palliative family caregivers appear to experience rewards of caregiving concurrent with burdens and negative feelings. Relatively few studies have especially attended to the positive and rewarding aspects in palliative family caregiving. In addition, most studies on rewards are retrospective and examine the experiences of bereaved family caregivers. This study aimed to describe feelings of rewards among family caregivers during ongoing palliative care. A further aim was to compare experience of rewards in relation to sex and age. Methods: The sample consisted of 125 family caregivers and the study took place in three specialist palliative care units and one hematology unit. Participants answered a questionnaire including demographic background questions and the Rewards of Caregiving Scale (RCS). Descriptive statistics were used to describe characteristics of the participants and the level of rewards. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare differences between groups of different sex and age. Results: Palliative family caregivers reported in general high levels of reward.The largest source of rewards was feelings of being helpful to the patient. This was closely followed by rewards as a consequence of giving something to the patients that brought her/him happiness and being there for the patient. The smallest sources of rewards were personally growth, self-satisfaction and personal meaning. There was an association between rewards and age but not between men and women. Conclusions: Family caregivers experienced rewards of caregiving during ongoing palliative care despite their unique and stressful situation. Feelings of rewards seem to be about handling the situation in a satisfying way, to feel competent and confident to take care of the patient and thereby feel proud. Support could preferably be designed aiming to improve family caregiver’s ability to care and to facilitate rewards of caregiving and focus on strengths and resources.

Objectives: Palliative family caregivers appear to experience the rewards of caregiving concurrent with burdens and negative feelings. Relatively few studies have attended to the positive and rewarding aspects in palliative family caregiving. In addition, most studies on rewards are retrospective and examine the experiences of bereaved family caregivers. The present study aimed at describing feelings of reward among family caregivers during ongoing palliative care. A further aim was to compare the experience of rewards in relation to sex and age. Methods: The sample consisted of 125 family caregivers and took place in three specialist palliative care units and one hematology unit. Participants answered a questionnaire including demographic background questions and the Rewards of Caregiving Scale (RCS). Descriptive statistics were employed to describe characteristics of the participants and the level of rewards. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare differences between groups of different sex and age. Results: Palliative family caregivers reported general high levels of reward. The greatest source of rewards involved feelings of being helpful to patients. This was closely followed by giving something to patients that brought them happiness and being there for them. The smallest sources of rewards were related to personal growth, self-satisfaction, and personal meaning. There was also an association between rewards and age but not between men and women. Significance of results: Family caregivers experienced the rewards of caregiving during ongoing palliative care despite their unique and stressful situation. Feelings of reward seem to be about handling a situation in a satisfying way, feeling competent and confident to take care of the patient and thereby feeling proud. Support could preferably be designed to improve a family caregiver's ability to care and to facilitate the positive aspects and rewards of caregiving and focus on strengths and resources.

Background: Family caregivers in palliative care often report feeling insufficiently prepared to handle the caregiver role. Preparedness has been confirmed as a variable that may actually protect family caregiver well-being. Preparedness refers to how ready family caregivers perceive they are for the tasks and demands in the caregiving role.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore factors associated with preparedness and to further investigate whether preparedness is associated with caregiver outcomes.

Design: This was a correlational study using a cross-sectional design.

Setting/participants: The study took place in three specialist palliative care units and one haematology unit. A total of 125 family caregivers of patients with life-threatening illness participated.

Result: Preparedness was significantly associated with higher levels of hope and reward and with a lower level of anxiety. In contrast, preparedness was not associated with depression or health. Being female and cohabiting with the patient were significantly associated with a higher level of preparedness. The relationship to the patient was significantly associated with preparedness, while social support, place of care, time since diagnosis and age of the patients showed no association.

Conclusion:Feelings of preparedness seem to be important for how family caregivers experience the unique situation when caring for a patient who is severely ill and close to death. Our findings support the inclusion of preparedness in support models for family caregivers in palliative care. Psycho-educational interventions could preferably be designed aiming to increase family caregiver’s preparedness to care, including practical care, communication and emotional support.

Background: Family caregivers in palliative care have a need for knowledge and practical support from health professionals, resulting in the need for educational and supportive interventions. However, research has mainly focused on the experiences of family caregivers taking part in interventions. To gain an increased understanding of complex interventions, it is necessary to integrate the perspectives of health professionals and family caregivers. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore the perspectives of health professionals and family caregivers of delivering and participating in a psycho-educational intervention in specialized palliative home care.

Methods: A psycho-educational intervention was designed for family caregivers based on a theoretical framework describing family caregiver’s educational, emotional and practical involvement as knowing, being and doing. The intervention was delivered over three sessions, each of which included a presentation to family caregivers by healthcare professionals from an intervention manual based on the theoretical framework. For the qualitative data collection, an interpretive descriptive design was chosen. Data were collected through focus group discussions with health professionals and individual interviews with family caregivers. Data were analysed using framework analysis.

Results: From the perspectives of both health professionals and family caregivers, the delivering and participating in the intervention was described as a positive experience. Although the content was not always adjusted to the family caregivers’ individual situation, it was perceived as valuable. Consistently, the intervention was regarded as something that could make family caregivers better prepared for caregiving. Health professionals found that the work with the intervention demanded time and engagement from them and that the manual needed to be adjusted to suit group characteristics, but the experience of delivering the intervention was still something that gave them satisfaction and contributed to them finding insights into their work.

Conclusions: The theoretical framework of knowing, being and doing used in this study seems appropriate to use for the design of interventions to support family caregivers. In the perspectives of health professionals and family caregivers, the psycho-educational intervention had important benefits and there was congruence between the two groups in that it provided reward and support. In order for health professionals to carry out psycho-educational interventions, they may be in need of support and supervision as well as securing appropriate time and resources in their everyday work.

AIM: To describe health status and psychological distress among in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) survivors in relation to gender.

METHODS: This national register study consists of data from follow-up registration of IHCA survivors 3-6 months post cardiac arrest (CA) in Sweden. A questionnaire was sent to the survivors, including measurements of health status (EQ-5D-5L) and psychological distress (HADS).

RESULTS: Between 2013 and 2015, 594 IHCA survivors were included in the study. The median values for EQ-5D-5L index and EQ VAS among survivors were 0.78 (q1-q3=0.67-0.86) and 70 (q1-q3=50-80) respectively. The values were significantly lower (p<0.001) in women compared to men. In addition, women reported more problems than men in all dimensions of EQ-5D-5L, except self-care. A majority of the respondents reported no problems with anxiety (85.4%) and/or symptoms of depression (87.0%). Women reported significantly more problems with anxiety (p<0.001) and symptoms of depression (p<0.001) compared to men. Gender was significantly associated with poorer health status and more psychological distress. No interaction effects for gender and age were found.

CONCLUSIONS: Although the majority of survivors reported acceptable health status and no psychological distress, a substantial proportion reported severe problems. Women reported worse health status and more psychological distress compared to men. Therefore, a higher proportion of women may be in need of support. Health care professionals should make efforts to identify health problems among survivors and offer individualised support when needed.

OBJECTIVES: To describe in-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) events with regard to sex and to investigate if sex is associated with survival.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies exploring differences between sexes are incongruent with regard to clinical outcomes. In order to provide equality and improve care, further investigations into these aspects are warranted.

METHODS: This registry study included 286 CAs. To investigate if sex was associated with survival, logistic regression analyses were performed.

RESULTS: The proportion of CA with a resuscitation attempt compared to CA without resuscitation was higher among men. There were no associations between sex and survival when controlling for previously known predictors and interaction effects.

CONCLUSIONS: Sex does not appear to be a predictor for survival among patients suffering CA where resuscitation is attempted. The difference regarding proportion of resuscitation attempts requires more attention. It is important to consider possible interaction effects when studying the sex perspective.

Background: Family caregivers often report having unmet support needs when caring for someone with life-threatening illness. They are at risk for psychological distress, adverse physical symptoms and negatively affected quality of life. This study aims to explore associations between family caregivers' support needs and quality of life when caring for a spouse receiving specialized palliative home care.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used: 114 family caregivers completed the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) and the Quality of Life in Life-Threatening Illness - Family caregiver version (QOLLTI-F) and 43 of them also answered one open-ended question on thoughts about their situation. Descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression analyses, and qualitative content analysis, were used for analyses.

Results: Higher levels of unmet support needs were significantly associated with poorer quality of life. All CSNAT support domains were significantly associated with one or more quality of life domains in QOLLTI-F, with the exception of the QoL domain related to distress about the patient condition. However, family caregivers described in the open-ended question that their life was disrupted by the patient's life-threatening illness and its consequences. Family caregivers reported most the need of more support concerning knowing what to expect in the future, which they also described as worries and concerns about what the illness would mean for them and the patient further on. Lowest QoL was reported in relation to the patient's condition, and the family caregiver's own physical and emotional health.

Conclusion: With a deeper understanding of the complexities of supporting family caregivers in palliative care, healthcare professionals might help to increase family caregivers' QoL by revealing their problems and concerns. Thus, tailored support is needed.

Background: Patient participation is important for improving outcomes, respect for self-determination and legal aspects in care. However, how patients with heart failure view participation and which factors may be associated with participation is not known. The aim of this study was therefore to describe the influence of structured home care on patient participation over time in patients diagnosed with heart failure, and to explore factors associated with participation in care.

Methods: The study had a prospective pre-post longitudinal design evaluating the influence of structured home care on participation in patients at four different home care units. Patient participation was measured using 3 scales and 1 single item. Self-care behavior, knowledge, symptoms of depression, socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were measured to explore factors associated with patient participation. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to describe change over time, and stepwise regression analyses were used to explore factors associated with patient participation.

Results: One hundred patients receiving structured heart failure home care were included. Mean age was 82 years, 38 were women and 80 were in New York Heart Association functional class III. One aspect of participation, received information, showed a significant change over time and had increased at both six and twelve months. Better self-care behavior was associated with all four scales measuring different aspects of participation. Experiencing lower degree of symptoms of depression, having better knowledge, being of male sex, being of lower age, cohabiting and having home help services were associated with one or two of the four scales measuring different aspects of participation.

Conclusion: Patients experienced a fairly high level of satisfaction with participation in care at baseline, and there was a significant improvement over time for participation with regard to received information after being admitted to structured home care. Higher level of patient participation was consistently associated with better self-care behavior. This study shows that patient participation may need to be further focused upon, and that the association with self-care may be interesting to target in future interventions.

BACKGROUND: Being a family caregiver for a person with Parkinson's disease (PD) can negatively impact health and wellbeing, but it appears less clear to what extent caregivers' health/social service needs are met.

OBJECTIVE: We explored the extent to which PD family caregivers experience sufficient access to health/social services, as compared to age-matched controls; and the associations between this and demographic and health-related variables.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 66 PD family caregivers and 79 age-matched control subjects including the SF-36 health survey, the Nottingham Health Profile Sleep section (NHP-Sleep), and questions regarding contacts with various health/social related services and whether these were perceived as sufficient.

RESULTS: People reporting insufficient access (n = 29) were more often PD family caregivers than controls (83% vs. 37%), did more often have a disease of their own (79% vs. 46%), and reported poorer health according to the SF-36 and the NHP-Sleep. Being a PD family caregiver (OR, 8.90), reporting more pain (OR, 1.02) and having an own disease (OR, 3.46) were independently associated with insufficient health/social service access.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results imply that those in greatest need for health/social services (i.e., those with poorer health, an own disease, and who are PD family caregivers) are those whose health/social service needs are least met. Larger studies are needed for firmer conclusions and regarding how unmet health/social service needs impacts caregiver health and wellbeing. Health/social service providers should not only focus on patients but also consider their family members' needs.

Background: Women with hirsutism have reported imparied health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Social support is a factor that might increase HRQoL in chronic diseases, but little is known about this association among women with hirsutism.

Aim: The aim of the study was to describe social support and explore its association with HRQoL among women with hirsutism. A further aim was to compare HRQoL in women with hirsutism with a Swedish normal population.

Methods: A questionnaire including socio-demographic questions, Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and a self-estimation of hairiness using the Ferriman-Gallway scale (F-G scale) was answered by 127 women with hirsutism.

Results: Multiple regression analyses showed significant associations between social support and all health dimensions in the SF-36, also after the model was adjusted for age, hairiness and body mass index. Compared to the normal Swedish population, women with hirsutism reported significantly lower HRQoL in all dimensions of the SF-36 (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: There is a significant positive association between social support and HRQoL, demonstrating its importance for the ability to adapt to problems associated with hirsutism. As women with hirsutism reported poorer HRQoL compared to the normal population, social support may be a factor to consider in clinical practice.

Objectives: The aim was to describe the strengths and weaknesses, from team member perspectives, of working with the Global Trigger Tool (GTT) method of retrospective record review to identify adverse events causing patient harm.

Design: A qualitative, descriptive approach with focus group interviews using content analysis.

Setting: 5 Swedish hospitals in 2011.

Participants: 5 GTT teams, with 5 physicians and 11 registered nurses.

Intervention: 5 focus group interviews were carried out with the five teams. Interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim.

Results: 8 categories emerged relating to the strengths and weaknesses of the GTT method. The categories found were: Usefulness of the GTT, Application of the GTT, Triggers, Preventability of harm, Team composition, Team tasks, Team members' knowledge development and Documentation. Gradually, changes in the methodology were made by the teams, for example, the teams reported how the registered nurses divided up the charts into two sets, each being read respectively. The teams described the method as important and well functioning. Not only the most important, but also the most difficult, was the task of bringing the results back to the clinic. The teams found it easier to discuss findings at their own clinics.

Conclusions: The GTT method functions well for identifying adverse events and is strengthened by its adaptability to different specialties. However, small, gradual methodological changes together with continuingly developed expertise and adaption to looking at harm from a patient's perspective may contribute to large differences in assessment over time.

Aim: To describe how healthcare professionals perceive the use of pain scales in postoperative care.

Background: Pain scales are important but not an obvious choice to use in postoperative care. No study has explored how healthcare professionals experience the use of pain scales. Methods: An explorative design with a phenomenographic approach was used. The sample consisted of 25 healthcare professionals. Semistructured interviews were performed.

Results: Four descriptive categories emerged - the use of pain scales facilitated the understanding of postoperative pain, facilitated treatment, demanded a multidimensional approach and was affected by work situations.

Conclusions: Healthcare professionals described that pain scales contribute to the understanding of patient's postoperative pain. It is important to ensure patient understanding and be aware about variations in pain ratings. Dialogue and observations are necessary to be certain what the ratings mean to the patient. The use of pain scales depends on patient's needs and organization. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

AIMS: This study aimed to describe symptom prevalence of pain, shortness of breath, anxiety, and nausea and to identify factors associated with symptom relief in patients with heart failure during their last week of life.

METHODS AND RESULTS: This nationwide study used data from the Swedish Register of Palliative Care and the Swedish Causes of Death Certificate Register. The sample included 4215 patients with heart failure as the underlying cause of death. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to analyse data. Pain was the most prevalent symptom (64.0%), followed by anxiety (45.1%), shortness of breath (28.8%), and nausea (11.4%). Pain was the most often totally relieved (77.5%), followed by anxiety (68.4%), nausea (54.7%), and shortness of breath (37.1%). Key aspects of palliative care such as documented palliative care in the patient record, individual medication prescriptions by injection, symptom assessment with validated scales, documented end-of-life discussions with patients and/or family members, and external consultation were significantly associated with symptom relief. Relief of pain, shortness of breath, anxiety, and nausea were significantly better managed in nursing homes and hospice/inpatient palliative care compared with care in hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS: The results show that key aspects of palliative care during the last week of life are significantly associated with symptom relief. Increased access to palliative care could provide a way to improve care during the last week of life for patients with heart failure. Home-based settings provided more symptom relief than hospitals, which may indicate that the latter focuses on treatments and saving lives rather than promoting life before death.

Objectives: Of the few studies that have paid attention to feelings of reward in palliative family caregiving, most are retrospective and examine the experiences of bereaved family caregivers. Although feeling rewarded has been described as an influence that may facilitate the way family caregivers handle the caregiving situation, no study has sought to identify factors associated with feelings of reward while providing ongoing family palliative care. The aim of this study, therefore, was to identify influential factors in feelings of reward in family palliative caregivers. Methods: The study had a correlational cross-sectional design. Family caregivers (n = 125) of patients receiving specialized palliative care were consecutively recruited from four settings. These caregivers answered a questionnaire including the Rewards of Caregiving Scale (RCS). The questionnaire also included questions about demographic background and scales to measure preparedness for caregiving, feelings of hope, perceived health, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with rewards. Results: The results showed that more prepared caregivers with higher levels of hope felt more rewarded, while caregivers with higher levels of anxiety and those in a spousal relationship to the patient felt less rewarded by caregiving. Significance of results: It seems reasonable that feeling rewarded can significant to the overall experience of providing ongoing palliative care. The situation of family caregivers has been shown to be multifaceted and complex, and co-varying factors such as preparedness, anxiety, hope, and being in a spousal relationship with the patient influence the experience.

Purpose: Despite that chronic heart failure is associated with a poor prognosis, only few patients receive palliative care. Among patients with advanced stages of heart failure, previous studies have mainly focused on solitary specific signs or symptoms and few have described the patients’ situation from a more comprehensive perspective. The aim was therefore to undertake a comprehensive description of potential palliative care needs in terms of signs, symptoms and health related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with advanced chronic heart failure. Methods: The study included 72 patients with advanced chronic heart failure (NYHA III and IV), taken from a larger multi-centre study. The study variables included demographic data, medical and nutritional status, sleeping disordered breathing, physical activity, self-perceived symptoms and HRQoL, and cognitive function. Results: A large number of the patients scored appetite levels at increased risk for weight loss (53%), scored mild or worse depressive symptoms (47%), was short of breath in rest (43%), and had moderate or worse pain (82%). Mobility problems were common ( 72%) as well as problems conducting usual activities (33%). Problems with low physical activity according to average number of steps (2691±2022) and METs (1.0±0.2), insomnia (64%), daytime sleepiness (44%) and sleep disordered breathing (AHI ≥ 15, 56%) were common. The mean BMI was high (30.2±5.7) and 18% had albumin levels ≤ 35 (mean 38.8±3.7). Impaired cognitive functioning was also common (MMSE ≤ 27, 54%). HRQoL was in general low, but with a great individual variance (EQ-index 0.65±0.22; EQ-VAS 50.8±17.6). Conclusion: Despite that none of the participants received palliative care, this comprehensive description shows that these patients with heart failure have complex health care needs. Therefore, health professional should focus on palliative care needs earlier in the disease trajectory.