Assessment of quality of life in chronic illnesses has become a vital tool not only in the monitoring of treatment outcomes but also because it has been established to significantly influence morbidity and mortality. HRQOL assessment can be carried out using general or disease-specific instruments, which could be objective or subjective, or satisfaction- or function-based. It could be subdivided into measures of functional status, health status, and well-being and patient satisfaction. Each has its recognized merits and demerits, which include ease of interpretation, applicability and validation for different communities and comparability of results. A number of researchers utilize multiple instruments to be able to assess different subscales of HRQOL, as suggested by Gill and Feinstein.

…..Click here to read more

Data analysis was based on the 55 patients (27 males and 28 females) that completed the study. The age range was 20-65 years (mean=40.76 ± 11.05 years). Table 2 shows the baseline data, while Table 3 shows the mean laboratory parameters and body mass index (BMI) of the studied population. Table 4 shows the means, minimum and maximum scores for the eight SF-36 domains and KPSS. Comorbid conditions found in these patients included anemia (hemoglobin <1 lg/dL) in 82%, clinical features of osteodystrophy in 11.2% and hypertension in 61.8%.

…..Click here to read more

Patients

This comparative study was carried out between July 2001 and February 2002. Sixty-two patients on regular maintenance HD in the King Fahd and Ghonaimy Dialysis Units of the Cairo University Hospital were recruited after an informed consent. Patients being prepared for renal transplantation were excluded as well as those that did not consent.

…..Click here to read more

INTRODUCTION

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is often defined as “the value assigned to duration of life as modified by impairments, functional states, perceptions and social opportunities that are affected by disease, injury, treatment or policy.” Its assessment has become a vital tool not only in the monitoring of treatment outcomes in patients on various modalities of renal replacement therapy but also because it has been established to significantly influence morbidity and mortality. The assessment of HRQOL is important, as it determines how closely the treatment modality achieves the fundamental principles of prolonging life, relieving distress, restoring function and preventing disability, consequently leading to a more productive and effective life. This is pertinent, as the World Health Organization definition of health brings to limelight the need for holistic approach to treatment.

…..Click here to read more

This investigation provides new insight into the correlates of BMD among older African Americans. As might be expected, female gender was highly associated with lower BMD. Of importance, however, is the substantial contribution of weight to the explained variability, while age diminishes in importance after adjustment for covariates. The association of weight with BMD or fractures has been reported previously in white women. In a case control study comparing African-American and white women hospitalized for hip fractures to other hospitalized patients, Pruzansky et al. showed a comparable effect of weight in both groups. Because of the case control methodology using a comparison group of patients hospitalized for other conditions, it is impossible to estimate the effect of weight on the risk of hip fracture from that study. A report from Rochester, MN looking at a smaller, younger population of African Americans, Caucasians and recent immigrants from Somalia similarly found that weight was the major predictor of bone density in all races.

…..Click here to read more

The participants ranged in age from 67 to 97, with a mean age of 75.3. Men comprised 37.5% of the sample. The participants were relatively well-educated, reporting an average of 13.1 years of education. The average family had an annual income between $16,000 and $24,999. Based on their reported physical activity, African-American participants in CHS expended about 1,500 kcals per day above basal metabolic rate. Only 12% of African-American women were taking estrogen. Few of the participants screened positive for depression. Five-to 6% of the participants reported difficulty with more than one ADL or IADL, and 63.5% reported their health as good or better. Seventy-five percent of the cohort was overweight, defined as a BMI >25.0 kg/m².

…..Click here to read more

As part of the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), DXA scans were preformed on 1,591 older men and women, including 302 African Americans. CHS is a longitudinal, population-based cohort study of men and women over the age of 64 recruited from four geographically distinct sites in the United States. Additionally, other medical, functional and psychosocial data were gathered on these individuals. A more complete description of the CHS is provided elsewhere. Two sites, Pittsburgh, PA and Sacramento, CA, obtained DXA during 1995-1996, using a protocol similar to that used in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures and the Fracture Intervention Trial. Scans were acquired using the medium array mode on Hologic QDR-2000 densitometers (Hologic Inc., Waltham, MA) and read by individuals blinded to other information about the participants at the University of California, San Francisco Reading Center using Hologic software version 7.10. The coefficient of variation for hip BMD measurements was <0.75%.

…..Click here to read more