<b>Purpose:</b> To explore the decision-making of general practitioners (GPs) concerning treatment with antibiotics and/or oral corticosteroids and hospitalization for COPD patients with exacerbations.<br> <b>Methods:</b> Thematic analysis of seven focus groups with 53 GPs from urban and rural areas in Norway, Germany, Wales, Poland, Russia, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong.<br> <b>Results:</b> ...

Objective: To test the association between self-rated health and self-rated degree of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), and CFS/ME patients’ assessment of quality of primary care, specialist care and coordination of care. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Self-reported questionnaire data from women members of The Norwegian ME Association obtained in ...

<i>Objectives</i>: We aimed to describe how work exposure and occupational health is assessed for mine workers in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. <p> <p><i>Study design</i>: A descriptive study based on current practice, laws and available literature. <p> <p><i>Methods</i>: The information and data were obtained from scientific publications, reports, regional and federal statistics, legal documents, ...

Background: Quantitative sensory testing (QST) is a diagnostic tool for the assessment of the somatosensory system. To establish QST as an outcome measure for clinical trials, the question of how similar the measurements are over time is crucial. Therefore, long-term reliability and limits of agreement of the standardized QST protocol of the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain were ...

Even though homeopathy is regarded by many as a harmless intervention, homeopathic practice, may not be entirely risk free. Homeopathic aggravation, a concept unique for homeopathy, may impose a particular risk as it allows the health status of the patients to deteriorate before there is an possible improvement. Risk in homeopathy can be divided into direct and indirect risk. Direct risk includes ...

Objective: To investigate knowledge of and attitudes to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, HPV vaccination, cervical cancer, related sources of information and factors associated with will- ingness to vaccinate one ’ s own daughter among primary health care (PHC) personnel. <br>Design: Cross-sectional study. <br>Setting: PHC. <br>Subjects: All public health nurses (PHNs) and general ...

I Norge har det de senere år vært en stor økning i bruk av delt bosted for barn blant foreldre som bor hver for seg. I 2012 hadde 26 % av barna delt bosted, mot 10 % i 2004 og 8 % i 2002. Den samme utviklingen ser man i mange andre vestlige land. Hvor‐dan påvirker det barn å bo i to hjem, sammenlignet med å bo mesteparten av tiden i ett hjem? Og hvordan påvirker det spesielt de aller minste barna? ...

Background: Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), a marker of average plasma glucose during the last 8-12 weeks, is associated with future risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality. Objectives: To examine the association between hyperglycemia, assessed by HbA1c, and future risk of VTE in a population based cohort. Methods: HbA1c was measured in 16 156 unique subjects (25-87 years) ...

DNA hypomethylation in certain genes is associated with tobacco exposure but it is unknown whether these methylation changes translate into increased lung cancer risk. In an epigenome-wide study of DNA from pre-diagnostic blood samples from 132 case–control pairs in the NOWAC cohort, we observe that the most significant associations with lung cancer risk are for cg05575921 in AHRR (OR for 1 s.d.=0.37, ...

<i>Objectives</i> - The aim of this study was to use the parametric g-formula to estimate the 19-year risk of myocardial infarction (MI) under hypothetical interventions on six cardiovascular risk factors. <p> <p><i>Design and setting</i> - A populations-based cohort study with repeated measurements, the Tromsø Study. <p> <p><i>Primary outcome measure</i> - Myocardial infarction. <p> <p>< ...