Risk factors for failure to return to the pre-fracture place of residence after hip fracture: a prospective longitudinal study of 444 patients

Introduction: Long-term place of residence after hip fracture is not often described in literature. The goal of this study was to identify risk factors, known at admission, for failure to return to the pre-fracture place of residence of hip fracture patients in the Wrst year after a hip fracture. Methods: This is a prospective longitudinal study of 444 consecutive admissions of hip fracture patients aged ≥65 years. Place of residence prior to admission, at discharge, after 3 and 12 months was registered. Patients admitted from a nursing home (n = 49) were excluded from statistical analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed, using age, gender, presence of a partner, ASAscore, dementia, anaemia at admission, type of fracture, pre-fracture level of mobility and level of activities of daily living (ADL) as possible risk factors. Results: Two hundred eighty-nine patients lived in their own home, 31.8% returned at discharge, 72.9% at 3 months and 72.8% at 12 months. Age, absence of a partner, dementia, and a lower pre-fracture level of ADL or mobility were independent contributors to failure to return to their own home at discharge, 3 or 12 months. 106 patients lived in a residential home; 33.3% returned at discharge, 68.4% at 3 months and 64.4% at 12 months. Age was an independent contributor to failure to return to a residential home. Conclusions: Age, dementia and a lower pre-fracture level of ADL were the main signiWcant risk factors for failure to return to the pre-fracture residence. As the 3- and 12-month return-rates were similar, 3-month follow-up might be used as an endpoint in future research

A Study of the Unidimensionality and Cumulativeness of the MOS Short-Form General Health Survey

The unidimensionality and cumulativeness of the subscales Health Perceptions, Mental Health, Physical Pain, and Social Functioning of the MOS Short-form General Health Survey were investigated using the Mokken Scale Analysis for Polychotomous Items (MSP). From the analyses, two unidimensional, cumulative subscales appeared, Health Perceptions including the item on Social Functioning, and Mental Health. Both subscales met the requirements of the Mokken model, with the first scale being a 'moderately strong' hierarchical scale (H = 0.49, rho = 0.89) and the second a 'weak' hierarchical scale (H = 0.38, rho = 0.85)

Unidimensionality and Cumulativeness of the Loneliness Scale Using Mokken Scale Analysis for Polychotomous Items

The unidimensionality and cumulativeness of the Loneliness Scale of De Jong-Gierveld was investigated using the Mokken Scale Analysis for polychotomous items. 10 of the 11 items of the original Loneliness Scale constituted a unidimensional, cumulative scale, with a homogeneity coefficient H of 0.37 and a reliability coefficient rho of 0.88.</p

Correlates of functional disability in early rheumatoid arthritis: A cross-sectional study of 706 patients in four European countries

In this cross-sectional study of 706 European patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of less than or equal to 4 yr duration, we examined possible correlates of functional disability assessed by the Health Assessment Questionnaire. First, we examined a subsample of 237 Norwegian patients. The Ritchie index: sex, age, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and disease duration correlated significantly with disability, whereas serum rheumatoid factor, hand X-ray changes and educational level did not. Subsequently, we cross-validated these findings in a similar sample of 469 French, Dutch and Northern Irish patients. The results supported the Ritchie index, sex, ESR and disease duration as significant correlates of disability, whereas rheumatoid factor, age and education were not significantly correlated with disability. The correlation between X-ray changes and disability could not be cross-validated. The main findings of this study are that female sex correlates significantly with disability even early in the course of RA, whereas the rheumatoid factor does not

The measurement of social support in the European Research on incapaciting diseases and social support : the development of the social support questionnaire for transactions (SSQT)

Social support is supposed to have a beneficial effect on the health and wellbeing of people. It is a central concept in the "European Research on Incapacitating Diseases and Social Support" (EURIDISS). In general, two main distinctions concerning social support are made in the literature, providing four basic dimensions or types of social support: a social-emotional vs an instrumental type og social support, and a 'crisis' or 'problem- oriented' vs 'everyday' or 'daily' type of social support. based on these types of social support , a series of items were formulated to measure actual supportive interactions or exchanges of resources. The items were spread over five scales. The social- emotional type of social support comprised three scales: daily emotional support; problem-oriented emotional support; and social companionship, while the instrumental type of social support consisted of two scales: the daily instrumental support and the problem-oriented instrumental support. Together, these items and scale constitute the so-called 'Social Support Questionnaire for Transactions' (SSQT). The main objective of this paper is to investigate whether one and the same instrument, i.e. the SSQT, allows for meaningful comparisons between patients with rheumatoid arthritis from different countries. More specifically, the dimensionality and invariance of the dimensions across countries of the SSQT are explored. To this end, patients from four different