Registration of Health-Related Quality of Life in a Cohort of Patients Undergoing Cholecystectomy

Background. Assessment of gallstone surgery's impact on quality of life (QoL) requires a reliable instrument with sufficient responsiveness. The instrument should also enable estimation of each individual's expected condition in an unaffected state. Materials and Methods. The Swedish Register for Gallstone Surgery and ERCP (GallRiks) registers indications, complications, results, and QoL-outcome of gallstone surgery. In 2008, 68 hospitals were registered in GallRiks. Between 2007 and 2008, SF-36 (a short form health survey) was filled in 1-2 weeks pre- and 6–9 months postoperatively at five of the units. Expected scores were determined from an age- and gender-matched Swedish population (AGMSP). Results. Of the 330 patients, 212 responded to SF36 pre- and postoperatively (RR = 64%; 212/330). Standardized response means ranged from 0.20 to 0.93 for the SF-36 subscores. Highest responsiveness was seen for bodily pain. Preoperatively, all subscores were significantly lower than in the AGMSP (all P < .05). Six months postoperatively, there was no significant difference between any of the observed and expected quality of life subscales. Conclusion. SF-36 is a useful instrument for measuring the impact of gallstone surgery on QoL. The postinterventional health status equalled or even exceeded the AGMSP for all subscales

Thermalization calorimetry: A simple method for investigating glass transition and crystallization of supercooled liquids

We present a simple method for fast and cheap thermal analysis on supercooled glass-forming liquids. This "Thermalization Calorimetry" technique is based on monitoring the temperature and its rate of change during heating or cooling of a sample for which the thermal power input comes from heat conduction through an insulating material, i.e., is proportional to the temperature difference between sample and surroundings. The monitored signal reflects the sample's specific heat and is sensitive to exo- and endothermic processes. The technique is useful for studying supercooled liquids and their crystallization, e.g., for locating the glass transition and melting point(s), as well as for investigating the stability against crystallization and estimating the relative change in specific heat between the solid and liquid phases at the glass transition.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, minor change