Monitoring population disability: Evaluation of a new Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI)

Objective: To evaluate a single item instrument, the Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI), to measure long-standing health related activity limitations, against several health indicators: a composite morbidity indicator, instruments measuring mental health (SCL-90R, GHQ-12), physical co-morbidity and physical limitations (ADLs, SF-36)....

Alcohol Consumption in Relation to Aortic Stiffness and Aortic Wave Reflections: A Cross-Sectional Study in Healthy Postmenopausal Women

Objective-Moderate alcohol consumption has been postulated to be cardioprotective. Such an effect might be reflected in large-artery properties, such as arterial stiffness and wave reflections. Methods and Results-Three hundred seventy-one healthy postmenopausal women aged 50 to 74 years were sampled from a population-based study. Alcohol intake...

Assessing comparability of dressing disability in different countries by response conversion

Background: Comparability of health data is a major challenge within the context of the Health Monitoring Programme of the European Commission. A common problem in surveys is that many variations of essentially the same question exist. Methods: Response conversion is a new method for improving comparability by scaling the data onto a common...

Inflammatory mediators and cell adhesion molecules as indicators of severity of atherosclerosis: The Rotterdam Study

Inflammatory mediators and soluble cell adhesion molecules predict cardiovascular events. It is not clear whether they reflect the severity of underlying atherosclerotic disease. Within the Rotterdam Study, we investigated the associations of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and soluble...

Mondgezondheid van thuiswonende ouderen 2: Het subjectieve aspect van mondgezondheid [Oral health of community-dwelling elderly 2. The subjective aspect of oral health]

In this study oral health of elderly persons as perceived by the subjects was evaluated. Phenomena often mentioned were problems with chewing and biting, dry mouth, retention of food particles between teeth or below the prosthesis, (in edentates) sensitivity of teeth for warm or cold foods and (in edentates) lack of retention of the lower...

Development and validation of the observation list for early signs of dementia (OLD)

Objective: Development and validation of a short Observation List of possible early signs of Dementia (OLD) for use in general practice. Design: Stepwise development using reviews of publications and expert consensus. Field study for evaluation of reliability. Validation study (interviews, family forms) using existing valid and reliable measures...

Mondgezondheid van thuiswonende ouderen 1: Gebitstoestand, verleende professionele tandheelkundige zorg en mondygiënisch gedrag [Oral health of home living elderly persons 1 Oral health status, professional dental care and and oral hygiene habits]

With the aim to get information on oral health, professional dental care and oral hygiene habits a study was performed on persons aged 60 up to 79 years in Haarlem, the Netherlands. After an interview an oral examination was performed, using a mirror and a pocket lamp. Of all persons approached, 376 (38%) participated in the clinical part of the...

Dementia-free life expectancy (demFLE) in the Netherlands

To gain an insight into the burden of dementia in an aging society, life expectancy with dementia and its counterpart dementia-free life expectancy (DemFLE) in The Netherlands are presented. Sullivan's method was used to calculate DemFLE. For elderly living either independently or in homes for the elderly prevalence figures on dementia were...

Calculated iodine intake before and after simulated iodization (Dutch Nutrition Surveillance System)

To estimate the effect of possible goitre prophylactic measures on the intake of iodine among population groups, simulation studies, based on the first Dutch National Food Consumption Survey, were carried out. Iodine intake figures and prevalence of low intakes were calculated after fictively iodizing either bread, a combination of industrial...