Background To describe the prevalence of multimorbidity and to study the association between acute and chronic diseases in acutely hospitalized older patients Methods Prospective cohort study conducted between 2006 and 2008 in three teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. 639 patients aged 65 years and …

Background: Many patients show deterioration in functioning and increased care needs in the last year of life. End-of-life care needs and health care utilization might differ between groups of acutely hospitalized older patients. Aim: To investigate differences in geriatric conditions, advance care planning, …

A substantial proportion of patients with burn injury develop chronic itch, which can severely affect their quality of life. As found in research on chronic pain, different psychophysiological processes may also play a role in chronic itch, of which central sensitization, conditioned modulation, and …

Introduction: The 6-minute walk test is a submaximal exercise test used to quantify the functional exercise capacity in clinical populations. It measures the distance walked within a period of 6-minutes. Obtaining reference values in the pediatric population is especially demanding due to factors as …

Background: Undernutrition is a common complication of disease and a major determinant of hospital stay outcome. Dutch hospitals are required to screen for undernutrition on the first day of admission. Objective: We sought to determine the prevalence of the screening score “undernourished” with the use …

Background: There are indications that older adults who suffer from poor balance have an increased risk for adverse health outcomes, such as falls and disability. Monitoring the development of balance over time enables early detection of balance decline, which can identify older adults who could benefit …

Background: Self-management support is essential to perform self-management behavior. To provide this support in an effective way, insight in the needs for self-management support is necessary. Objective: To give an overview of self-management support needs from the perspective of rheumatoid arthritis …

Introduction: Pressure ulcers are a high cost, high volume issue for health and medical care providers, affecting patients’ recovery and psychological wellbeing. The current research of support surfaces on pressure as a risk factor in the development of pressure ulcers is not relevant to the specialised, …

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to characterize the epidemiology of severe burns in the Netherlands, including trends in burn centre admissions, non burn centre admissions and differences by age. METHODS: Patients with burn-related primary admission in a Dutch centre from 1995 to 2011 were included. …

In the Netherlands an innovative programme for early detection of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in primary care among patients aged 40–70 years has been evaluated in both an effect study and a pilot implementation study. Health-care providers identified four obstacles for successful implementation …