BackgroundSpecialist palliative care teams are consulted during hospital admission for advice on complex palliative care. These consultations need to be timely to prevent symptom burden and maintain quality of life. Insight into specialist palliative care teams may help improve the outcomes of palliative care.MethodsIn this retrospective observational study, we analyzed qualitative and quantitative data of palliative care consultations in a six-month period (2017 or 2018) in four general hospitals in the northwestern part of the Netherlands. Data were obtained from electronic medical records.ResultsWe extracted data from 336 consultations. The most common diagnoses were cancer (54.8%) and organ failure (26.8%). The estimated life expectancy was less than three months for 52.3% of all patients. Within two weeks after consultation, 53.2% of the patients died, and the median time until death was 11 days (range 191) after consultation. Most patients died in hospital (49.4%) but only 7.5% preferred to die in hospital. Consultations were mostly requested for advance care planning (31.6%). End-of-life preferences focused on last wishes and maintaining quality of life.ConclusionThis study provides detailed insight into consultations of palliative care teams and shows that even though most palliative care consultations were requested for advance care planning, consultations focus on end-of-life care and are more crisis-oriented than prevention-oriented. Death often occurs too quickly after consultation for end-of-life preferences to be met and these preferences tend to focus on dying. Educating healthcare professionals on when to initiate advance care planning would promote a more prevention-oriented approach. Defining factors that indicate the need for timely palliative care team consultation and advance care planning could help timely identification and consultation.
MULTIFILE
Background: Decline in physical activity and functioning is commonly observed in the older population and might be associated with biomarkers such as Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs). AGEs contribute to age-related decline in the function of cells and tissues in normal aging and have been found to be associated with motor function decline. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the levels of AGEs, as assessed by skin autofluorescence, and the amount of physical activity and loss of physical functioning in older participants.Methods: Cross-sectional data of 5,624 participants aged 65 years and older from the Lifelines cohort study was used. Linear regression analyses were utilized to study associations between skin autofluorescence/AGE-levels (AGE reader), the number of physically active days (SQUASH), and physical functioning (RAND-36), respectively. A logistic regression analysis was used to study associations between AGE-levels and the compliance with the Dutch physical activity guidelines (SQUASH).Results: A statistical significant association between AGE levels and the number of physically active days (β = -0.21, 95% CI: -0.35 to -0.07, P = .004), physical functioning (β = -1.60, 95% CI: -2.64 to -0.54, P = .003), and compliance with the Dutch physical activity guidelines (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.62 to 0.94, P = .010) was revealed.Conclusions: This study indicates that high AGE levels may be a contributing factor as well as a biomarker for lower levels of physical activity and functioning in the older population.
Marketing Analytics provides guidelines in the application of statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics Software (SPSS) for students and professionals using quantitative methods in marketing and consumer behavior. With simple language and a practical, screenshot-led approach, the book presents 11 multivariate techniques and the steps required to perform analysis. Each chapter contains a brief description of the technique, followed by the possible marketing research applications. One of these applications is then used in detail to illustrate its applicability in a research context, including the needed SPSS commands and illustrations. Each chapter also includes practical exercises that require the readers to perform the technique and interpret the results, equipping students with the necessary skills to apply statistics by means of SPSS in marketing and consumer research. Finally, there is a list of articles employing the technique that can be used for further reading.This textbook provides introductory material for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying marketing and consumer analytics, teaching methods along with practical software-applied training using SPSS. Support material includes two real data sets to illustrate the techniques’ applications and PowerPoint slides providing a step-by-step guide to the analysis and commented outcomes. Professionals are invited to use the book to select and use the appropriate analytics for their specific context.
In the last decade, the automotive industry has seen significant advancements in technology (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles) that presents the opportunity to improve traffic safety, efficiency, and comfort. However, the lack of drivers’ knowledge (such as risks, benefits, capabilities, limitations, and components) and confusion (i.e., multiple systems that have similar but not identical functions with different names) concerning the vehicle technology still prevails and thus, limiting the safety potential. The usual sources (such as the owner’s manual, instructions from a sales representative, online forums, and post-purchase training) do not provide adequate and sustainable knowledge to drivers concerning ADAS. Additionally, existing driving training and examinations focus mainly on unassisted driving and are practically unchanged for 30 years. Therefore, where and how drivers should obtain the necessary skills and knowledge for safely and effectively using ADAS? The proposed KIEM project AMIGO aims to create a training framework for learner drivers by combining classroom, online/virtual, and on-the-road training modules for imparting adequate knowledge and skills (such as risk assessment, handling in safety-critical and take-over transitions, and self-evaluation). AMIGO will also develop an assessment procedure to evaluate the impact of ADAS training on drivers’ skills and knowledge by defining key performance indicators (KPIs) using in-vehicle data, eye-tracking data, and subjective measures. For practical reasons, AMIGO will focus on either lane-keeping assistance (LKA) or adaptive cruise control (ACC) for framework development and testing, depending on the system availability. The insights obtained from this project will serve as a foundation for a subsequent research project, which will expand the AMIGO framework to other ADAS systems (e.g., mandatory ADAS systems in new cars from 2020 onwards) and specific driver target groups, such as the elderly and novice.
