Measuring function and mobility among clients with diabetes in Samoa

The aim of the thesis was to collect baseline data and to investigating suitable physical tests and a self-rapport questionnaire. Collected data was used to find a routine measurement when investigating foot health, function and mobility among clients suffering from diabetes in Samoa. Twenty-one participants suffering from diabetes were included in the study. Clients answered the Foot function index (FFI) questionnaire and performed physical tests, consisting of Bergs balance scale (BBS) and Time up and go (TUG). Results from the physical tests revealed a great balance disturbance and mobility limitations among the majority of the clients. General high weight and BMI was measured among both genders. Subjects with the highest BMI performed lowest time during TUG test. The statistic analyze revealed a strong correlation between the two physical tests, indicating that one of the tests could be applied as a routine measurement in the future, when evaluating function and mobility in Samoa. The compilation of self-report questionnaires indicated a general good foot health with a low amount of pain, disabilities and activity limitations.

UTFORMNING AV GÅNG-, CYKEL- OCH MOPED-NÄT ANPASSAT FÖR ELCYKEL

Purpose: An increase in the number of pedelecs on Swedish roads is according to studies soon reality. This creates a need to adapt the bmp-grid (bike-, moped- and pedestrian-grid) to pedelecs for them to experience good security, accessibility and comfort while using it. The guidelines Swedish municipalities follow are VGU(Design of Roads and Streets) and the GCM-manual(Bike-, moped-, and pedestrian-manual) which currently do not take society’s future increase of pedelecs into account. VGU and the GCM-manual are tools that are commonly used during planning and design of roads and streets. The aim of the thesis is to use current advice and recommendations on how to adapt the bmp-grid to the pedelec and with this complete current guidelines for bmp-infrastructure. Method: The document-analysis is made on current federal documents that have an impact on bmp-design. Scetch-suggestions were then developed from the author’s personal improvement suggestions and from advice and recommendations gathered during the document-analysis and the theoretical framework. Findings: It was discovered that if the bmp-grid’s design allow bikes traveling up to 30km/h and has a good standard for bicycles according to VGU, then the infrastructure generally fulfil the needs of the pedelec. Altough there are still areas in VGU that needs complements. This need to be done on the design-guidelines so they can aid the adaption of the infrastructure to the pedelec during the planning- and design process. Necessary steps according to the result is to give clearer notifications on bmp-design, issue guidelines for choosing DTS, motivate minimal widths on roads, categories bikers and pedestrians into separate groups, give out more detailed descriptions of when separation of bikers and pedestrians should be done and also to specify different types of bike-users. When taking needs and claim of the pedelec into consideration the result shows that: adaption of the whole bmp-grid to the pedelec is not possible, to simplify priorities the bmp-grid needs to be divided into different sections, space should be taken from the car-traffic, solutions with mixed-traffic and bike-fields for pedelecs can be used in low-speed areas, larger opportunities to connect towns to increase commuting with bicycles appeared with the pedelec. Implications: After examining current guidelines regarding the design of the bmp-grid and gathering opinions on this from interviews the conclusion is that several areas in VGU needs completion. The following are recommendations on how to take the pedelec into consideration during the design-process:• Connect towns and urban-areas with bmp-grids to make use of pedelecs capacity.• Where there is not enough space for both cars and separated pedelec- and bike lanes the speed for car-traffic can be lowered to 30km/h. This creates opportunities with mixed-traffic or bike-lanes.• The width of existing roads and streets are often greater than what’s described in VGU. They can be made smaller to free space on roads for bicycle-infrastructure.• To prioritize which parts of the bmp-grid that needs design to allow pedelecs the bmp-grid can be divided into main- and local grid. The main grid should be design with consideration to the needs and claim of the pedelecs. Limitations: The limitation of the study lies in that none of the interviews where done with employees in any of the bigger municipalities in Sweden. This gives the study a general application in small- to middle-sized cities but not in bigger cities.Keywords: elcykel, ebike, pedelec, utformning, cykel, infrastruktur, infrastructure, society, planering, utformning, säkerhet, fordonstyp

Concurrent validity of the Swedish version of the life-space assessment questionnaire

BACKGROUND: The Life-Space Assessment (LSA), developed in the USA, is an instrument focusing on mobility with respect to reaching different areas defined as life-spaces, extending from the room where the person sleeps to mobility outside one's hometown. A newly translated Swedish version of the LSA (LSA-S) has been tested for test-retest reliability, but the validity remains to be tested. The purpose of the present study was to examine the concurrent validity of the LSA-S, by comparing and correlating the LSA scores to other measures of mobility. METHOD: The LSA was included in a population-based study of health, functioning and mobility among older persons in Sweden, and the present analysis comprised 312 community-dwelling participants. To test the concurrent validity, the LSA scores were compared to a number of other mobility-related variables, including the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) as well as "stair climbing", "transfers", "transportation", "food shopping", "travel for pleasure" and "community activities". The LSA total mean scores for different levels of the other mobility-related variables, and measures of correlation were calculated. RESULTS: Higher LSA total mean scores were observed with higher levels of all the other mobility related variables. Most of the correlations between the LSA and the other mobility variables were large (r = 0.5-1.0) and significant at the 0.01 level. The LSA total score, as well as independent life-space and assistive life-space correlated with transportation (0.63, 0.66, 0.64) and food shopping (0.55, 0.58, 0.55). Assistive life-space also correlated with SPPB (0.47). With respect to maximal life-space, the correlations with the mobility-related variables were generally lower (below 0.5), probably since this aspect of life-space mobility is highly influenced by social support and is not so dependent on the individual's own physical function. CONCLUSION: LSA was shown to be a valid measure of mobility when using the LSA total, independent LS or assistive LSA.