The aim of this study with a large cohort from Swedish national registers was to determine whether psychiatric illness, defined as psychiatric in- and outpatient care in the 5 years before delivery, was more common among primiparae giving birth by caesarean section on maternal request.
In our time it was called a mental illness, defined as such in medical textbooks.
The primary outcome of interest was correct diagnosis of patient illness, defined as agreement in diagnosis between the nurse and the clinical mentor, with patient complaint as the unit of observation.
The CHWs were trained to assess for signs of severe illness defined as difficulty in breastfeeding or drinking water, excessive vomiting, convulsions, lethargy, and coma and such children were referred.
In our study cohort consisting of medical [non-surgical] patients, approximately one-third of patients had progression of illness defined by an increase in number of SIRS criteria.
In order to capture cases from previously undetected chains of transmission, clusters of acute respiratory illness defined as at least three cases in a week in closed communities were also to be notified [1].
They were in a stable phase of the illness defined by at least 6 months in remission, a Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) [ 26] score less than 8, a Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) [ 27] score less than 6, and no required changes in the type or dose of psychopharmacological treatment for the duration of the study.
Much of the difficulty reflects conceptual and operational problems inherent in classifying an illness defined by symptoms and reported disability [ 7].
The primary endpoint of the study was reduction in burden of illness, defined as a severity-by-duration measure of the total pain and discomfort associated with HZ.
*Gulf War illness, as defined in Steele [ 1]. ↑Chronic multisymptom illness, as defined in Fukuda et al. [ 32].
