ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe the methodological development of medical research regarding elderly subjects in the Netherlands. DESIGN: Descriptive. SETTING: Nijmegen University, the Netherlands. METHOD: All research on aging published in the Netherlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde (Dutch Journal of Medicine) starting from its first volume in 1857 up to 1983 was studied. Selected were those articles in which new research methods were introduced. Next, six pioneering researchers in geriatrics were interviewed on the methodological development of geriatric research and on the problems they encountered in their own research. RESULTS: Research started with studies on age-associated diseases such as prostatism, presbyacusis and senile dementia. It was only after a considerable delay that new diagnostic instruments such as electrocardiography and new research designs such as randomized trials found their way into research on elderly patients. The development of a questionnaire on the health of the elderly, the introduction of the concept of activities of daily living and of diagnostic instruments in the field of psychogeriatrics were important steps that made possible current geriatric research. From the outset, researchers encountered methodological problems still relevant in current research and caused by characteristics of geriatric patients: frailty, high prevalence of comorbidity, coexistence of physical, psychological and social problems, and large interindividual differences.
Subject(s)
Aging , Geriatrics , Activities of Daily Living , Aged , Dementia/physiopathology , Female , Health Status , Humans , Life Expectancy , Male , Netherlands , Nursing Homes , Presbycusis/physiopathology , Prostatic Hyperplasia/physiopathology , Psychological Tests , Research DesignABSTRACT
Determination of human core temperature has a long history. Since Antiquity, the significance of normal and abnormal body temperatures has been the subject of various interpretations. In this respect, theories based on humoral pathology were replaced by more scientific concepts in the 19th and 20th centuries. Objective measurement and comparison could be performed only after the invention of the thermometer and the introduction of temperature scales. Sanctorius and subsequently Boerhaave and others emphasized the use of measurement of body temperature in the clinic, but its importance was not accepted generally until the late 19th century. Many physicians and scientists have contributed to the progress of thermometry; however, the creation of a firmer scientific basis for clinical thermometry is usually attributed to Wunderlich.
Subject(s)
Body Temperature , Thermometers/history , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , HumansABSTRACT
The relevance of measuring core temperature for diagnosis and treatment of various diseases is generally acknowledged nowadays. Despite introduction of new techniques and markedly improved understanding of body temperature regulation and the pathophysiology of fever, several dilemmas remain to be elucidated in clinical thermometry. In the measurement and interpretation of body temperature, the many variables that influence core temperature, the site of temperature registration and the significance of an elevated or decreased core temperature should be taken into account. With every type of thermometer, good calibration and an adequate recording technique remain pivotal to obtain reliable and reproducible results.
Subject(s)
Body Temperature/physiology , Thermometers/standards , HumansABSTRACT
The Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, the leading Dutch medical journal, could easily be called the most important medium for dialogue between Dutch physiologists and clinicians in the second half of the nineteenth century. The journal's contents demonstrate the large-scale process, by which through applying a range of instruments, numerous bodily functions were 'translated' into a variety of graphic forms, both for clinical and research usages.
