Anchoring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures in population norms makes clinical interpretations more meaningful and is in accordance with practice in other fields of medicine. In this paper norms for the Short Form 36 (SF-36) are presented in a random sample, representative of the general Norwegian population. In addition, sociodemographic variables affecting the scale scores are explored and discussed. The response rate was 67%, being lowest among subjects aged 70 years or over. Data-completeness strongly declined with increasing age. Physical health scales were also strongly affected by age. In all scales, with the exception of general health perceptions, women reported having poorer health than men. Marital status affected the four mental health scales. Educational status affected all the scales, but the effect was smallest in the mental scales. These norms can be employed for comparison in case-control studies, or to interpret HRQOL changes in prospective studies. Differences in social status should be given special attention. Caution should be exercised when assessing subjective health or employing the norms among subjects aged 70 years or over.

PURPOSE: To estimate the level of fatigue and frequency of fatigue cases among Hodgkin's disease survivors (HDS) and compare them with normative data from the general population.PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional follow-up study was done of 557 HDS (age range, 19 to 74 years) treated at the Norwegian Radium Hospital from 1971 to 1991. The sample was approached by mail, and their data were compared with normative data from 2,214 controls (age range, 19 to 74 years) representative of the general Norwegian population. Of the 557 HDS, 459 (82%) responded. The mean age (± SD) at the time of study was 44 ± 12 years, and the mean observation time was 12 ± 6 years. The Fatigue Questionnaire (11 items) measures physical and mental fatigue. Two systems of scoring were used, dichotomized (0, 0, 1, and 1) and Likert (0, 1, 2, and 3). Total fatigue (TF) constitutes the sum of all the Likert scores. Caseness was defined as a total dichotomized score of ≥4 and fatigue that lasted 6 months or longer.RESULTS: The HDS had significantly higher levels of TF than the controls (14.3 v 12.2) (P < .001). Fatigue among the HDS equaled that of the controls in poorest health. More HDS (61%) than controls (31%) reported fatigue symptoms lasting 6 months or longer (P < .001). Fatigue cases were more frequent among HDS (men, 24%; women, 27%) than among the controls (men, 9%; women, 12%) (P < .001). Disease stage/substage IB/IIB predicted fatigue caseness (P = .03). No significant associations were found between treatment characteristics and fatigue.CONCLUSION: Hodgkin's disease survivors are considerably more fatigued than the general population and report fatigue of a substantially longer duration.

Background: Late complications after curative treatment of Hodgkin's disease are of special relevance because most of the cured are young adults. The

Few studies have focused on fatigue in myasthenia gravis (MG), and fatigue in relation to the autonomic system has never been systematically explored in these patients. The study aimed to document the prevalence of MG-related fatigue in ethnic Norwegians and to examine whether MG severity is associated with symptoms of autonomic disturbance, which in turn is associated with fatigue and functional disability.