[Evalutation of health monitoring in Bavaria by computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) in comparison to the German National Health Examination Survey conducted in 1998 by the Robert Koch Institute].

Between June 1999 and May 2000, 2051 residents of Bavaria were interviewed on health and health-related behaviour. The objective of the study was to assess the representativeness and validity of data acquired by computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) as compared to results of the German National Health Examination Survey 1998. The following variables showed excellent agreement: subjective health status, lifetime disease prevalences, such as myocardial infarction, stroke, cancer, asthma, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, utilisation of medical services, and smoking habits (prevalence of present and former smoking, average cigarette consumption per day).

Quality of life in children and adolescents: a European public health perspective.

Objectives: The measurement of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is increasingly important as a means of monitoring population health status over time, of detecting sub-groups within the general population with poor HRQOL, and of assessing the impact of public health interventions within a given population. At present, no standardised instrument exists which can be applied with equal relevance in pediatric populations in different European populations. The collaborative European KIDSCREEN project aims to develop a standardised screening instrument for children's quality of life which will be used in representative national and European health surveys.

[German Health survey 1997/98: immune status against poliomyelitis].

Background: One of the goals of the WHO is the worldwide eradication of poliomyelitis in the next years. A high level of population immunity protects against imported wild viruses from endemic areas.

Patients And Methods: The first German Health Survey, a representative study of the health status of the population (aged between 17 and 79 years) in unified Germany, was started in 1997.

Developing national epidemiologic capacity to meet the challenges of emerging infections in Germany.

In January 1996, the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national public health institute, began strengthening its epidemiologic capacity to respond to emerging and other infectious diseases. Six integrated strategies were initiated: developing employee training, outbreak investigation, and epidemiologic research programs; strengthening surveillance systems; improving communications to program partners and constituents; and building international collaborations. By December 1999, five employees had completed a 2-year applied epidemiology training program, 186 health department personnel had completed a 2-week training course, 27 outbreak investigations had been completed, eight short-term research projects had been initiated, major surveillance and epidemiologic research efforts for foodborne and nosocomial infections had begun, and 16 scientific manuscripts had been published or were in press.

[The SF-36 in the Federal Health Survey--possibilities and requirements for application at the population level].

The SF-36 Questionnaire is an internationally accepted instrument for measuring therapeutic success by subjective assessment of health-related quality of life, done by patient groups. It remains to be seen to what extent this instrument is suitable for measuring the subjective health status of population groups or changes thereof. The answers to the SF-36 Questionnaire in the German National Health Examination and Interview Survey together with information about other health parameters allow deeper evaluation of the features of this instrument.

[The SF-36 in the Federal Health Survey--description of a current normal sample].

The German National Health Interview and Examination Survey 1998 included the Short Form 36-Questionnaire as an instrument for measuring health-related quality of life. As a result of the subjective assessment by 6964 survey participants aged between 18 and 80 years a description of a new German normative population sample is given. Using the same statistical parameters as in the description of the normative German sample from 1994 a time comparison can be made.

[The Federal Health Survey: response, composition of participants and non-responder analysis].

The first German Health Survey was carried out from October 1997 to March 1999. In the survey, 7,124 subjects of a representative sample of the residential population aged between 18 and 79 years were interviewed and medically examined. The response rate was 61.

[The German Health Survey. 1997/98].

The first German Health Survey, a representative study of the health status of the population in unified Germany, was started in October 1997. In this project which is being carried out by the Robert Koch Institute on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health about 7,200 study participants aged between 18 and 79 are going through a medical check-up and are interviewed as to health-relevant issues. The German National Health Survey consists of a core survey and supplementary modules.

Predictors of early retirement and rehabilitation for use in a screening to detect workers in need of rehabilitation.

In the German pension insurance sector a screening is being suggested to ensure the participation in rehabilitation measures of workers at risk of health-related early retirement. Screening presupposes empirical indicators of rehabilitation needs. A study is presented that determined predictors of early retirement and rehabilitation from longitudinal data for use in a screening for the selection of workers likely to be in need of rehabilitation.

Energy adjustment does not control for differential recall bias in nutritional epidemiology.

It has been stated that energy adjustment can control for recall bias in case-control studies. Simulation of recall bias and cases and controls in a nutritional survey of German adults was conducted to examine its impact on five dietary effects, (adding a macronutrient, substituting one macronutrient for another, adding a macronutrient while keeping the other energy sources constant, and changing the macronutrient to energy ratio through addition or substitution) using various energy adjustment models. If energy adjustment were an effective means of correcting measurement error, the energy adjusted dietary effects, after a subtraction of energy and fat intake, should equal those in the original data set.

Intensity, duration, and frequency of physical activity and coronary risk factors.

Relationships between coronary risk factors and intensity, duration, and frequency of leisure activity were studied in 5943 men and 6039 women, ages 25-69. Age, smoking, socioeconomics, season, body mass index (BMI), urbanization, occupational activity, and liquid, alcohol, and saturated/total fat intake were adjusted using multivariate regressions. Among men each 100 kcal.

Increased prevalence of sensitization against aeroallergens in adults in West compared with East Germany.

Background: An increased prevalence of allergic diseases and atopic sensitization as assessed by skin-prick testing in children in West compared with East Germany has been reported.

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate whether such a difference is also present in adults, and if this can be shown when using a serological test for allergic sensitization.

Methods: Two large samples representative for all adults between 25 and 69 years of age were drawn in West (1991, n = 5313) and East Germany (1992, n = 2617).

["Index for rehabilitation eligibility" for screening social insurance workers].

The principle "priority of rehabilitation over early retirement" might be realised by a screening by which employees in need of rehabilitation are detected in time and rehabilitation measures are purposively started. With the "Index of Rehabilitation Need" we continued our efforts to develop an applicable screening tool on an epidemiological basis. To this end (1) longitudinal data were established by repeating an epidemiological survey of a population sample in the Nordenham/Brake region (T0 = 1975/76, T1 = 1992/93); (2) T0-variables were identified which correlated significantly with the events of early retirement and/or rehabilitation in the period of T0 to T1 (98 cases of early retirement/357 controls; 127 cases of rehabilitation/200 controls; 185 cases of early retirement of rehabilitation/270 controls) using bivariate and multivariate regression analysis; (3) significant T0-variables were used to construct a questionnaire index (based on self assessment of symptoms/complaints, consumption of medicaments, smoking, and work load--16 items), a medical examination index (based on clinical/laboratory findings and medical diagnoses--10 items), and an overall index (sum of both indices--26 items); (4) the index values were calculated for cases of early retirement of rehabilitation and controls of the cohort (185/270), for each index significant differences between cases and controls tested, and the screening characteristics of the overall index analysed; (5) possible reasons for incorrect classifications were examined using a subsample of cases and controls (n = 96/78), for which additional data on medical and work history, stressful life events, and attitudes towards rehabilitation had been collected.

Legislation to protect individual confidentiality: the case of cancer registration in Germany.

Until 1994, cancer registration in Germany was characterized by non-uniformity. This was caused by different legal requirements for population-based cancer registries in the individual states (or Länder), resulting in either incomplete registration on the one hand, or the impossibility of using the data at the individual level for epidemiologic studies on the other hand. These existing disadvantages can be overcome with the new Act on Cancer Registration that came into effect in 1995.

Exposure assessment error and its handling in nutritional epidemiology.

Exposure assessment is the weakest element in nutritional epidemiologic studies. In the absence of an adequate arsenal of biomarkers of intake in the United States, food frequency questionnaires are widely used to assess habitual frequency of consumption of foods. These tools need to be designed for the population under study, based on prior information on the eating behavior of the population.

Pet birds as an independent risk factor for lung cancer: case-control study.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that exposure to pet birds increases risk of developing lung cancer.

Design: Case-control study. Computerised interviews were used to assess previous exposure to pets and other risk factors for lung cancer.