Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidence of coronary heart disease in Bavaria, Germany: an analysis of health claims data.

Background: Inconsistent findings about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular disease diagnosis and consultations have been reported internationally. The objective of this study was to analyse the impact of the pandemic period (2020-2021) on the incidence rate of coronary heart disease (CHD) compared with the pre-pandemic period (2012-2019) in Bavaria, Germany.

Methods: We used health claims data of around 9 million statutorily insured residents (≥20 years) of Bavaria, Germany.

Global parental acceptance, attitudes, and knowledge regarding human papillomavirus vaccinations for their children: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

Background: This systematic literature review aims to summarize global research on parental acceptance, attitudes, and knowledge regarding human papillomavirus vaccinations.

Methods: The literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, and included publications from 2006 to 2023. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.

Analysis of health claims data on vaccination coverage in older adults in Bavaria, Germany: Influenza, pneumococcus and herpes zoster.

Background: Vaccination is essential, especially in older adults whose immune system function declines with age. The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns temporarily disrupted routine vaccination services. We aimed to assess vaccination coverage for Influenza, Pneumococcus, and Herpes zoster among older adults in Bavaria over time and investigate potential pandemic effects on these rates.

Random forests for the analysis of matched case-control studies.

Background: Conditional logistic regression trees have been proposed as a flexible alternative to the standard method of conditional logistic regression for the analysis of matched case-control studies. While they allow to avoid the strict assumption of linearity and automatically incorporate interactions, conditional logistic regression trees may suffer from a relatively high variability. Further machine learning methods for the analysis of matched case-control studies are missing because conventional machine learning methods cannot handle the matched structure of the data.