Epidemiology and treatment of Adamantiades-Behçet's disease in Germany: A healthcare claims database study.

Background: Adamantiades-Behçet's disease (ABD) is a rare, chronic, relapsing, multisystem vasculitis, with a reported prevalence of 0.9 out of 100,000 population in Germany in 2012. However, more recent epidemiological data are lacking.

Incidence of pneumococcal disease in children in Germany, 2014-2019: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Novel, expanded valency pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are in development to reduce the burden of pneumococcal disease (PD) in children. To understand the potential value of new vaccines in Germany, this study estimated the residual burden of PD in children < 16 years old from 2014 to 2019, using administrative health data from a large German claims database.

Methods: Outpatient and inpatient cases of all-cause pneumonia (ACP), pneumococcal pneumonia (PP) and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) were identified in the InGef database.

One Question, Many Results—Why Epidemiological Studies Yield Heterogeneous Findings. Part 34 of a Series on Evaluation of Scientific Publications.

Background: Observational epidemiologic studies often yield different results on the same question. In this article, we explain how this comes about.

Methods: In this review, which is based on publications retrieved by a selective search in PubMed and the Web of Science, we use information from international publications, simulation studies on sampling error, and a quantitative bias analysis on fictitious data to demonstrate why the results of epidemiologic studies are often uncertain, and why it is, therefore, generally necessary to perform more than one study on any particular question.

Shortened progression free and overall survival to immune-checkpoint inhibitors in BRAF-, RAS- and NF1- ("Triple") wild type melanomas.

Background: Melanomas lacking mutations in BRAF, NRAS and NF1 are frequently referred to as "triple wild-type" (tWT) melanomas. They constitute 5-10 % of all melanomas and remain poorly characterized regarding clinical characteristics and response to therapy. This study investigates the largest multicenter collection of tWT-melanomas to date.

Distance-Metric Learning for Personalized Survival Analysis.

Personalized time-to-event or survival prediction with right-censored outcomes is a pervasive challenge in healthcare research. Although various supervised machine learning methods, such as random survival forests or neural networks, have been adapted to handle such outcomes effectively, they do not provide explanations for their predictions, lacking interpretability. In this paper, an alternative method for survival prediction by weighted nearest neighbors is proposed.

Adjuvant treatment and outcome of stage III melanoma patients: Results of a multicenter real-world German Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG) study.

Purpose: Clinical trials demonstrated significantly improved recurrence-free survival (RFS) of melanoma patients receiving adjuvant treatment. As data from controlled trials are based on selected populations, we investigated adjuvantly treated stage III melanoma patients under real-world conditions.

Patients And Methods: In a prior multicenter cohort study, stage III-IV melanoma patients were analysed for their choice of adjuvant therapy.

Accuracy of a Smartphone-Based Artificial Intelligence Application for Classification of Melanomas, Melanocytic Nevi, and Seborrheic Keratoses.

Current artificial intelligence algorithms can classify melanomas at a level equivalent to that of experienced dermatologists. The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of a smartphone-based "You Only Look Once" neural network model for the classification of melanomas, melanocytic nevi, and seborrheic keratoses. The algorithm was trained using 59,090 dermatoscopic images.

Healthcare resource utilization and cost of pneumococcal disease in children in Germany, 2014-2019: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Since the introduction of higher valency pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in 2009, recent estimates on the economic burden of pediatric pneumococcal disease (PD) in Germany have been lacking. This study estimates healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and medical cost associated with PDs in children < 16 years old in Germany from 2014-2019.

Methods: A nationally representative sample from the Institute for Applied Health Research (InGef) German claims database was used, covering approximately 5% of the total German population.

Characterisation and outcome of RAC1 mutated melanoma.

Background: Activating hot spot R29S mutations in RAC1, a small GTPase influencing several cellular processes including cell proliferation and cytoskeleton rearrangement, have been reported in up to 9% of sun-exposed melanomas. Clinical characteristics and treatment implications of RAC1 mutations in melanoma remain unclear.

Methods: We investigated the largest set (n = 64) of RAC1 mutated melanoma patients reported to date, including a retrospective single institution cohort (n = 34) from the University Hospital Essen and a prospective multicentre cohort (n = 30) from the translational study Tissue Registry in Melanoma (TRIM; CA209-578), for patient and tumour characteristics as well as therapy outcomes.

Clinical and economic burden of pneumococcal disease among individuals aged 16 years and older in Germany.

This study assessed the incidence rate of all-cause pneumonia (ACP) and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and associated medical costs among individuals aged ≥16 in the German InGef database from 2016 to 2019. Incidence rate was expressed as the number of episodes per 100 000 person-years (PY). Healthcare resource utilisation was investigated by age group and by risk group (healthy, at-risk, high-risk).

Pneumococcal vaccination coverage in individuals (16-59 years) with a newly diagnosed risk condition in Germany.

Background: Despite recommendations from the German Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO), pneumococcal vaccination coverage remains low in vulnerable populations. This study estimated the pneumococcal vaccination coverage rate (VCR) and timing among individuals aged 16-59 years in Germany who were recommended to receive pneumococcal vaccination, according to STIKO.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using the German InGef database.

Treatment Patterns and Healthcare Resource Utilization Among Patients with Atopic Dermatitis: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using German Health Claims Data.

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease. Many patients are initiating a systemic therapy, if the disease is not adequately controlled with topical treatment only. Currently, there is little real-world evidence on the AD-related medical care situation in Germany.

Incidence of acute otitis media in children < 16 years old in Germany during 2014-2019.

Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) remains a common infection in children despite the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. This study estimated AOM incidence rates (IRs) over time in children < 16 years old in Germany following PCV13 introduction.

Methods: AOM episodes were identified in the InGef healthcare claims database from 2014-2019 in children aged < 16 years.

Epidemiology, characteristics and treatment of patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and incidence of high disease activity: Real world evidence based on German claims data.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory, immune mediated disease of the central nervous system, with Relapsing Remitting MS (RRMS) being the most common type. Within the last years, the status of high disease activity (HDA) has become increasingly important for clinical decisions. Nevertheless, little is known about the incidence, the characteristics, and the current treatment of patients with RRMS and HDA in Germany.

Epidemiology and health care utilization of patients suffering from Huntington's disease in Germany: real world evidence based on German claims data.

Background: Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare, genetic, neurodegenerative and ultimately fatal disease with no cure or progression-delaying treatment currently available. HD is characterized by a triad of cognitive, behavioural and motor symptoms. Evidence on epidemiology and management of HD is limited, especially for Germany.

Comparison of Approaches to Select a Propensity Score Matched Control Group in the Absence of an Obvious Start of Follow Up for this Group: An Example Study on the Economic Impact of the DMP Bronchial Asthma.

Background: Claims data are a valuable data source to investigate the economic impact of new health care services. While the date of enrollment into the new service is an obvious start of follow-up for participants, the strategy to select potential controls is not straightforward due to a missing start of follow-up to ascertain possible confounders. The aim of this study was to compare different approaches to select controls via Propensity Score Matching (PSM) using the disease management program (DMP) bronchial asthma (BA) as an example.