Establishing a Mental Health Surveillance in Germany: Development of a framework concept and indicator set.

In the course of the recognition of mental health as an essential component of population health, the Robert Koch Institute has begun developing a Mental Health Surveillance (MHS) system for Germany. MHS aims to continuously report data for relevant mental health indicators, thus creating a basis for evidence-based planning and evaluation of public health measures. In order to develop a set of indicators for the adult population, potential indicators were identified through a systematic literature review and selected in a consensus process by international and national experts and stakeholders.

Substance Abuse-Related Self-Stigma in Women with Substance Use Disorder and Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Background: Self-stigma is a result of internalizing negative stereotypes by the affected person. Research on self-stigma in substance use disorders (SUD) is still scarce, especially regarding the role of childhood trauma and subsequent posttraumatic disorders.

Objectives: The present study investigated the progressive model of self-stigma in women with SUD and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the predictive value of PTSD severity and childhood trauma experiences on self-stigma.

Collaborative mental health care program versus a general practitioner program and usual care for treatment of patients with mental or neurological disorders in Germany: protocol of a multiperspective evaluation study.

Background: German statutory health insurances are pursuing the goal of improving treatment of chronically ill people by promoting networks of health care providers and supporting treatments that reflect the current medical knowledge. The so-called PNP program is a collaborative care program developed by a German statutory health insurance, which defines specific rules on psychiatric, neurological, psychosomatic, and psychotherapeutic treatment. It aims to strengthen provision of guideline-based outpatient treatment and collaboration between different health care providers.

Choosing the appropriate treatment setting: which information and decision-making needs do adult inpatients with mental disorders have? A qualitative interview study.

Background: Decisions on medical treatment setting are perceived as important but often difficult to make for patients with mental disorders. Shared decision-making as a strategy to decrease decisional conflict has been recommended, but is not yet widely implemented. This study aimed to investigate the information needs and the decision-making preferences of patients with mental disorders prior to the decision for a certain treatment setting.

Effectiveness of telephone-based aftercare case management for adult patients with unipolar depression compared to usual care: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Patients with depression often have limited access to outpatient psychotherapy following inpatient treatment. The objective of the study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a telephone-based aftercare case management (ACM) intervention for patients with depression.

Methods: We performed a prospective randomized controlled trial in four psychotherapeutic inpatient care units with N = 199 patients with major depression or dysthymia (F32.

Predicting the preferences for involvement in medical decision making among patients with mental disorders.

Background: The involvement of patients in medical decision making has been investigated widely in somatic diseases. However, little is known about the preferences for involvement and variables that could predict these preferences in patients with mental disorders.

Objective: This study aims to determine what roles mentally ill patients actually want to assume when making medical decisions and to identify the variables that could predict this role, including patients' self-efficacy.

The Prevalence of Gestational Diabetes.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as a glucose tolerance disorder that arises during pregnancy. Estimates of its prevalence vary widely because of varying threshold values. Screening of all pregnant women with a two-step test has been available in Germany since 2012.

Effectiveness of case management as a cross-sectoral healthcare provision for women with breast cancer.

Objective: Case management (CM) programs are intended to improve care coordination for cancer patients. This quasi-experimental, controlled study evaluated whether such a program was effective in improving health-related quality of life and reducing the psychological distress of breast cancer patients.

Methods: For the study, 126 patients with CM and 118 patients with treatment as usual (TAU) were surveyed at baseline, a 6-month follow-up and a 12-month follow-up.

Symptom change trajectories during inpatient psychotherapy in routine care and their associations with long-term outcomes.

This study examined symptom change trajectories during inpatient psychotherapy and the association of these changes with long-term outcomes. In an observational multicenter study, weekly measurements of symptom severity were performed during inpatient treatment and 6 months after discharge. The symptom severity was measured using the 18-item scale of the Hamburg Modules for the Assessment of Psychosocial Health.

Effectiveness of case management-based aftercare coordination by phone for patients with depressive and anxiety disorders: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Depressive and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent, but only a small percentage (approximately 50%) of patients receive appropriate treatment. Relevant barriers include communication and coordination gaps between different providers that result from the lack of integration between different care-giving systems. Aftercare following inpatient treatment represents one of these gaps because systematic follow-up care does not exist.

[Health care barriers on the pathways of patients with anxiety and depressive disorders - a qualitative interview study].

Objective: Which health care barriers do patients with anxiety and depressive disorders experience on their clinical pathways?

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 30 patients with anxiety and depressive disorders. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, coded and content-analysed.

Results: Following barriers perceived by patients were extracted: a lack of early diagnosis, communication and coordination problems between different services and providers, little information about their illness and its adequate treatment, as well as intrapersonal barriers.

Self-efficacy and fear of cancer progression during the year following diagnosis of breast cancer.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate fear of disease progression (FoP) during the year following diagnosis of breast cancer and its association with general self-efficacy (SE).

Methods: In a prospective study, 118 breast cancer patients were recruited shortly after diagnosis disclosure (response rate: 54%) and at 1-year follow-up (follow-up rate: 90%). Participants completed self-report measures of general self-efficacy (General Self-Efficacy Scale) and fear of progression (short form of the Fear of Progression Questionnaire).

Class Evolution Tree: a graphical tool to support decisions on the number of classes in exploratory categorical latent variable modeling for rehabilitation research.

The aim of our study was to develop a graphical tool that can be used in addition to standard statistical criteria to support decisions on the number of classes in explorative categorical latent variable modeling for rehabilitation research. Data from two rehabilitation research projects were used. In the first study, a latent profile analysis was carried out in patients with cancer receiving an inpatient rehabilitation program to identify prototypical combinations of treatment elements.

[Predictors of treatment duration for inpatients with mental disorders--a systematic literature review].

Objectives: In a systematic literature review we examined patient-related predictors of inpatient treatment duration for mental disorders.

Methods: The databases Medline, Embase, Psyndex, PsycINFO and EBMR were systematically reviewed for studies in the years 1990-2009 regarding treatment duration of inpatients with ICD-10 diagnoses F3-F6. Also, their methodological quality was evaluated.

Distinct mechanisms of altered brain activation in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Cerebral reorganization may limit the effects of central nervous system tissue damage on cognition in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This study investigated fMRI activation patterns in patients with relapsing-remitting MS and healthy control subjects during performance of a delayed recognition task. As intended, fMRI task performance was similar in the MS and the control group, whereas neuropsychological testing revealed reduced performance in the patient group on the Paced Serial Addition Test, a reference task for the assessment of cognitive function in MS.

Evidence for a direct association between cortical atrophy and cognitive impairment in relapsing-remitting MS.

Cognitive deficits affecting memory, attention and speed of information processing are common in multiple sclerosis (MS). The mechanisms of cognitive impairment remain unclear. Here, we examined the association between neuropsychological test performance and brain atrophy in a group of mildly disabled patients with relapsing-remitting MS.