Persistent symptoms and risk factors predicting prolonged time to symptom-free after SARS‑CoV‑2 infection: an analysis of the baseline examination of the German COVIDOM/NAPKON-POP cohort.

Purpose: We aimed to assess symptoms in patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection and to identify factors predicting prolonged time to symptom-free.

Methods: COVIDOM/NAPKON-POP is a population-based prospective cohort of adults whose first on-site visits were scheduled ≥ 6 months after a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test. Retrospective data including self-reported symptoms and time to symptom-free were collected during the survey before a site visit.

Quality of life and correlating factors in children, adolescents with epilepsy, and their caregivers: A cross-sectional multicenter study from Germany.

Purpose: To identify factors correlating with poorer quality of life (QoL) in children and adolescents with epilepsy and regarding QoL and depression of their caregivers in Germany.

Method: A cross-sectional multicenter study on QoL and depression was performed in two representative German states (Hessen and Schleswig-Holstein). Variance analysis, linear regression, and bivariate correlation were used to identify correlating factors for poorer QoL and symptoms of depression.

Costs of illness in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy in Germany.

Introduction: Cost of illness studies are essential to estimate societal costs of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and identify cost-driving factors.

Methods: In total, 108 patients were recruited from 3 specialized neuroimmunological clinics. Costs were calculated for a 3-month period, including direct and indirect costs.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease in Different German Health Care Settings.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HrQoL) of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in different care settings (institutionalized versus community-dwelling) across all severity stages of dementia. Patients were consecutively recruited with their primary caregivers (123 inpatients and 272 outpatients), and the impact of patient-related parameters such as behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) (Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS] and Neuropsychiatric Inventory [NPI]) and functional capacity (Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living [ADCS-ADL]) on HrQoL was analyzed. Patients' HrQoL was assessed using self-reported and caregiver-rated generic (EuroQoL Instrument) and dementia-specific (Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease [Qol-AD]) scales.

Costs of epilepsy and cost-driving factors in children, adolescents, and their caregivers in Germany.

Objective: To provide first data on the cost of epilepsy and cost-driving factors in children, adolescents, and their caregivers in Germany.

Methods: A population-based, cross-sectional sample of consecutive children and adolescents with epilepsy was evaluated in the states of Hessen and Schleswig-Holstein (total of 8.796 million inhabitants) in all health care sectors in 2011.

Association of time-to-levodopa with initial Parkinsonian medication: a retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To determine the initial distribution of medication in patients with de novo Parkinson's disease (PD), to estimate the share of patients who not receive a recommended initial therapy according to current German guidelines, and to compare the time-to-levodopa.

Methods: We used the Disease Analyzer database (IMS HEALTH), containing basic medical data from ~20 million patients in Germany. The primary outcome was the therapy change rate from initial treatment to levodopa estimated by Kaplan-Meier analyses.

Evaluation of health-care utilization in patients with Dravet syndrome and on adjunctive treatment with stiripentol and clobazam.

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a rare, severe childhood epilepsy syndrome that imposes a substantial burden on patients and their caregivers. This study evaluated health-care utilization over a 2-year period in patients with DS at an outpatient clinic of a German epilepsy center. Data on the course of epilepsy, anticonvulsant treatment, and direct costs were recorded using the electronic seizure diary Epivista and patients' files.

Preference-based Health status in a German outpatient cohort with multiple sclerosis.

Background: To prospectively determine health status and health utility and its predictors in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: A total of 144 MS patients (mean age: 41.0 ± 11.

Measurement of costs and scales for outcome evaluation in health economic studies of Parkinson's disease.

Health economic studies in Parkinson's disease (PD) have become increasingly common in recent years. Because several methodologies and instruments have been used to assess cost and outcomes in PD, the Movement Disorder Society (MDS) commissioned a Task Force to assess their properties and make recommendations regarding their use. A systematic literature review was conducted to explore the use of those instruments in PD and to determine which should be selected for this review.

Trends in resource utilization and prescription of anticonvulsants for patients with active epilepsy in Germany.

This study evaluated trends in the resource use of patients with active epilepsy over a 5-year period at an outpatient clinic of a German epilepsy center. Two cross-sectional cohorts of consecutive adults with active epilepsy were evaluated over a 3-month period in 2003 and 2008. Data on socioeconomic status, course of epilepsy, as well as direct and indirect costs were recorded using validated patient questionnaires.

Mapping the EQ-5D index by UPDRS and PDQ-8 in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Clinical studies employ the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) to measure the severity of Parkinson's disease. Evaluations often fail to consider the health-related quality of life (HrQoL) or apply disease-specific instruments. Health-economic studies normally use estimates of utilities to calculate quality-adjusted life years.

Pharmacoeconomic considerations of treating patients with advanced Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. In the later (advanced) stages of PD, the initial treatment of early PD becomes less effective and long-term side effects of dopaminergic treatment become apparent. In advanced PD, motor and non-motor complications occur, which increase treatment costs.

Evaluation of health-care utilization among adult patients with epilepsy in Germany.

This study evaluated the resource use of patients with epilepsy in the German district of Marburg-Biedenkopf. A cross-sectional cohort of consecutive adults with epilepsy, irrespective of seizure severity, duration of illness and epilepsy syndrome, was investigated in all health-care sectors. Costs of inpatient and outpatient treatment were derived from billing data of participating hospitals and office-based physicians.

Economic burden in a German cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis.

Aims: To estimate costs of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a German cohort according to severity of the disease and clinical symptoms.

Methods: 144 patients were recruited from an MS outpatient clinic. Costs were calculated according to current German health-economic guidelines from the perspective of the social health insurance system.

Modelling the cost effectiveness of treatments for Parkinson's disease: a methodological review.

The objective of this review was to assess models of cost effectiveness for Parkinson's disease (PD) published after July 2002 and to derive recommendations for future modelling. A systematic literature search was performed in the databases PubMed, Current Contents, EMBASE, EconLit, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness), NHS EED (Economic Evaluation Database) and HTA (Health Technology Assessment) of the UK NHS Centre for Review and Dissemination (July 2002 to March 2010). Only fully published studies using decision trees, Markov models, individual simulation models or sets of mathematical equations were included.

Cost and care of patients with Alzheimer's disease: clinical predictors in German health care settings.

The study aims to report service use and costs for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to explore the incremental influence of sociodemographic and illness-related determinants in ambulatory and inpatient settings within the German health care system. 395 patients with dementia were recruited at the following sites: 1) University hospital, 2) general practitioners' offices, 3) office-based neurologists, 4) a regional psychiatric hospital, and 5) nursing homes. Sociodemographic, economic, and clinical parameters were assessed using a standardized questionnaire.

Trajectory classes of decline in health-related quality of life in Parkinson's disease: a pilot study.

Objective: To analyze the change in health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and to identify different classes of HRQoL decline.

Methods: A longitudinal cohort study was performed to assess clinical parameters (unified PD rating scale, Beck Depression Inventory) and HRQoL data (EuroQol, Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire [PDQ]-39) at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. A total of 145 patients with PD were consecutively recruited in the county of Northern Hessia, Germany, between January and June 2000.

Communication, social capital and workplace health management as determinants of the innovative climate in German banks.

Objective: The present study aims to measure the determinants of the innovative climate in German banks with a focus on workplace health management (WHM).

Methods: We analyze the determinants of innovative climate with multiple regressions using a dataset based on standardized telephone interviews conducted with health promotion experts from 198 randomly selected German banks.

Results: The regression analysis provided a good explanation of the variance in the dependent variable (R² = 55%).

Costs of illness and care in Parkinson's disease: an evaluation in six countries.

We investigated the costs of Parkinson's Disease (PD) in 486 patients based on a survey conducted in six countries. Economic data were collected over a 6-month period and presented from the societal perspective. The total mean costs per patient ranged from EUR 2620 to EUR 9820.

Costs of Parkinson's disease and antiparkinsonian pharmacotherapy: an Italian cohort study.

Objective: Antiparkinsonian pharmacotherapy is costly and the determinants of drug costs in Parkinson's disease (PD) have been poorly investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate the costs of PD and antiparkinsonian drugs in an Italian cohort of patients and identify cost-driving factors of drug therapy.

Methods: Seventy outpatients with idiopathic PD were recruited in the Department of Neurology, Napoli University, Italy.

The role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in Alzheimer's disease.

Previous studies have shown that amyloid beta protein (Abeta ), the essential molecule for the formation of toxic oligomers and, subsequently, Alzheimer plaques, has been associated in vivo with the immune modulator, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) (17). To further investigate this association in vivo we used the APP transgenic mouse model. Serial brain sections of transgenic APP mice were stained for Abeta plaques and MIF and we observed MIF immunolabeling in microglial cells in association with Abeta plaques in the transgenic mouse brain sections.

Cost of illness in patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome.

We evaluated the health economic burden of patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (GTS) in Germany over a 3-month observation period. Direct and indirect costs were evaluated in 200 outpatients with GTS (mean age 35 +/- 11.5 years) in Germany.

Incidence of Parkinson's disease and atypical parkinsonism: Russian population-based study.

Data on the incidence of Parkinson's disease (PD) and atypical parkinsonian syndromes (APS) in East European countries and Asia are limited. The objective of this prospective population-based study was to determine the incidence of PD and APS in the Russian population. The study area was a large district of Moscow with a population of 1,237,900 inhabitants.

Health-related quality of life in patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome.

To investigate the health-related quality of life (HrQoL) of adult patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (GTS) in Germany. HrQoL was evaluated in 200 adult patients with GTS (Mean age: 34.9 +/- 11.

Restoration of contact inhibition in human glioblastoma cell lines after MIF knockdown.

Background: Studies of the role of the cytokine macrophage-migration-inhibitory-factor (MIF) in malignant tumors have revealed its stimulating influence on cell-cycle progression, angiogenesis and anti-apoptosis.

Results: Here we show that in vitro targeting MIF in cultures of human malignant glioblastoma cells by either antisense plasmid introduction or anti-MIF antibody treatment reduced the growth rates of tumor cells. Of note is the marked decrease of proliferation under confluent and over-confluent conditions, implying a role of MIF in overcoming contact inhibition.