Risk of depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorders in women with a suspected but unconfirmed diagnosis of breast or genital organ cancer in Germany.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) and genital organ cancers (GOC) are known to have a major impact on the quality of life of patients. The aim of this study was to analyze the risk of depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorders in women in Germany with a suspected but unconfirmed diagnosis of BC or GOC in their medical history.

Methods: This study included women who received a suspected diagnosis of BC or GOC and were followed between 2007 and 2015 (index date).

[Sharp increase in newly diagnosed patients with dementia in German primary care practices 2013. Better diagnostic process or monetary incentives?].

Unlabelled: In 2013, the incidence of patients with dementia (PwD) in primary care practices (PCP) drastically increased.

Research Questions: (1) Is the increase also detectable in a subsample, (2) was there a comparable increase in specialist practices (SP), and (3) did the increase affect diagnostics and therapy? We analyzed billing data from 874 PCP and 141 SP (2011 to 2015) pertaining to more than 14,000 PwD/year with regard to the incidence of dementia diagnoses (ICD-10: G30, F01, F03) and antidementia prescriptions. The incidence abruptly increased by 47 % (2013) and 73 % (2014) compared to 2012.

Risk factors for epistaxis in patients followed in general practices in Germany.

Background: The goal of the present study was to analyze the risk factors for epistaxis in patients followed in general practices in Germany.

Methods: The current study sample included patients aged 18 years or older who received a first epistaxis diagnosis between January 2012 and December 2016 (index date). Epistaxis patients and controls without epistaxis were matched (1:1) on the basis of age, gender, insurance status and physician.

Adherence to antiepileptic drugs in children and adolescents: A retrospective study in primary care settings in Germany.

Objective: The goal of this study was to analyze adherence to antiepileptic drugs (AED) in children and adolescents treated in pediatric practices in Germany.

Methods: The present study included patients aged between 2 and 17years who were diagnosed with epilepsy (ICD-10: G40) and had received at least two prescriptions of AED between January 2006 and December 2015 in 243 pediatric practices in Germany. The medication possession ratio (MPR) was used to estimate adherence, and patients with a MPR greater than 80% were considered adherent.

Long-term use of benzodiazepines in older patients in Germany: a retrospective analysis.

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the prevalence of long-term benzodiazepine use in older adults treated in general and neuropsychiatric practices in Germany.

Methods: This study included 32,182 patients over the age of 65 years who received benzodiazepine prescriptions for the first time between January 2010 and December 2014 in general and neuropsychiatric practices in Germany. Follow up lasted until July 2016.

Compliance with vaccination against hepatitis A virus in Germany: A retrospective analysis .

Objectives: To analyze compliance with vaccination against hepatitis A virus (HAV) in patients followed in general and pediatric practices in Germany.

Materials And Methods: The present study included 7,323 patients from 575 general practices and 3,962 patients from 111 pediatric practices. Patients were included if they had received the first dose of one of the two following vaccines against HAV: Havrix or Vaqta, between 2011 and 2014.

Persistence With Oral Antihyperglycemic Drugs in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients With Dementia in Germany.

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the persistence with oral antihyperglycemic drugs in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with dementia in Germany.

Methods: This study included adults with T2DM who were treated with oral antihyperglycemic drugs and were diagnosed with dementia in 1262 German general practices between January 2013 and December 2015 (index date). Dementia cases were matched (1:1) to controls without dementia by age, gender, type of practice, type of residence, physician, and initial antihyperglycemic therapy, using a propensity score method.

Persistence with antiepileptic drugs in epilepsy patients treated in neurological practices in Germany.

Objective: The goal of this study was to analyze the persistence with antiepileptic drugs (AED) and associated factors in patients followed in neurological practices in Germany.

Methods: This study included patients aged 18years or over who received two initial diagnoses of epilepsy and a first prescription of AED between 2007 and 2015 in a neurological practice (index date). The main outcome measure was the rate of AED persistence within five years of the index date.

[High Prevalence of Antipsychotic Medication Use in Dementia Patients in German Neuropsychiatric Practices].

 The aim of the present study was to examine inpatients as well as patients living at home with respect to the frequency of antipsychotic medication use and to determine the factors leading to initial use of antipsychotics following dementia diagnosis.  This study included patients aged 60 years and over with an initial diagnosis of all-cause dementia (index date) by German psychiatrists in Disease Analyzer database (IMS Health). The main outcome measure was the proportion of patients who initially received an antipsychotic prescription after the index date.

Prevalence of and risk factors associated with cesarean section in Lebanon - A retrospective study based on a sample of 29,270 women.

Background: During the last decades, there has been an alarming and dramatic increase in the number of cesarean births in both developed and undeveloped countries. This increase has not been clinically justified but, nevertheless, has raised an important number of issues.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with the high cesarean section rates in Lebanon.

Prevalence of high-risk cardiovascular patients with therapy-resistant hypercholesterolemia.

Introduction: Hypercholesterolemia is a causal risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which is recommended to be treated at least in high-risk patients. Yet, currently there is a lack of epidemiological data on the number of high-risk patients in Germany who do not respond adequately to high-dose statin monotherapy or statin therapy in combination with other lipid-lowering agents.

Methods: Of a total of over 2.

Prescription Patterns and Disease Control in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Nursing Home and Home Care Settings: A Retrospective Analysis in Germany.

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze prescription patterns and disease control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in nursing home and home care settings in Germany.

Methods: The present study is based on data from the Disease Analyzer database (QuintilesIMS). Patients with an initial diagnosis of T2DM and documented HbA1c values between January 2011 and December 2015 were included in the analysis.

[Diagnostic and Prescription Behavior of General Practitioners and Specialist Physicians in Patients with Dementia in 2005 and 2015 in Germany].

Research Question: Did the diagnostic and treatment behavior of general practitioners and specialists in patients with dementia (PWD) change in Germany over a period of 11 years (2005 vs. 2015)?

Methods: We performed a retrospective, database-based evaluation of diagnostic and prescription data from more than 398 general practices (GP) and 50 specialist practices (SP).

Results: Compared to 2005, in 2015, the number of PWD had increased by 40.

Conflicts at work are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Only few authors have analyzed the impact of workplace conflicts and the resulting stress on the risk of developing cardiovascular disorders. The goal of this study was to analyze the association between workplace conflicts and cardiovascular disorders in patients treated by German general practitioners. Patients with an initial documentation of a workplace conflict experience between 2005 and 2014 were identified in 699 general practitioner practices (index date).

Benzodiazepine prescribing in the elderly in Germany and Korea: A comparison of two observational studies .

Objectives: To identify differences and similarities in benzodiazepine (BZD) prescribing patterns in elderly patients reported in two separate and independent investigations, one from Germany for the year 2014 and the other from Korea for the year 2013.

Methods: Data on patients over 65 years, who were prescribed at least one BZD, were obtained from population databases. The design and characteristics of the two studies were similar.

Use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and risk of bone fracture in patients with type 2 diabetes in Germany-A retrospective analysis of real-world data.

Unlabelled: In type 2 diabetes patients treated in German primary care practices, the use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP4i) in combination with metformin was associated with a significant decrease in the risk of developing bone fractures compared to metformin monotherapy.

Introduction: The goal of this study was to analyze the impact of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP4i) use on the risk of bone fracture in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Germany.

Methods: Patients with an initial prescription of metformin between 2008 and 2014 from 1262 German general practitioner practices were selected.

Seasonality of Insulin Use in German Outpatients With Diabetes: A Retrospective Analysis.

Background: Seasonality in insulin sensitivity has been the focus of controversial literature in the past decades. The aim of this study was to analyze seasonality of insulin use in patients with diabetes who were followed in German general practices.

Methods: This study included patients affected by type 1 (T1DM) or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who received intensified conventional insulin therapy over a period of at least 12 months between 2013 and 2015.

Oral contraceptive use and fracture risk-a retrospective study of 12,970 women in the UK.

Unlabelled: In the present retrospective case-control study, we compared 6485 women with fractures and 6485 women without fractures from 135 general practitioner offices in the UK. Women without bone fractures were statistically more likely to have been exposed to oral contraception, depending on their age and therapy duration.

Introduction: The aim of this analysis was to compare the risk of bone fracture in women using hormonal contraception with that in women who have never used hormonal contraception.

Patterns of benzodiazepine prescribing by neuropsychiatrists and general practitioners for elderly patients in Germany in 2014 .

Background: The patterns of benzodiazepine prescriptions in older adults are of general and scientific interest as they are not yet well understood. The aim of this study was to compare the prescription patterns of benzodiazepines in elderly people in Germany to determine the share or proportion treated by general practitioners (GP) and neuropsychiatrists (NP).

Methods: This study included 31,268 and 6,603 patients between the ages of 65 and 100 with at least one benzodiazepine prescription in 2014 from GP and NP, respectively.

Association between Anti-Dementia Treatment Persistence and Daily Dosage of the First Prescription: A Retrospective Analysis in Neuropsychiatric Practices in Germany.

Background: High adherence and persistence are important for the efficacy of anti-dementia treatments.

Objective: The goal of this study was to analyze the association between anti-dementia treatment persistence and daily dosage of the first prescription in patients treated in neuropsychiatric practices in Germany.

Methods: This study included patients aged 60 years or over who were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and received anti-dementia prescriptions (galantamine, donepezil, memantine, and rivastigmine) for the first time between 2005 and 2014.

[Analysis of Secondary Data to Determine the Prevalence of Cardiovascular High Risk Patients with Hypercholesterolemia and Refractory Course of Treatment].

 Hypercholesterolemia plays a causal role in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Patients are affected differently. There is a lack of epidemiological data about the frequence and characteristics of patients in Germany, especially about those who do not respond sufficiently to high intensity statins with or without other lipid modifying therapies.

Depression Risk in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in the United Kingdom.

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases. The goal of this study was to analyze the risk of depression in patients diagnosed with RA and treated by general practitioners in the UK.

Methods: The present study included patients first diagnosed with RA between 2000 and 2014 (index date).

[The Influence of Caseload on Continuous Treatment with Antidementia Drugs].

 The goal of this study is to investigate the impact of the number of dementia cases in general and specialist practices on the continuity of treatment with antidementia drugs.  Period between 2004 and 2013: 1116 general practices, 200 specialist practices, 37 178 dementia cases; observation period: 36 months. Practice groups with 1 - 9, 10 - 20, 21-s49, and ≥ 50 dementia cases.

Changes in Glycemic Control and Body Weight After Initiation of Dapagliflozin or Basal Insulin Supported Oral Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes: A Primary Care Database Study.

Background: The aim was to compare changes in HbA1c and body weight after initiation of dapagliflozin or basal insulin supported oral therapy (BOT) in type 2 diabetes patients in primary care practices.

Methods: Patients from 983 primary care practices who started dapagliflozin or BOT between December 2012 and July 2015 (index date, ID) were retrospectively analyzed (Disease Analyzer; Germany). Changes in HbA1c (%) and body weight (kg) were evaluated 90-270 days after ID.