Dimensions of health data Integrity.

Health data integrity, as an emergent concept, stands to reshape the lifecycle of data-driven healthcare and research, ensuring a shared commitment to ethical practices and improved patient care.

Age, rehabilitation and surgery characteristics are re-injury risk factors for adolescents following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Objectives: To examine the effect of age on post-ACLR rehabilitative outcomes and identify surgical/rehabilitative characteristics as ACL re-injury risk factors in adolescents.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: Children's hospital.

Effects of Life Events and Social Isolation on Stroke and Coronary Heart Disease.

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents a severe, life-changing event for people across the world. Life changes may involve job loss, income reduction due to furlough, death of a beloved one, or social stress due to life habit changes. Many people suffer from social isolation due to lockdown or physical distancing, especially those living alone and without family.

Ankle-brachial index predicts stroke in the general population in addition to classical risk factors.

Background: Predictors of future stroke events gain importance in vascular medicine. Herein, we investigated the value of the ankle-brachial index (ABI), a simple non-invasive marker of atherosclerosis, as stroke predictor in addition to established risk factors that are part of the Framingham risk score (FRS).

Methods: 4299 subjects from the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall study (45-75 years; 47.

German diabetes management programs improve quality of care and curb costs.

This paper reports the results of a large-scale analysis of a nationwide disease management program in Germany for patients with diabetes mellitus. The German program differs markedly from "classic" disease management in the United States. Although it combines important hallmarks of vendor-based disease management and the Chronic Care Model, the German program is based in primary care practices and carried out by physicians, and it draws on their personal relationships with patients to promote adherence to treatment goals and self-management.

Adsorption of beta-lactoglobulin on spherical polyelectrolyte brushes: direct proof of counterion release by isothermal titration calorimetry.

The thermodynamics and the driving forces of the adsorption of beta-lactoglobulin on spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPB) are investigated by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The SPB consist of a polystyrene core onto which long chains of poly(styrene sulfonate) are grafted. Adsorption isotherms are obtained from measurements by ITC.

Uncertainty assessment of input parameters for economic evaluation: Gauss's error propagation, an alternative to established methods.

In decision modeling for health economic evaluation, bootstrapping and the Cholesky decomposition method are frequently used to assess parameter uncertainty and to support probabilistic sensitivity analysis. An alternative, Gauss's error propagation law, is rarely known but may be useful in some settings. Bootstrapping, the Cholesky decomposition method, and the error propagation law were compared regarding standard deviation estimates of a hypothetic parameter, which was derived from a regression model fitted to simulated data.

The German Coronary Artery Disease Risk Screening Model: development, validation, and application of a decision-analytic model for coronary artery disease prevention with statins.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of death in industrial countries, leading to high health-related costs and decreased quality of life.

Objective: To develop and validate a decision-analytic model for CAD risk screening in Germany (German Coronary Artery Disease Screening Model).

Design: Markov model.

[The influence of quality management on job satisfaction and work load--exemplary study in a German hospital].

Surveys among employees are getting more and more relevant in hospital settings since an increase in both (1) efficiency and (2) quality in connection with (3) enhanced patient orientation will only be achieved, if at the same time the employees' health status and satisfaction are taken into account. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the satisfaction of employees in a single hospital enquired in 2002 with that of 2005. Particular consideration was given to their view of quality management.

[Does the lack of evidence of effectiveness among international studies on interventions in prevention and health promotion have an impact on a German Act of Prevention?].

Background And Purpose: Efforts have been undertaken to devise and pass an Act of Prevention in Germany. To date, no consensus could be reached with changing political majorities in parliament. Hence, the authors ask the question whether the lack of evidence in prevention and health promotion could also be contributing to this delay.

Quantification and classification of errors associated with hand-repackaging of medications in long-term care facilities in Germany.

Objective: The aim of this study was to quantify and classify errors associated with the repackaging of residents' medications in long-term care facilities in Germany.

Methods: This was a prospective 8-week study conducted in 3 long-term care facilities. Pill organizers, each of which contained all repackaged solid oral dosage forms of long-term medications for a particular resident for an entire day, were inspected and checked against residents' medication sheets by the investigator-pharmacist.

Preliminary analysis of short-term financial implications of a prevention bonus program: first results from the German Statutory Health Insurance.

Objectives: With the implementation of the Health Care Modernization Act in 2004 sickness funds in Germany were given the opportunity to award bonuses to their insured for health-promoting behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the financial implications of a prevention bonus program from a sickness fund perspective.

Method: The investigation was designed as a controlled cohort study (matched pair study) comprising 70,429 members in each group.

[Efficiency of computer-based documentation in long-term care--preliminary project].

In Germany the documentation of processes in long-term care is mainly paper-based. Planning, realization and evaluation are not supported in an optimal way. In a preliminary study we evaluated the consequences of the introduction of a computer-based documentation system using handheld devices.

Distortion reduction in Slow Light systems based on stimulated Brillouin scattering.

We show a simple method to reduce the distortions in SBS based slow light systems. The distortion reduction is simply based on a broadening and adaptation of the gain bandwidth. However, a broadened gain reduces the achievable fractional delay which cannot be compensated by higher pump powers.

Sex differences in treatment patterns of six chronic diseases: an analysis from the German statutory health insurance.

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate gender-specific differences in prevalence, healthcare costs, and treatment patterns in the German Statutory Health Insurance (SHI).

Methods: The study analyzed administrative claims data of over 26 million insured with respect to prevalence and cost of illness of six chronic diseases. Insured were identified using the ATC code for medication prescription and ICD-9 code for diagnosis.

Waiting times for elective treatments according to insurance status: A randomized empirical study in Germany.

Background: Health insurance coverage for all citizens is often considered a requisite for reducing disparities in health care accessibility. In Germany, health insurees are covered either by statutory health insurance (SHI) or private health insurance (PHI). Due to a 20%-35% higher reimbursement of physicians for patients with PHI, it is often claimed that patients with SHI are faced with longer waiting times when it comes to obtaining outpatient appointments.

Comparison of delay enhancement mechanisms for SBS-based slow light systems.

We compare two simple mechanisms for the enhancement of the time delay in slow light systems. Both are based on the superposition of the Brillouin gain with additional loss. As we will show in theory and experiment if two losses are placed at the wings of a SBS gain, contrary to other methods, the loss power increases the time delay.

Can evidence-based medicine implicitly rely on current concepts of disease or does it have to develop its own definition?

Decisions in healthcare are made against the background of cultural and philosophical definitions of disease, sickness and illness. These concepts or definitions affect both health policy (macro level) and research (meso level), as well as individual encounters between patients and physicians (micro level). It is therefore necessary for evidence-based medicine to consider whether any of the definitions underlying research prior to the hierarchisation of knowledge are indeed compatible with its own epistemological principles.

Time delay enhancement in stimulated-Brillouin-scattering-based slow-light systems.

We show a simple method of time delay enhancement in slow-light systems based on the effect of stimulated Brillouin scattering. The method is based on the reduction of the absolute Brillouin gain by a loss produced by an additional pump laser. With this method we achieved pulse delays of nearly 100 ns in a standard single-mode fiber.