[Prescription of Psychotropic Drugs with Potentially Restraining Effect: An Analysis of Care Need Assessment Data by MDK Bayern].

Objective: Physical restraints in home care and residential care settings in the form of restraining devices have been reduced in the last years. Now psychotropic drugs with sedating and thus potentially restraining effect are of increasing interest. The objective of this study was to describe prescription of psychotropic drugs for insurants in need of care and factors influencing such prescription.

Cohort Study on Predictors of Need for Nursing Care in Alzheimer's Disease: An Analysis of Healthcare Data.

Background: The individual and societal burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is substantial. Identifying relevant factors deteriorating AD and inducing need for nursing care would be of high relevance for healthcare planning.

Objective: The main objective of this study was the identification of predictors of first assignment of a level of long-term care in AD, used as an approximation for disease progression.

Medical management, costs, and consequences of Alzheimer's disease in Germany: an analysis of health claims data.

Objective: The main objective of this analysis was to assess the medical and economic differences between patients with and without diagnosed Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Analysis included co-morbidities, patterns of drug use, and clinical course, as well as the magnitude of these differences attributable to AD.

Methods: This evaluation is based on retrospective analyses of anonymized claims data from 2005-2008 provided by a large German Statutory Health Insurance (SHI).

Cost effectiveness of antiarrhythmic medications in patients suffering from atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), a supraventricular tachycardia disorder, is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia affecting 1-2 % of the general population. Prevalence is highly related to age, with every fourth individual older than 40 years old developing AF during his lifetime. Due to an aging population, the prevalence of AF is estimated to at least double within the next 50 years.

Health services research in heart failure patients treated with a remote monitoring device in Germany-a retrospective database analysis in evaluating resource use.

Objectives: Heart failure is an increasing burden for all healthcare systems with prevalence reaching over 20 million patients worldwide and direct costs of disease requiring ∼1% of healthcare budget expenditures. Beyond traditional pharmaceutical treatment, medical devices and remote monitoring tools were introduced to ensure a closely managed control of patients. In this context, a decision-maker needs to know whether the new technology provides clinical benefit towards patients and what resource use is attached to them.