Effect of a combined education and eHealth programme on the control of oral anticoagulation patients (PORTALS study): a parallel cohort design in Dutch primary care.

Objectives: To analyse the effect on therapeutic control and self-management skills of the implementation of self-management programmes, including eHealth by e-learning versus group training.

Setting: Primary Care Thrombosis Service Center.

Participants: Of the 247 oral anticoagulation therapy (OAT) patients, 63 started self-management by e-learning, 74 self-management by group training and 110 received usual care.

The Effect of Integration of Self-Management Web Platforms on Health Status in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Management in Primary Care (e-Vita Study): Interrupted Time Series Design.

Background: Worldwide nearly 3 million people die from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) every year. Integrated disease management (IDM) improves quality of life for COPD patients and can reduce hospitalization. Self-management of COPD through eHealth is an effective method to improve IDM and clinical outcomes.

High Level of Integration in Integrated Disease Management Leads to Higher Usage in the e-Vita Study: Self-Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease With Web-Based Platforms in a Parallel Cohort Design.

Background: Worldwide, nearly 3 million people die of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) every year. Integrated disease management (IDM) improves disease-specific quality of life and exercise capacity for people with COPD, but can also reduce hospital admissions and hospital days. Self-management of COPD through eHealth interventions has shown to be an effective method to improve the quality and efficiency of IDM in several settings, but it remains unknown which factors influence usage of eHealth and change in behavior of patients.

An eHealth Platform to Manage Chronic Disease in Primary Care: An Innovative Approach.

The number of individuals with chronic illness and multimorbidity is growing due to the rapid ageing of the population and the greater longevity of individuals. This causes an increasing workload in care, which results in a growing need for structural changes of the health care system. In recent years this led to a strong focus on promoting "self-management" in chronically ill patients.

Depression after low-energy fracture in older women predicts future falls: a prospective observational study.

Background: Falls are one of the main causes of fractures in elderly people and after a recent fracture, the risk of another fall is increased, resulting in subsequent fracture. Therefore, risk factors for future falls should be determined. We prospectively investigated the relationship between depression and the incidence of falls in post-menopausal women after a low-energy fracture.

Vertebral fractures in women aged 50 years and older with clinical risk factors for fractures in primary care.

Background: The identification of vertebral fractures (VFs) is important for decisions on fracture prevention. Vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) was shown to be a patient-friendly and valid method for detecting undiagnosed VFs in (Dutch) women. However, this has only been investigated in women seeking care at secondary or tertiary institutions.

Validation of the Dutch guidelines for dual X-ray absorptiometry measurement.

Background: In Europe, a case-finding strategy for osteoporosis is recommended above widespread population-based screening. However, no universally accepted policy currently exists. In 2005, the Dutch College of General Practitioners published guidelines for GPs to select patients for dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).