[The G-BA innovation fund's project "Avenue-Pal" - analysis and improvement of cross-sectoral and cross-departmental interface and relocation management in palliative care].

Background: About 80% of all people in Germany die in inpatient care. Around every fifth person in inpatient care is relocated to another care area in the last phase of their life. That is more than 150,000 people being relocated, often without indication.

Health-related quality of life in male breast cancer patients.

The objective of this study is to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in male breast cancer patients. Data of 20,673 patients diagnosed with primary breast cancer (male: n = 84) who completed a questionnaire after discharge from hospital were analysed. HRQoL (SF-36), age, sex, education, native language, insurance status, and partnership status were measured.

Associations between hospital and patient characteristics and breast cancer patients' satisfaction with nursing staff.

Background: Only a few studies have investigated the association between hospital characteristics and breast cancer patients' satisfaction with nursing staff.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether the satisfaction of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients with nursing staff correlates with hospital characteristics after taking the relevant patient characteristics into account.

Methods: Multilevel regression analysis was applied, combining survey data from newly diagnosed breast cancer patients regarding their characteristics and satisfaction with nursing staff with data on the characteristics of the hospitals in which the patients were treated.

Applying principles of good practice for translation and cross-cultural adaptation of sleep-screening instruments in children.

With the increase in the number of international projects in pediatric sleep medicine, the need to adapt sleep-screening tools for use in cross-cultural settings has rapidly grown. However, accepted procedures for translating and adapting existing measures are not uniformly and consistently incorporated in epidemiologic studies, resulting in potential measurement problems. The aims of this brief report are to (a) give an overview of principles for the translation and cultural adaptation of pediatric sleep-screening instruments and (b) illustrate these procedures in describing the translation and adaptation of two widely used pediatric sleep-screening tools for a German population.

Breast cancer patients' trust in physicians: the impact of patients' perception of physicians' communication behaviors and hospital organizational climate.

Objective: To examine whether patients' perception of a hospital's organizational climate has an impact on their trust in physicians after accounting for physicians' communication behaviors as perceived by the patients and patient characteristics.

Methods: Patients undergoing treatment in breast centers in the German state of North Rhein-Westphalia in 2006 were asked to complete a standardized postal questionnaire. Disease characteristics were then added by the medical personnel.

The relationship between social capital in hospitals and physician job satisfaction.

Background: Job satisfaction in the hospital is an important predictor for many significant management ratios. Acceptance in professional life or high workload are known as important predictors for job satisfaction. The influence of social capital in hospitals on job satisfaction within the health care system, however, remains to be determined.

Reduced patient demands in hospitals and their determinants.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the extent to which patients have suppressed their demands during their hospital stay and to examine the factors that determine this reduction in demands.

Methods: The data, which provided the basis for this study, were obtained from a postal survey utilizing the Cologne Patient Questionnaire (CPQ) that was sent to 1,548 patients who had been treated in 1 of 3 hospitals in Germany. The survey itself was conducted within the scope of the research project entitled "Organizational Governance Using Biopsychosocial Codes" (U-BIKE-Studie).

[Shared decision-making as a new quality indicator in nephrology: a nationwide survey in Germany].

Background And Purpose: Shared decision-making (SDM) as a model in physician-patient interaction is gaining relevance in the German health system. By applying this model, mid- and long-term improvements are expected especially in the outcomes of chronic diseases. Up to now, there has hardly been any empirical data available in German health services research regarding the state and development of SDM.