Partial misspecification of survey design features sufficed to severely bias estimates of health-related outcomes.

Objective: Surveys frequently deviate from simple random sampling through the use of unequal probability sampling, stratified sampling, and multistage sampling. This work uses a survey of public health to systematically illustrate the effects of incompletely accounting for strata, clustering, and weights.

Study Design And Setting: Data analysis was based on the Study of Health in Pomerania (n=4,308, 20-79 years), a two-stage regional survey with high sampling fractions at the first stage.

Decreased serum TSH levels are not associated with mortality in the adult northeast German population.

Objective: Results of cohort studies on the association between decreased serum TSH levels and mortality are conflicting. Some studies demonstrated an increased mortality risk in subjects with decreased serum TSH levels, others did not. Even meta-analyses revealed contradictory results.

Extended recruitment efforts minimize attrition but not necessarily bias.

Objectives: There has been a debate about the effect of extended recruitment efforts on attrition and bias. The aims of the present study are (1) to investigate the effectiveness of extensive multimode recruitment procedures; (2) to study their effect on attrition and bias; and (3) to determine the potential predictors of attrition.

Study Design And Setting: We used data from the longitudinal population-based study of health in Pomerania.

[Mental distress and the use of psychiatric and psychotherapeutic treatments services: results of the Study of Health in Pomerania].

Objective: Due to the lack of adequate data on the need of psychiatric and psychotherapeutic care in the community, an evidence-based goal directed development of treatment systems in socioeconomically poorer regions in former Eastern Germany is not feasible.

Method: A community sample from the Study of Health in Pomerania (N = 4310) was investigated with the "Beschwerdenliste" from von Zerssen. The met and the unmet need of care were estimated.