Optimising the treatment of chronic ischemic heart disease by training general practitioners to deliver very brief advice on physical activity (OptiCor): protocol of the systematic development and evaluation of a complex intervention.

Background: Chronic ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Physical activity (PA) is an effective secondary preventive strategy in IHD management. The German treatment guideline recommends that general practitioners (GPs) deliver PA advice to patients.

Profiles of Met and Unmet Care Needs in the Oldest Old Primary Care Patients with Cognitive Disorders and Dementia: Results of the AgeCoDe and AgeQualiDe Study.

Introduction: The prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia is increasing as the oldest old population grows, requiring a nuanced understanding of their care needs. Few studies have examined need profiles of oldest old patients with MCI or dementia. Therefore, this study aimed to identify patients' need profiles.

Informing pandemic management in Germany with trustworthy living evidence syntheses and guideline development: lessons learned from the COVID-19 evidence ecosystem.

Objectives: We present the 'COVID-19 evidence ecosystem' (CEOsys) as a German network to inform pandemic management and to support clinical and public health decision-making. We discuss challenges faced when organizing the ecosystem and derive lessons learned for similar networks acting during pandemics or health-related crises.

Study Design And Setting: Bringing together 18 university hospitals and additional institutions, CEOsys key activities included research prioritization, conducting living systematic reviews (LSRs), supporting evidence-based (living) guidelines, knowledge translation (KT), detecting research gaps, and deriving recommendations, backed by technical infrastructure and capacity building.

Smokers' perception of the comparative health risks of cigarettes, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products: a survey among the German population.

Background: Tobacco cigarettes, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products can pose different health risks (harm continuum). As current tobacco smokers could benefit from switching to less harmful products, we aimed to assess current smokers' perceived comparative health risks of these three products and to explore associations between risk perceptions and specific user characteristics.

Methods: We analysed data from 11 waves (2019-2021; N = 5657 current tobacco smokers) of a representative, cross-sectional household survey conducted in Germany.

Self-management eHealth solutions for menopause - a systematic scoping review.

Objective: The purpose of this scoping review was to highlight the current scientific evidence on eHealth-based information tools for menopause in terms of quality, requirements and previous intervention outcomes.

Methods: We systematically searched electronic databases (Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Global Health Database [Ovid], Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov [NLM], LIVIVO Search Portal [ZB MED] and Google Scholar) from 1974 to March 2022 for relevant records.

Associations between body mass index and smoking behaviour: A cross-sectional study of the German adult population.

Background: Both smoking and high body weight are risk factors for disease, hence, the association between smoking and body weight is an important health issue. Furthermore, concern about weight gain after quitting smoking is for many smokers a barrier to smoking cessation. The present study aims to explore the association between body mass index (BMI) and current tobacco smoking status in the population of Germany, and smoking and quitting behaviour amongst smokers (and recent ex-smokers =<12 months since quitting).

Efficacy of a computer based discontinuation strategy to reduce PPI prescriptions: a multicenter cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Deprescribing of inappropriate long-term proton pump inhibitors (PPI) is challenging and there is a lack of useful methods for general practitioners to tackle this. The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of the electronic decision aid tool arriba-PPI on reduction of long-term PPI intake. Participants (64.

Cannabis Use in Germany.

Background: The federal government of Germany is planning to liberalize the recreational cannabis market for adults. We aimed to collect key baseline data on frequency of use, routes of administration, and co-use of cannabis and inhaled nicotine or tobacco products in the population.

Methods: Based on data from a national survey of 9644 people aged >14 years, we analyzed self-reported use of cannabis in the past 12 months and preferred route of administration (single choice: smoked with tobacco; smoked without tobacco; inhaled without tobacco; consumed with food; consumed in another form).

Family History of Dementia in Old-Age Participants with Subjective Memory Complaints Predicts Own Risk for Dementia in a Longitudinal Multi-Center Cohort Study.

Background: Subjective memory complaints and family history of dementia are possibly intertwined risk factors for the own subsequent dementia risk and Alzheimer's disease. However, their interaction has rarely been studied.

Objective: To study the association between subjective memory complaints and family history of dementia with regard to the own subsequent risk of dementia.

HbA1c as a shared treatment goal in type 2 diabetes? A secondary analysis of the DEBATE trial.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major health problem in the western world. Despite a widespread implementation of integrated care programs there are still patients with poorly controlled T2DM. Shared goal setting within the process of Shared Decision Making (SDM) may increase patient's compliance and adherence to treatment regimen.

Mental Health Impact of Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Individuals with Pre-Existing Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Research.

In view of disease-related threats, containment measures, and disrupted healthcare, individuals with pre-existing mental illness might be vulnerable to adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous reviews indicated increased mental distress, with limited information on peri-pandemic changes. In this systematic review, we aimed to identify longitudinal research investigating pre- to peri-pandemic and/or peri-pandemic changes of mental health in patients, focusing on the early phase and considering specific diagnoses.

Fear of falling from the perspective of affected persons-A systematic review and qualitative meta-summary using Sandelowski and Barroso's method.

Background: Fear of falling (FoF) affects a large number of older people, whether they have a history of falls or not. This has an impact on their lives. FoF is a potentially modifiable factor, which has been identified as one of the most important threats to older people's autonomy.

Attempts to quit smoking, use of smoking cessation methods, and associated characteristics among COPD patients.

We explored past-year quit attempts, cessation methods used, and associations with sociodemographic, smoking, and health-related characteristics among smoking patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Germany. Cross-sectional survey data of 509 past-year smokers (current smokers and ≤12 months abstinent) with COPD (ICD-10 code J44.x and FEV1/FVC <0.

Disentangling the relationship of subjective cognitive decline and depressive symptoms in the development of cognitive decline and dementia.

Introduction: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and depressive symptoms (DS) frequently co-occur prior to dementia. However, the temporal sequence of their emergence and their combined prognostic value for cognitive decline and dementia is unclear.

Methods: Temporal relationships of SCD, DS and memory decline were examined by latent difference score modeling in a high-aged, population-based cohort (N = 3217) and validated using Cox-regression of dementia-conversion.

Frequency and gender differences in the use of professional home care in late life. Findings from three German old-age cohorts.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of and the gender differences in the use of professional home care in Germany.

Methods: We used harmonized data from three large cohort studies from Germany ("Healthy Aging: Gender-specific trajectories into the latest life"; AgeDifferent.de Platform).

Development of indicators to assess quality and patient pathways in interdisciplinary care for patients with 14 ambulatory-care-sensitive conditions in Germany.

Background: In settings like the ambulatory care sector in Germany, where data on the outcomes of interdisciplinary health services provided by multiple office-based physicians are not always readily available, our study aims to develop a set of indicators of health care quality and utilization for 14 groups of ambulatory-care-sensitive conditions based on routine data. These may improve the provision of health care by informing discussions in quality circles and other meetings of networks of physicians who share the same patients.

Methods: Our set of indicators was developed as part of the larger Accountable Care in Deutschland (ACD) project using a pragmatic consensus approach.

HIOPP-6 - a pilot study on the evaluation of an electronic tool to assess and reduce the complexity of drug treatment considering patients' views.

Background: A complex drug treatment might pose a barrier to safe and reliable drug administration for patients. Therefore, a novel tool automatically analyzes structured medication data for factors possibly contributing to complexity and subsequently personalizes the results by evaluating the relevance of each identified factor for the patient by means of key questions. Hence, tailor-made optimization measures can be proposed.

Prevalence and patient-rated relevance of complexity factors in medication regimens of community-dwelling patients with polypharmacy.

Purpose: To describe the prevalence of complexity factors in the medication regimens of community-dwelling patients with more than five drugs and to evaluate the relevance of these factors for individual patients.

Methods: Data were derived from the HIOPP-6 trial, a controlled study conducted in 9 general practices which evaluated an electronic tool to detect and reduce complexity of drug treatment. The prevalence of complexity factors was based on the results of the automated analysis of 139 patients' medication data.

Using social network analysis methods to identify networks of physicians responsible for the care of specific patient populations.

Background: Coordinating health care within and among sectors is crucial to improving quality of care and avoiding undesirable negative health outcomes, such as avoidable hospitalizations. Quality circles are one approach to strengthening collaboration among health care providers and improving the continuity of care. However, identifying and including the right health professionals in such meetings is challenging, especially in settings with no predefined patient pathways.

The Effectiveness of E-Cigarettes for Smoking Cessation.

Background: Our primary aim was to assess-in the German population-the effectiveness of e-cigarettes (ECs; with or without nicotine), nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), and no use of evidence-based aids in smoking cessation.

Methods: Analysis of cross-sectional data from a representative survey of the population (age 14-96 years) conducted in 2016-2021. All current smokers and recent ex-smokers (< 12 months since quitting) who had made ≥ 1 attempt to quit in the past 12 months (n = 2740) were included.

Survey participation among general practitioners: comparison between teaching physicians and a random sample.

Objective: Health scientists strive for a smooth recruitment of physicians for research projects like surveys. Teaching physicians are an easy to approach population that is already affiliated with a university by teaching students in their practice. How do response rates compare between a convenient online survey among teaching physicians and an elaborate postal survey in a random sample of unknown physicians? Data from the TMI-GP study on the use of memory tests in general practice were used.