Age-specific health-related quality of life in disease-free long-term prostate cancer survivors versus male population controls-results from a population-based study.

Background: Prostate cancer (PC) and its treatment may affect PC survivors differently with respect to age. However, little is known regarding age-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in PC survivors 5 years or even ≥ 10 years post-diagnosis.

Methods: The sample included 1975 disease-free PC survivors (5-16 years post-diagnosis) and 661 cancer-free population controls, recruited from two German population-based studies (CAESAR+, LinDe).

Feasibility and long-term efficacy of a proactive health program in the treatment of chronic back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: To facilitate access to evidence-based care for back pain, a German private medical insurance offered a health program proactively to their members. Feasibility and long-term efficacy of this approach were evaluated.

Methods: Using Zelen's design, adult members of the health insurance with chronic back pain according to billing data were randomized to the intervention (IG) or the control group (CG).

Age at Diagnosis and Sex Are Associated With Long-term Deficits in Disease-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life of Survivors of Colon and Rectal Cancer: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Despite the increasing number of younger individuals diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer, research on the long-term disease-specific health-related quality of life of younger (<50 years) survivors of colon and rectal cancer is scarce.

Objective: Our study aimed to compare disease-specific functional deficits and symptoms of survivors of colon and rectal cancer 5 to 16 years postdiagnosis, stratified by age at diagnosis and by sex.

Design: This is a cross-sectional study.

A cross-national perspective of migration and cancer: incidence of five major cancer types among resettlers from the former Soviet Union in Germany and ethnic Germans in Russia.

Background: Few studies compared cancer incidence among migrants both to their host countries and to their population of origin. We aimed to compare cancer incidence of ethnic Germans who migrated from the former Soviet Union to Germany (resettlers) to those living in Russia as well as to the German and the Russian general populations.

Methods: The cancer registry of North Rhine-Westphalia identified incident cases of stomach, colorectal, lung, breast and prostate cancer in resettlers and the general population of the administrative district of Münster (Germany) between 2004 and 2013.

Connecting one's own illness story to the illness experiences of others on a website-An evaluation study using the think aloud method.

Objective: It is well described how telling one's illness story can help to cope with illness, but little is known about the processes of reception of other people's stories. This study aimed to analyse patients' reception processes of other patients' experiences while using a website (www.krankheitserfahrungen.

Health concepts of elementary school pupils in Austria : An explorative study using the draw and write technique.

Studies analysing health concepts of children are scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse health concepts of elementary school children in Austria. In all, 240 pupils in grades 2 (7 or 8 years old) and 4 (9 or 10 years old) of three rural and three urban elementary schools in Styria took part in this explorative study.

Courtesy work: Care practices for quality assurance in a cohort study.

Accountability has become a buzzword in recent years, applied in such disparate fields as education, academia, international politics and economics. For cohort studies, epidemiological literature and guidelines put forward several ideals to assure the quality of the generated data to make it accountable. Social scientific scholarship in turn has shown that in practice, such demands can lead to tensions and needs for balance 'on the ground'.

Validity and Reliability Evaluation of the Persian Version of the Heart Failure-Specific Health Literacy Scale.

Background: Health literacy (HL) has important implications for health outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients. Studying health literacy requires culturally appropriate and valid instruments. The aim of the study was validation of the Persian version of the heart failure-specific health literacy scale (HF-Specific HL Scale).

Monthly Video-Consultation for Children With Type 1 Diabetes Using a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System: Design of ViDiKi, a Multimethod Intervention Study to Evaluate the Benefit of Telemedicine.

Background: The introduction of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) implies new challenges for diabetes care. As CGM systems are often directly linked to a web-based software solution, structured telemedicine care using a video-consultation may be a new option for families who care for children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).

Methods: "ViDiKi" (Virtual Diabetes Outpatient Clinic for Children and Youth) is a multicenter controlled trial carried out in Northern Germany.

Short-Term Disability Fluctuations in Late Life.

Objectives: Late-life disability is highly dynamic but within-person short-term fluctuations have not been assessed previously. We analyze how substantial such late-life disability fluctuations are and whether they are associated with time-to-death, long-term disability trajectories, frailty, and sociodemographics.

Methods: Monthly survey data (Precipitating Events Project Study) on activities of daily living/instrumental activities of daily living (ADL/IADL) disability (0-9) in the last years of life from 642 deceased respondents providing 56,308 observations were analyzed with a two-step approach.

Risk factors for falls in Iranian older adults: a case-control study.

Falls are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in older adults. Identifying potential risk factors would provide a considerable public health benefit. The objective of this retrospective study was to determine the risk factors for falling among Iranian older adults.

PROtocol-based MObilizaTION on intensive care units: stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized pilot study (Pro-Motion).

Background: Early mobilization of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) improves patient recovery, but implementation remains challenging. Protocols may enhance the rate of out-of-bed mobilizations.

Aim: To evaluate the effect of implementing a protocol for early mobilization on the rate of out-of-bed mobilizations and other outcomes of ICU patients.

Pronounced social inequality in health-related factors and quality of life in women and men from Austria who are overweight or obese.

Background: The burden of social inequalities in health as well as the association between obesity with morbidity and mortality is a worldwide problem. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate health-related factors, health, and quality of life in Austrian women and men with normal weight, overweight, and obesity with a different socioeconomic status (SES) based on actual data from 2015.

Methods: This representative population-based study was based on self-reported data of 15,338 Austrian adults (8,425 women and 6,933 men) in 2014/2015.

Determinants of Frequent Attendance of Outpatient Physicians: A Longitudinal Analysis Using the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP).

There is a lack of population-based longitudinal studies which investigates the factors leading to frequent attendance of outpatient physicians. Thus, the purpose of this study was to analyze the determinants of frequent attendance using a longitudinal approach. The used dataset comprises seven waves (2002 to 2014; = 28,574 observations; ranging from 17 to 102 years) from the nationally representative German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP).

Health-related quality of life in long-term survivors with localised prostate cancer by therapy-Results from a population-based study.

Objective: Several therapies for localised prostate cancer (PC) are available; all yield similar survival rates. However, each therapy has significant side effects that can influence patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the long run.

Methods: The study sample included 911 survivors with localised PC, 5-15 years post-diagnosis who were identified from the population-based CAESAR + study in Germany.

Fluctuations in frailty among older adults.

Background: frailty fluctuations, that is, within-person up and down deviations from individual long-term frailty index trajectories represent a hitherto both conceptually and empirically untapped facet of frailty among older adults.

Objective: to assess the size of frailty fluctuations in old age and their association with frailty levels, frailty growth as well as sex and socio-economic position.

Methods: a total of 18,704 biannual observations from 4,514 community-dwelling older adults (65+) in 10 European countries over 12 years from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were analysed.

Prevalence of Sleep Disturbances in German Nursing Home Residents with Dementia: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Sleep disturbances and insomnia occur frequently in people with dementia and are associated with a number of problems for affected persons, relatives, and carers.

Objective: Considering the lack of high-quality data especially from Germany, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of sleep disturbances and possible associated factors with in German nursing home residents.

Methods: Multicenter cross-sectional study.

What keeps medical students healthy and well? A systematic review of observational studies on protective factors for health and well-being during medical education.

Background: Despite the growing evidence of a negative impact of medical school on students' health and well-being, little is known about protective factors for staying healthy and well during medical education. Therefore, a systematic review of peer-reviewed studies aiming to identify such predictors was conducted.

Methods: Medline, Embase, and PsychInfo were systematically searched by using preselected MeSH terms to identify English- and German-language peer-reviewed articles (observational studies) examining predictors for medical students' health and well-being, published between January 2001 and April 2018.

Individual and country-level determinants of nursing home admission in the last year of life in Europe.

Background: Previous research has focussed on individual-level determinants of nursing home admission (NHA), although substantial variation in the prevalence of NHA between European countries suggests a substantial impact of country of residence. The aim of this analysis was to assess individual-level determinants and the role of country of residence and specifically a country`s public institutional long-term care infrastructure on proxy-reported NHA in the last year of life.

Methods: We analysed data from 7,018 deceased respondents (65+) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2015, 16 countries) using Bayesian hierarchical logistic regression analysis in order to model proxy-reported NHA.

Health-related quality of life in long-term disease-free breast cancer survivors versus female population controls in Germany.

Purpose: Little is known about breast cancer (BC) survivors' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) > 5 or even > 10 years past diagnosis. It is of interest whether, in the long run, survivors' HRQoL aligns with that of the general population. Study objectives were to (1) compare disease-free BC survivors' HRQoL to that of non-cancer controls, and (2) compare long-term survivors (LTS, 5-9 years post-diagnosis), very long-term survivors (VLTS, ≥ 10 years post-diagnosis), and controls with respect to their HRQoL.

Prognostic ability of the German version of the STarT Back tool: analysis of 12-month follow-up data from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Stratified care is an up-to-date treatment approach suggested for patients with back pain in several guidelines. A comprehensively studied stratification instrument is the STarT Back Tool (SBT). It was developed to stratify patients with back pain into three subgroups, according to their risk of persistent disabling symptoms.

Effect of person-centred care on antipsychotic drug use in nursing homes (EPCentCare): a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Background: antipsychotic drugs are regularly prescribed as first-line treatment for neuropsychiatric symptoms in persons with dementia although guidelines clearly prioritise non-pharmacological interventions.

Objective: we investigated a person-centred care approach, which has been successfully evaluated in nursing homes in the UK, and adapted it to German conditions.

Design: a 2-armed 12-month cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Understanding Decision Making about Breast Cancer Prevention in Action: The Intersection of Perceived Risk, Perceived Control, and Social Context: NRG Oncology/NSABP DMP-1.

Background: Literature on decision making about breast cancer prevention focuses on individual perceptions and attitudes that predict chemoprevention use, rather than the process by which women decide whether to take risk-reducing medications. This secondary analysis aimed to understand how women's perceptions of breast cancer risk and locus of control influence their decision making.

Methods: Women were accrued as part of the NRG Oncology/National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Decision-Making Project 1, a study aimed at understanding contributors to chemoprevention uptake.

Return to work after cancer. A multi-regional population-based study from Germany.

With improving prognosis, the ability to return to work after cancer has become a realistic goal but only little is known regarding details such as sustainability, financial consequences, and potential determinants of return to work in long-term survivors in Germany. We studied return to work in a population-based sample of 1558 long-term cancer survivors, diagnosed in 1994-2004 with breast, colorectal or prostate cancer before age 60 (mean 50.1).