Levers for integrating social work into primary healthcare networks in Austria.

Background: The integrated healthcare of patients with support needs in primary healthcare in Austria has insufficient structural and procedural features in terms of the quality and security of care. The aim is therefore to develop solution- and patient-oriented services that take into account both the patients' requirements as well as the medical, nursing, therapeutic and economic perspectives. The question arises: What relevant levers can support the active participation of social work in the primary healthcare of patients with support needs in Austria?

Methods: An adapted Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to investigate the levers for integrating social work into primary healthcare networks in Austria.

The disease process and utilization of health services in rheumatoid arthritis: the relative contributions of various markers of disease severity in explaining consumption patterns.

Objective: To examine the predictive ability of a wide array of measures of disease severity in explaining Dutch and German patterns of health services utilization during a 2-year period.

Methods: Slightly over 200 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, 136 from a Dutch and 98 from a German outpatient clinic, supplied information on symptom and functional status, global health, and emotional and social functioning at baseline. The patients' rheumatologists provided clinical assessments of functional grade and disease activity.

Double-blind study comparing the long-term efficacy of the COX-2 inhibitor nimesulide and naproxen in patients with osteoarthritis.

This double-blind one-year study compares the long-term efficacy and safety of nimesulide with naproxen in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee or hip. Patients were randomised to nimesulide 100 mg twice daily (n = 183) or naproxen 250 mg morning, 500 mg evening (n = 187). The primary efficacy variable was change in pain intensity (WOMAC A scale) at 6 months.

The social environment and health in rheumatoid arthritis: marital quality predicts individual variability in pain severity.

Objective: To examine prospective relations between a wide array of measures of social functioning and pain, while controlling for disease duration and activity and functional grade.

Methods: As part of a larger study on health care utilization, longitudinal data were collected from 136 Dutch and 98 German outpatients on clinical status and pain. Social data included information on sexual handicap, spouse behavior, loneliness, daily emotional support, and the maintenance of pleasurable life domains.