[Ambulatory care of patients with asthma in Germany and disease management program for asthma from the view of statutory health insured patients. A postal survey of statutory health insured patients]. / Asthma in Deutschland: Versorgungslage aus Patientensicht. Eine Fragebogenstudie zum Disease-Management-Programm Asthma.

BACKGROUND: In spite of a decline in mortality due to asthma in Germany various studies point towards deficits in asthma care. Our investigation should collect data about ambulatory care from the view of statutory health insured patients (SHI), who participate in the disease management program asthma (DMP-P) or do not (NP). Primary question was, if there is a difference between asthma control. Secondary questions referred to process parameters. METHODS: The postal inquiry was conducted in 2010 with 8000 randomly selected members of a SHI company with asthma (4000 DMP-P and 4000 NP). The descriptive evaluation of categorical items was performed with cross-tables. The absolute risk reduction (ARR) and 97.5 %-confidence interval (CI; multiple level 5 %) was used to evaluate the primary question. Secondary questions were analysed by ARR and 95 %-CI. RESULTS: The response rate of the questionnaire accounted for 31.1 % (2565). 49.2 % of all respondents lived with an uncontrolled asthma with no differences between DMP-P and NP (ARR -2.7 %, 97.5 %-CI -7.9 -2.4 %). Results did not alter after adjustment for sex and age. The secondary questions revealed significant differences (DMP-P vs. NP) in participation in asthma trainings 50.6 vs. 32.3 %, use of a peak-flow-meter 49.3 vs. 25.3 % and asthma action plan within reach 21.7 vs. 11.0 %. CONCLUSION: Half of all respondents lives selfreported - even in the DMP-group - with an uncontrolled asthma. Process parameters showed better results in the DMP-group. It can be considered, that the DMP has its desired effect on patient-centered care, but does not lead to a better therapeutic outcome. Explanations can only be assumed: insufficient impact of the process parameters on the outcome, patient behavior, that minimizes a possible effect, or selection effects, if patients, who were more sick and at the same time more motivated, were mainly included in the DMP. These aspects should be addressed in studies with a prospective design.

[Association of diabetes type 2 and depression - behavioural and biological aspects]. / Assoziation von Diabetes Typ 2 und Depressivität.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes and depression often appear together. Although health behaviour and risk factors partially explain this association, other potential mechanisms have yet to be elucidated. METHODS: Explorative literature research for reviews on the topic in PubMed. Additional key-word guided research for studies in PubMed and Cochrane Library employing the keywords "diabetes" AND "depression" in combination with identified relevant single aspects (MeSH-terms) for certain neuroendocrine alterations, neuropathological und neurobiochemestric changes as well as the role of antidepressants. RESULTS: There are no satisfying explanatory models for the complex interaction of both diseases concerning behavioural factors and pathophysiological changes. Currently there are only many single aspects of shared or interacting pathophysiology or behaviour conspicuity. CONCLUSION: The objective of this review is to summarize these aspects and their contributions to the interacting pathophysiology of the two diseases.

Are there differences between patients with and without the homozygous--13910CC genetic variant in the MCM-6 gene upstream from the lactase gene?--A non-randomised, two armed intervention study without control group.

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic abdominal complaints are a diagnostic challenge for general practitioners (GP). Lactose intolerance (LI) often remains undiagnosed in these patients. Genetic testing for the homozygous -13910CC variant of the MCM-6 gene (LI+) combined with a lactose-restricted diet (LRD) seems to be an acceptable approach. The primary aim of the study was to determine the effect of a LRD in patients with chronic abdominal complaints without a definite diagnosis, with or without the homozygous -13910CC variant. The secondary aim was to determine in family practices the prevalence of undiagnosed LI in these patients. METHODS: In 25 practices around Düsseldorf (Germany) all patients presenting with chronic abdominal complaints for at least 12 months without definite diagnosis were identified by their GPs. Patients participating underwent a MCM-6 gene test and all, including those not genetically predisposed, were asked to keep a LRD for eight weeks. Symptoms were evaluated three times over two months using a standardized gastrointestinal Questionnaire (GIQLI, max. score 144). RESULTS: 210 patients were included. The gene test revealed 29.5% genetically positive for the homozygous T-13910-C mutation (LI+). All patients showed a significant increase in GIQLI scores (improvement) during the observation period, i.e. after four and eight weeks on the diet (p = 0.001, two-way repeated measures ANOVA). There was no significant difference between both groups (LI+/LI-) at any point of symptom measurement. CONCLUSIONS: A lactose-restricted diet showed an unspecific positive effect for patients with chronic abdominal pain without a defined diagnosis. For the LI-group, this could be explained by an unspecific effect of a diet in general, e.g., getting special attention. This can be important for a group of patients probably having psychosomatic complaints focussed on the abdomen.

Acupuncture points are large fields: the fuzziness of acupuncture point localization by doctors in practice.

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture textbooks, schools, practitioners and clinical researchers designing randomized controlled trials on acupuncture all assume that acupuncture points are small and must be located precisely. METHOD: Seventy-one medical doctors with ≥200 h acupuncture training and ≥2 years of clinical experience independently identified 23 commonly used acupuncture points on a male volunteer, using sticky transparent films with an X/Y grid placed asymmetrically around acupuncture points. RESULTS: For each acupuncture point, the field covering 95% (68%) of all point locations varied from 2.7 (0.7) cm(2) for PC-6 up to 41.4 (10.2) cm(2) for ST-38. Commonly-used acupuncture points showed unexpectedly large variance in location: 95% (or 68%) areas were SP-6: 12.2 cm(2) (3.0 cm(2) ), ST-36: 20.7 cm(2) (5.1 cm(2) ), LI-15: 18.7 cm(2) (4.6 cm(2) ), BL-23: 22.4 cm(2) (5.6 cm(2) ) and BL-54: 22.5 cm(2) (5.6 cm(2) ). Points close to anatomical landmarks (forearm, ankle, poplitea; BL-60, BL-40, TW-5, PC-6) were located with less variance. Precision of point location was independent of length of acupuncture experience, kind of training or medical specialty. CONCLUSIONS: In respect to the high degree of variation in the localization of acupuncture points, we suggest that the term 'acupuncture field' is more appropriate than 'acupuncture points' to describe the clinical reality; for the design of sham-controlled acupuncture trials, we recommend a minimum distance of 6 cm between verum and sham points on face, hands and feet, and up to 12 cm for all other parts of the body.

[Type 2 diabetes mellitus and depressive symptoms: what is the cause of what? A systematic literature review]. / Diabetes mellitus Typ 2 und Depressivität: Was ist ursächlich für was? Eine systematische Literaturübersicht.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus type 2 and depressive symptoms are statistically associated. The question is if one of the two diseases is causal for the other. METHODS: Systematic review using Medline and searching for prospective controlled population based observational studies and meta-analysis in English or German language. RESULTS: Patients with type 2 diabetes have a higher incidence of depressive symptoms - compared to patients having no diabetes. And patients with depressive symptoms have a higher incidence of type 2 diabetes; however the findings for the first relation are only weak. DISCUSSION: Knowing about this - even causal - co-morbidity is important in care, including a routine diagnostic approach to find out if the other disease is also present.

[Reliability of morbidity data reported by GPs. Results of a longitudinal study in primary care]. / Reliabilität ärztlicher Morbiditätsangaben zu chronischen Krankheiten. Ergebnisse einer Längsschnittstudie im hausärztlichen Bereich.

BACKGROUND: Data on prevalence of chronic diseases are important for planning health care services. Such prevalence data are mostly based on patient self-reports, claims data, or other research data-with limited validity and reliability partially due to their cross-sectional character. Currently, only claims data of statutory health insurance offer longitudinal information. In Germany, these data show a loss of diagnoses of chronic health conditions over time. This study investigated whether there is a similar tendency of loss in the documentation of chronic diseases in data specifically collected for a longitudinal cohort study by general practitioners. In addition, the explanatory power of patient or GP characteristics regarding these losses is investigated. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 3,327 patients aged 75 years and older were recruited for the German Study on Ageing, Cognition and Dementia in Primary Care Patients (AgeCoDe). For 1,765 patients, GP diagnoses of four chronic conditions at three time points were available for a total period of 4.5 years. In order to explain the loss of chronic diagnoses, a multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression was performed. RESULTS: Over the course of 4.5 years, 18.6% of the diagnoses of diabetes mellitus, 34.5% of the diagnoses of coronary heart disease, and 44.9% of the diagnoses of stroke disappeared in the GP documentation for the longitudinal study. The diagnosis of coronary heart disease was less often lost in men than in women. The risk of losing the diagnosis of diabetes was higher in patients who were well known by the GP for a long time. An essential part of the variance of the losses can be explained by practice (owner) effects. CONCLUSION: Data on morbidity collected in epidemiological studies and reported by physicians should always be checked for validity and reliability. Appropriate options (e.g., an investigator collecting the data directly in the field or the comparison of the data with health insurance companies' claims data) are presented and discussed.

Do general practitioners recognize mild cognitive impairment in their patients?

OBJECTIVES: The need for recognition of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in primary care is increasingly discussed because MCI is a risk factor for dementia. General Practitioners (GPs) could play an important role in the detection of MCI since they have regular and long-term contact with the majority of the elderly population. Thus the objective of this study is to find out how well GPs recognize persons with MCI in their practice population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Primary care chart registry sample. PARTICIPANTS: 3,242 non-demented GP patients aged 75-89 years. MEASUREMENTS: GPs assessed the cognitive status of their patients on the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS). Thereafter, trained interviewers collected psychometric data by interviewing the patients at home. The interview data constitute the basis for the definition of MCI cases (gold standard). RESULTS: The sensitivity of GPs to detect MCI was very low (11-12%) whereas their specificity amounts to 93-94%. Patients with MCI with a middle or high level of education more often got a false negative assignment than patients with a low educational level. The risk of a false positive assignment rose with the patients' degree of comorbidity. GPs were better at detecting MCI when memory or two and more MCI-domains were impaired. CONCLUSION: The results show that GPs recognise MCI in a very limited number of cases when based on clinical impression only. A further development of the MCI concept and its operationalisation is necessary. Emphasis should be placed on validated, reliable and standardised tests for routine use in primary care encompassing other than only cognitive domains and on case finding approaches rather than on screening. Then a better attention and qualification of GPs with regard to the recognition of MCI might be achievable.

[Discrimination of Blacks on account of their skin colour? Results of focus group discussions with victims in the German health-care system]. / Diskriminierung von Schwarzen1 aufgrund ihrer Hautfarbe? Ergebnisse von Focusgruppendiskussionen mit Betroffenen im deutschen Gesundheitswesen.

BACKGROUND: In spite of a number of researches on immigrants in the German Health System, there has hardly been any research on immigrant's experiences with General Practitioners or research on Black patients. As an example the experiences of Black People (1) with an immigration background from the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC) with German White GPs was investigated. METHODS: Two focus groups with a total of 33 participants from the DRC were held and the discussions documented and transcribed. The authors performed a content analysis and developed inductively the categorical system on the basis of the transcription. RESULTS: The participants underlined their self-competences in health and diseases. Language was mentioned as a problem in communication, but had no priority except for the lack of documents in French. However, they underlined the hectic and unfriendliness of German medical staff as well as lack of respect towards them. They also criticised the insufficient medical competence of German medical doctors concerning diseases, which are common in Africa and the increasing social injustice, bureaucracy and economic efficiency. Experiences with discrimination and racism were clearly expressed and illustrated in its intermingled structure with other forms of discrimination. CONCLUSIONS: The concept concerning health and diseases of the African immigrants was a Western medical concept, other concepts like, e.g., "African" formed medical concepts did not occur. The many-sided experienced discriminations of Black immigrants in White Surgeries and in the German Health System presumably also correspond to experiences in other areas of German society. A number of critical remarks of the participants corresponded with what we expect from White patients, especially when speaking about communicative abilities of doctors. Better communicative abilities and a better knowledge of the so-called "tropical diseases" are required. But to the same degree it is mandatory to develop the ability of reflecting on discrimination at all levels including racism and "intercultural" opening of the German Health System.

[Guideline for the joint swelling symptom--primary physician problem management and referral indications. German Society of Rheumatology "Quality Assurance" Committee]. / Leitlinie für das Symptom Gelenkschwellung--Primärärztliches Problemmanagement und Uberweisungsindikationen. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie Kommission "Qualitätssicherung".

The guideline "Joint Swelling" is addressed to primary care physicians--general practitioners, internists or orthopedists without special experience in rheumatology. It provides a framework for interviewing patients, as well as for physical, laboratory and imaging examinations and for selection of treatment appropriate to the level of primary care. Situations which call for urgent evaluation and criteria for referral to rheumatologists are described. The appendix contains comments on signs and symptoms to differentiate arthralgia from joint swelling and on the diagnostic value of a history of joint swelling without confirmation by the physician. Further recommendations for the evaluation of patient history and physical and technical examinations are given in a tabular form. The significance of laboratory and imaging procedures is discussed.

[The DEGAM-concept--development, dissemination, implementation and evaluation of guidelines for general practice]. / Das DEGAM-Konzept--Entwicklung, Verbreitung, Implementierung und Evaluation von Leitlinien für die hausärztliche Praxis.

The German Society for General Practice/Family Medicine (DEGAM) has launched a project to develop and implement national guidelines for general practice accordingly to international models. Guidelines are seen as statements to assist practitioners and patients in deciding about appropriate, effective and efficient health care. They should be evidence-based, feasible for primary care practices, and purposefully addressing to physicians as well as practice staff and patients. The development follows a comprehensive and well-structured programme (10 stages) which requires the appraisal of medical evidence, the involvement of experienced general practitioners on various stages (primary review, feasibility testing), and comments of concerned specialists, before a guideline is promulgated. Implementation of each guideline is promoted by at least five tools (full text, quick reference guide, telephone card for practice staff; patient leaflet, and information-prescription--"infozept"). Methodological quality is checked for the first time in Germany according to the standards of the German Agency for Quality Assurance. Different targets and criteria for evaluation of guidelines in primary care are mandatory part of the DEGAM-concept.

[Evaluation of scientific publication: a recommendation (not only) for general medicine]. / Bewertung wissenschaftlicher Veröffentlichungen: Ein Vorschlag (nicht nur) für die Allgemeinmedizin.

A Proposal (not only) for General Practice/Family Medicine: Medical faculties and other institutions increase their pressure on scientific societies and colleges to present and set standards to evaluate publications from their discipline. After discussing the quality of different literature and publication indices the authors take a critical look at the impact factor which arouses much controversy among medical faculties. The evaluation standard presented for general practice comprises three categories of quality to which (A) Top Journals, (B) Standard Journals and (C) other Journals (but also books and book contributions) are allocated. Assessment criteria are mainly based on indexation (Index Medicus) and independent peer review. Within that system original papers are valued higher than reviews and editorials or comments. The impact factor is not considered to be helpful for judgement. The authors are convinced that any numerical point system would not be likely to lead to a reasonable assessment of an individual publication. Furthermore, there could be an increased risk that members of committees would prefer the point system for their judgement rather than to read papers in detail. The suggested standard could serve as an aid for referees from disciplines other than general practice. However, their expert decision regarding the quality of publications could not be replaced by even the most sophisticated valuation system.

Cancer incidence on a small island--research opportunities in general practice.

OBJECTIVE: To test the impression of an increased cancer incidence on the island of Pellworm (in the far North of Germany) and to illustrate the feasibility of a general practice-based approach in epidemiological research. DESIGN: Cancer incidence on Pellworm was prospectively registered in the only general practice on the island from 1986 to 1992. Age-standardized rates and expected rates were calculated on the basis of the Saarland cancer registry, the only registry in Germany. Standardized incidence ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for Poisson-distributed events were also calculated. The cancer data were summed up over a seven-year period. SETTING: The only general practice on the island of Pellworm, a North Frisian marshland-island. SUBJECTS: The total practice population between 1986 and 1992 (N = 1172) RESULTS: The crude annual cancer incidence rate for Pellworm was, according to the impression, unexpectedly high: 634/100 000 for men and 502/100 000 for women. After age standardization, however, this increased rate of cancer incidence was even lower than in the Saarland (ratios: 0.86 for men and 0.95 for women). Only the incidence of neoplasms of the lymphatic and haematopoietic tissue in men exceeded the limits of statistical likelihood (ratio: 3.21; 95% CI: 1.17-7.10). CONCLUSION: The impression of an increased rate of cancer on Pellworm could not be validated. The overall incidence rate was even lower than expected. Only the rate of leukaemia/lymphoma (men) was significantly higher. Reasons for this result could not be detected by a descriptive approach. General practice is a suitable place for studies in cancer epidemiology, especially in such ideal circumstances as a clearly limited area and complete and reliable documentation.

[Screening for toxoplasmosis in pregnancy: more harm than good]. / Toxoplasmosescreening in der Schwangerschaft: mehr Schaden als Nutzen.

Using data from international literature makes it possible to calculate for Germany benefit and harm of a screening for toxoplasmosis in pregnancy. On the basis of these data harm of such a screening is much greater than benefit. Taking the reported number of congenital toxoplasmosis in Germany as the base for such a calculation of harm and benefit makes the ratio of benefit and harm even worse.

Prophylaxis of constipation by wheat bran: a randomized study in hospitalized patients.

To evaluate the efficacy of wheat bran in preventing constipation, 200 hospitalized patients were randomly allocated to groups receiving either a dietary supplement of 40 g bran daily or no dietary supplement at all. A quarter of the bran group patients refused to take their bran from the very beginning (refusers), one third stopped bran consumption during the study (dropouts), and only 42% of the patients continued on bran until discharge or death (participants). Independent of a previous history of constipation, neither the hospital incidence of constipation nor the average percentage of days on laxatives was significantly different between the bran group and the control group. Only the dropouts were significantly more constipated than the control patients, whereas no such difference could be demonstrated in the refusers or participants. It is concluded that the administration of bran as a prophylactic laxative confers no benefit in patients hospitalized for a relatively short time.