Status quo after one year of COVID-19 pandemic in otolaryngological hospital-based departments and private practices in Germany.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected healthcare systems worldwide. Data on the impact on otolaryngological clinics and private practices is sparse. This study aimed to present data on healthcare worker (HCW) screening, status of HCW, pre-interventional testing, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the economic impact of the pandemic. METHODS: Otolaryngological private practices and hospital-based departments were surveyed nationwide using an online questionnaire. Participating facilities were recruited via the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and the German Association for Otolaryngologists in Bavaria. RESULTS: 365 private practices (2776 employees) and 65 hospitals (2333 employees) were included. Significantly more hospitals (68.7%) than practices (40.5%) performed pre-interventional testing in their outpatients (p < 0.00). Most inpatients were tested in practices and hospitals (100.0% and 95.0%; p = 0.08). HCW screening was performed in 73.7% of practices and in 77.3% of hospitals (p = 0.54). Significantly more HCW infections were reported in private practices (4.7%) than in hospital (3.6%; p = 0.03). The private or home environment was the most frequent source of infection among HCW in hospitals (44%) and practices (63%). The use of PPE increased over the course of the pandemic. The number of procedures and the revenue decreased in 2020. CONCLUSION: The rate of pre-interventional testing among outpatients in otolaryngological practices is low and HCW infections were found to be more frequent in practices than in hospitals. In addition, a high rate of infections in otolaryngological HCW seems to stem from the private or home environment.

Calcium intake and bone mineral density as an example of non-linearity and threshold analysis.

UNLABELLED: Non-linearity is a likely phenomenon in bone metabolism, but is often ignored in pertinent epidemiological studies. Using NHANES III data on calcium intake and bone mineral density, the most important non-linear methods are introduced and discussed. The results should motivate researchers to consider non-linearity in this field more frequently. INTRODUCTION: Many relationships in bone metabolism and homeostasis are likely to follow non-linear patterns. Detailed dose-response analyses allowing for non-linear associations nonetheless remain scarce in this field. METHODS: A detailed analysis of NHANES III data on dietary calcium intake and bone mineral density was used to demonstrate the application and some of the challenges of the most important dose-response methods, including LOESS, categorical analysis, fractional polynomials, restricted cubic splines, and segmented regression. RESULTS: The spline estimate suggested increasing bone mineral density up to a calcium intake of about 1 g/day and a plateau thereafter. In segmented regression, the break-point marking the beginning of the plateau was placed at an intake of 0.58 (95 % confidence interval, 0.33 to 0.82) g/day. Sensitivity analyses suggested a less curved dose-response in women. CONCLUSIONS: Knowing about the possibilities and limitations of non-linear dose-response approaches should encourage researchers to consider these methods more frequently in studies on bone health and disease. The example analysis suggested bone mineral density to reach a plateau slightly below current calcium intake recommendations, with fairly pronounced differences of the dose-response shape by sex and menopausal status.

Gamma-glutamyltransferase and prognosis in patients with stable coronary heart disease followed over 8 years.

OBJECTIVES: Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT) predicts incident cardiovascular disease and mortality. The present study examined whether gamma-GT also is associated with prognosis in patients with stable coronary heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study included 1152 participants (aged 30-70 years at baseline) of an in-patient rehabilitation programme after acute coronary syndrome, recruited in two rehabilitation clinics in Germany in the years 1999-2000 (KAROLA study). Until year 8 follow-up, 147 participants had experienced a non-fatal or fatal secondary cardiovascular disease event. Confounder-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models revealed an increase in risk for secondary events over ascending gamma-GT quartiles, with hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) of 1.21 (0.72-2.03), 1.32 (0.80-2.16) and 1.75 (1.08-2.83) for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th in reference to the lowest quartile (Ptrend=0.024). The association with all-cause mortality examined as a secondary outcome was slightly stronger (hazard ratio of 4th quartile: 1.97 [1.15-3.36]; Ptrend=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with stable coronary heart disease, serum gamma-GT was associated with prognosis independent of a variety of established risk markers. The association appeared similar to that reported for primary cardiovascular disease, which should motivate additional studies of its clinical utility in cardiovascular patient care.

Association of a variant in the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor 2 gene (CHRM2) with nicotine addiction.

Genetic factors contribute to the overall risk of developing nicotine addiction, which is the major cause of preventable deaths in western countries. However, knowledge regarding specific polymorphisms influencing smoking phenotypes remains scarce. In the present study we provide evidence that a common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 5' untranslated region of CHRM2, the gene coding for the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor 2 is associated with nicotine addiction. CHRM2 was defined as a candidate gene for nicotine addiction based on previous evidence that linked variations in CHRM2 to alcohol and drug dependence. A total of more than 5,500 subjects representative of the German population were genotyped and assessed regarding their smoking habits. The impact of three SNPs in CHRM2 on smoking behavior/nicotine addiction was investigated using logistic regression models or a quasi-Poisson regression model, respectively. We found the T allele of SNP rs324650 to be associated with an increased risk of smoking/nicotine dependence according to three different models, the recessive models of regular or heavy smokers vs. never-smokers (odds ratio 1.17 in both analyses) and according to the Fagerström index of nicotine addiction. In the analysis stratified by gender this association was only found in females. Our data provide further evidence that variations in CHRM2 may be associated with the genetic risk of addiction in general or with certain personality traits that predispose to the development of addiction. Alternatively, variations in CHRM2 could modulate presynaptic auto-regulation in cholinergic systems and may thereby affect an individual's response to nicotine more specifically.

Association of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha 4 polymorphisms with nicotine dependence in 5500 Germans.

Polymorphisms in the CHRNA4 gene coding the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha 4 have recently been suggested to play a role in the determination of smoking-related phenotypes. To examine this hypothesis, we conducted a genetic association study in three large samples from the German general population (N(1)=1412; N(2)=1855; N(3)=2294). Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms in CHRNA4 were genotyped in 5561 participants, including 2707 heavily smoking cases (regularly smoking at least 20 cigarettes per day) and 2399 never-smoking controls (

Association between microfilarial load and excess mortality in onchocerciasis: an epidemiological study.

BACKGROUND: Infection with the parasitic filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus can lead to severe visual impairment and ultimately blindness. Excess mortality has been noted among people with onchocerciasis, but it is not clear whether this effect is entirely due to blindness, or mediated by some more direct effects of the infection. METHODS: We assessed the relations between infection with O volvulus, visual acuity, and host mortality with data obtained by the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa from 2315 villages in 11 countries. FINDINGS: 297,756 people were eligible for follow-up, and accumulated 2,579449 person-years of follow-up from 1971 through 2001. 24,517 people died during this period; 1283 (5.2%) of these deaths were due to onchocerciasis. Mortality of the human host was significantly and positively associated with increasing microfilarial burden (p<0.00001), but not with blindness after adjustment for microfilarial load and other variables. Overall, after adjustment for microfilarial load and other variables, female individuals had a risk of death about 7.5% lower than males (p<0.00001). Rates of mortality peaked in the mid 1980s but generally decreased thereafter. INTERPRETATION: We have shown a direct relation between O volvulus microfilarial load and host mortality in a comprehensive dataset and in both sexes.