[Basic knowledge on concussion in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL)]. / Wissensgrundlagen zur Gehirnerschütterung in der Deutschen Eishockey Liga (DEL).

OBJECTIVE: In professional ice hockey there is a high incidence of concussion. In order to implement preventative measures as well as to introduce a treatment concept it is necessary to analyse the basic knowledge about concussion of all participants and to identify aspects requiring additional educational measures. METHOD: By means of an internet-based questionnaire comprising 18 questions, trainers and co-trainers, sport directors, team physicians and team captains of all teams in the German ice hockey league were interviewed about their knowledge and impressions with regard to general knowledge, game-stop, protection, and training as well as their opinions about changing the penalty system. RESULTS: The response rate amounted to 57.8 %. Not only team physicians but also players, trainers and sport directors exhibited a good basic knowledge on concussion, duration of treatment and rehabilitation as well as possible long-term sequelae. There were only slight differences in knowledge between team physicians and not-medically trained personnel. This survey also revealed a broad support for educational measures about concussion and the possibility for rule changes to further protect the players. CONCLUSION: There appears to be an acceptable basic knowledge about concussion and its symptoms and no major underestimation of the problems. All participants were in favour of the provision of further information as well as the implementation of preventative measures.

[Economic effects of chronic pain in childhood and adolescence: self-assessment of health care costs for affected families before and after a multidisciplinary inpatient pain therapy]. / Familiäre finanzielle Belastung durch chronische Schmerzen im Kindes- und Jugendalter : Selbsteinschätzung der Krankheitskosten für betroffene Familien vor und nach einer stationären interdisziplinären Schmerztherapie.

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain in children and adolescents causes a high utilization of the health care system and thereby significant costs. The aim of the present study is to describe the economic effects of pediatric chronic pain from the family's perspective. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Six months before and 6 and 12 months after a 3-week inpatient-based intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment, the parents of 101 children with chronic pain filled in a standardized cost questionnaire containing the following parameters: (1) child's utilization of medical and social services, (2) subjective financial burden, and (3) type and extent of direct costs. RESULTS: During the 6 months before inpatient-based intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment, children used a median of four different services. After inpatient pain treatment, service utilization has been reduced significantly (p < 0.001). One fifth of the families report a high or very high financial burden before treatment. Family's direct costs are most often caused by travelling (86 %) and drugs (60 %). After inpatient pain treatment, family's financial burden decreased significantly (p < 0.001). The frequency of additional expenditures is also reduced after treatment: parents report less additional costs due to travelling and drugs (p < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: The present study emphasizes the pronounced utilization of health and social care due to pediatric chronic pain. In the future, the use of appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic standards that contribute to avoiding unnecessary and expensive interventions is preferred.

Influence of parental occupation on access to specialised treatment for paediatric chronic pain: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine patients' travel distances to a tertiary paediatric pain clinic and to analyse the association between travel distance and the parents' occupational skill level and the patients' pain characteristics. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The retrospective study consisted of 2,248 children assessed at the first evaluation. All children (0-20 years) who visited the clinic during a 5-year period (2005-2010) were enrolled in this study. RESULTS: The mean travel distance was 81 km, and the 80 % catchment area was 109 km. Children of parents with a high occupational skill level had a 1.5-fold higher probability of travelling from outside the catchment area. The 80 % catchment area increased constantly with increasing occupational skill level. Additional significant factors for greater distance travelled were high impairment, musculoskeletal pain, long pain duration and a high number of previous physician contacts. CONCLUSION: The association between travel distance and parental occupational skill level suggests that there is social injustice due to access barriers based on socioeconomic deprivation and education. An increase in the number of health care facilities for chronic pain in children would be a first step in rectifying this injustice.

A de novo mutation in KIT causes white spotting in a subpopulation of German Shepherd dogs.

Although variation in the KIT gene is a common cause of white spotting among domesticated animals, KIT has not been implicated in the diverse white spotting observed in the dog. Here, we show that a loss-of-function mutation in KIT recapitulates the coat color phenotypes observed in other species. A spontaneous white spotting observed in a pedigree of German Shepherd dogs was mapped by linkage analysis to a single locus on CFA13 containing KIT (pairwise LOD = 15). DNA sequence analysis identified a novel 1-bp insertion in the second exon that co-segregated with the phenotype. The expected frameshift and resulting premature stop codons predicted a severely truncated c-Kit receptor with presumably abolished activity. No dogs homozygous for the mutation were recovered from multiple intercrosses (P = 0.01), suggesting the mutation is recessively embryonic lethal. These observations are consistent with the effects of null alleles of KIT in other species.

Necrotizing meningoencephalitis of Pug dogs associates with dog leukocyte antigen class II and resembles acute variant forms of multiple sclerosis.

Necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME) is a disorder of Pug Dogs that appears to have an immune etiology and high heritability based on population studies. The present study was undertaken to identify a genetic basis for the disease. A genome-wide association scan with single tandem repeat (STR) markers showed a single strong association near the dog leukocyte antigen (DLA) complex on CFA12. Fine resolution mapping with 27 STR markers on CFA12 further narrowed association to the region containing DLA-DRB1, -DQA1 and, -DQB1 genes. Sequencing confirmed that affected dogs were more likely to be homozygous for specific alleles at each locus and that these alleles were linked, forming a single high risk haplotype. The strong DLA class II association of NME in Pug Dogs resembles that of human multiple sclerosis (MS). Like MS, NME appears to have an autoimmune basis, involves genetic and nongenetic factors, has a relatively low incidence, is more frequent in females than males, and is associated with a vascularly orientated nonsuppurative inflammation. However, NME of Pug Dogs is more aggressive in disease course than classical human MS, appears to be relatively earlier in onset, and involves necrosis rather than demyelination as the central pathobiologic feature. Thus, Pug Dog encephalitis (PDE) shares clinical features with the less common acute variant forms of MS. Accordingly, NME of Pug Dogs may represent a naturally occurring canine model of certain idiopathic inflammatory disorders of the human central nervous system.

[Relationship between health-related quality of life and multimorbidity]. / Gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität bei Multimorbidität.

OBJECTIVES: Changed morbidity patterns in many industrialised countries lead to new requirements concerning the health-care process. In contrast to a complete cure and due to increasing (multiple) chronic conditions with longevity, the alleviation of complaints and thereby securing the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is coming more and more into the focus of efforts. The objective of this review is to analyse the effects of (multiple) chronic conditions on HRQoL. Another aim is to ascertain to what extent the number and specific combination of conditions have an impact on HRQoL. METHODS: This review is based on a systematic literature search using MeSH terms in Medline/Pubmed and several publisher databases. Inclusion criteria focus particularly on the relationship between multimorbidity and HRQoL. RESULTS: Findings of the literature search clearly show that existing chronic conditions have a negative impact on HRQoL. Most studies conclude that the quality of life decreases with an increasing number of diseases. In comparison to mental or social dimensions, the inverse relationship between multimorbidity and HRQoL is significantly stronger in physical dimensions. Particularly cardiovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders result in severe losses of HRQoL. Furthermore, the HRQoL is reduced by specific disease combinations. Patterns of disease combinations influence the degree of HRQoL loss, as well. CONCLUSION: A clear understanding of the impacts of multimorbidity and specific morbidity patterns on the different dimensions of HRQoL can help to optimise the health-care process for the patients benefit. This optimised process should not separate between single diagnoses, but focus on the concurrence of multiple conditions having regard to patient-relevant outcome HRQoL. For example, one potential is to focus efforts on key conditions in the cooccurrence of multiple diseases (like musculoskeletal disorders). The current state of research on specific morbidity patterns and their impacts on HRQoL is limited. Especially for the German-speaking areas further analyses are needed.

[Multimorbidity and health-related quality of life among elderly persons]. / Gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität bei Multimorbidität im Alter.

Aim of this study was to analyze the effects of single diseases and multimorbidity on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the elderly. Based on data from telephone interviews with the getABI cohort, empirical analyses were conducted. To evaluate HRQoL, 2,120 participants (76.29 +/- 4.48 years old, 46.3% male) completed the EQ-5D and the SF-8 questionnaire. There is an inverse relationship between HRQoL and multimorbidity in the elderly. In comparison to psychological dimensions, physical domains decrease more clearly with rising morbidity. Analyzing the influence of single diseases, particularly cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases diagnosed in the last two years, the long-term existence of peripheral arterial disease and dysfunctions of the musculoskeletal system result in severe loss of HRQoL in older persons. Information on HRQoL can help health care providers obtain a comprehensive picture of their older and often multimorbid patients' state and perception of health. An optimized health care process should not only focus on the individual diagnoses, but also on the extent of multimorbidity and associated HRQoL effects.