Determinants for participation in a prevention and early detection programme for children and adolescents in Germany: does social background play a role?

Early detection examinations and prevention are particularly important in childhood and adolescence, as certain diseases are already developing and health-related attitudes and behaviour patterns are formed and implemented. Despite the importance of screening and prevention, not all families use the available services and programmes. The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with participation in an early detection and prevention programme for children and adolescents, as well as factors associated with actual uptake of an examination. The analyses are based on questionnaire data of an online survey of participants and non-participants. Descriptive analyses and logistic regression models are conducted on a defined sample (n = 1,289). The results show that both groups differ with regard to several factors: age, chronic diseases, federal state, living space, number of siblings, country of birth, migration background, language spoken at home, mother's occupational status, household income, treatment duration, and trust in treating physician. Regression I shows that participation in the programme is significantly associated with higher age, language spoken at home, mother's occupational status and greater trust in the treating physician. The latter demonstrates the highest predictive power. Regression II indicates that the actual uptake of an examination among participants is significantly affected by age, federal state and father's occupational status. Overall, the results of this study show that social background partly plays a role in participation, but that factors such as trust in the treating physician also have a significant impact. For the future, further research on the factors influencing participation in screening and prevention services or programmes for children and adolescents is important in order to develop strategies to overcome existing barriers and thus reach groups that have not been reached yet. In this context, trust in the treating physician and his or her influence on decision-making should in particular be considered.

The effectiveness of additional screening examinations for children and adolescents in Germany: a longitudinal retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Continuous medical care is particularly important in childhood and adolescence. Since there are gaps in regular care in Germany, various health insurance providers offer to cover additional examinations (e.g., U10, U11, J2) to ensure ongoing paediatrician visits. However, the question arises as to whether these examinations are effective. Thus, the main objective of this study is to determine whether participation in the U10, U11 or J2 examinations leads to more frequent and earlier diagnosis and treatment of age-specific diseases. METHODS: The analyses are based on administrative claims data from a statutory health insurance fund. For each examination, an intervention group (IG) is formed and matched with a corresponding control group (CG). Descriptive analyses include proportion with diagnosis and treatment, average age of diagnosis and treatment initiation. Hypothesis testing is performed using methods appropriate to each. In addition, subgroup analyses and binominal logistic regression models are conducted. RESULTS: More diagnoses are detected in IG, irrespective of subgroups. Additionally, diagnoses are made slightly earlier on average in IG. In the total samples, more therapies are initiated in IG, and slightly earlier. Considering only diagnosed cases, more therapies are initiated in CG but continue to be started earlier in IG. Regression models show that participation in the examinations has the highest predictive power for detecting a diagnosis. The presence of a chronic disease and sex - male at the U10 and U11 and female at the J2 - are also significantly associated. The models further show that nationality, unemployment of parents and region also have a significant influence in some cases, whereas school-leaving qualification, vocational qualification and income of parents do not. Considering the initiation of treatment in overall samples, the models show similar results, but here the presence of a chronic illness has the highest predictive power. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that participation in the examinations leads to significantly more diagnoses and, in the overall samples, significantly more treatments. In addition, diagnoses were made somewhat earlier and therapies were initiated somewhat earlier. In the future, it would be useful to investigate the U10, U11 and J2 examinations over a longer time horizon to determine whether the statistically significant difference found is also clinically relevant, i.e., earlier diagnosis and initiation of therapy lead to prevention of manifestation or progression of the diagnosed diseases and to avoidance of secondary diseases. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), DRKS-ID: DRKS00015280. Prospectively registered on 18 March 2019.

A Managed Care System with Telemedicine Support for Neurological Emergencies.

OBJECTIVES: Telemedicine is frequently used to provide remote neurological expertise for acute stroke workup and was associated with better functional outcomes when combined with a stroke unit system-of-care. We investigated whether such system-of-care yields additional benefits when implemented on top of neurological competence already available onsite. METHODS: Quality improvement measures were implemented within a "hub-and-spoke" teleneurology network in 11 hospitals already provided with onsite or telestroke expertise. Measures included dedicated units for neurological emergencies, standardization of procedures, multiprofessional training, and quality-of-care monitoring. Intervention effects were investigated in a controlled study enrolling patients insured at 3 participating statutory health insurances diagnosed with acute stroke or other neurological emergencies. Outcomes during the intervention period between November 2017 and February 2020 were compared with those pre-intervention between October 2014 and March 2017. To control for temporal trends, we compared outcomes of patients with respective diagnoses in 11 hospitals of the same region. Primary outcome was the composite of up-to-90-day death, new disability with the need of ambulatory or nursing home care, expressed by adjusted hazard ratio (aHR). RESULTS: We included 1,418 patients post-implementation (55% female, mean age 76.7 ± 12.8 year) and 2,306 patients pre-implementation (56%, 75.8 ± 13.0 year, respectively). The primary outcome occurred in 479/1,418 (33.8%) patients post-implementation and in 829/2,306 (35.9%) pre-implementation. The aHR for the primary outcome was 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.79-0.99, p = 0.04) with no improvement seen in non-participating hospitals between post- versus pre-implementation periods (aHR 1.04; 95% CI: 0.95-1.15). INTERPRETATION: Implementation of a multicomponent system-of-care was associated with a lower risk of poor outcomes. ANN NEUROL 2023;93:511-521.

The detection and prevention of adverse drug events in nursing home and home care patients: Study protocol of a quasi-experimental study.

AIM: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of an intervention facilitating the early detection of adverse drug events through the means of health professional training and the application of a digital screening tool. DESIGN: Multi-centred non-randomized controlled trial from August 2018 to March 2020 including 65 nursing homes or home care providers. METHODS: We aim to estimate the effect of the intervention on the rate of adverse drug events as primary outcome through a quasi-experimental empirical study design. As secondary outcomes, we use hospital admissions and falls. All outcomes will be measured on patient-month level. Once the causal effect of the intervention is estimated, cost-effectiveness will be calculated. For cost-effectiveness, we include all patient costs observed by the German statutory health insurance. RESULTS: The results of this study will inform about the cost-effectiveness of the optimized drug supply intervention and provide evidence for potential reimbursement within the German statutory health insurance system.

Digital preventive measures for arterial hypertension (DiPaH) - a mixed-methods study protocol for health services research.

Introduction: Digital health measures promise to further improve the quality of cardiovascular care but have not yet been widely implemented in routine care. The research project Digital preventive measures for arterial hypertension (DiPaH) will systematically identify structural and individual factors in different stakeholders that influence the use of digital preventive measures in patients with arterial hypertension in Germany. Special focus is given to remote and sparsely populated areas, the age-specific impact, as well as influence of digital health literacy. Methods and analysis: The DiPaH project is an exploratory cross-sectional study with a mixed-methods design, in which written surveys and interviews with patients and physicians will be conducted. In addition, secondary data from a health insurance company will be analyzed. In module 1, individuals from the database of the health insurance company with confirmed arterial hypertension will be interviewed (1,600 questionnaires, 30 interviews). Module 2 includes users of digital prevention offers and apps (400 questionnaires, 40 interviews) and in module 3, family physicians and cardiologists will be interviewed (400 questionnaires, 40 interviews). In a final module, the overall results will be analyzed and recommendations for interventions in clinical care will be derived. Discussion: The DiPaH project will contribute to a patient-oriented and demand-based improvement of arterial hypertension prevention services in health care. Challenges and barriers will be analyzed and the respective target groups identified based on their prevention needs and social characteristics to enable a patient-centered implementation of digital prevention of arterial hypertension and cardiovascular services in general, and finally to improve cardiovascular outcomes. Clinical trial registration: https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00029761, identifier DRKS00029761.

Improving care coordination for patients with cardiac disease: Study protocol of the randomised controlled new healthcare programme (Cardiolotse).

INTRODUCTION: A lack of effective coordination and communication between ambulatory care physicians and hospitals, including the lack of follow-up care, poses a challenge to the recovery process of patients suffering from cardiac disease, often resulting in rehospitalisation and adverse outcomes. This innovative care programme aims to bridge the gap between ambulatory and hospital care. A key element of this programme is specifically trained care managers (Cardiolotse) who provide post-discharge support, access to additional resources and help the patient to navigate successfully through the healthcare system. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study is set up as a prospective, randomised, controlled trial. Allocation to intervention group (support of care managers) and control group (usual care) follows an allocation ratio of 1:1 using block randomisation. Sample size calculations resulted in 1454patients per group after adjusting for potential non-compliance. All participants are surveyed at discharge, after 3 and 12 months. The primary outcome of the study is the 12-month rehospitalisation rate. Secondary outcomes include differences in length of hospital stay, mortality, quality-adjusted life years, costs and patient satisfaction. Statistical analysis and economic evaluation will be complemented by a process evaluation. DISCUSSION: The new healthcare programme is designed to support patients when leaving hospital with cardiac conditions by easing the transition between sectors through access to Cardiolotses and individualised care plans. We hypothesise that the programme reduces rehospitalisation and improves clinically relevant patient outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trial Register, DRKS00020424. Registered 2020-06-18, http://www.drks.de/DRKS00020424.

Impact of morbidity on care need increase and mortality in nursing homes: a retrospective longitudinal study using administrative claims data.

BACKGROUND: A growing number of older people are care dependent and live in nursing homes, which accounts for the majority of long-term-care spending. Specific medical conditions and resident characteristics may serve as risk factors predicting negative health outcomes. We investigated the association between the risk of increasing care need and chronic medical conditions among nursing home residents, allowing for the competing risk of mortality. METHODS: In this retrospective longitudinal study based on health insurance claims data, we investigated 20,485 older adults (≥65 years) admitted to German nursing homes between April 2007 and March 2014 with care need level 1 or 2 (according to the three level classification of the German long-term care insurance). This classification is based on required daily time needed for assistance. The outcome was care level change. Medical conditions were determined according to 31 Charlson and Elixhauser conditions. Competing risks analyses were applied to identify chronic medical conditions associated with risk of care level change and mortality. RESULTS: The probability for care level change and mortality acted in opposite directions. Dementia was associated with increased probability of care level change compared to other conditions. Patients who had cancer, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, renal failure, chronic pulmonary disease, weight loss, or recent hospitalization were more likely to die, as well as residents with paralysis and obesity when admitted with care level 2. CONCLUSION: This paper identified risk groups of nursing home residents which are particularly prone to increasing care need or mortality. This enables focusing on these risk group to offer prevention or special treatment. Moreover, residents seemed to follow specific trajectories depending on their medical conditions. Some were more prone to increased care need while others had a high risk of mortality instead. Several conditions were neither related to increased care need nor mortality, e.g., valvular, cerebrovascular or liver disease, peripheral vascular disorder, blood loss anemia, depression, drug abuse and psychosis. Knowledge of functional status trajectories of residents over time after nursing home admission can help decision-makers when planning and preparing future care provision strategies (e.g., planning of staffing, physical equipment and financial resources).

Osteoporotic hip fracture prediction from risk factors available in administrative claims data - A machine learning approach.

OBJECTIVE: Hip fractures are among the most frequently occurring fragility fractures in older adults, associated with a loss of quality of life, high mortality, and high use of healthcare resources. The aim was to apply the superlearner method to predict osteoporotic hip fractures using administrative claims data and to compare its performance to established methods. METHODS: We devided claims data of 288,086 individuals aged 65 years and older without care level into a training (80%) and a validation set (20%). Subsequently, we trained a superlearner algorithm that considered both regression and machine learning algorithms (e.g., support vector machines, RUSBoost) on a large set of clinical risk factors. Mean squared error and measures of discrimination and calibration were employed to assess prediction performance. RESULTS: All algorithms used in the analysis showed similar performance with an AUC ranging from 0.66 to 0.72 in the training and 0.65 to 0.70 in the validation set. Superlearner showed good discrimination in the training set but poorer discrimination and calibration in the validation set. CONCLUSIONS: The superlearner achieved similar predictive performance compared to the individual algorithms included. Nevertheless, in the presence of non-linearity and complex interactions, this method might be a flexible alternative to be considered for risk prediction in large datasets.

Regional variation of care dependency after hip fracture in Germany: A retrospective cohort study using health insurance claims data.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate variation of care dependency after hip fracture across German regions based on the assessment by the German statutory long-term care insurance. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Patient-level statutory health and long-term care insurance claims data from 2009-2011 and official statistical data from Germany. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a retrospective cohort study. Investigated multinomial outcome categories were increase in care dependency (new onset or a higher care dependency than pre-fracture), no change as reference and death as competing risk in the quarterly period following hip fracture (follow-up 3 months). Regional variation was operationalized with the variance of regional-level random intercepts based on generalized linear mixed models. We adjusted for patient and regional characteristics. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The study included 122,887 hip fracture patients in 95 German postal code regions. Crude outcomes were 30.87% increase in care dependency and 14.35% death. Results indicated modest variation on regional level. Male sex, increasing age, increasing comorbidity, pertrochanteric and subtrochanteric fracture site compared to femoral neck, time from hospital admission to surgery of 3 or more days, as well as increasing inpatient length of stay, non-participation in rehabilitation and regions with lower hospital density were positively associated with an increase in care dependency. CONCLUSIONS: Several characteristics on patient and regional level associated with the outcome were identified. Variation in the increase in care dependency after hip fracture appeared to be attributable primarily to patient characteristics. Variation on regional level was only modest.

How does the integration of collaborative care elements in a gatekeeping system affect the costs for mental health care in Germany?

Mental disorders are widespread, debilitating and associated with high costs. In Germany, usual care (UC) for mental disorders is afflicted by poor coordination between providers and long waiting times. Recently, the primary alternative to UC-the gatekeeping-based general practitioners (GP) program-was extended by the collaborative Psychiatry-Neurology-Psychotherapy (PNP) program, which is a selective contract designed to improve mental health care and the allocation of resources. Here, we assess the effects of the GP program and the PNP program on costs for mental health care. We analyzed claims data from 2014 to 2016 of 55,472 adults with a disorder addressed by PNP to compare costs and sick leave days between PNP, the GP program and UC. The individuals were grouped and balanced via entropy balancing to adjust for potentially confounding covariates. We employed a negative binomial model to compare sick leave days and two-part models to compare sick pay, outpatient, inpatient and medication costs over a 12-month period. The PNP program significantly reduced sick pay by 164€, compared to UC, and by 177€, compared to the GP program. Consistently, sick leave days were lower in PNP. We found lower inpatient costs in PNP than in UC (-194€) and in the GP program (-177€), but no reduction in those shares of inpatient costs that accrued in psychiatric or neurological departments. Our results suggest that integrating collaborative care elements in a gatekeeping system can favourably impact costs. In contrast, we found no evidence that the widely implemented GP program reduces costs for mental health care.

Multifactorial intervention for hip and pelvic fracture patients with mild to moderate cognitive impairment: study protocol of a dual-centre randomised controlled trial (OF-CARE).

BACKGROUND: A hip or pelvic fracture is a major fall-related injury which often causes a decline in mobility performance and physical activity. Over 40% of patients with hip fracture have cognitive impairment or dementia and poorer rehabilitation outcomes than those without cognitive impairment. In this subgroup, there is a lack of evidence on the best practices supporting recovery. The main aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a transitional care intervention after inpatient rehabilitation on physical activity and functional performance in this group of cognitively impaired patients. METHODS/DESIGN: This dual-centre, randomised controlled trial compares a multifactorial intervention with usual care as control condition. Two hundred and forty community-dwellers (≥ 65 years) with a hip or pelvic fracture and mild to moderate cognitive impairment (MMSE 17-26) are recruited at the end of inpatient rehabilitation. The four-month intervention consists of (a) an individually tailored, progressive home exercise program and physical activity promotion delivered by professional instructors and lay instructors (two home visits per week) and (b) a long-term care counselling approach addressing unmet care needs, pleasurable activities, and caregiver issues if needed. Primary outcome parameters are physical activity, measured as daily walking duration with an accelerometer-based activity monitor (activPAL™) over 72 h, and functional performance, assessed with Short Physical Performance Battery sum scores. Secondary outcome parameters are fear of falling, fall related self-efficacy, falls, quality of life, depression and activity of daily living. Data are collected at the end of rehabilitation, before the intervention at the patient's home (baseline), after four months (post-intervention), and seven months (follow-up). In addition to completer and intent-to-treat analyses of outcomes, economic data and incremental cost-effectiveness are analysed. DISCUSSION: Existing service models of volunteer services and legal counselling provided by care counsellors were considered when developing the intervention protocol. Therefore, it should be feasible to translate and deliver the intervention into real-world practice if it has been demonstrated to be effective. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00008863 (Accessed 17 Apr 2019), ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN69957256 (Accessed 17 Apr 2019).

[Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors at The Population Level: A Comparison of Ambulatory Physician-Coded Claims Data With Clinical Data From A Population-Based Study]. / Untersuchung der Prävalenz kardiologischer Risikofaktoren in der Allgemeinbevölkerung: Ein Vergleich ambulanter ärztlicher Abrechnungsdaten mit Daten einer populationsbasierten Studie.

OBJECTIVE: The study assesses the validity of ICD-10 coded cardiovascular risk factors in claims data using gold-standard measurements from a population-based study for arterial hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking and obesity as a reference. METHODS: Data of 1941 participants (46 % male, mean age 58±13 years) of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) were linked to electronic medical records from the regional association of statutory health insurance physicians from 2008 to 2012 used for billing purposes. Clinical data from SHIP was used as a gold standard to assess the agreement with claims data for ICD-10 codes I10.- (arterial hypertension), E10.- to E14.- (diabetes mellitus), E78.- (dyslipidemia), F17.- (smoking) and E65.- to E68.- (obesity). RESULTS: A higher agreement between ICD-coded and clinical diagnosis was found for diabetes (sensitivity (sens) 84%, specificity (spec) 95%, positive predictive value (ppv) 80%) and hypertension (sens 72%, spec 93%, ppv 97%) and a low level of agreement for smoking (sens 18%, spec 99%, ppv 89%), obesity (sens 22%, spec 99%, ppv 99%) and dyslipidemia (sens 40%, spec 60%, ppv 70%). Depending on the investigated cardiovascular risk factor, medication, documented additional cardiovascular co-morbidities, age, sex and clinical severity were associated with the ICD-coded cardiovascular risk factor. CONCLUSION: The quality of ICD-coding in ambulatory care is highly variable for different cardiovascular risk factors and outcomes. Diagnoses were generally undercoded, but those relevant for billing were coded more frequently. Our results can be used to quantify errors in population-based estimates of prevalence based on claims data for the investigated cardiovascular risk factors.

Patient Characteristics as Indicator for Care Dependence after Hip Fracture: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Health Insurance Claims Data From Germany.

OBJECTIVES: Hip fractures are common consequences of falls in older adults and, among other negative health outcomes, often lead to care dependence in the long term. Until 2016, the German long-term care insurance classified care recipients according to a standardized classification system consisting of 3 care levels. It was based on required assistance in performing activities of daily living and assessed by a qualified physician or nurse. Thus, care level reflects the degree of care dependence. The aim of this study was to determine relevant patient characteristics, which are related to the likelihood of increasing care dependence in terms of worsening care level after hip fracture. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Statutory health insurance claims data including 122,922 insured individuals living in Germany and aged 65 years or older, who sustained a hip fracture from 2009 through 2011. MEASURES: The association of patient characteristics with worsening care level in the quarterly period after hip fracture was investigated by means of multinomial logit regression analysis. Death constitutes a competing risk and was modeled as additional nominal outcome. RESULTS: Among all patients, crude rates were 30.9% for worsening care level, 54.8% for unchanged care level, and 14.4% for death after hip fracture. The multivariate analysis revealed that patient factors male sex, increasing age, increasing comorbidity, increasing inpatient length of stay, and a lack of inpatient rehabilitation were significantly associated with a worsening care level. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: This study uses the German standardized measurement of care dependence in terms of worsening care level after hip fracture and finds various related patient characteristics. Knowledge of these characteristics helps to identify possible risk groups for care dependence after hip fracture, for which special attention can be provided regarding treatment and prevention of hip fractures.

Leadership position and physician visits - results of a nationally representative longitudinal study in Germany.

BACKGROUND: So far, studies within the occupational field have largely concentrated on working conditions and job stressors and staff members' or subordinate health. Only a few have focused on managers in this context, but studies are missing that explicitly look at the relation between leadership position and health care use (HCU). Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the potential effects of a change in leadership position on HCU in women and men longitudinally. METHODS: Data were drawn from a nationally representative longitudinal study in Germany (German Socio-Economic Panel, GSOEP). Data from 2009 and 2013 were used. Leadership position was divided into (i) top management, (ii) middle management, (iii) lower management, and (iv) a highly qualified specialist position. The number of physician visits in the preceding 3 months were used to quantify HCU (n = 2140 observations in regression analysis; 69% male). RESULTS: Adjusting for various potential confounders (e.g., age, self-rated health, chronic conditions, and personality factors), Poisson FE regression analysis revealed that changes from a highly qualified specialist position to the top management were associated with a decrease in the number of physician visits in men (ß = .47, p < .05), but not in women. Gender differences (gender x leadership position) were significant. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this study emphasize the impact of leadership positions on the number of physician visits in men. Further study is required to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Collaborative mental health care program versus a general practitioner program and usual care for treatment of patients with mental or neurological disorders in Germany: protocol of a multiperspective evaluation study.

BACKGROUND: German statutory health insurances are pursuing the goal of improving treatment of chronically ill people by promoting networks of health care providers and supporting treatments that reflect the current medical knowledge. The so-called PNP program is a collaborative care program developed by a German statutory health insurance, which defines specific rules on psychiatric, neurological, psychosomatic, and psychotherapeutic treatment. It aims to strengthen provision of guideline-based outpatient treatment and collaboration between different health care providers. It includes the general practitioners' program, which aims to strengthen the coordinating role of GPs. This study aims to evaluate the PNP program. METHODS: To evaluate the effectiveness of the PNP program, we will conduct a prospective non-randomized controlled trial with primary data comparing patients enrolled in the PNP program and in the general practitioner program (intervention group) to patients enrolled only in the general practitioner program and patients who receive usual care (control groups). To evaluate costs and level of detail of diagnoses in care of patients with PNP program, we will use routinely collected secondary administrative health data in a retrospective quasi-experimental design. Patients who are at least 18 years old, insured by the statutory health insurance AOK, and on sick leave due to one of the mental or neurological diagnoses (affective, anxiety, somatoform or adjustment disorders, alcohol use disorders, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis) will be included. We will collect data at baseline and at 12-months follow-up. Health-related quality of life (primary data) and direct costs (secondary data) caused by outpatient and inpatient service utilization and medication will be the primary outcomes. We will analyze data using (generalized) linear mixed models and exploratory analyses. We will use entropy balancing to control for possible differences between the groups. We will use an exploratory sequential design including qualitative and descriptive statistical analyses to assess the structure and process quality of the PNP program among health care providers. DISCUSSION: The results will help to develop a comprehensive picture of collaborative care programs for mental and neurological health care from the perspective of patients, health care providers, and health insurance companies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trial Register DRKS00013114.

Obesity and sickness absence: results from a longitudinal nationally representative sample from Germany.

OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed at investigating the longitudinal association between obesity and sickness absence in women and men in Germany. METHODS: Data were derived from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) which is a nationally representative, longitudinal study of private households in Germany. We draw on data from 2002 to 2012. Information on self-rated body mass index has been collected every second wave since 2002. Sick leave days (total number of working days missed due to illness in the past calendar year) and sick from work for more than 6 weeks in the preceding 12 months (yes/no) were used as outcome measures. Fixed-effects (FE) regression models were used for the total sample and stratified by sex. Gender differences were examined using interaction terms (sex × weight category). RESULTS: Controlling for several potential confounders, Poisson FE regression analysis showed that transitions from normal weight to obesity were associated with an increase in sick leave days in women (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.27, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.57) but not in men (IRR 0.85, 95 % CI 0.68 to 1.06)-with significant gender differences (sex × obesity, p<0.01). Moreover, conditional FE logistic regressions showed that transitions from normal weight to overweight were associated with an increase in the probability of long-term absenteeism in women (overweight, OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.85) but not in men (overweight, OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.09). Gender differences were significant (sex × overweight, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings stress the longitudinal association between excess weight and increased likelihood of sick leave days as well as long-term absenteeism in women.

Development of a risk assessment tool for osteoporotic fracture prevention: A claims data approach.

BACKGROUND: In aging societies osteoporotic fractures are a major health problem with high economic costs. Targeting prevention at individuals at high risk is important to reduce the future burden of fractures. Available risk assessment tools (e.g., FRAX®, QFracture, the algorithm provided by the German Osteology Society (DVO-Tool)) rely on self-reported patient information to predict fracture risk. Time and resource constraints, limited access to clinical data, and (un)willingness to participate may hamper the use of these tools. To overcome such obstacles, the aim is to develop a fracture risk assessment tool based on claims data that may be directly used on an institutional level. METHODS: Administrative claims data of an elderly (≥65years) population (N=298,530) for the period from 2006 through 2014 was used. Major osteoporotic fractures (MOF) were identified based on hospital diagnoses. We applied Cox proportional hazard regression to determine the association of individual risk factors and fracture risk. Hazard ratios were used to construct a risk score. The discriminative ability of the score was evaluated using C-statistics. RESULTS: We identified 7864 MOF during follow-up. The median time to first fracture during follow-up was 371.5days. Individuals with a MOF during follow-up had a higher mean and median risk score (mean: 4.53; median: 4) than individuals without MOF (mean: 3.07; median: 3). Adding drug-related risk factors slightly improved discrimination compared to a simple model with age, gender, and prior fracture. CONCLUSION: We developed a fracture risk score model based on in-hospital treated subjects to predict MOF that can be used on an institutional level. The score included age, sex and prior fracture as risk factors. Adding other risk factors involved very small improvement in discrimination.