Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
[Are members of fibromyalgia syndrome self-help groups "different"? Demographic and clinical characteristics of members and non-members of fibromyalgia syndrome self-help groups].
No data were available on demographic and clinical characteristics of members of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) self-help groups in Germany. ⋯ Membership in FMS self-help groups was associated with less psychological distress and a more frequent use of active self-management strategies.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
[Productivity costs of rheumatoid arthritis in Germany. Cost composition and prediction of main cost components].
Identification of predictors for the productivity cost components: (1) sick leave, and (2) work disability in gainfully employed and (3) impaired household productivity in unemployed patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from the societal perspective. ⋯ Interventions such as reduction in disease progression and control of disease activity, early vocational rehabilitation measures and vocational retraining in patients at risk of quitting working life, and self-management programs to learn coping strategies might decrease future RA-related productivity costs.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
[Rheumatologic treatment in the G-DRG system].
On June 27 2000, the German Self-Administration and lately the German Ministry of Health set the general conditions for a new reimbursement system for the inpatient hospital sector which is based nearly exclusively on lump-sum payments. The Association of Acute Rheumatology Hospitals (VRA) and the DRG-Research-Group, Münster University Hospital, conducted a multi-center trial which included 7266 cases from 22 different hospitals. The data were used to analyze how well the not yet German healthcare adjusted G-DRG system (version 1.0) accounts for rheumatologic diagnostics and treatment as well as problems of specialized hospitals. 7 Adjacent-DRGs covered 91% of all cases, 68% of all cases were grouped into only two different Adjacent-DRGs (169 Bone Diseases and Specific Arthropathies and 166 Other Connective Tissue Disorders). ⋯ The results strongly supported the assumption that an accurate reimbursement of rheumatologic cases in the current G-DRG system 1.0 would not have been possible. Adaptations made in the new G-DRG Version 2004 can only partly solve these problems, despite an improved construction of the DRGs. In order to guarantee an appropriate reimbursement of rheumatology clinics from 2005 on, the G-DRG system must be adapted to specific rheumatological pathways and/or alternative or additional reimbursement systems have to be found.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
[Costs and benefits of an education program for patients with ankylosing spondylitis as part of an inpatient rehabilitation programs-study design and first results].
The economic evaluation of a patient education program "ankylosing spondylitis"-based on a randomised controlled prospective multi-center study design-compares program costs and savings in direct and indirect follow-up costs. The collection of health services and cost data was conducted by questioning staff (education programme costs) and patients (follow-up costs). ⋯ Savings in indirect costs (unfitness to work) amount to 2500 euro and thus overcompensate program costs. Currently patient data are verified by sickness fund data and direct follow-up costs and qualitiy of life data are analysed.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
[Real time collection of pain profile in treatment with ibuprofen].
In an open three-center pilot study, 17 patients suffering from chronic persistent pain syndrome, due to osteoarthritis of the hip and knee or spondylarthrosis, were treated orally with 1800-2400 mg Ibuprofen per day for 3 weeks. The chronic pain syndrome and joint status were assessed by the physician at the beginning, and after 7, 14 and 21 days. Self-assessments were made by the patients six times daily during the full study period by means of battery-driven electronic diaries (E. ⋯ The closely-meshed real-time recording of pain course and other subjective data, such as adverse events or medication, etc., enables the physician to calculate more exactly and reliably improvement rates, as well as to carry out prognostic trend analyses and individual benefit-risk-ratio estimates. By comparing different kinds of data, each entered at the same time, plausibility checks are possible. The procedure presented here is considered to be a new valuable tool for reviewing subjective data from clinical drug trials.