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Biomedical subjects

H van den Bussche

Publications and source records attributed to H van den Bussche.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Research on health care for the elderly. Prevention, case management, and care for patients with dementia].

Three examples serve to highlight challenges for health care that stem from population ageing and the health situation of the elderly. The first challenge is to develop and evaluate prevention and health promotion programmes for the elderly. Two promising interventions are outlined: 'preventive home visits' and 'active health promotion in old age'. The second challenge is to improve the coordination of health and social care measures. Case management is presented as one adequate approach in this regard. The third challenge stems from the increasing prevalence of age-specific diseases. In terms of dementia it is pointed out that it is important to improve early diagnosis and to integrate self-help groups and counselling services into therapy.

Aged, 80 and over↗
PubMed2006

[The new curriculum for surgery in Hamburg, Germany].

In October 2004, the medical faculty of Hamburg University started a program to restructure completely clinical teaching according to new state regulations of June 2002. In this new curriculum design, the surgical disciplines were horizontally and vertically interconnected and integrated, with a focus on practical training and problem-based teaching. This study describes the concept of clinical teaching and presents the student evaluation results of the first four blocks with a focus on performance in surgical disciplines. There was high student satisfaction with the new program, compared with results before October 2004 and also with respect to other disciplines within the new curriculum. This was especially true for the practical courses in the newly established skills lab. Future developments in e-learning and practical teaching in the skills lab are necessary to overcome restrictions on medical education due to changes in the German health care system.

Curriculum↗
PubMed2006

[Disease Management Program for diabetes mellitus type 2: cooperation or resistance of the general practitioner].

AIM: of the study was to seize the attitudes of General Practitioners (GPs) towards the disease management program (DMP) for type 2 diabetes implemented in summer 2003 in Germany. Moreover we were interested in the way GPs realise the program in daily practice, e. g. how many patients and which patients they include. METHOD: A postal questionnaire was sent twice to all GPs in the region of Hamburg (n = 1.230), in November 2003 and in December 2004. Response rate without reminder was 20 respective 16 percent. RESULTS: In 2004 81 percent of the GPs taking part in the survey participate in the DMP. These doctors include a third of their patients with type 2 diabetes into the program. 65 percent of the GPs nevertheless do not believe, that the patients will benefit from the program. 47 percent of the participating GPs object to DMP in general. Only 66 percent say they follow the DMP guidelines for pharmacotherapy. Half of the doctors state they actively canvass patients for the program, while one fifth says they advice patients against participation. The GPs participate in first line to supply the demand of the patients and because of the public pressure less because they think the DMP is good in respect of content. In 2003 critics and pessimism regarding benefit for patients were even stronger than in 2004. CONCLUSIONS: GPs participate in the DMP diabetes half-heartedly and with doubts. The results suggest selections in the inclusion of patients. Further research should find out whether patients being likely to profit from the DMP are systematically not included.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2006

[Which patients are (not) included in the DMP diabetes programme?].

AIM: The disease management programme for diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMP) is joined by many General Practitioners. Aim of the study is to compare patients included in this programme with patients not included and to explore reasons for the selection. METHODS: 10 GPs in Hamburg participated. From each patient list 10 participants in the DMP and the same number of non-participants were randomly selected. HbA1c before start of the programme, presence of insulin therapy, comorbidity and language skills were documented. GPs reported their estimation of the compliance and their reasoning in the selection process. The hypothesis for the primary endpoint was: Diabetics not included have a worse HbA1c value than those included in the DMP. RESULTS: The hypothesis was not confirmed. In both groups similarly good HbA1c values were observed (7.0 in DMP participants, 7.3 in non-participants). The included participants differed from those not included with respect to age (statistically significantly younger) and a better compliance. In the subgroup of patients younger than 70 years the patients included have a better HbA1c and get insulin more frequently (both n. s.). CONCLUSIONS: One part of the patients seems to be not included into the DMP for good reasons. Two questions should be further evaluated: To what extent are patients included although they already have a good metabolic situation? And to what extent are patients with a poor compliance not included, although they might benefit from participation?

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Transdermal iontophoretic delivery of apomorphine in patients improved by surfactant formulation pretreatment.

The objective of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of transdermal iontophoretic delivery of R-apomorphine, a potent dopamine agonist, in combination with surfactant pretreatment in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. Iontophoresis patches were applied in 16 patients for 3.5 h, with 0.5 h of passive delivery followed by 3 h of current application at a current density of 250 microA/cm2. Eight of these patients were treated with a surfactant formulation prior to iontophoresis. The pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamic effects, systemic and local side effects of R-apomorphine were assessed. The plasma concentration vs. time profiles upon iontophoresis of R-apomorphine were described successfully by a novel pharmacokinetic model. The model suggests that only 1.9% of the dose that has been released from the patch accumulated in the skin. The patients treated with the surfactant formulations showed a statistically significant increase of bioavailability (from 10.6+/-0.8% to 13.2+/-1.4%) and of the steady state input rate (from 75.3+/-6.6 to 98.3+/-12.1 nmol/cm2 h) compared to the control patients (iontophoresis without absorption enhancers). In five out of eight patients in the study group and in three out of eight patients in the control group, clinical improvement was observed.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed2005

[Medicine in old age and in the elderly. Educational concepts in area Q7 of the accreditation requirements and its first evaluation by students].

Until very recently, medicine in old age was not an obligatory part of the medical students' education in Germany. This has been changed by an educational reform. However, there are no obliging recommendations or procedures on which issues of medicine in old age should be taught. Therefore, we describe the development of a new curriculum, first experiences with the teaching, and the results of its evaluation by the students at the University of Hamburg. As a result, the subjects and the didactic teaching were both well accepted by the students and judged as interesting and instructive.

Accreditation↗
PubMed2004

[Effectiveness of an outpatient disease management programme for chronic heart insufficiency patients].

The effectivity of a disease management programme (DMP) for outpatients suffering from chronic heart insufficiency (CHI) in primary care is presented. The programme is predominantly based on a weekly telephone monitoring by a case manager using a standardised questionnaire that scores CHI-relevant information of the patient. If the score exceeds a predefined limit the patient's general practitioner is alarmed. An observational study including a total of 115 patients indicates a significant decline of the hospital admission rate (p < 0.0001), as the primary outcome measure, whereas the total length of hospitalization remained constant. The findings are compared with other studies' results and the aims of a randomised controlled trial on the efficacy of DMP on patients with chronic heart failure are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

[Doubtful evidence for the use of the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil in patients with dementia--a systematic review].

OBJECTIVE: Objective of this systematic review is to determine the level of scientific evidence for the use of Donepezil in Alzheimer's Disease. METHODS: Ten randomised controlled double-blind trials testing Donepezil versus Placebo were identified in MEDLINE and EMBASE. All ten trials were included in this systematic review. Following a detailed catalogue of criteria the methodological standard of the ten trials was assessed. RESULTS: The authors of eight trials postulated statistically significant differences in favour of Donepezil. Unfortunately, the methodological standard of all studies was insufficient. The methodological shortcomings are discussed in detail. CONCLUSION: With regard to severe methodological deficiencies the evidence for the use of Donepezil in moderate to severe Alzheimer's Disease is lacking. But even if the trials had been conducted in a methodologically correct way the clinical relevance of the postulated positive results would have to be questioned.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

[SF-36 Health Survey in Rehabilitation Research. Findings from the North German Network for Rehabilitation Research, NVRF, within the rehabilitation research funding program].

The SF-36 Health Survey and its 12-item abridged form is an instrument for the assessment of health related quality of life that can be used with healthy persons and patient populations. Its use has been recommended within a large German multicentre rehabilitation research programme. The paper examines missing data across all five study projects of the North German Network for Rehabilitation Research (NVRF) as well as psychometric properties of the instrument. In addition, data were compared to representative norm data using the SF-36 (SF-12) in the German National Health Survey. Results showed that there were few missing data in the SF-36. Examining the impact of age, gender and health status yielded effects of higher age and female gender on missing data. Psychometric analyses showed good to excellent results of the instrument in terms of scale fit and reliability. In terms of convergent validity, medium to high correlation of the SF-36 subscales with comparable instruments (e. g. SCL-90-R) could be found. Summarizing, the SF-36/SF-12 can be recommended for use in rehabilitation research. Analyses regarding sensitivity should be conducted in future studies.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2003

[Who should decide on applications for medical rehabilitation? A critical reappraisal of the proposals of the Advisory Board on Concerted Action in Health Care].

Summary. In Germany the allocation of rehabilitation services depends on a decision of one of the social insurance funds. This decision is taken on the basis of an assessment of the application file by a physician of the fund. The general practitioner who may be the best informed professional as to the patients' disability, has no decision power in this allocation process. In 2001, however, the prestigious Advisory Board to the Ministry of Health proposed to leave the allocation to the general practitioner or another physician in office practice, thus restricting the role of the fund to verifying the appropriateness of the decision of the GP. This proposal is reviewed on the basis of the results of a survey among all general practitioners in the four Länder of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Sachsen-Anhalt (n = 2110; response rate of 46%) done between 1999 and 2001. Furthermore, several steps and measures are proposed in view of increasing the involvement of the GP in the allocation process and of improving the communication between the funds and the general practitioners.

Eligibility Determination↗
PubMed2000

[Comparison of two different educational concepts in general practice].

In a postgraduate training course in general practice in Hamburg two different educational concepts were used and compared with each other. One was oriented more towards problem-based learning, the other more towards lectures. The participants were asked to fill in a written questionnaire after each day (n = 970) and at the end of the course (n = 26). Both courses achieved good results. On a five point scale the median of the general satisfaction was 4. The problem oriented course, however, was judged better than the other in many respects.

Education, Medical, Continuing↗
PubMed1999

[Need for rehabilitation from the viewpoint of the general practitioner].

In Germany, the general practitioner plays an important role in the allocation process of rehabilitative measures. A survey concerning the questions of need, demand and effectiveness of medical rehabilitation measures as seen from the general practitioner's perspective in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein und Halle/Saale (n = 956) in 1999 shows that general practitioners have a rather positive attitude towards rehabilitation in general. With regard to the different measures within the rehabilitation system they show a differentiated opinion. As they see a large percentage of over- and underuse of rehabilitation they would appreciate that their information on the patient would be more intensively taken into account in the allocation process.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1998

[Utilization of general (monitoring) practices based on environmental medicine problems].

How often do general practitioners have to deal with environmental problems? To answer this question 23 GPs recorded all relevant consultations during one year in Hamburg. On an average, each of these GPs reported one contact once a month. The spectrum of both patient complaints and environmental sources was broad. The GP is less often convinced of a causal connection between both than the patient. In most cases a referral was not necessary. This study supports the assumption that the frequency of environmental problems in General Practice is--at least in the larger cities--lower than estimated from former studies and the self-image of general practice in Germany.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[General medicine in France and in Germany: current situation and future trends].

The health care system has been built up, both in France and Germany, on the same Bismarckian model: health insurance is financed by contributions from employers and employees, ambulatory care is provided by GPs and specialists in private practice ... etc... Since the 90's, in both countries, there has been a move to strengthen the prestige of GPs and broaden their functions in view of lowering the cost of the health system. However, cost containment has not been the single objective. Several laws have been voted for initiating the gatekeeping function of GPs, controlling the installation of specialists in ambulatory care (private practice), reducing the free choice of care providers by the patients... At the same time, post-graduate training in general practice has been strengthened. Due to historical and cultural reasons, several differences appear in the two countries. For example, confidentiality is strictly observed in Germany and health ID appears only in the French system. We are at the start of a long process. Its success will depend on two conditions: the generalization of the gatekeeping function (which should be entrusted to GPs) and the separation of physicians' income level from the amount of the services they provide to the patients.

Confidentiality↗