Set Of Standard Variables Research Articles

A prospective, observational multicenter registry of heart failure patients in Germany: preliminary results of the ongoing H2-registry

Abstract Background Heart failure (HF) is a highly prevalent condition affecting 1-2% of the adult population in Europe. Despite pioneering improvements in HF treatment during the last two decades, hospitalization and mortality rates remain relatively high. Gathering real-world data on HF populations is crucial especially in the light of newly emerging therapeutic approaches. Purpose The H2-registry was set up in 2021 to provide up-to-date, real-world data on a contemporary cohort of hospitalized HF patients in Germany using a standardized set of outcome measures. Methods The ongoing H2-registry represents a prospective, investigator-initiated, multicenter observational registry. Inpatients ≥18 years of age with a present diagnosis of chronic or acute HF are recruited in secondary and tertiary hospitals throughout Germany. Patients are excluded if they present in any kind of shock during index hospitalization, or if they previously underwent heart transplantation or ventricular assist device therapy. Routine follow-up (FU) is conducted every 6 months. A standardized set of variables according to the International Consortium of Health Outcome Measurements (ICHOM) including a pre-defined selection of questionnaires to collect patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) is used to objectively monitor the course of disease. Results Until the reference date 12/31/22, a total of 2,190 patients were included in ten active study centers. Mean age was 72 years, 36.8% were female, and mean left-ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 43.4% (38.1% had an LVEF of ≤ 40%). In-hospital mortality at index case was 1.3%. Within the cohort with completed 6-month FU comprising of 976 patients, all-cause mortality was 11.3% (110). In addition, 24.2% (209) in the survival cohort had at least one HF-related re-hospitalization. Numbers for all-cause mortality and re-hospitalizations at 12-month FU were 21.3% (71) and 32.8% (86), respectively. Evaluations of Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ-12) scores showed a significant improvement overall and in all sub-categories (p < 0.001) at 6- and 12-month FU. Conclusions The H2-registry currently represents the largest ongoing prospective registry of HF inpatients in Germany. Our preliminary data highlights the pronounced mortality risk and healthcare burden in this cohort. However, HF-related therapies initiated during the course of a hospitalization have the potential to significantly improve patients’ quality of life. In the near future, it its foreseeable that the actively recruiting H2-registry based on ICHOM-standards will markedly contribute to the collection of real-world data on HF patients.

Childhood circumstances and young adulthood outcomes: The role of mothers' financial problems.

We here consider the cognitive and noncognitive consequences on young adults of growing up with a mother who reported experiencing major financial problems. We use UK data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to show that early childhood financial problems are associated with worse adolescent cognitive and noncognitive outcomes, controlling for both income and a set of standard variables, and in value-added models controlling for children's earlier age-5 outcomes. The estimated effect of financial problems is almost always larger in size than that of income. Around one-quarter to one-half of the effect of financial problems on the noncognitive outcomes seems to transit through mother's mental health.

Rationale and design of the Henan ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) registry: a regional STEMI project in predominantly rural central China

BackgroundCardiovascular disease including ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is increasing and the leading cause of death in China. There has been limited data available to characterize STEMI management and outcomes in rural areas of China. The Henan STEMI Registry is a regional STEMI project with the objectives to timely obtain real-world knowledge about STEMI patients in secondary and tertiary hospitals and to provide a platform for care quality improvement efforts in predominantly rural central China.MethodsThe Henan STEMI Registry is a multicentre, prospective and observational study for STEMI patients. The registry includes 66 participating hospitals (50 secondary hospitals; 16 tertiary hospitals) that cover 15 prefectures and one city direct-controlled by the province in Henan province. Patients were consecutively enrolled with a primary diagnosis of STEMI within 30 days of symptom onset. Clinical treatments, outcomes and cost are collected by local investigators and captured electronically, with a standardized set of variables and standard definitions, and rigorous data quality control. Post-discharge patient follow-up to 1 year is planned. As of August 2018, the Henan STEMI Registry has enrolled 5479 patients of STEMI.DiscussionThe Henan STEMI Registry represents the largest Chinese regional platform for clinical research and care quality improvement for STEMI. The board inclusion of secondary hospitals in Henan province will allow for the exploration of STEMI in predominantly rural central China.Trial registration[NCT02641262] [29 December, 2015].

The China Acute Myocardial Infarction (CAMI) Registry: A national long-term registry-research-education integrated platform for exploring acute myocardial infarction in China

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has become a major cause of hospitalization and mortality in China. There has been limited data to date available to characterize AMI presentation, contemporary patterns of medical care, and outcomes in China. The CAMI Registry is a national project with the objectives to timely obtain real-world knowledge about AMI patients and to provide the platform for clinical research, guide preventive measures and care quality improvement efforts in China. The CAMI registry is a prospective, nationwide, multicenter observational study for AMI patients. The registry includes three levels of hospitals (representing typical Chinese governmental and administrative models) from all provinces and municipalities throughout Mainland China except Hong Kong and Macau. Sites were instructed to enroll consecutive patients with a primary diagnosis of AMI. Clinical data, treatments, outcomes and cost are collected by local investigators and captured electronically, with a standardized set of variables and standard definitions, and rigorous data quality control. Post-discharge patient follow-up to 2 years is planned. The CAMI Registry was launched in January 2013. A total of 108 hospitals have participated in the registry so far. As of September 2014, 26,103 patients with AMI were registered. The CAMI registry represents a well-supported and the largest national long-term registry-research-education platform for surveillance, research, prevention and care improvement for AMI in China, the world's most populous nation. The broad representation of all provinces and different-level hospitals will allow for the exploration of AMI across diverse geographic regions and economic circumstances.

Preface: physical template and river ecosystem functioning: interdisciplinary feedbacks for improving rivers

This special issue in Hydrobiologia comprises papers that were presented in 2011 during an oral and a poster session at the 7th Symposium for European Freshwater Sciences (SEFS) in Girona, Spain, entitled ‘Form and function: channel morphology, hydraulic integrity and river ecosystem functioning’, as well as selected articles on recent aspects of the subject. The aim of this session was to promote communication between hydrologists, geomorphologists and ecologists to improve the understanding of river forms and processes and associated ecosystems on the one hand, and to provide knowledge on river restoration as well as on benefiting ecosystem services on the other. River ecosystems depend on the dynamic interplay between flow and channel morphology, which together set the physical template for fluvial communities, and ultimately for ecosystem functioning (Elosegi et al., 2010). There is still a need for research on the significance of hydromorphology on riverine communities, notably in terms of responses to restoration actions (Palmer et al., 2010). Further, research is needed on the effect of channel morphology and hydraulics on ecosystem functions, such as the transformation of organic matter or the maintenance of water quality, which are the basis for ecosystem services and of key importance for the human society (Palmer & Febria, 2012). Most river ecosystem functions are actually provided by coupled processes, which relate to river form on a wide range of temporal and spatial scales (Malard et al., 2002). Hence, focusing on ecosystem functions opens the perspective of hydromorphological integrity from a set of standard variables that are commonly assessed in river restoration and monitoring to a complex set of interacting multiple environmental drivers on these ranges of scales. River scientists are today equipped with a large toolkit of techniques, ideas and approaches to link hydromorphology with river functioning and ecosystem services, which should be regarded in assessment, management and restoration of riverine ecosystems. Rivers change over time, owing to a set of human drivers (e.g., embankment, damming, landuse change, discharge regulation...) (Kondolf & Piegay, 2003; Brierley & Fryirs, 2005), such that their biological Guest editors: A. Elosegi, M. Mutz & H. Piegay / Form and function: channel form, hydraulic integrity, and river ecosystem functioning

DO DIAGNOSIS‐RELATED GROUPS EXPLAIN VARIATIONS IN HOSPITAL COSTS AND LENGTH OF STAY? – ANALYSES FROM THE EURODRG PROJECT FOR 10 EPISODES OF CARE ACROSS 10 EuroPEAN COUNTRIES

Payment mechanisms represent one of the fundamental building blocks of any health system, introducing powerful incentives for actors in the system and fierce technical design complexities. The move in most countries towards diagnosis-related group (DRG)-based hospital payment systems was driven by the objective of incentivizing hospitals to improve their performance. Prior to the introduction of DRG-based hospital payment systems, countries used two basic mechanisms to pay for hospital care: fee-for-service payments and global budgets. These systems provide a specific set of incentives, which are different from the incentives of DRG-based systems. Therefore, in order to understand the international success of DRG-based systems, it is necessary to be aware of the incentives of these alternative systems and of the objectives that hospital payment systems are supposed to achieve. Hospital payment systems should motivate providers to treat patients in need of care and to deliver an adequate number of necessary services (level of activity), while taking into account the appropriateness of the services and patient outcomes (i.e., quality). Finally, a hospital payment system should balance activity and expenditure control incentives, thus contributing to increasing efficiency, while minimizing administrative effort and maximizing transparency. This demonstrates two things: (i) the design of ‘good’ payment systems needs to take into account various dimensions; namely, those of patients and of providers, of the provided services, of payers, and possibly of society at large; and (ii) because of this complexity, it simply cannot be expected that any payment system is ‘optimal’ in all respects (Geissler et al., 2011). Most importantly, however, the DRGs used to group patients need to be defined in a way that patients are medically homogeneous, and the payment rate should accurately reflect the resources and costs of treating patients within that group. Despite the fact that DRGs have been adopted in an increasingly large number of countries around the world, knowledge about the effects of DRG systems and DRG-based hospital payment systems, as well as about optimal design features of these systems, remains surprisingly limited. Although initially DRG systems were often introduced for the purpose of measuring hospital activity, they have later become the principal means of hospital payment in most countries. Some countries used DRGs over an extended time exclusively

Are there Emerging West African Criminal Networks? The Case of Ghana

This paper situates discussions about emerging African Criminal Networks (ACN) within Ghana specifically, and West Africa generally, and seeks to present the initial results of an empirically based study on the activities of transnational organised criminal (TOCs) groups in Ghana. The paper argues that the nature of state and statehood in Africa and its inability to establish effective regulatory mechanisms contributes to the rise of these particular types of criminal groups. It begins by conceptualising the place of Ghanaian and West African criminal groups within the framework of international crime. Furthermore, it undertakes an in-depth analysis of three types of crimes; namely computer and internet crime, drug trafficking and (artisanal) small arms manufacture and smuggling in Ghana. By applying a set of standard variables and criteria, the paper evaluates the growth of TNCs in these three issue-areas and how such activities potentially undermine public institutions like the Ghana Police Service (GPS), customs, excise and preventive services (CEPS), judiciary, banking and political parties and political institutions in Ghana. Finally, it seeks to offer an explanatory framework for the growth and acceptance by local communities of the activities of organised crime in Ghana by situating this within a cultural ethos and the social welfare roles played by those involved in such crimes.

On the rationale of bank lending in pre-crisis Thailand

Evidence from credit files is provided to examine bank lending determinants of Thai commercial banks. Their lending practice follows reasonable patterns as a standard set of variables, including indirect risk variables, explains much of the variance in interest rate spread. Reflecting institutional differences with mature markets, we find a higher importance of relationship banking and risk control via credit availability. Information about later default reveals prudent relationship lending. However, banks could have made better use of available information about borrowers’ riskiness. These findings do not support a general verdict of bad banking but indicate room to improve lending decisions.

Strategies for evaluating public relations

In this article, Stamm concludes that evaluative research he has conducted for a number of public relations clients has not yet resulted in a standard set of variables and measures that can be used regardless of the research problem. Rather, his experience suggests that the strategic questions of when, where, how and what research should be done determine the success of evaluative research. When? Formulative evaluations as a project is being planned are too seldom conducted. Where? Too often research is conducted from the organization's point-of-view rather than from the point-of-view of the audience. How? Too many one-shot, large-scale studies are done. More smaller-scale studies should be done during the course of a project. What? Too often researchers look at “types” of people or attitudes. Stamm suggests cognitive strategies and situations as more productive variables to measure. In describing each of these strategic considerations, Stamm provides case studies of measurement projects to illustrate these common research choices.