Correction: Validation of Semantic Analyses of Unstructured Medical Data for Research Purposes.

2020

Regional deprivation and non-cancer related computed tomography use in pediatric patients in Germany: Cross-sectional analysis of cohort data.

2016

BACKGROUND: Conflicting findings were observed in recent studies assessing the association between patients' area-level socio-economic status and the received number of computed tomography (CT) examinations in children. The aim was to investigate the association between area-level socio-economic status and variation in CT examination practice for pediatric patients in Germany. METHODS: Data from Radiology Information Systems for children aged 0 to < 15 years without cancer who had at least one CT examination between 2001 and 2010 were extracted in 20 hospitals across Germany. The small-area German Index of Multiple Deprivation (GIMD) was used to assess regional deprivation. The GIMD …

Validation of Semantic Analyses of Unstructured Medical Data for Research Purposes

2019

BACKGROUND: In secondary data there are often unstructured free texts. The aim of this study was to validate a text mining system to extract unstructured medical data for research purposes. METHODS: From a radiological department, 1,000 out of 7,102 CT findings were randomly selected. These were manually divided into defined groups by 2 physicians. For automated tagging and reporting, the text analysis software Averbis Extraction Platform (AEP) was used. Special features of the system are a morphological analysis for the decomposition of compound words as well as the recognition of noun phrases, abbreviations and negated statements. Based on the extracted standardized keywords, findings rep…

Second follow-up of a German cohort on childhood cancer incidence after exposure to postnatal diagnostic x-ray.

2019

Studies on children exposed to ionizing radiation by computed tomography (CT) indicate an increased risk of leukemia and central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Evidence of the risks associated with diagnostic X-ray examinations, the most frequent examination in pediatric radiology, in which the radiation dose is up to 750 times lower compared to CT examinations, is less clear.a#13; This study presents results of the second follow-up for the risk of childhood cancer in a cohort of children (alt;15 years) with diagnostic X-ray exposure at a large German hospital during 1976-2003 followed for additional 10 years until 2016.a#13; With a latency period of six months, 92,998 children contributed 79…

Investigation of superspreading COVID-19 outbreak events in meat and poultry processing plants in Germany: A cross-sectional study.

2020

Since May 2020, several COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred in the German meat industry despite various protective measures, and temperature and ventilation conditions were considered as possible high-risk factors. This cross-sectional study examined meat and poultry plants to examine possible risk factors. Companies completed a self-administered questionnaire on the work environment and protective measures taken to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusted for the possibility to distance at least 1.5 meters, break rules, and employment status was performed to identify risk factors associated with COVID-19 cases. Twenty-two meat and poultry plants with 1…

Characteristics of neonatal herpes simplex virus infections in Germany: results of a 2-year prospective nationwide surveillance study.

2021

ObjectiveTo assess incidence and burden of neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections and to explore possible transmission routes.MethodsA 2-year prospective nationwide surveillance study performed in 2017 and 2018. All German paediatric departments (n=464 in 2017, n=441 in 2018) were contacted on a monthly basis to report potential cases of neonatal HSV infections. Infants with a postnatal age of ≤60 days and a positive HSV PCR or HSV culture from skin, mucous membrane, vesicles or conjunctival smear, blood or cerebrospinal fluid were included in the study.Results37 cases were analysed. 29 patients who exhibited no or only mild clinical symptoms were discharged home without organ damag…

Cohort Profile: the EPI-CT study: a European pooled epidemiological study to quantify the risk of radiation-induced cancer from paediatric CT

2018

International audience; •The multinational EPI-CT study was set-up in 2011 to provide direct estimates of risk of solid tumours and leukaemia among children and young adults who underwent computed tomography (CT) scanning and to consolidate the scientific basis for optimization of paediatric CT protocols and patient protection.•Under a common protocol, cohort studies were conducted in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). •The study recruited a total of about 950,000 patients having undergone at least one CT-scan before the age of 22 years. A total of 8.7 millio…

Understanding cultural influences on back pain and back pain research

2017

Low back pain is highly prevalent and places a considerable burden on individuals, their families and communities. This back pain burden is unequally distributed around the world and within populations. Clinicians and researchers addressing back pain should be aware of the cultural, social and political context of back pain patients and how this context can influence pain perception, disability and health care use. Culture, which influences the beliefs and behaviour of individuals within a social group, could be considered an important contributor to the unequal distribution of back pain. However, there is paucity of high-quality research exploring the influence of culture on the experience…

Reply to ‘Comment on: Baaken D, Hammer GP, Seidenbusch MC, Schneider K, Spix C, Blettner M, Pokora R and Lorenz E 2019 Second follow-up of a German c…

2020

Dose Estimation for the European Epidemiological Study on Pediatric Computed Tomography (EPI-CT).

2021

International audience; Within the European Epidemiological Study to Quantify Risks for Paediatric Computerized Tomography (EPI-CT study), a cohort was assembled comprising nearly one million children, adolescents and young adults who received over 1.4 million computed tomography (CT) examinations before 22 years of age in nine European countries from the late 1970s to 2014. Here we describe the methods used for, and the results of, organ dose estimations from CT scanning for the EPI-CT cohort members. Data on CT machine settings were obtained from national surveys, questionnaire data, and the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) headers of 437,249 individual CT scans. Exp…

No Benefit of a Pediatric Screening in Discovering Reduced Visual Acuity in Children: Experiences from a Cross-Sectional Study in Germany

2020

Background: The newly introduced German pediatric screening examination at the end of the third year of life (U7a) incorporates visual function testing in particular

Prävalenz und Risikofaktoren der Kurzsichtigkeit bei Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland – Ergebnisse der KiGGS-Studie

2017

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Ziel dieser Studie ist die Bestimmung der Prävalenz von Kurzsichtigkeit (Myopie) bei Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland und die Evaluation damit assoziierter Risikofaktoren. Methodik Die Prävalenz von Myopie in Deutschland wurde durch die „Studie zur Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland“ (KiGGS Basiserhebung 2003–2006) erhoben (N=17,640, 49% Mädchen). Das Vorliegen einer Myopie und die Verwendung einer Sehhilfe wurden durch einen Elternfragebogen erfasst. Potentielle Risikofaktoren wurden mittels kausalem Diagramm identifiziert und mit multiplen logistischen Regressionsmodellen untersucht. Ergebnisse Die Prävalenz von Myopie in Deutschland …