OBJECTIVES To investigate whether knee pain in the community behaves like a regional pain syndrome, determined by its association with mental health, self-rated health (SRH) and beliefs about prognosis. METHODS An 18-month postal follow-up was conducted in 1798 working-aged subjects, sampled from the community. At baseline questions were asked about pain in the knee lasting > or =1 day in the...

This study aimed to evaluate the differences of prescribing pattern between bisphosphonate and raloxifene users among Korean women with osteoporosis, focusing on the underlying conditions, concurrent medications, nature of healthcare utilization, and regional disparity. We used the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service National Patients Sample database of the year 2010. Study subjects ...

We report the results of two nationwide surveillance studies of Clostridium difficile infection conducted during 2008 and 2009 in Sweden. The first study aimed to identify and quantify the proportion of C. difficile isolates with decreased susceptibility to moxifloxacin, particularly those of PCR-ribotype 027. From December 2007 to September 2008, 20 of 28 regional laboratories sent 585 isolate...

BACKGROUND The database of a major regional health insurer was employed to identify the number and frequency of covered patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We then examined the characteristics of their care as defined, in part, by the frequency of physician visits and specialty referral, the characteristics of laboratory testing and total costs as indices of the quality of care of the s...

BACKGROUND The aims were to assess the frequency of falls among the diabetic adult population of the Italian Northeastern region Friuli Venezia Giulia and to identify risk factors. METHODS This was a population-based retrospective cohort study using administrative data of the regional health information system as the source of information. In a cohort of diabetics 18 years of age or more, liv...

Cloaking devices are prescriptions of electrostatic, optical or electromagnetic parameter fields (conductivity σ(x), index of refraction n(x), or electric permittivity ǫ(x) and magnetic permeability μ(x)) which are piecewise smooth on R3 and singular on a hypersurface Σ, and such that objects in the region enclosed by Σ are not detectable to external observation by waves. Here, we give related ...

PCV173 Are SPAniSh regionS imPlementing the nAtionAl therAPeutiC PoSitioning rePort (tPr) regArding new orAl AntiCoAgulAntS (noAC) in the SAme wAy? A CASe of regionAl VAriAbility in drug ACCeSS Rodriguez Barrios JM1, Pérez-Alcántara F2, Gonzalez-Juantey JR3, Avendaño C4, Suarez C5, López-Bastida J6, Barja de Soroa P1 1Daiichi-Sankyo, Madrid, Spain, 2OBLIKUE Consulting, Barcelona, Spain, 3Santia...