Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Feb 2024
[Influence of the Corona pandemic on cardiovascular risk factors - Data from 1775 participants of the ELITE study before and during the Corona pandemic].
The COVID-19 pandemic and its interventions have led to a deficit in medical care and changes in people's lifestyles, which has consequently changed cardio- and cerebrovascular primary and secondary prevention. The existing data are mainly based on surveys. In addition to the problem of the accuracy of self-assessments, the pandemic per se and the massive public reporting may have biased the data.Only a few publications have compared data collected before the pandemic with results during the pandemic. The ELITE study has regularly monitored risk factors (RF) and psychosocial parameters (stress, depression, well-being, diet, brain performance, exercise) in over 5000 participants for years. From this study, data were analyzed from 1775 individuals collected before the onset and again during the pandemic (06/05/2020-25/01/2022). Thus, baseline values were unaffected by the pandemic. ⋯ A not insignificant part of the population experienced significant worsening of RF during the pandemic. This particularly affected blood pressure and depressive symptoms, and more often women.
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Feb 2024
[Current therapy of heart failure with mildly reduced or preserved left ventricular ejection fraction].
Based on the results of recent clinical trials investigating patients with heart failure and a mildly reduced (HFmrEF) or preserved (HFpEF) left ventricular ejection fraction, an update of the ESC guidelines on acute and chronic heart failure as well as the German `Nationale Versorgungsleitlinie Herzinsuffizienz' has been released. Consistently, they now recommend the use of SGLT2 inhibitors also in these patients' groups. ⋯ In patients with HFmrEF, intravenous application of iron can be considered to improve quality of life in iron-depleted patients. Patients experiencing a heart failure related hospitalization shall receive the foundational guideline-directed pharmacotherapy already while in hospital and undergo a timely post discharge visit to further optimize treatment.
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Feb 2024
[How to design a questionnaire? Practical tips on formulating the questions and constructing the questionnaire].
Questionnaires are often used in medical research, although the construction of questionnaires is not part of standard education for medical researchers. In this article, a step-by-step guide is given on how to formulate and use a questionnaire in practice. The steps are illustrated with an example. These instructions can help researchers to develop their own questionnaires in the context of their empirical research, which meet the quality standards of empirical social research.
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Feb 2024
Review[Compression therapy for inflammatory dermatoses of the legs].
In addition to venous and lymphatic diseases, there is increasing scientific evidence that inflammatory dermatoses of the legs are also indications for compression therapy. Specifically, diseases such as pyoderma gangrenosum, livedoid vasculopathy, cutaneous vasculitides, necrobiosis lipoidica, psoriasis, or erysipelas are conditions for which adjunctive compression therapy may be used when manifestations occur on the lower extremities. ⋯ Especially because of the often problematic pain symptoms, compression therapy can be performed with low resting pressures around 20 mmHg, especially in inflammatory dermatoses. In this review article, the current scientific aspects of compression therapy in inflammatory dermatoses of the legs and the corresponding limitations are presented in a differentiated manner.