Loneliness and lack of social well-being are associated with adverse health outcomes and have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Smartphone communication data have been suggested to help monitor loneliness, but this requires further evidence. We investigated the informative value of smartphone communication app data for predicting subjective loneliness and social well-being in a sample of 364 participants ranging from 18 to 78 years of age (52.2% female; mean age = 42.54, SD = 13.22) derived from the CORONA HEALTH APP study from July to December 2020 in Germany. The participants experienced relatively high levels of loneliness and low social well-being during the time period characterized by the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from positive associations with phone call use times, smartphone communication app use was associated with social well-being and loneliness only when considering the age of participants. Younger participants with higher use times tended to report less social well-being and higher loneliness, while the opposite association was found for older adults. Thus, the informative value of smartphone communication use time was rather small and became evident only in consideration of age. The results highlight the need for further investigations and the need to address several limitations in order to draw conclusions at the population level.

DCE and profile-case BWS may be of equal validity but give different preference estimates regardless of the health context; thus, they may be measuring different constructs. Therefore, choice between methods is likely to be based on normative considerations related to coherence with theoretical frameworks and on pragmatic considerations related to ease of data collection.

The implementation of an Electronic Patient Record in Germany has been delayed for years. Thus, it is lagging behind in comparison to other European countries (7 chapter 7 in this volume). Pioneers in this field are Denmark and Estonia. Both countries achieved a lead in the development of Electronic Patient Records through strong governance, setting binding goals and time frames for the digitisation of their healthcare system. The contents and functions as well as technical and interoperability standards were clearly defined from the outset. Germany should use the expertise arising from these best practice countries in order to successfully implement the Electronic Patient Record after more than 14 years of perceived stagnation.

ObjectiveTo estimate the cost implications of early angiography for patients with suspected non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS) using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI).DesignA decision tree model was used to synthesise data from the pilot study and literature sources. Sensitivity analyses tested the impact of assumptions incorporated into the analysis.SettingEmergency department (ED), Brisbane, Australia.ParticipantsPatients with suspected NSTEACS.InterventionsTDI as a diagnostic tool for triaging patients within 4 hours of presentation in addition to conventional risk stratification, compared with conventional risk stratification alone.Data sourcesResource used for diagnosis and management were recorded prospectively and costed for 51 adults who had echocardiography within 24 hours of admission. Costs for conventional care were based on observed data. Cost estimates for the TDI intervention assumed patients classified as high risk at TDI (E/e’>14) progressed early to angiography with an associated 1-day reduction in length of stay.Primary outcome measuresCosts until discharge from the Australian healthcare perspective in 2016–2017 prices.ResultsFindings suggest that using TDI as a diagnostic tool for triaging patients with suspected NSTEACS is likely to be cost saving by $A1090 (95% credible interval: $A573 to $A1703) per patient compared with conventional care. The results are mainly driven by the assumed reduction in length of stay due to the inclusion of early TDI in clinical decision-making.ConclusionsThis pilot study indicates that compared with conventional risk stratification, triaging patients presenting with suspected NSTEACS with TDI within 4 hours of ED presentation has potential cost savings. Findings assume a reduction in hospital stay is achieved for patients considered to be high risk at TDI. Larger, comparative studies with longer follow-up are needed to confirm the clinical effectiveness of TDI as a diagnostic strategy for NSTEACS, the assumed reduction in hospital stay and any cost saving.

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Background Lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to lifestyle changes, which in turn may have an impact on the course of headache disorders. We aimed to assess changes in primary headache characteristics and lifestyle factors during the COVID-19 lockdown in Germany using digital documentation in the mobile application (app) M-sense. Main body We analyzed data of smartphone users, who entered daily data in the app in the 28-day period before lockdown (baseline) and in the first 28 days of lockdown (observation period). This analysis included the change of monthly headache days (MHD) in the observation period compared to baseline. We also assessed changes in monthly migraine days (MMD), the use of acute medication, and pain intensity. In addition, we looked into the changes in sleep duration, sleep quality, energy level, mood, stress, and activity level. Outcomes were compared using paired t-tests. The analysis included data from 2325 app users. They reported 7.01 ± SD 5.64 MHD during baseline and 6.89 ± 5.47 MHD during lockdown without significant changes (p > 0.999). MMD, headache and migraine intensity neither showed any significant changes. Days with acute medication use were reduced from 4.50 ± 3.88 in the baseline to 4.27 ± 3.81 in the observation period (p < 0.001). The app users reported reduced stress levels, longer sleep duration, reduced activity levels, along with a better mood, and an improved energy level during the first lockdown month (p ≤ 0.001). In an extension analysis of users who continued to use M-sense every day for 3 months after initiation of lockdown, we compared the baseline and the subsequent months using repeated-measures ANOVA. In these 539 users, headache frequency did not change significantly neither (6.11 ± 5.10 MHD before lockdown vs. 6.07 ± 5.17 MHD in the third lockdown month, p = 0.688 in the ANOVA). Migraine frequency, headache and migraine intensity, and acute medication use were also not different during the entire observation period. Conclusion Despite slight changes in factors that contribute to the generation of headache, COVID-19-related lockdown measures did not seem to be associated with primary headache frequency and intensity over the course of 3 months.

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Background Lower global disability and higher quality of life among ischemic stroke patients was found to be associated with the dispatch of mobile stroke units (MSUs) among patients eligible for recanalizing treatments in the Berlin_Prehospital Or Usual Delivery of stroke care (B_PROUD) study. The current study assessed the cost‐utility and cost‐effectiveness of additional MSU dispatch using data from this prospective, controlled, intervention study. Methods Outcomes considered in the economic evaluation included quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) derived from the 3‐level version of EQ‐5D (EQ‐5D‐3L) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores for functional outcomes 3‐months after stroke. Costs were prospectively collected during the study by the MSU provider (Berlin Fire Brigade) and the B_PROUD research team. We focus our results on the societal perspective. As we aimed to determine the economic consequences of the intervention beyond the study's follow‐up period, both care costs and QALYs were extrapolated over 5 years. Results The additional MSU dispatch resulted in an incremental €40,984 per QALY. The best‐case scenario and the worst‐case scenario yielded additional costs of, respectively, €24,470.76 and €61,690.88 per QALY. In the cost‐effectiveness analysis, MSU dispatch resulted in incremental costs of €81,491 per survival without disability. The best‐case scenario and the worst‐case scenario yielded additional costs of, respectively, €44,455.30 and €116,491.15 per survival without disability. Interpretation Among patients eligible for recanalizing treatments in ischemic stroke, MSU dispatch was associated with both higher QALYs and higher costs and is cost‐effective when considering internationally accepted thresholds ranging from an additional €40,000 to €80,000 per QALY. ANN NEUROL 2023;93:942–951