Prevalence rates in the two regions in Germany and Denmark were similar, despite significantly different response rates. This difference may reflect various attitudes towards answering a questionnaire, but the response rate on questions concerning UI seemed consistent.

Background and Purpose— There is no consensus about indicators for measuring quality of acute stroke care in Germany. Therefore, a standardized process was initiated recently to develop and implement evidence-based indicators for the measurement of quality of acute hospital stroke care. Methods— Quality indicators were developed by a multidisciplinary board between November 2003 and December 2005. The process was initiated by the German Stroke Registers Study Group in cooperation with the German Stroke Society, the German Society of Neurology, the German Stroke Foundation, Regional Offices for Quality Assurance and other experts proven in the field. National and international recommendations were considered during the development process. The process was based on a systematic literature review, an independent external evaluation of the process and its results, and a prospective pilot study to evaluate the defined indicators in clinical practice. Results— Overall a set of 24 indicators was developed to measure performance of acute care hospitals in the 3 health care dimensions structure, process and outcome as well as in 3 treatment phases prehospital, in-hospital/acute and postacute. Practicability of the derived indicators was tested in a prospective pilot study. During a 2-month period, 1006 patients in 13 hospitals were documented. Application of the new indicator set was found to be feasible by participating physicians and hospitals. Median time to document the required information for 1 patient was 5 minutes. Nationwide implementation of the new indicator set within regional registers in Germany started since April 2006. Conclusions— The development of indicators to measure hospital performance in stroke care is an important step toward improving stroke care on a national level. The chosen standardized evidence-based approach ensures maximal transparency, acceptance and sustainability of the developed indicators in Germany.

With newly rising coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, important data gaps remain on (i) long-term dynamics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection rates in fixed cohorts (ii) identification of risk factors, and (iii) establishment of effective surveillance strategies. By polymerase chain reaction and antibody testing of 1% of the local population and >90,000 app-based datasets, the present study surveilled a catchment area of 300,000 inhabitants from March 2020 to February 2021. Cohort (56% female; mean age, 45.6 years) retention was 75 to 98%. Increased risk for seropositivity was detected in several high-exposure groups, especially nurses. Unreported infections dropped from 92 to 29% during the study. “Contact to COVID-19–affected” was the strongest risk factor, whereas public transportation, having children in school, or tourism did not affect infection rates. With the first SARS-CoV-2 cohort study, we provide a transferable model for effective surveillance, enabling monitoring of reinfection rates and increased preparedness for future pandemics.

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