@article{ChungGedeborgNicholasetal.2014,
  author    = {Chung, Shen-Chia and Gedeborg, Rolf and Nicholas, Owen and James, Stefan and Jeppsson, Anders and Wolfe, Charles and Heuschmann, Peter and Wallentin, Lars and Deanfield, John and Timmis, Adam and Jernberg, Tomas and Hemingway, Harry},
  title     = {Acute myocardial infarction: a comparison of short-term survival in national outcome registries in Sweden and the UK},
  series = {Lancet},
  volume    = {383},
  journal   = {Lancet},
  number    = {9925},
  doi       = {10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62070-x},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121327},
  pages     = {1305-12},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {Background International research for acute myocardial infarction lacks comparisons of whole health systems. We assessed time trends for care and outcomes in Sweden and the UK. Methods We used data from national registries on consecutive patients registered between 2004 and 2010 in all hospitals providing care for acute coronary syndrome in Sweden and the UK. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality 30 days after admission. We compared effectiveness of treatment by indirect casemix standardisation. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01359033. Findings We assessed data for 119 786 patients in Sweden and 391 077 in the UK. 30-day mortality was 7·6\% (95\% CI 7·4-7·7) in Sweden and 10·5\% (10·4-10·6) in the UK. Mortality was higher in the UK in clinically relevant subgroups defined by troponin concentration, ST-segment elevation, age, sex, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diabetes mellitus status, and smoking status. In Sweden, compared with the UK, there was earlier and more extensive uptake of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (59\% vs 22\%) and more frequent use of β blockers at discharge (89\% vs 78\%). After casemix standardisation the 30-day mortality ratio for UK versus Sweden was 1·37 (95\% CI 1·30-1·45), which corresponds to 11 263 (95\% CI 9620-12 827) excess deaths, but did decline over time (from 1·47, 95\% CI 1·38-1·58 in 2004 to 1·20, 1·12-1·29 in 2010; p=0·01). Interpretation We found clinically important differences between countries in acute myocardial infarction care and outcomes. International comparisons research might help to improve health systems and prevent deaths.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{WiedmannHeuschmannHillmannetal.2014,
  author    = {Wiedmann, Silke and Heuschmann, Peter U. and Hillmann, Steffi and Busse, Otto and Wiethoelter, Horst and Walter, Georg M. and Seidel, Guenter and Misselwitz, Bjoern and Janssen, Alfred and Berger, Klaus and Burmeister, Christoph and Matthias, Christine and Kolominsky-Rabas, Peter and Hermanek, Peter},
  title     = {The Quality of Acute Stroke Care-an Analysis of Evidence-Based Indicators in 260 000 Patients},
  series = {Deutsches {\"A}rzteblatt International},
  volume    = {111},
  journal   = {Deutsches {\"A}rzteblatt International},
  number    = {45},
  issn      = {1866-0452},
  doi       = {10.3238/arztebl.2014.0759},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-114747},
  pages     = {759-765},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {Background: Stroke patients should be cared for in accordance with evidence-based guidelines. The extent of implementation of guidelines for the acute care of stroke patients in Germany has been unclear to date. Methods: The regional quality assurance projects that cooperate in the framework of the German Stroke Registers Study Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Schlaganfall-Register, ADSR) collected data on the care of stroke patients in 627 hospitals in 2012. The quality of the acute hospital care of patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) was assessed on the basis of 15 standardized, evidence-based quality indicators and compared across the nine participating regional quality assurance projects. Results: Data were obtained on more than 260 000 patients nationwide. Intravenous thrombolysis was performed in 59.7\% of eligible ischemic stroke patients patients (range among participating projects, 49.7-63.6\%). Dysphagia screening was documented in 86.2\% (range, 74.8-93.1\%). For the following indicators, the defined targets were not reached for all of Germany: antiaggregation within 48 hours, 93.4\% (range, 86.6-96.4\%); anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation, 77.6\% (range, 72.4-80.1\%); standardized dysphagia screening, 86.2\% (range, 74.8-93.1\%); oral and written information of the patients or their relatives, 86.1\% (range, 75.4-91.5\%). The rate of patients examined or treated by a speech therapist was in the target range. Conclusion: The defined targets were reached for most of the quality indicators. Some indicators, however, varied widely across regional quality assurance projects. This implies that the standardization of care for stroke patients in Germany has not yet been fully achieved.},
  language  = {en}
}