@article{KindlTeichmuellerEscolanoLozanoetal.2022,
  author    = {Kindl, Gudrun and Teichm{\"u}ller, Karolin and Escolano-Lozano, Fabiola and Birklein, Frank and Rittner, Heike L.},
  title     = {Pain, disability, and lifestyle: Patients with complex regional pain syndrome compared to chronic musculoskeletal pain-A retrospective analysis},
  series = {European Journal of Pain},
  volume    = {26},
  journal   = {European Journal of Pain},
  number    = {3},
  doi       = {10.1002/ejp.1900},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-318200},
  pages     = {719 -- 728},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Background Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is an orphan disease occurring as a complication after trauma. Due to its acute onset and the typical clinical presentation of the inflammatory and autonomous signs, it is an eye-catching chronic pain disease affecting also young and working people. In social media and the internet, high pain severity and the unfavourable prognosis are often empathized. Methods Here, we compared epidemiological, pain and lifestyle factors of 223 CPRS patients from the "ncRNAPain" cohort with 255 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (MSK). MSK patients were recruited at the beginning of a multimodal pain therapy programme. We searched for factors predicting pain intensity. Results Both chronic pain diseases affected women in middle age. Patients with MSK were more obese, drank more alcohol, and were less educated (Pearson chi-square Test or Mann-Whitney/U-Test). Both groups smoked more than healthy people in the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). Mann-Whitney/U-Test confirmed that CRPS patients did not have more severe pain and did not suffer more from pain-related disability than patients with MSK. CRPS patients also had less psychiatric comorbidities. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that group assignment, depressive characteristics, body mass index, average alcohol consumption and smoking predicted higher pain ratings, while disease duration, anxiety symptoms or gender had no influence on pain intensity. Conclusion In summary, our study supports a more optimistic view on pain in CRPS patients in comparison to MSK and identifies lifestyle factors that might contribute to the pathophysiology like smoking and drinking. Important next steps are the identification of CRPS patients at risk for chronification or—vice versa—with protective factors for pain resolution. Significance This study compares complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and chronic musculoskeletal pain and questions previously reported pain, disability and lifestyle factors associated with CRPS.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{WestphaleBackhausKoenig2022,
  author    = {Westphale, Silke and Backhaus, Joy and Koenig, Sarah},
  title     = {Quantifying teaching quality in medical education: The impact of learning gain calculation},
  series = {Medical Education},
  volume    = {56},
  journal   = {Medical Education},
  number    = {3},
  doi       = {10.1111/medu.14694},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259576},
  pages     = {312-320},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Background Student performance is a mirror of teaching quality. The pre-/post-test design allows a pragmatic approach to comparing the effects of interventions. However, the calculation of current knowledge gain scores introduces varying degrees of distortion. Here we present a new metric employing a linear weighting coefficient to reduce skewness on outcome interpretation. Methods We compared and contrasted a number of common scores (raw and relative gain scores) with our new method on two datasets, one simulated and the other empirical from a previous intervention study (n = 180) employing a pre-/post-test design. Results The outcomes of the common scores were clearly different, demonstrating a significant dependency on pre-test scores. Only the new metric revealed a linear relationship to the knowledge baseline, was less skewed on the upper or lower extremes, and proved well suited to allow the calculation of negative learning gains. Employing the empirical dataset, the new method also confirmed the interaction effect of teaching formats with specific subgroups of learner characteristics. Conclusion This work introduces a new weighted metric enabling meaningful comparisons between interventions based on a linear transformation. This method will form the basis to intertwine the calculation of test performance closely with the outcome of learning as an important factor reflecting teaching quality and efficacy. Its regular use can improve the transparency of teaching activities and outcomes, contribute to forming rounded judgements of students' acquisition of knowledge and skills and enable valuable feedforward to develop and enhance curricular concepts.},
  language  = {en}
}