Trend Analysis for the Choice and Cost of Lung Cancer Treatment in South Korea, 2003-2013.

PURPOSE: Our study aimed to report the annual changes in lung cancer statistics and analyze trends in sociodemographic, medical, and financial factors from 2003 to 2013 in the national database from the Korean National Health Insurance (KNHI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among 7,489 patients with code C34 in KNHI database, only lung cancer patients newly diagnosed after 2003 were included in the study population, for a total of 4,582 patients. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize treatment patterns and medical costs according to sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: Approximately 70% of subjects were male, and the mean age was 67 years. Around 46% of patients were over 70 years old, and 12% were over 80 years old. The medical costs were highest for patients younger than 60 and lowest for those over 80 years old. Surgery was more common in younger patients, while "no treatment" increased greatly with age. In trend analysis, the proportions of aging (p for trend < 0.001), female (p for trend=0.003), metropolitan/urban (p for trend=0.041), and lowest or highest-income patients (p for trend=0.004) increased over time, along with the prevalence of surgery as the primary treatment (p for trend < 0.001). There was also a trend with regard to change in medical costs (p for trend < 0.001), in that those of surgery and radiotherapy increased. CONCLUSION: Surgery as a curative treatment has increased over the past decade. However, the elderly, suburban/rural residents, and low-income patients were more likely to be untreated. Therefore, active measures are required for these increasingly vulnerable groups.

Evidencia científica de la rehabilitación en la espondilitis anquilosante / Scientific evidence on rehabilitation in ankylosing spondylitis

Objetivo. Revisar la evidencia que justifica el tratamiento rehabilitador de la espondilitis anquilosante (EA) mediante ejercicio y educación, y analizar el contenido más adecuado. Estrategia de búsqueda. Revisión sistemática de estudios controlados, revisiones sistemáticas, metaanálisis y guías de práctica clínica de las bases de datos MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Web of Knowledge, Cochrane Library y PEDro desde enero de 2008 a diciembre de 2013. Selección de estudios. Se seleccionaron 14 artículos. Resultados. Todos los estudios, así como las publicaciones de revisión, que investigan la eficacia del ejercicio terapéutico, exponen beneficios en los diferentes parámetros funcionales que definen la enfermedad. Se prefieren los ejercicios grupales supervisados, ya sean dentro o fuera del agua y, en su defecto o de manera complementaria, en el domicilio. Deben tenerse presentes las motivaciones, deseos, expectativas y fatiga del paciente. Los programas de rehabilitación han demostrado ser costo-eficaces. Conclusión. La rehabilitación se muestra eficaz para el tratamiento de la EA (AU)

Objective. To review the evidence on the rehabilitation treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) through exercise and education and to analyze the most appropriate content. Search strategy. We carried out a systematic review of controlled trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and clinical practice guidelines in MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Web of Knowledge, Cochrane Library, and PEDro published from January 2008 to December 2013. Study selection. 14 articles were selected. Results. All studies, as well as review articles, that investigated the efficacy of therapeutic exercise demonstrated benefits in the various functional parameters of the disease. Supervised group exercises are preferred, whether in or out of water, or even at home as a supplement or alternative. Factors that should be considered are patients’ motivations, desires, expectations, and fatigue. Rehabilitation programs have been demonstrated to be cost-effective. Conclusion. Rehabilitation is effective in the treatment of AS (AU)

Entrenamiento de los músculos respiratorios: ¿sí o no? / Respiratory muscle training: yes or no?

Introducción Existen numerosos ensayos clínicos y experimentales que han puesto en evidencia los beneficios del entrenamiento de los músculos respiratorios (EMR) en pacientes con enfermedades crónicas respiratorias o extrapulmonares. Específicamente, estos estudios han demostrado que el entrenamiento de músculos inspiratorios y espiratorios mediante la respiración ante cargas específicas y controladas produce beneficios funcionales clínicamente relevantes, predecibles y mesurables. A pesar de esta relativa plétora de información respecto a la función y a la estructura muscular respiratoria, hay todavía algunos interrogantes pendientes de contestar que parecen justificar la controversia entre defensores y detractores del EMR. Objetivo El objetivo de este trabajo es revisar críticamente la información disponible para ofrecer un instrumento de consenso basado en la evidencia que oriente el EMR hacia decisiones clínicas y farmacoeconómicas relevantes. Conclusión Este artículo se centra en 5 grupos de cuestiones en los campos de la investigación fisiopatológica, básica, clínica, traslacional y farmacoeconómica del EMR en pacientes con enfermedades respiratorias y en atletas de élite(AU)

Introduction It is clear that circumstantial, experimental and clinical trial evidences support respiratory muscle training as a beneficial strategy in patients with chronic respiratory disease. In recent years, a number of studies have demonstrated that, when training loads are controlled, inspiratory and expiratory muscle training result in important functional benefits. Nevertheless, despite this relative plethora of information regarding not only respiratory muscle function but also structure, there are critical and valuable questions that still remain to be answered and appear to stimulate controversies around the rationale for respiratory muscle training. These controversies translate into the fact that respiratory muscle training has both detractors and defenders in the context of rehabilitation. Objective One critical point is how detractors and defenders can reach an evidence-based consensus to orientate respiratory muscle training towards clinically and pharmaco-economically relevant decisions. Conclusion This article focuses in five groups of questions on the fields of physiopathological, basic, clinical, and pharmaco-economic research regarding respiratory muscle training in patients with respiratory diseases and elite sport athletes(AU)

[Epidemiology and perspectives in traumatology of the elderly]. / Epidemiologie und Perspektiven der Alterstraumatologie.

Corresponding to the demographic development, fractures of the humerus, wrist, or hip will occur noticeably more often during the next four decades. The number of patients with hip fractures will increase to 170% of present-day numbers, and in the age group >80 years to 250%. Trauma surgical departments should train their staff as well as adapt their workflows and ambient conditions to this demanding clientele to be prepared for these changes. For the elderly, a fracture may lead to need for permanent home care, which is why postoperative transfer to ambulatory care is especially important. The expected cost progression in traumatology of the elderly may be moderated by the conjunction of inpatient and ambulatory care, the utilization of synergies among the different service types, and by implementation of prophylaxis for osteoporosis and falls.

Integrated delivery systems. Evolving oligopolies.

The proliferation of Integrated Delivery Systems (IDSs) in regional health care markets has resulted in the movement of these markets from a monopolistic competitive model of behavior to an oligopoly. An oligopoly is synonymous with competition among the few, as a small number of firms supply a dominant share of an industry's total output. The basic characteristics of a market with competition among the few are: (1) A mutual interdependence among the actions and behaviors of competing firms; (2) competition tends to rely on the differentiation of products; (3) significant barriers to entering the market exist; (4) the demand curve for services may be kinked; and (5) firms can benefit from economies of scale. An understanding of these characteristics is essential to the survival of IDSs as regional managed care markets mature.

Are national drug expenditure control policies compatible with a single European market?

Turning a set of independent national markets into a single market is by no means an easy undertaking, especially when the original situation is characterised by a high level of public intervention, as is the case in the drug markets. This article describes the recent trends and the present situation with regard to public intervention in the Spanish drug market, and the conflicts faced in the process of integration into the single European market. The main conclusion is that building a single market should not only mean the elimination of trade barriers among the countries concerned, but that it also necessitates addressing the problems derived from the regulatory policies applied by the national authorities of member states, which may conflict with the working of a single market.

El reordenamiento en la reconstrucción de los Servicios de Salud en la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México / The reorganization in the reconstruction of Health Services in the urban zone of Mexico City

Los mismos del 19 y 20 septiembre de 1985 en México ocasionaron pérdidas importantes en la infraestructura hospitalaria; 20% de las camas se perdieron en forma definitiva y 10% más, en forma temporal, lo que dio origen a una experiencia integral en materia de desarrollo de servicios de salud que tuvo objetivo reordenar y no sólo reponer lo dañado. En este artículo se exponen, de manera muy breve, los trabajos y experiencias de la Secretaría de Salud en materia de reconstrucción y reordenamiento de los servicios de salud de la zona metropolitana de la ciudad de México