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Healthcare research emphasises involvement of patients in the research process, recognizing that this can enhance the relevance, quality, and implementation of research. This article highlights the need for more systematic planning to successfully involve patients in research projects and provides guidance on key aspects that researchers should consider in the planning of involving patients in research. The article accentuates the importance of establishing clear frameworks and guidelines to promote transparency and facilitate implementation., (Published under Open Access CC-BY-NC-BD 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

In these years, quality management has been the focus in order to meet high quality services for the patients in Danish health care. This article provides information on quality management and quality improvement and it evaluates its effectiveness in achieving better organizational structures, processes and results in Danish health-care organizations. Our findings generally support that quality management is associated with high quality services in health care.

Introduction: The prevalence of obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities in the Danish adult population is continuously rising and demands on the Danish health care system are consequently increasing. Quantitative measures of the economic costs related to obesity constitute a necessary basis for the organization of treatments, health promotion and for health policies., Materials and Methods: On the basis of studies of the prevalence of obesity in the Danish adult population and estimates of the increased risk of co-morbidity among obese, the number (and a sensitivity-interval) of hospital contacts in 2003 was calculated. Based on the results of these calculations and on treatment rates for the identified diagnosis-groups, the costs related to the treatment of obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities were estimated., Results: In 2003 177,703 hospital contacts in Denmark were related to obesity. The costs related to these contacts summed up to euro 137.3 mill. (euro 88.8-174.0 mill.), corresponding to 2.8% (1.8-3.6%) of the running costs at Danish hospitals., Conclusion: The results of this analysis are equivalent to the results from similar analyses from other European countries with comparable health care systems. The health-economic costs related to obesity in Denmark depend on the prevalence of obesity and as a consequence are expected to rise as the current obesity epidemic further develops.

Cost-of-illness analyses are concerned with the societal economic impact of obesity such as treatment-costs and lost production related to morbidity and mortality. As regards allocation of resources a growing number of cost-effectiveness analyses of different interventions have appeared. In addition several economic analyses look at how obesity affects wage level and how the use of price-subsidies affects the consumption of products and services. Most recently health economic analyses of possible explanations of the rise in the prevalence of obesity have emerged.

A case of perforation of the rectum in a victim of a car crash who suffered pelvic fracture is reported. Seatbelt use, diagnosis, principles of treatment and complications are reported. Rectal perforations caused by blunt trauma is unusual and has a poor prognosis.