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The personality trait of sensation seeking (SS) plays a prominent role in health-related risk behaviors and is associated with psychopathology, emotion regulation, and delinquency. Despite this high relevance, hardly any ultra-short self-report measures optimized for test duration exist for the assessment of SS. An exception is the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS-4) consisting of four items, which is gaining international popularity. In this study, the German version of the BSSS-4 was psychometrically evaluated for the first time in a student sample ( N =419). A unidimensional confirmatory measurement model showed adequate goodness of fit and internal consistency was in the satisfactory range (ω=0,73). As first evidence for adequate construct validity and in line with the hypotheses, associations of the BSSS-4 with male gender, self-reported risk-taking, and risk-taking behavior (operationalized via a lottery-based behavioral paradigm) but not with current depression were found. An examination of measurement invariance across men and women using multigroup CFA suggested that partial scalar measurement invariance can be assumed for the BSSS-4, when equality constraints for loadings and intercepts of Item 1 are relaxed. Considering its increasing international use, the German version of the BSSS-4 can be recommended overall: For an ultra-short instrument, it is sufficiently internally consistent and rather suitable for gender comparisons. In this regard, the facet of experience seeking may be problematic in terms of gender-dependent differences in measurement properties. In light of insufficiently rigorous tests of instruments for the assessment of SS, the results of comparisons between women and men may thus be interpreted with caution., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

New pharmacological and clinical studies show that standardized willow bark extracts (WRE) is not only the natural form of salicylic acid. Willow bark extract has comparable antiinflammatory activities as higher doses of acetylsalicylic acid (ASS), and it shows antinociceptive and antipyretic activities. Under the pharmacologically active doses, no adverse effects regarding the stomach mucosa was observed, in contrast to acetylsalicylic acid. A daily dose of 1572 mg willow bark extract of a proprietary preparation (Assalix; standardised to 15.2% salicin, i.e. 240 mg salicin per day) was significantly superior to placebo in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip and the knee and in patients with exacerbations of chronic low back pain. In 2 open studies against active treatments as controls, willow bark extract exhibited advantages against a routinely prescribed treatment scheme of orthopedic specialists based on nonsteroidal antirheumatic drugs and rather similar efficacy as the COX-2-inhibitor refecoxib. Willow bark extract also displays an activity regarding the thrombocyte function, but the activity is clearly weaker.

Post-marketing-surveillance studies with herbal drugs usually are prospective prescription-epidemiological studies, which should allow statements on quality, efficacy and safety. Until now neither laws nor concrete normative guidelines for the methodology and the evaluation of post-marketing-surveillance studies are existing which could be used for pharmacovigilance. In the present paper guidelines for planning, realisation and evaluation are presented which should allow studies of high quality. The essential components required for the investigational plan are focussed. Also recommendations on the obligatory, optional and special components of the study protocols are made. Additionally statistical methods which allow the evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy are presented.