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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with high services use, but European data on costs are scarce. Utilisation and annual costs of 385 individuals with ASD (aged 4-67 years; 18.2% females; 37.4% IQ < 85) from German outpatient clinics were assessed. Average annual costs per person were 3287 EUR, with psychiatric inpatient care (19.8%), pharmacotherapy (11.1%), and occupational therapy (11.1%) being the largest cost components. Females incurred higher costs than males (4864 EUR vs. 2936 EUR). In a regression model, female sex (Cost Ratio: 1.65), lower IQ (1.90), and Asperger syndrome (1.54) were associated with higher costs. In conclusion, ASD-related health costs are comparable to those of schizophrenia, thus underlining its public health relevance. Higher costs in females demand further research., Author(s): Juliana Höfer [sup.1] , Falk Hoffmann [sup.1] , Michael Dörks [sup.1] , Inge Kamp-Becker [sup.2] , Charlotte Küpper [sup.3] [sup.4] , Luise Poustka [sup.5] [sup.8] [sup.9] , Stefan Roepke [...]

We investigated using administrative claims data to identify surgical site infections (SSI) after breast surgery and cesarean section. Postoperative diagnosis codes, procedure codes, and pharmacy information were automatically scanned and [...]

Participant selection biases can reduce the generalizability of research findings and lead to misestimates of intervention effectiveness. The authors examined factors associated with study participation and attrition among psychiatric outpatients recruited for the initial phase of a health promotion trial. Medical records were reviewed to obtain HIV-risk and substance abuse data, as well as psychiatric and demographic characteristics of potential participants. Of 895 eligible outpatients, 67% (n = 601) consented to participate, among whom 69% (n = 415) completed all baseline appointments. Compared with nonconsenters, consenters were more likely to be at risk for drug problems and to receive care from clinics serving more impaired patients. Study completion was associated with older age, a psychiatric diagnosis other than adjustment disorder, and a recent sexually transmitted disease diagnosis. These findings suggest that patients who could most benefit from risk reduction interventions are more likely to participate.

Do clinic-referred children and their parents agree on the problems for which treatment is undertaken? The authors asked 381 outpatient-clinic-referred children and their parents to list, independently, the child's target problems. Of the parent-child pairs, 63% failed to agree on even a single problem. When problems were grouped into broad categories (e.g., delinquent, withdrawn), more than a third of the pairs still failed to agree on a single broad problem area. Parent-child agreement was higher for externalizing than for internalizing problem categories (though poor for both). Low parent-child agreement may help explain the poor outcomes often reported for clinic-based child therapy.

A study that was carried out by using a modified Stroop protocol to a sample of 80 dependent drug users before the beginning of a time-limited outpatient treatment study combining pharmacotheraphy and cognitive-behavioral coping skills therapy for cocaine, marijuana or heroin dependence. It was felt that Stroop performance might have prognostic utility among drug-dependent patients in a cognitive behavioral coping skills intervention.

The decline on the 'concern shown by staff' item reinforces the idea that outpatient surgery staff members are not making patients comfortable. Healthcare organization needs to address potential problems with the engagement of outpatient surgery employees to avoid further decline in the patient satisfaction in outpatient surgery.

$103 billion Annual expenses for outpatient prescribed medicine $1,102 Average annual expense for prescription medication for people age 65 and older $485 Average annual expense for prescription medications for people [...]