Introducing a nationwide registry: the Swiss study on aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (Swiss SOS)

Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) is a haemorrhagic form of stroke and occurs in a younger population compared with ischaemic stroke or intracerebral haemorrhage. It accounts for a large proportion of productive life-years lost to stroke. Its surgical and medical treatment represents a multidisciplinary effort. Due to the complexity of the disease, the management remains difficult to standardise and quality of care is accordingly difficult to assess.

The prevalence of erectile dysfunction and its association with antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected men: the Swiss HIV Cohort Study

Here, we aimed to determine the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) among HIV-infected men and its association with components of antiretroviral therapy.

Decreasing mortality and changing patterns of causes of death in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study

Mortality among HIV-infected persons is decreasing, and causes of death are changing. Classification of deaths is hampered because of low autopsy rates, frequent deaths outside of hospitals, and shortcomings of International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) coding.

[The Swiss approach for cardiac rehabilitation]

Structured cardiac rehabilitation goes back to the late 1960s also in Switzerland and in the beginning was only available in rehabilitation clinics. In 1972 the first ambulatory rehabilitation programs became available to patients in Zurich and Bern. In the following years, in addition to the increasing number of rehabilitation centers for inpatients, more and more ambulatory rehabilitation programs were developed, especially in the larger Midlands population area in German and French-speaking Switzerland. In 1985 the Swiss Working Group of Cardiac Rehabilitation (SAKR) was initiated as an official working group of the Swiss Society of Cardiology and one of its first tasks was to establish a list of the institutions for cardiac rehabilitation in Switzerland. At that time there were 42 rehabilitation programs for a population of approx. 6.5 million, 21 for inpatients and 21 ambulatory; however, 90% of the patients were in inpatient programs. In 1992 the SAKR group defined the quality criteria which were to be applied for official recognition of institutions for cardiac rehabilitation in Switzerland. Due to these criteria, plus the fact that an increasing number of rehabilitation clinics in the mountains had been closed down, the number of inpatient rehabilitation centers decreased from 21 to 11 between 1989 and 2011, whereas the number of ambulatory programs increased from 21 to 51. The ambulatory rehabilitation centers are partially organized by local medical groups; however, most have integrated their activities into the local hospitals. The trend shows a developing preference for ambulatory rehabilitation. More and more elderly, polymorbid patients, however, will still need care in inpatient programs.

Medication errors in a swiss cardiovascular surgery department: a cross-sectional study based on a novel medication error report method

The purpose of this study was (1) to determine frequency and type of medication errors (MEs), (2) to assess the number of MEs prevented by registered nurses, (3) to assess the consequences of ME for patients, and (4) to compare the number of MEs reported by a newly developed medication error self-reporting tool to the number reported by the traditional incident reporting system. We conducted a cross-sectional study on ME in the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of Bern University Hospital in Switzerland. Eligible registered nurses (n = 119) involving in the medication process were included. Data on ME were collected using an investigator-developed medication error self reporting tool (MESRT) that asked about the occurrence and characteristics of ME. Registered nurses were instructed to complete a MESRT at the end of each shift even if there was no ME. All MESRTs were completed anonymously. During the one-month study period, a total of 987 MESRTs were returned. Of the 987 completed MESRTs, 288 (29%) indicated that there had been an ME. Registered nurses reported preventing 49 (5%) MEs. Overall, eight (2.8%) MEs had patient consequences. The high response rate suggests that this new method may be a very effective approach to detect, report, and describe ME in hospitals.

Usage of complementary medicine across Switzerland. Results of the Swiss Health Survey 2007

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: This study investigated the use among the Swiss adult population and regional dissemination of various methods of complementary medicine (CM) provided by physicians or therapists in Switzerland. METHODS: Data of the Swiss Health Survey 2007 were used, which comprised a telephone interview followed by a written questionnaire (18,760 and 14,432 respondents, respectively) and included questions about people's state of health, health insurance and usage of health services. Users and non-users of CM were compared using logistic regression models. RESULTS: The most popular CM methods were homeopathy, osteopathy, acupuncture and shiatsu/foot reflexology. 30.5% of women and 15.2% of men used at least one CM method in the 12 months preceding the survey. Lake Geneva region and central Switzerland had more CM users than the other regions. Women, people between 25 and 64 years of age and people with higher levels of education were more likely to use CM. 53.5% of the adult population had a supplemental health insurance for CM treatments. 32.9% of people with such an insurance used CM during the 12 months preceding the survey, and so did 12.0% of people without additional insurance. CONCLUSIONS: Almost one fourth of the Swiss adult population had used CM within the past 12 months. User profiles were comparable to those in other countries. Despite a generally lower self-perceived health status, elderly people were less likely to use CM.