Die Proceedings der 35. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft fur Medizinische Dokumentation, Informatik und Statistik geben einen UEberblick uber die derzeit wichtigen Forschungsschwerpunkte der Epidemiologie. Dabei konnten zum ersten Mal auch Beitrage aus der ehemaligen DDR in groesserer Zahl eingebracht werden. Schwerpunkte des Proceedingsbandes bilden die Epidemiologie kardiovaskularer Erkrankungen, die Umweltepidemiologie, die Epidemiologie von Berufskrankheiten und das epidemiologische Monitoring von Krebserkrankungen und Infektionskrankheiten. Die Qualitat verfugbarer Datenquellen wird kritisch diskutiert und die Bedeutung der Epidemiologie fur eine Verbesserung der Gesundheitsberichterstattung in den alten und in den neuen Bundeslandern klargelegt. Daruber hinaus werden methodische Probleme und unterstutzende Techniken der Medizinischen Informatik angesprochen.

Der Tagungsband gibt einen Uberblick uber den gegenwartigen Stand der Forschung auf dem Gebiete der Mustererkennung vorwiegend im deutschsprachigen Raum. Er ist gegliedert in - Sensorgestaltung fur Zwecke der Mustererkennung - Wissen, neuronale Netze - Spracherkennung, Sprachverstehen - Grundlagen der Mustererkennung - Signalverarbeitung und Mustererkennung angepasst an gegebene Sensoreigenschaften - spezielle Hardwarearchitekturen - Softwarewerkzeuge und Umgebungen - medizinische Anwendungen - industrielle Anwendungen - Bildfolgen, Mehrfachbilder, Computervision. Die Autoren der einzelnen Beitrage haben die relevanten Ergebnisse in Diagrammen und Bildern dargestellt."

Der Proceedingsband enth{lt ausgew{hlte ausgew{hlte refe- rierte Aufs{tze sowohl zu innovativen Entwicklungen in den Disziplinen Biometrie und Medizinische Informatik als auch }ber den Einsatz bekannter, bew{hrter Konzepte aus diesen Fachbereichen in der Medizin. Behandelt werden spezielle Fragestellungen zu den Themen Epidemiologie, methodische Therapieforschung, Nachweis therapeutischer Oquivalenz, Dia- gnostik und Monitoring von Krankheitsprozessen, Modellierung biologischer Mechanismen, biometrische Methoden, medizini- sche Dokumentation, L-sungsans{tze f}r Informationssysteme, spezielle Hard- und Softwarel-sungen, Expertensysteme, Bild- kommunikation und Archivierung, Bilderzeugung, wissensba- sierte Bildinterpretation und 3-d Darstellungsverfahren.

As its name implies, this book deals with clinical inforrnation systems. The clinical inforrnation system (or CIS) is an automated system with a long term database containing clinical inforrnation used for patient care. This definition excludes business systems (no clinical data), physiological monitaring systems (no long terrn database), and many research systems (not used in patient care). The theses of this book are (a) that CIS technology is mature, (b) that the CIS will have a major impact upon patient care and the health delivery system, and ( c) that the number of commercial systems which now offer these potential benefits is very small. The objective of this book is to establish the above theses and thereby (a) inform both users and developers, (b) increase the demand for more sophisticated products, and finally, (c) provide marketplace incentives to advance the state of the art. The CIS is an application of computer technology for a specific class of problems. Its development requires a knowledge of the technology with an understanding of the application area. As with any tool-based application, the scope of the product will be limited by the capability of the tool. In the case of the CIS, reliable computers with comprehensive database facilities became com mercially available in the early 1970s. By the mid 1970s there was a maturation of the literature, and evaluations of 5-years' use began to appear. As will be shown, there have been surprisingly few new ideas introduced since the 1970s."

Screening programmes involve the systematic offer of testing for populations or groups of apparently healthy people to identify individuals who may be at future risk of a particular medical condition or disease, with the aim of offering intervention to reduce their risk. For many years, screening was practised without debate, and without evidence, but in the 1960s serious challenges were raised about many of the screening procedures then being practised. Benefits and harms of screening must be measured in high quality trials, and the benefits of screening must be weighed alongside the negative side-effects. Concerns were raised about potential and actual harm arising when people without a health problem received dangerous and unnecessary investigations and treatments as a result of routine screening tests. Controversy raged, and it took some 50 years to achieve widespread recognition that evidence-based and quality assured programme delivery was essential, coupled with provision of balanced informed to enable informed choice for potential participants. Commercially motivated provision of poor quality and non-evidence based screening tests is increasing and screening remains a highly contested topic that has relevance in all health systems including for the general public and media. This book serves as a practical and comprehensive guide to all aspects of screening. Following the international success of the first edition, this second edition brings extensive updates and new case study material. The first section deals with concepts, methods, and evidence, charts the story of screening back to 1861, and covers all aspects of a screening programme and how to research the full consequences. The second section is a practical guide to sound policy-making and to high quality delivery of best value screening. The controversies, paradoxes, uncertainties, and ethical dilemmas of screening are explained, and each chapter is packed with examples, real-life case histories, helpful summary points, and self-test questions. Reference is made to the NHS, a leader in screening, but the primary focus is on universal principles, making the book highly relevant across the globe.