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PubMed1999

Nephropathia epidemica and Puumala virus in Austria.

To study the epidemiology of hantavirus infections in Austria, 1215 humans and 596 rodents of different species were tested for the presence of antibodies against Puumala and Hantaan virus. Direct virus identification by polymerase chain reaction in lung tissue of serologically positive rodents was performed to verify antibody results and to determine the genetic identity of viral RNA by phylogenetic analysis of a part of the hantavirus M segment. For 32 of the 37 cases of nephropathia epidemica diagnosed in Austria, the location where transmission took place could be traced to specific areas in the Austrian federal states of Carinthia and Styria. The overall seroprevalence in humans was 1.2% and ranged from 0.02% in Villach, Carinthia, to 0.8% in Korneuburg, Lower Austria, and 1.8% in Wolfsberg, Carinthia. Virus RNA could be amplified from three Clethrionomys glareolus voles collected in Klippitztörl, Carinthia, and from one collected in Ernstbrunn, Lower Austria. The sequences were all identified as Puumala virus by phylogenetic analysis and were found to be most closely related to the western European Puumala viruses from Germany and France. No evidence of the existence of Hantaan-like infections and viruses in Austria was found.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Radical prostatectomy in Austria: a nationwide analysis of 16,524 cases.

OBJECTIVES: To analyse demographics and outcome of radical prostatectomy (RPE) in Austria in a nationwide series. METHODS: All patients (n=16,524) who underwent RPE in public hospitals (covering 95% of all surgical procedures) in Austria between 1992 and 2003 were analysed. Patient demographics, interventions for anastomotic strictures/urinary incontinence/inguinal hernias, perioperative mortality, and overall survival (OS) were determined. Data were provided by the Austrian Health Institute (OBIG). For decades Austria has had a public and equal access health system with compulsory insurance coverage. RESULTS: The annual number of RPEs increased from 396 in 1992 to 2640 (+666%) in 2003; the mean age at surgery declined from 64+/-6.3 yr (1992) to 62.0+/-6.7 yr (2003). An endourologic intervention for anastomotic strictures was performed in 8.5% (45-49 yr: 5.8%; 70-74 yr: 10.8%). An artificial urinary sphincter was implanted in 1.6% with a 5-fold increase from the youngest (0.5%; 45-49 yr) to 2.5% in those aged 70-74 yr. Overall, 6.4% of men underwent an inguinal herniotomy after RPE. The 30-d mortality rate was 0.12%. The 5-yr OS declined from 95% in those aged 50-59 yr to 89.8% in those aged 60-69 yr to 82% in the oldest age group (70-79 yr). CONCLUSIONS: This nationwide analysis describes the current standard of RPE in Austria. The perioperative mortality was low, the risk of total incontinence acceptable, and the OS indistinguishable to the life expectancy of the age-matched male population in Austria.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

The med AUSTRON/OGRO patterns of care study on radiotherapy indications in Austria.

PURPOSE: In Austria a national survey was conducted by Med AUSTRON/Osterreichische Gesellschaft for Radio--Onkologie, Radiobiologie und Medizinische Radiophysik (OGRO) in order to estimate the indications, patient numbers and radiotherapy treatment planning procedures and performances at all Austrian radiotherapy institutes. Results were correlated with incidence rates (Austrian cancer registry) to determine patterns of radiotherapy practice in Austria. MATERIAL AND METHODS: At 12 radiotherapy departments of Austria data of all patients receiving irradiation within a 3 months (2002/2003) period were assessed. On the basis of a questionnaire number of treated patients, indications, and parameters of disease (stage, histology) and treatment modalities were evaluated. Results were analysed with regard to different tumour groups, according to academic and non academic hospitals, and correlated with epidemiological data on cancer incidence. RESULTS: In total, 3783 patients were registered within this period. According to the different tumour entities percentages of patients receiving radiotherapy within initial treatment varied from 3% to 90 % (e.g. brain tumours: 77%, breast cancer: 90%, prostate cancer: 35%). The most frequent indications to radiotherapy per radiotherapy department were breast cancer (range 22%-35%; mean 26%), urological tumours (range 6%-27%; mean 12%) and bone metastases (mean 10%, range 3%-17%). CONCLUSION: In Austria breast cancer, urological tumours and bone metastases are representing the most common indications to radiotherapy. Among the different departments variations in indications to radiotherapy were observed. Our study is the first evaluation of radiotherapeutic management in Austria.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Usutu virus activity in Austria, 2001-2002.

Usutu virus (USUV), a member of the mosquito-borne clade within the Flaviviridae family, was responsible for avian mortality in Austria in 2001. In 2002, the virus continued to kill birds, predominantly blackbirds. High numbers of avian deaths were recorded within the city of Vienna and in surrounding districts of the federal state of Lower Austria, while single die-offs were noticed in the federal states of Styria and Burgenland. A total of 72 birds were submitted for laboratory examination, 30 of which tested positive for USUV by immunohistochemistry and/or polymerase chain reaction. Laboratory-confirmed cases of USUV infection originated from the federal states of Vienna and Lower Austria only. The data show that (i) USUV has managed to overwinter and has been able to establish a transmission cycle in Austria, (ii) the virus seems to have become a resident pathogen of Austria with a tendency to spread to other geographic areas, and (iii) the surveillance of dead blackbirds is a useful sentinel system for monitoring USUV activity.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Mortality from multiple sclerosis in Austria 1970-2001: dynamics, trends, and prospects.

A divergence in earlier multiple sclerosis (MS) mortality rates observed within Europe, prompted us to determine the MS mortality rate in Austria and several European countries. Our aim was to examine the temporal and geographical variations within Austria and to determine future MS mortality rates based on a projection model. MS mortality data set, differentiated by age groups, sex, and region at death for the period 1970-2001 were obtained. Prognostic MS mortality trends for the period 2002-2020 were estimated using the simultaneous multiple cause-delay (SIMCAD) method. Our findings indicate a decline (47%) in the MS mortality rate from 1.41 (1970-79) to 0.96 (1980-89) and 0.70 (1990-2001) per 100 000 in Austria during the 32-year period observed. Conversely, the scenarios of our projection for the period 2002-2020, reveal an increasing MS mortality rate. The median age at death because of MS increased with 0.7 years for men and 2.9 years for women during the observed period (1970-2001). Austria, like many other European countries, has experienced a decreasing MS mortality rate over the last three decades. An increased MS mortality rate is however expected over the next decades in Austria. This increase will be most prominent in the elderly population cohorts because of demographic shifts.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed1976

[Maternal mortality in Austria from a clinical point of view].

The maternal mortality rate of 22.4 per 100,000 live births in 1973 is the lowest recorded in Austria. The figures for Austria are compared with the data from other European countries with similar health systems. Austria reflects the overall trend of a decreasing maternal mortality rate. 10 cases of maternal death recorded per 16,447 live births in the 2nd Department of Obstetrics, University of Vienna are presented and discussed with respect to the clinical diagnosis and compared with the main causes of maternal death in the national and international literature. As in other countries, haemorrhage in 3 out of the 10 cases ranks first, whilst in Austria generally, toxaemia has been the most common cause of death in recent years. The main cause of the bleeding is undetected rupture of the uterus, which is frequently concealed behind the clinical diagnosis of circulatory failure with cardiac arrest. 2/3 of the observed cases in the present series are considered to have been avoidable. It is recommended that in future every single reported case of maternal death in Austria is analyzed and the cause of death and the degree of avoidability discussed as is done in England.

Austria↗
PubMed2002

Incentives in financing mental health care in Austria.

BACKGROUND: In Austria, financing health care -and even more so mental health care- is characterized by a mix of federal and provincial responsibilities, lack of uniformity in service provision and service providers, and diverse funding arrangements. The division between financing structures for health care and social care makes the situation even more complex. This state of affairs results in various, partly counterproductive and sometimes paradoxical financial incentives and disincentives for the providers, recipients and financiers of mental health services. In several provinces of Austria, recent reform plans in mental health care have focused strongly on establishing community-based and patient-oriented mental health care. One of the main challenges in implementing this new policy is the re-allocation of resources. AIMS OF THE STUDY: The authors hypothesize that the existing structure of mental health care financing, with its incentives and disincentives, constitutes an obstacle to patient-oriented community-based mental health care. Analyzing the characteristics of the overall mental health care financing system in one Austrian province, Lower Austria, will provide a better understanding of actor-relationships and inherent incentives and highlight implications for the process of deinstitutionalization. METHOD: The authors used an analytical framework based on the principal-agent theory, empirical evidence, and information on financial, organizational and legal structures to identify the characteristics of actor-relationships and the position of single actors within the system. RESULTS: The article shows how incentives are linked to existing constellations of actors involved in mental health care financing and identifies significant power relations. As a consequence, incentives and disincentives within the financing system result in hospital- centered and supply-oriented mental health care in Lower Austria. DISCUSSION: The current system of financing mental health care provides an obstacle to the provision of patient-oriented and community-based mental care. This is due to existing constellations and power relations among the actors where, most importantly, patients are the weakest party in the patient-payer-provider triangle. Balancing power relations will be a significant prerequisite for alternative financing systems. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICIES AND FURTHER RESEARCH: If a community and needs-based mental health care system is to be established in Austria, the financing structures have to be changed accordingly. Applying a principal-agent framework is useful for identifying key aspects in mental health care financing in relation to the provision of services. Further research is needed to help develop alternative financing mechanisms that support community-based and patient-oriented mental health care systems.

Austria↗
PubMed1990

Echinococcosis in Austria.

In 1982, a research project on the prevalence of human echinococcosis in Austria was started. Within the period from 1982 to 1988, data on 188 patients with cystic (CE) and of 16 patients with alveolar (AE) echinococcosis were obtained. 15 out of 16 AE patients and 79 (= 42%) out of 188 CE patients were Austrian nationals, 1 AE patient was of Swiss nationality, and 94% of the 109 non-Austrian patients came from Mediterranean countries. Cases of (presumably autochthonous) cystic echinococcosis were found in Lower Austria, Vienna, Burgenland, Styria, Upper Austria, Carinthia, Salzburg and Vorarlberg, the eastern part of Austria being the main distribution area. Cases of (certainly autochthonous) alveolar echinococcosis were recorded in the Tyrol, in Carinthia and in Lower Austria. At the time of diagnosis, the average ages of Austrian patients with E. multilocularis (49 years) and with E. granulosus (55 years), respectively were significantly higher than those of foreign CE patients (34 years). The finding concerning the localisation of the infection (78% of E. granulosus cysts and 100% of E. multilocularis lesions were located in the liver) are consistent with previously published reports.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[Quality assurance in invasive and interventional cardiology in Austria for the 1995 calendar year].

A complete national database is the prerequisite for quality control, quality management and improvement. In Austria, we are reaching for this goal since more than 3 years. 23969 diagnostic coronary angiographies (CA) and 5898 PTCA were performed in all 25 adult-centers (out of which 18 perform PTCA) in Austria during the year 1995. This is an increase of 13.6% concerning CA and a 19.5% increase in PTCA compared to 1994. 50% of all PTCA were done during the diagnostic study (CA), direct PTCA for ongoing infarction in 2.8%. Concerning "new devices", 1572 stents (27% of the PTCA cases) were implanted in 1995. Hospital mortality after PTCA was 0.5% (unchanged to the years 1992 and 1993), emergency bypass surgery rate after PTCA was 0.8% (0.7% during the year 1993), and 1.3% of the patients suffered a myocardial infarction due to PTCA in the cath-lab (1.4% during 1994). International comparison shows Austria under the top nations with 2996 CA and 737 PTCA per million inhabitants, corresponding to a ratio of 41% PTCA and CABG per 100 CA. Out of 18 centers with PTCA-activity ischemia was proven to be present before PTCA in 2729 patients within 11 centers, primary-success-rate was documented in 14 centers concerning 3703 patients and a controlling exercise stress test within 3 months after PTCA was reported by 8 centers for 1555 patients. Local logbooks with continuous readings of complications, guidelines and monitor visits (audits) within all cath-labs in Austria turned out to be a better tool for quality control than computer-databases. But additional electronic databases will be necessary in the future. Austria is the only nation worldwide to support a complete national database with controlled numbers and parameters since more than three years, including complete yearly monitor visits and feedback reports. We experienced no single negative reaction to our activities, but find them necessary for further quality management targets.

Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary↗
PubMed1997

[Annual treatment rates and estimated incidence of eating disorders in Austria].

BACKGROUND: At present, the prevalence and incidence of eating disorders in Austria is unknown; not even rough estimates of countrywide annual treatment rates are available. AIMS: To assess the number of patients in Austria with eating disorders currently under treatment and to compare this rate with the estimated prevalence and incidence of eating disorders, thus providing an estimate of unrecorded cases and the appropriateness of health care for these disorders. METHODS: The number of patients being treated in major out-patient and in-patient facilities was assessed by questionnaires. Prevalence and incidence rates in Austria were estimated by extrapolation of epidemiological data from comparable Western countries to Austrian figures from the most recent population census in 1991. RESULTS: Altogether 1075 patients were being treated in 1994 at 26 institutions, including all specialized centres, pediatric and psychiatric university hospitals. Surprisingly, the annual treatment rates for anorexia and bulimia nervosa were equal. There is a considerable discrepancy between these treatment figures and prevalence/incidence estimates (in absolute numbers): the estimated anorexia nervosa point prevalence is about 2500 girls aged 15-20 years, whilst a minimum of 4400 girls suffer from subclinical eating disorders, and there are about 6500 bulimia nervosa cases in young women aged 20-30 years. The incidence might be about 600 new onset cases per year for anorexia, and about 870 for bulimia nervosa. The size of the problem (lifetime prevalence) may comprise at least 36,000 women with bulimia nervosa. CONCLUSIONS: Eating disorders pose a major public health problem for women in Austria. It is unlikely that the vast majority of unrecorded cases was treated in private practice or in hospitals which failed to respond to our questionnaire. The discrepancy between annual treatment rates and prevalence/incidence estimates points to a lack of specialized eating disorder units in Austria.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Modelling critical levels of ozone for the forested area of Austria. Modifications of the AOT40 concept.

GOAL, SCOPE AND BACKGROUND: Ozone is the most important air pollutant in Europe for forest ecosystems and the increase in the last decades is significant. The ozone impact on forests can be calculated and mapped based on the provisional European Critical Level (AOT40 = accumulated exposure over a threshold of 40 ppb, 10,000 ppb x h for 6 months of one growing season calculated for 24 h day(-1)). For Norway spruce, the Austrian main tree species, the ozone risk was assessed in a basis approach and because the calculations do not reflect the health status of forests in Austria, the AOT40 concept was developed. METHODS: Three approaches were outlined and maps were generated for Norway spruce forests covering the entire area of Austria. The 1st approach modifies the AOT40 due to the assumption that forests have adapted to the pre-industrial levels of ozone, which increase with altitude (AOTalt). The 2nd approach modifies the AOT40 according to the ozone concentration in the sub-stomata cavity. This approach is based on such factors as light intensity and water vapour saturation deficit, which affect stomatal uptake (AOTsto). The 3rd approach combines both approaches and includes the hemeroby. The pre-industrial ozone level approach was applied for autochthonous ('natural') forest areas, the ozone-uptake approach for non-autochthonous ('altered') forest areas. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The provisional Critical Level (AOT40) was established to allow a uniform assessment of the ozone risk for forested areas in Europe. In Austria, where ozone risk is assessed with utmost accuracy due to the dense grid of monitoring plots of the Forest Inventory and because the continuously collected data from more than 100 air quality measuring stations, an exceedance up to the five fold of the Critical Level was found. The result could lead to a yield loss of up to 30-40% and to a severe deterioration in the forest health status. However, the data of the Austrian Forest Inventory and the Austrian Forest Damage Monitoring System do not reflect such an ozone impact. Therefore, various approaches were outlined including the tolerance and avoidance mechanisms of Norway spruce against ozone impact. Taking into consideration the adaptation of forests to the pre-industrial background level of ozone, the AOT40 exceedances are markedly reduced (1st approach). Taking into account the stomatal uptake of ozone, unrealistic high amounts of exceedances up to 10,000 ppb x h were found. The modelled risk does not correspond with the health status and the wood increment of the Austrian forests (2nd approach). Consolidating the forgoing two approaches, a final map including the hemeroby was generated. It became clear that the less natural ('altered') forested regions are highly polluted. This means, that more than half of the spruce forests are endangered by ozone impact and AOT40 values of up to 30,000 ppb x h occur (3rd approach). CONCLUSIONS: The approaches revealed that a plausible result concerning the ozone impact on spruce forests in Austria could only be reached by combining pre-industrial ozone levels, ozone flux into the spruce needles and the hemeroby of forests.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2005

[Bibliometric analysis of anaesthetic molecular biology research in Germany, Austria and Switzerland].

BACKGROUND: In the last 20 years molecular biology has expanded the horizons of medical research including anaesthesia. Preoperative identification of genetic disorders relevant to anaesthesia or increased perioperative risk will be available in the near future using molecular biology techniques. There has been a global increase of such publications, but the contributions from Germany, Switzerland and Austria are unknown. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An internet-based medline search was used to analyse specific features such as year of publication, journal and origin of molecular biology articles produced by German, Swiss and Austrian anaesthesia institutions from 1988 to 2002. RESULTS: During the study period 121 articles from German institutions were published, 18 from Switzerland and 5 from Austria, corresponding to 10%, 1.5% and 0.4%, respectively, of global publications. In Germany the number of anaesthesia publications with a molecular biology content has continuously increased, but in Switzerland and Austria the numbers have remained constant. The majority of articles were published in high-impact non-anaesthesia journals. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results of this study show the quantitative development of molecular biology research that has been done in anaesthesia institutions in Germany, Switzerland and Austria from 1988 to 2002. A continuous increase of publications with a molecular biology content occurred only in Germany.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed2005

Epidemiology of suicide in Austria 1990-2000: general decrease, but increased suicide risk for old men.

OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: The epidemiology of suicide in Austria, 1990-2000, was investigated. RESULTS: In comparison with 1980-1990, an overall decrease in the incidence of suicide was found. The annual averages for male, female, and total suicide rates were 32.2, 11.0, and 21.3, respectively, representing decreases of 17.6%, 25.7%, and 19.3%. Decreases were observed in all age groups except for males aged 80-84 years, where the suicide rate was 123.5 (15.1% increase), and for males aged 85 years or over, where the rate was 148.9 (25.4% increase). Hanging is still the most frequently used suicide method in Austria, despite steady decreases during recent decades. During the 1990s, hanging was used in 47.5% of male suicides and 34.8% of female cases. Shooting is the next most common method for male suicides (23.5% of cases) and has become more frequent for both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: The main findings reveal that the decrease in suicide incidence in Austria is greater for females than for males, reflecting the increased suicide risk within the oldest male age groups. This population subgroup should thus be a particular target for suicide-prevention efforts in Austria. A further aim within a national strategy for suicide prevention should be to stop the increased use of shooting as a suicide method.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Prostate cancer mortality after introduction of prostate-specific antigen mass screening in the Federal State of Tyrol, Austria.

OBJECTIVES: To monitor the impact of screening in a natural experiment by comparing prostate cancer mortality in Tyrol, where prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing was introduced at no charge, with the rest of Austria, where it was not introduced. METHODS: In 1993, PSA testing was made freely available to men aged 45 to 75 years in the Federal State of Tyrol, Austria. At least two thirds of all men in this age range have been tested at least once during the first 5 years of the study. Initially, only total PSA was measured, but free PSA measurement was added in 1995. The IMX assay was used. Digital rectal examination was not part of the screening examination. RESULTS: Significant migration to lower stages has been observed since the introduction of this screening program. A reduction in mortality rates in the rest of Austria from 1993 onward has occurred, with the reduction in Tyrol much greater; the mortality remained fairly constant between 1993 and 1995 and subsequently fell. The trends in prostate cancer mortality rates since 1993 differ significantly between Tyrol (P = 0.006) and the rest of Austria. On the basis of the age-specific death rates averaged from 1986 to 1990, the difference between the number of expected and observed deaths from prostate cancer in Tyrol was 22 in the group aged 40 to 79 years in 1998 and 18 the following year. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the policy of making PSA testing freely available, and the wide acceptance by men in the population, is associated with a reduction in prostate cancer mortality in an area in which urology services and radiotherapy are available freely to all patients. It is our opinion that most of this decline is likely to be due to aggressive downstaging and successful treatment and that any contribution from detecting and treating early cancers will only become apparent in the years to come.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Elements of the surname structure of Austria.

The isonymy structure of Austria was studied using the surname distributions in 1081002 private telephone users selected from about 4000000 registered in a 1996 commercial CD-ROM, which contains all Austrian users. The sample was distributed in 120 towns representing an approximately uniform distribution over the country. The number of different surnames found in the whole analysis was 140766. Lasker's distance, the negative value of the logarithm of isonymy between localities, was found to be linearly and significantly correlated with the log of geographic distance, with r = 0.565 +/- 0.011. A dendrogram was built with the matrix of isonymy distance, using the Unweighted Pair-Group Method using Arithmetic averages, UPGMA. It separates the Austrian towns in five main clusters, one along the central portion of the country, another one which occupies the northern region of central Austria; then comes a third cluster at the north-eastern part, a fourth cluster in the western region, and finally a small cluster towards the border with Slovenia. Within each, small subclusters with specific geographic distributions could be delimited. The main clusters correspond fairly well to the classic regions of Austria. The results were compared with those obtained in similar analyses of Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Venezuela. From the present analysis, isolation by distance emerges clearly, and it is stronger than in Germany but smaller than that observed in Italy, Switzerland and Venezuela. The random component of inbreeding estimated from isonymy, at the level of resolution used here, indicates that the inbreeding level in Austria is rather uniform.

Austria↗
PubMed2002

Iodine supplementation in Austria: methods and results.

Until 1963 Austria was an extremely iodine-deficient area with low iodine intake and high goiter prevalence. Therefore, for the first time in 1963, salt iodination with 10 mg of potassium iodide per kilogram of salt was introduced by federal law. Twenty years after this salt iodination, however, investigations in schoolchildren demonstrated iodine deficiency grade I to II according to the World Health Organization (WHO) (urinary iodine excretion, 42-75 microg/g Crea) and goiter prevalence of far more than 10%. In 1990, salt iodination was increased to 20 mg of potassium iodide per kilogram of salt. In 1994, further investigations in schoolchildren demonstrated an increase of urinary iodine excretion (121 microg/g Crea) and a reduction of goiter prevalence below 5%, with the exception of pupils ages 14-19 (12%). In the year 2000, 10 years after the increase of salt iodination in Austria, 430 nonselected adult inhabitants of three communities in Carinthia (a county of Austria) were investigated for iodine excretion, goiter prevalence, and prevalence of thyroid autoantibodies. This study demonstrated that although iodine supply is sufficient now in Austria (males, 163.7 microg of Crea; females, 183.3 microg of iodine per gram of Crea), goiter prevalence is still high in the elderly, who lived for a longer period of iodine deficiency (34.3% in women and 21.3% in men), whereas goiter prevalence in younger people up to age 40 years is below 5%. It could also be shown that the percentage of thyroid autoantibodies is now as high as in other countries with sufficient iodine supply (3.19% in males, 5.17% in females). In addition to the changes of urinary iodine excretion and goiter prevalence because of salt iodination, changes of incidence in hyperthyroidism and histologic types of thyroid cancer are discussed in this paper. In conclusion, the introduction of salt iodination led to an improvement in iodine supply with a marked reduction of goiter prevalence in people who were born after 1963, but also to an increase in hyperthyroidism and autoimmune thyroid diseases as well as changes in histologic types of thyroid cancer.

Austria↗
PubMed2002

History and state of neurosurgery in Austria.

Although surgeons in Austria, especially in Vienna, were counted among the leading specialists at the end of the 19th century, neurosurgery did not evolve as a distinct discipline before the turn of the century; achievements were episodic until Anton von Eiselsberg became an enthusiastic surgeon of the central nervous system at the beginning of the 20th century. On the threshold of modern microneurosurgery, he was succeeded in Vienna by Leopold Schönbauer and then by Herbert Kraus. Although Schönbauer kept a certain distance from neurosurgery before World War II, a special department of neurosurgery was founded at the University of Graz Medical Faculty in 1950. In contrast, it was not until 1964 that Kraus founded the first department of neurosurgery at the University of Vienna Medical Faculty, later followed by the one at Innsbruck. War injuries involving the brain during both World Wars I and II also had considerable impact on further progress in brain and spine surgery in Austria. At present, Austria harbors three university departments of neurosurgery (Vienna, Graz, and Innsbruck) and three more departments at community hospitals, in addition to four at state hospitals. Each is equipped with modern devices, including the capacity for radiosurgery in five institutions. In 1954, a scientific society was founded, but neurosurgery was not established as a distinct specialty in medicine in Austria until 1976.

Austria↗
PubMed2004

Undergraduate teaching in gerodontology in Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

OBJECTIVE: To survey the present state of undergraduate teaching in the domain of gerodontology in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. STUDY PARTICIPANTS: All universities of Austria (A), Germany (D) and Switzerland (CH). PROTOCOL: A questionnaire on undergraduate teaching in gerodontology was mailed to all Deans (A: n = 3; CH: n = 4; D: n = 31) and all independent departments except paediatric dentistry and orthodontics (A: n = 11; CH: n = 15; D: n = 111). RESULTS: The questionnaires were completed and returned by 29 Deans (A: n = 2; CH: n = 4; D: n = 23) and 102 departments (A: n = 7; CH: n = 8; D: n = 87). In Austria, gerodontology is a very small component of the dental curriculum and the Deans did not want this to be increased. Most German universities claimed to teach some aspects of gerodontology to undergraduate students and 87.4% of the Deans voted for separate lectures in gerodontology. In Switzerland, gerodontology seems well established. The results of questionnaires from the independent departments revealed that in all three countries lectures were more prevalent (A: n = 0; CH: n = 4; D: n = 6) than practical training in nursing homes (A: n = 0; CH: n = 3; D: n = 6). CONCLUSION: Considering the demographical shift which is leading to an increasing proportion of elderly in the population, the weighting of gerodontology in the undergraduate dental curriculum should be considered for revision in Austria and Germany.

Austria↗