Raphic and clinical aspects as well as to the geographical and
Raphic and clinical aspects as well as to the geographical and professional composition of the documenting sites.The KompNet cohort is the only nationwide operating cohort of HIV-positive patients in Germany collecting also highly detailed data AG-490 chemical information beyond the central aspects of HIV-infection and cART. Also its extensive sociodemographic dataset and the availability of linked biomaterials are valuable features. Estimating the representativity of the KompNet PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27797473 cohort on basis of existent data, the KompNet can be considered as reasonably representative for the German situation, with exception of the subgroup of migrants. The KompNet cohort contains a high proportion of PubMed ID:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27385778 older patients (28.1 50 years). This is an important condition to analyse the effect of cART in an ageing HIV-population. This topic becomes important noticeably, especially in terms of concomitant diseases in the course of HIV-infection, which are represented by the variable set of the KompNet cohort broadly. The collection of data and biomaterials of childrenWHAT ARE THE MAIN STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES ?EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL RESEARCHAugust 12,and pregnant women as subgroups of patients having very special clinical and treatment characteristics is an essential tool to foster translational research and therewith better therapy outcomes for these patients. Via the PID and by contacting the documenting site, it is possible to identify patients eligible for additional studies, e.g. clinical trials as well as sociodemographic or behavioural studies. Within the informed consent, the patients have the possibility to state their will whether they would like to be contacted for additional studies or not. A weakness of the KompNet cohort is the laborious documentation of highly detailed data, which means an ongoing high effort in terms of workload and financing to assure the quality of these data. Due to the specifics of the German system of medical care, it is not always possible to follow up a patient who leaves a documenting site and is treated by an institution not participating in the cohort afterwards. This applies especially to the urban areas of Germany with higher numbers of institutions specialised in HIV-treatment and shortens the follow up time of these patients. Another weakness are the lacking documenting sites in Eastern Germany, except Berlin. Despite these limitations, the KompNet cohort builds an important complement of the German surveillance instruments in the field of HIV/AIDS.Praxis Georgstra , Hannover ?Gemeinschaftspraxis Kriegsstra , Karlsruhe ?St tisches Krankenhaus Kemperhof, Koblenz ?Praxis Hohenstaufenring, K n ?Gemeinschaftspraxis Isartorplatz, M chen ?MVZ Karlsplatz, HIV Research and Clinical Centre , M chen ?Praxisgemeinschaft Franz Joseph-Stra , M chen ?Klinikum, Osnabr k ?Praxis Schwabstrasse, Stuttgart 1. Robert Koch-Institut. HIV und AIDS. Gesundheitsberichterstattung des Bundes. 2006; 31. 2. Robert Koch-Institut. HIV-Infektionen/AIDS: Jahresbericht 2008. Epi Bull. 2009; 21. 3. Robert Koch-Institut. HIV/AIDS in Deutschland ?Eckdaten. 2009. 4. Robert Koch-Institut. Changing epidemiology and consequences for prevention. Invited lecture at the S AK 2009, St Gallen. 5. Franz A. Medizinische Versorgung von Menschen ohne Krankenversicherung. In Borde T, David M (Ed.), Gut versorgt? Migrantinnen und Migranten im Gesundheitsund Sozialwesen 2003; 143-152. 6. Kouznetsov L, Kuznetsov AV, Wienecke R, Zippel SA: AIDS awareness among German resettlers from the f.