About the Authors
- Ulrich Thiem
-
* E-mail: ulrich.thiem@rub.de
Affiliations Department of Geriatrics, University of Bochum, Marienhospital Herne, Herne, Germany, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany
- Rainer Lamsfuß
-
Affiliation Department of Geriatrics, University of Bochum, Marienhospital Herne, Herne, Germany
- Sven Günther
-
Affiliation Department of Geriatrics, University of Bochum, Marienhospital Herne, Herne, Germany
- Jochen Schumacher
-
Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, Alfried Krupp Krankenhaus Steele, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
- Christian Bäker
-
Affiliation Department of Geriatrics, University of Bochum, Marienhospital Herne, Herne, Germany
- Heinz G. Endres
-
Affiliation Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany
- Josef Zacher
-
Affiliation Department of Orthopedics, HELIOS Klinikum Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany
- Gerd R. Burmester
-
Affiliation Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charite Berlin, University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Ludger Pientka
-
Affiliation Department of Geriatrics, University of Bochum, Marienhospital Herne, Herne, Germany
Competing Interests
The study was supported by an unrestricted research grant of MSD Sharp & Dohme, Haar, Germany. L. Pientka has received fees from MSD Sharp & Dohme, Haar, Germany, as a consultant and for lectures, and also funding for other research projects. J Zacher is employed by HELIOS Klinikum Berlin-Buch. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors′ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
Author Contributions
Interpreted the results: UT RL SG CB HGE LP. Revised the manuscript for important intellectual content: HGE RL SG JS CB JZ GRB LP. Conceived and designed the experiments: UT JS LP. Performed the experiments: UT RL SG JS. Analyzed the data: UT RL HGE. Wrote the paper: UT.