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The diploma aims to ascertain the opinions of diabetics on the current system of reimbursements of medical devices and medical procedures from the public health insurance. The diploma thesis is strategically divided into theoretical and practical bases. The theoretical bases are divided into three parts. The first part is focused on the disease diabetes mellitus, the second part provides a basic description of the concept of health insurance, and the third part describes the facts arising from the relationship between health insurance and diabetes, including e.g. provision and reimbursement of medical devices or medical procedures. The practical bases include the thesis objective, hypotheses, methods, research results and discussion. In order to process the data, a quantitative research strategy was used, and the data were collected by the questioning method and the questionnaire technique. The questionnaire I drew up for the diploma thesis started with the introductory page on which I introduced myself to the respondents and informed them about the purpose of the questionnaire survey, anonymity and use of the obtained data. The research set comprised the diabetics registered with a selected physician running an outpatient diabetes office. I distributed 300 questionnaires and received 248 completed questionnaires. So the rounded return rate was 82.7%. From the total number of 248 questionnaires, only 232 questionnaires could be used for the research, while 16 questionnaires were excluded because the respondents gave incomplete, inaccurate or logically incorrect answers to the questions important for the research. In order to achieve the set objective, two hypotheses were raised. The first one was: Type 1 diabetics are satisfied with the number of medical devices reimbursed from the public health insurance more than type 2 diabetics. Based on the research results, the conclusiveness of this hypothesis was found statistically significant so it was confirmed that type 1 diabetics are satisfied with the number of medical devices reimbursed from the public health insurance more than type 2 diabetics. The second hypothesis was: Type 1 diabetics are satisfied with the number of medical procedures reimbursed from the public health insurance more than type 2 diabetics. Based on the research results, the conclusiveness of this hypothesis was not found statistically significant in this case so type 1 diabetics are not satisfied with the number of medical procedures reimbursed from the public health insurance more than type 2 diabetics. The diploma thesis could be helpful in extending the knowledge of not only diabetics but also the general public. I would also be very glad if my thesis was used by health insurers as a source of information about clients covered by public health insurance, namely about people with the chronic disease diabetes mellitus. In later years, this thesis might also inspire further research in this issue.

Study design Retrospective cohort study. Objective Bracing is an accepted standard therapy for idiopathic scoliosis at Cobb angle ranges between 25° and 40°. However, it is unclear, if a specifically tailored regimen of daytime and nighttime braces (= double brace) yields superior results compared to the standard treatment (single brace for day and night). Methods One-hundred-fifteen patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) were assessed before initiation of bracing treatment and at the final follow-up 2 years after deposition of the brace. They were divided into two groups: double-brace group (n = 66, 4 male, 62 female, age 13.1 ± 1.9 (mean ± SD), primary curvature thoracic n = 35, lumbar n = 31) and single-brace group (n = 49, 8 male, 41 female, age 14.1 ± 1.9, primary curvature thoracic n = 18, lumbar n = 31). Each patient underwent clinical and radiological examinations and Cobb angles were measured. Results Both therapy regimens succeeded to either stop progression or improve scoliosis in over 85% of cases. The nighttime brace showed a significantly higher primary correction than the daytime brace. Nevertheless, there was no significant difference in treatment success in the 2-year follow-up (p = 0.58). Conclusion It seems to be sufficient to treat idiopathic scoliosis with one well-tailored brace for day- and nighttime.