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Although the incidence of multiple myeloma (MM) in Asia is lower than in Western countries, it is steadily increasing. However, limited data are available that describe the epidemiology of MM in Asia.We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Taiwan National Healthcare Insurance Research database to estimate the disease burden and clinical characteristics of patients with MM in Taiwan. All newly diagnosed confirmed MM patients during 2007-2012 were enrolled. Patients were followed up until death or end of the observation period (December 31, 2013), whichever occurred first.A total of 2723 newly diagnosed MM patients were included in the cohort analysis, of whom 58.0% (1578/2723) were men. The average age of MM patients was 67.6 years. At the time of diagnosis, the mean Charlson Comorbidity Index was 1.8, 35.3% of patients had anemia, 18.0% had bone fracture, 16.4% had renal disease and 17.3% had pneumonia. The crude annual incidence of newly diagnosed MM increased from 1.74 per 100 000 population in 2007 to 2.27 per 100 000 population in 2012 (p 0.0001), and the age-adjusted incidence from 1.41 to 1.59 per 100 000 population (p = 0.01). The use of novel treatments expanded over the study period. The crude and age-adjusted annual MM mortality rate did not change significantly over time. Case fatality decreased from 25.5% in 2007 to 19.4% in 2012 (p 0.0001).The age-adjusted incidence of MM in Taiwan increased by 13% between 2007 and 2012. Despite the introduction of new treatments, MM remains largely incurable with 19.4% mortality.

Background There is still significant uncertainty as to whether market competition raises or lowers clinical quality in publicly funded healthcare systems. We attempted to assess the effects of market competition on inpatient care quality of stroke patients in a retrospective study of the universal single-payer health insurance system in Taiwan. Methods In this 11-year population-based study, we conducted a pooled time-series cross-sectional analysis with a fixed-effects model and the Hausman test approach by utilizing two nationwide datasets: the National Health Insurance Research Database and the National Hospital and Services Survey in Taiwan. Patients who were admitted to a hospital for ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke were enrolled. After excluding patients with a previous history of stroke and those with different types of stroke, 247 379 ischemic and 79 741 hemorrhagic stroke patients were included in our analysis. Four outcome indicators were applied: the in-hospital mortality rate, 30-day post-operative complication rate, 14-day re-admission rate and 30-day re-admission rate. Results Market competition exerted a negative or negligible effect on the medical care quality of stroke patients. Compared to hospitals located in a highly competitive market, in-hospital mortality rates for hemorrhagic stroke patients were significantly lower in moderately (β = -0.05, P < 0.01) and less competitive markets (β = -0.05, P < 0.01). Conversely, the impact of market competition on the quality of care of ischemic stroke patients was insignificant. Conclusions Simply fostering market competition might not achieve the objective of improving the quality of health care. Other health policy actions need to be contemplated.

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are commonly used in breast cancer patients to ameliorate emesis induced by chemotherapy. Some preclinical studies have suggested that systemic GCs might promote survival of estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer cells. This study aims to clarify their clinical effect on patient survival. A total of 18,596 women with newly diagnosed stage I–III breast cancer in 2002–2006 were identified from the Taiwan Cancer Database and drug treatment was examined from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Claims Database. Of these, 3989 who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy (non-chemotherapy cohort) and 3237 patients who received six cycles of adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy (anthracycline cohort) were included. The impact of GC use on survival was analyzed separately in these two cohorts using Cox proportional hazards models. In the non-chemotherapy cohort, GC use was associated with aggressive clinicopathological features of breast cancer. High-dose GC was associated with shorter overall survival in univariate analysis but not in multivariate analysis. In the anthracycline cohort, multivariate analysis showed that GC use at each dose level was significantly associated with longer breast cancer-specific survival (HR 0.65, 0.70, and 0.70 for low-dose, median-dose, and high-dose GC, respectively) and overall survival (HR 0.72, 0.76, and 0.73, respectively) when compared with those receiving no GC. The associations were significant in both ER-positive and ER-negative subgroups for breast cancer-specific survival, and in ER-negative subgroup for overall survival. Concomitant use of GC improved survival in patients receiving adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy for stage I–III breast cancer.

AIM Pain assessment and management have been important criteria in hospital accreditation in Taiwan since 2007. We used a Taiwanese health insurance database to determine factors influencing patterns of strong opioid use in cancer patients in their final 12 months of life. METHODS Data from patients with cancer in Taiwan outpatient clinics with cancer-related deaths between 2008 and 2011 were included in the analysis. Strong opioid prescription data from the last 12 months of each patient's life, as well as patient, physician, and hospital characteristics, were collected from the National Health Insurance Research Database. RESULTS Among 162 679 patients, more were male (63.6%) than female (36.4%) and almost half (49.3%) were ≥70 years old. Most (44.9%) patients had gastrointestinal cancer. More than one-third (35.4%) of patients were prescribed strong opioids during the 12 months before death, and more than half (53.2%) of those prescribed opioids received them in the 3 months before death. Median duration of strong opioid use was 81 days before death. Patients with head/neck cancer (52.8%) or who were treated in hematology and oncology departments (45.8%) were most likely, and patients with gastrointestinal cancer (hazard ratio = 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.64-0.67) or treated in gastroenterology departments (hazard ratio = 0.88; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.93) were least likely to be prescribed strong opioids. CONCLUSION Strong opioid prescriptions varied among patients with different cancer diagnoses and physicians. Information from this study can guide efforts to improve patient and physician education about cancer pain management.

To better understand the economic burden of gout patients in Taiwan, a nationwide retrospective study was conducted to compare the healthcare costs and utilization between gout and gout-free patients.The Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) 2010 was used to identify gout cases and matched gout-free controls. Gout cases were defined as having (1) at least three instances of diagnoses of gout on medical claims, or (2) one diagnosis of gout with at least one gout-related pharmacy claim in 2011. A control cohort was matched with cases at a 3:1 ratio by age, gender, residential area, and the Charlson Comorbidity Index. All medical utilization and costs per patient within the 365 days following the index date were compared between cases and controls.Out of 993,332 beneficiaries, a total of 21,376 matched gout patients met the gout inclusion criteria. Compared to controls, gout patients had more outpatient visits (mean = 31.2 vs 22.6), inpatient visits (mean = 1.7 vs 1.5), and ER visits (mean = 1.9 vs 1.7) (all p .0001), as well as more outpatient costs (median = USD $634 vs $404), inpatient costs (median = USD $1330 vs $1254), and ER costs (median = USD $87 vs $89) (all p .05).Gout patients had higher medical utilization and costs than gout-free patients. In gout patients, all-cause and gout-related utilization were mostly outpatient visits, whereas most of the all-cause and gout-related costs were due to hospitalization. The study findings could be useful for future economic evaluations and healthcare resource allocation.

Introduction: AL (light-chain) amyloidosis is a rare disease with an incidence rate of approximately 12-13 per million population in Western countries. To date, the epidemiology of AL amyloidosis in Asian countries has not been described. Population-based clinical information about AL amyloidosis is needed to understand disease characteristics and the impacts of future treatments on the disease Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Taiwan National Healthcare Insurance Research database (NHIRD) and Death Registry to estimate the incidence, prevalence, all-cause mortality rate and characteristics of patients with AL amyloidosis in Taiwan. All patients with confirmed newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis (ICD-10 E85.4: Organ-limited amyloidosis, E85.8: Other amyloidosis and E85.9: Amyloidosis, unspecified) from 01 January 2016 until 31 December 2019 were enrolled. Eligible patients had a biopsy record within 12 months prior to, or up to 6 months after the date of diagnosis of AL amyloidosis; and at least two consecutive outpatient claims and/or one inpatient claim amyloidosis in the NHIRD. Patients were followed up until dis-enrolment, death or study end (31 December 2019), whichever occurred first. Results: A total of 841 patients with newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis were identified in Taiwan during the period 01 January 2016 until 31 December 2019. The median age at diagnosis was 61.4 years and 58.7% were men. At diagnosis, cardiac disease was present in 28.54%, renal-related disease in 23.19% and had 7.85% had multiple myeloma (Table). The crude annual incidence of AL amyloidosis was 8.46 per million population in 2016 and 8.31 per million population in 2019 (Figure). The age-adjusted incidence rates were 5.73 and 5.26 per million population, respectively. The crude and age-adjusted prevalence rates of AL amyloidosis remained similar over the study period: the crude prevalence rates were 121 to 142 per million population, and age-adjusted prevalence rate were 81.52 to 99.84 per million population. The all-cause mortality rate ranged from 1.7 to 2.9 per 1000 patients over the study period but was highest (~10 per 1000) in patients aged ≥80 years. There were 501 patients (59.6%) with a biopsy report prior to the AL diagnosis index date. Presenting clinical symptoms were not available in the claims database so we assessed the time period from biopsy to diagnosis. The median time from biopsy until diagnosis was 3.8 months and was longer than 12 months in some patients, with little change observed from year to year. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first known population-based cohort study of non-hereditary amyloidosis in Asia. The incidence of AL amyloidosis in Taiwan appears to be similar to Western countries with higher prevalence in Asia. There was no apparent change in the incidence or prevalence rates over the 4 years of the study. Diagnostic delay is recognized as an important limitation in the treatment of AL amyloidosis. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Goh: Janssen: Current Employment. Siggins: Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Current Employment. Qiu: Janssen Research & Development LLC: Current Employment, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Chou: Abbvie: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board, Research Funding; IQVIA: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; Pfizer: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; Novartis: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Research Funding; Kirin: Honoraria, Research Funding. Liu: Janssen Research & Development LLC: Current Employment, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company.

Background Comprehensive data regarding the epidemiology of chronic urticaria (CU) in general populations are scant. Objectives To investigate the prevalence, incidence, and comorbidities of CU in general population. Methods The data were sourced from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) for 2009–2012. Patients who had a primary/secondary ICD-9-CM diagnosis code of 708.1, 708.8, or 708.9 during the year with at least two outpatient visits and an antihistamine prescription, were identified as the cases of CU for each year. The incidence, persistence and comorbidities of CU were examined. Results The prevalence of CU ranged from 0.69% to 0.79% for each year from 2009 to 2012, and the incidence was around 0.50% per year from 2010 to 2012. Comparing to the Standard Population, the standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs) for the rheumatic diseases, thyroid disorders, inflammatory diseases, and psychiatric disorders among CU patients were 2.74, 1.81, 1.57 and 1.87, respectively. Conclusion The prevalence of CU in Taiwan is about 0.69-0.79%. CU is associated with a significantly increased risk of psychiatric disorders, inflammatory diseases, thyroid disorders, and rheumatic diseases. Except for thyroid disorders, the prevalence of these comorbidities tends to increase the longer CU persists.

Disease-related malnutrition is highly prevalent, and has prognostic implications for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD); however, few studies have investigated the impact of malnutrition, or protein-energy wasting (PEW), on healthcare utilization and medical expenditure among CKD patients.Using claim data from the National Health Insurance in Taiwan, this study identified patients with CKD between 2009-2013 and categorized them into those with mild, moderate, or severe CKD. Cases with PEW after CKD was diagnosed were propensity-score matched with controls in a 1:4 ratio. Healthcare resource utilization metrics were compared, including outpatient and emergency department visits, frequency and duration of hospitalization, and the cumulative costs associated with different CKD severity.From among 347,501 CKD patients, eligible cohorts of 66,872 with mild CKD (49.2%), 27,122 with moderate CKD (19.9%), and 42,013 with severe CKD (30.9%) were selected. Malnourished CKD patients had significantly higher rates of hospitalization (p .001 for all severities) and re-admission (p = .015 for mild CKD, p = .002 for severe CKD) than non-malnourished controls. Cumulative medical costs for outpatient and emergency visits, and hospitalization, were significantly higher among all malnourished CKD patients than non-malnourished ones (p .001); total medical costs were also higher among malnourished patients with mild (62.9%), moderate (59.6%), or severe (43.6%) CKD compared to non-malnourished patients (p .001).In a nationally-representative cohort, CKD patients with PEW had significantly more healthcare resource utilization and higher aggregate medical costs than those without, across the spectrum of CKD: preventing PEW in CKD patients should receive high priority if we would like to reduce medical costs.

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled “Acute Hospital Administration of Amiodarone and/or Lidocaine in Shockable Patients Presenting with Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Nationwide Cohort Study” (C.H. Huang, P.H. Yu, M.S. Tsai et al., 2016) [1]. The data contains the information of co-morbidities coding from ICD-9 CM codes and specific difference in requirement between medical centers and non-medical centers in resuscitation. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis for factors related to the outcome of survival to ICU admission and survival to hospital discharge are included in the data set. The data also contains bootstrap sensitivity analysis of the logistic regression model for survival to ICU admission and hospital discharge outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Subgroup analysis of epinephrine dosage related to outcome of one-year survival is shown.

Background and objective The link between tuberculosis (TB) and dialysis is known; however, the impact of TB on the clinical outcomes remains to be elucidated. This study aims to determine the clinical consequences of pulmonary TB among patients under long-term dialysis. Methods A retrospective propensity-scores matched (1:4) cohort study was conducted by retrieving patient data for pulmonary TB after long-term dialysis commencement from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database between 1999 and 2013. Patients with TB (n = 1993) or without TB (n = 7972) were compared for 3-year morbidity and mortality. The effect of Directly Observed Treatment, Short-Course (DOTS) implementation was also evaluated. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine adjusted hazard ratios (HRs). Results TB patients had a significantly higher risk of mortality than non-TB patients even after multivariate adjustment (HR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.36–1.60; P 7 days, but not inotropic agent usage, ventilator therapy >21 days and mortality in TB patients. In pulmonary TB patients with treatment duration ≥180 days, DOTS implementation also lowered the risk of TB relapse (HR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.19–0.55; P

Terminating ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachyarrhythmia (VT) is critical for successful resuscitation of patients with shockable cardiac arrest. In the event of shock-refractory VF, applicable guidelines suggest use of anti-arrhythmic agents. However, subsequent long-term outcomes remain unclear. A nationwide cohort study was therefore launched, examining 1-year survival rates in patients given amiodarone and/or lidocaine for cardiac arrest.Medical records accruing between years 2004 and 2011 were retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) for review. This repository houses all insurance claims data for nearly the entire populace (99%). Candidates for study included all non-traumatized adults receiving DC shock and cardiopulmonary resuscitation immediately or within 6h of emergency room arrival. Analysis was based on data from emergency rooms and hospitalization.One-year survival rates by treatment group were 8.27% (534/6459) for amiodarone, 7.15% (77/1077) for lidocaine, 11.10% (165/1487) for combined amiodarone/lidocaine use, and 3.26% (602/18,440) for use of neither amiodarone nor lidocaine (all, p0.0001). Relative to those given neither medication, odds ratios for 1-year survival via multiple regression analysis were 1.84 (95% CI: 1.58-2.13; p0.0001) for amiodarone, 1.88 (95% CI: 1.40-2.53; p0.0001) for lidocaine, and 2.18 (95% CI: 1.71-2.77; p0.0001) for dual agent use.In patients with shockable cardiac arrest, 1-year survival rates were improved with association of using amiodarone and/or lidocaine, as opposed to non-treatment. However, outcomes of patients given one or both medications did not differ significantly in intergroup comparisons.

This study investigated the risk of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in pre-dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and explored associated risk factors. A population-based cohort of 1,515,858 Taiwanese CKD patients was included. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) for incident NMSC was determined. Compared with the general population, a 1.14-fold risk of NMSC was found in the CKD cohort. NMSC risk was significant in patients with pre-dialysis stage 5 CKD and anaemia (1.48-fold), and in those with uraemic pruritus after long-term antihistamine treatment (1.38-fold). A higher SIR for NMSC was found in younger patients with CKD (age

This study investigated the predominant skin cancer subtype among organ transplant recipients, patients on chronic dialysis, and patients with chronic kidney disease in Asian subjects. Among 23,644 patients with skin cancer, identified from Taiwan Cancer Registry Database, 53 were organ transplant recipients, 255 were on chronic dialysis, 1,792 had chronic kidney disease, and 21,544 were in the control group. The proportions of squamous cell carcinoma were 52.8%, 47.8%, 40.1%, and 33.5%, respectively. Compared with the control group, organ transplant recipients (1.99-fold) and patients on chronic dialysis (1.25-fold) were at higher risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma than other skin cancers after adjustment for potential confounders. Subgroups or covariates associated with increased squamous cell carcinoma compared with other skin cancer risk included patients with chronic kidney disease aged < 70 years (vs. control group; 1.3-fold), old age (vs. young age; 2.8-fold), male sex (vs. female sex; 1.1-fold), and south Taiwan residency (vs. north Taiwan residency; 1.1-fold). Organ transplant recipients and patients on chronic dialysis had immune dysregulation, resulting in a higher risk of squamous cell carcinomas.

BACKGROUND The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in patients with chronic urticaria (CU) in a national population is largely unknown. OBJECTIVES To investigate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and psychiatric medication use in patients with CU in Taiwan. METHODS Data were sourced from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database for 2011. Patients who had a primary/secondary International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis code of 708·1, 708·8 or 708·9 during 2011 with at least two outpatient visits and an antihistamine prescription were identified as CU cases. Patients with CU were classified into three disease severity groups according to their medication types. Psychiatric disorders were identified by patients having three outpatient visits with a primary or secondary diagnosis of a given psychiatric disease. Psychiatric medication use was defined by having at least four outpatient visits with prescriptions for anxiolytics, antidepressants or sleeping pills in 2010 or 2011. RESULTS Of the 167 132 patients with CU, 82·5% had mild CU, 17·0% had moderate CU and 0·4% had severe CU. Patients with CU had a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders and psychiatric medication prescription than control groups. The relative risk (RR) of psychiatric disorders was 1·43 for patients with mild, 1·50 for patients with moderate and 2·32 for patients with severe CU vs. the controls (P < 0·001). For psychiatric medication prescription, the RRs were 1·95, 2·70 and 2·09, respectively, vs. controls (P < 0·001). CONCLUSIONS Patients with CU had a higher prevalence and risk of psychiatric disorders and psychiatric medication prescription than control groups. What's already known about this topic? Previous studies have shown a high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in patients with chronic urticaria (CU), with rates ranging from 35% to 60%. Anxiety, depression and somatoform disorders have been reported as the most prevalent mental disorders in patients with CU. What does this study add? Patients with CU had a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders and psychiatric medication use than control groups in the general population. The relative risk (RR) of psychiatric disorders was 1·43 for those with mild CU, 1·50 for those with moderate CU and 2·32 for those with severe CU vs. controls. The RR for psychiatric medication use was 1·95 for those with mild CU, 2·70 for those with moderate CU and 2·09 for those with severe CU vs. controls. Mental health evaluations and management are important elements in CU management.

This study aimed to assess the associations between the use of different types of antidepressants and health service utilization and costs among depressed patients. Data used in this study were retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. We identified 447 411 new antidepressant users during the study period (2011-2015) and they were individually followed for a 1-year period. Two-part generalized estimating equation models were conducted. Results demonstrated that there was a substantial decrease in outpatient service utilized by patients undertaking serotonin antagonists and reuptake inhibitors (β = -0.2074), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (β = -0.0452), tricyclic antidepressants (β = -0.1308), or other antidepressants (β = -0.0637), compared with their counterparts in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors group (all P < 0.05). Compared with patients who were treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, those who were prescribed serotonin antagonists and reuptake inhibitors (β = -0.4934, P < 0.05) or tricyclic antidepressants (β = -0.4194, P < 0.05) had incurred lower costs pertaining to outpatient service, while considerably higher costs were borne by those patients embarked on the treatment of serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (β = 0.3228, P < 0.05) or other antidepressants (β = 0.1118, P < 0.05). We concluded that the initiation of various classes of antidepressants led to significant variations in health service utilization and costs among depressed patients.

ObjectivesThe total medical (economic) costs of haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD), including direct medical costs, out-of-pocket (OOP) costs and productivity losses, have become an important issue. This study aims to compare the direct non-medical costs and indirect medical costs of both modalities in Taiwan.Design and settingThis multicentre study included cross-sectional interviews of patients over 20 years old and articulate, who had been continuously receiving long-term HD or PD for more than 3 months between April 2015 and March 2016. Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test and 1000 bootstrap procedures with replacement were used for analysis.Outcome measuresDifferences in OOP costs and productivity losses.ResultsThere were 308 HD and 246 PD patients available for analysis. HD patients had significantly higher monthly OOP costs than PD patients after bootstrap procedures (NTD 5912 vs NTD 5225, pConclusionsThe HD modality has higher OOP costs and productivity losses than the PD modality in Taiwan.

Objective: Although disease-related malnutrition has prognostic implications for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), its health-economic impact and clinical burdens are uncertain. We conducted a population-level study to investigate these questions. Methods: We excerpted data relevant to malnutrition, prolonged mechanical ventilation, and medications from claims by 1,197,098 patients which were consistent with COPD and registered by the Taiwan National Health Insurance Administration between 2009 and 2013. These patients were separated into cohorts with or without respiratory failure requiring long-term mechanical ventilation, and each cohort was divided to compare cases who developed malnutrition after their first diagnosis consistent with COPD, versus non-malnourished propensity-score matched controls. Results: The prevalence of malnutrition was 3.8% overall (10,259/287,000 non-ventilator-dependent; 1198/15,829 ventilator-dependent). Propensity-score matched non-ventilator-dependent patients who became malnourished (N = 10,242) had comparatively more hospitalizations, emergency room and outpatient visits, longer hospitalization (all p < 0.01), and higher mortality (HR =2.26, 95% CI 2.18‒2.34) than non-malnourished controls (N = 40,968). Malnourished ventilator-dependent patients, (N = 1,197) had higher rates of hospitalization, emergency room and outpatient visits, but shorter hospitalization (all p < .001) and lower mortality (HR =0.85, 95% CI 0.80‒0.93) than matched non-malnourished controls (N = 4,788). Total medical expenditure on malnourished non-ventilator-dependent COPD patients was 75% higher than controls (p < .001), whereas malnourished ventilator-dependent patients had total costs 7% lower than controls (p < .001). Conclusions: Malnourishment among COPD patients who were not dependent on mechanical ventilation was associated with greater healthcare resource utilization and higher aggregate medical costs.

Various studies have indicated that glucocorticoid supplementation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), in conjunction with vasopressors, may improve outcomes in instances of cardiac arrest. However, further population-based analysis is warranted with respect to resuscitative and long-term survival benefits conferred by administering glucocorticoids in this setting.A total of 145,644 adult patients who experienced non-traumatic, cardiac arrest occurred at emergency room during years 2004-2011 were selected for study from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research database. These patients were grouped as steroid and non-steroid recipients during CPR, and group members were matched in terms of patient characteristics, including presenting complaint, prior steroid use, resuscitative drugs and shocks delivered, treatment setting (medical center or not), socioeconomic status, and year that cardiac arrest occurred, through propensity scoring. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the impact of steroid usage on survival to admission, survival to discharge, and 1-year survival.Compared with matched non-steroid group members (n=8628), patients given steroid (n=2876) displayed significantly higher rates of survival to admission (38.32% vs 18.67%; adjusted OR=2.97, 95% CI 2.69-3.29; p0.0001), survival to discharge (14.50% vs 5.61%; adjusted OR=1.71, 95% CI 1.42-2.05; p0.0001), and 1-year overall survival (10.81% vs 4.74%; adjusted OR=1.48, 95% CI 1.22-1.79; p0.0001). Steroid use proved more beneficial in patients with COPD or asthma and in the absence of shockable rhythm during CPR.Glucocorticoid use during CPR is associated with improved survival-to-admission, survival-to-discharge, and 1-year survival rates.

Few studies on tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor-associated tuberculosis (TB) and hepatic events have been performed in regions where these risks are elevated. This study aimed to provide a direct comparison between adalimumab and etanercept in a high-risk population and to address the implications for physicians working with patients in such an environment.Data collected from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan between 2007 and 2011 were analysed retrospectively for incidences of eight adverse events associated with TNF-α inhibitors. Hazard ratios (HRs) of adalimumab vs. etanercept were calculated using a Cox proportional hazards model.During this 5-year period, 86 events of TB were reported after 5317 person-years of exposure to adalimumab (1.62 events per 100 person-years), compared to 44 events after 7690 person-years of exposure to etanercept (0.57 events per 100 person-years). For serious hepatic events that led to hospitalization, 0.75 events were reported per 100 person-years of exposure to adalimumab compared to 0.39 events per 100 person-years of exposure to etanercept. Adjusted HRs for TB [aHR 3.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.09-4.49, p 0.0001], hospitalization due to a hepatic event (aHR 2.05, 95% CI 1.27-3.30, p = 0.0035), and serious infection (aHR 1.48, 95% CI 1.19-1.84, p = 0.0005) attained significance.TNF-α-targeting therapies with the monoclonal antibody adalimumab confers significant added risk of TB and serious hepatic events compared to therapies with the soluble fusion protein etanercept. Tailored strategies to attenuate these risks are warranted in high-risk regions such as Taiwan.

Objective The aim of this study was to compare the treatment effectiveness between long-acting injectable risperidone and long-acting injectable first-generation antipsychotics among patients with bipolar disorder. Method We conducted a retrospective cohort study using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients with bipolar disorder aged 15 years or higher, who were newly administered long-acting injectable antipsychotics between June 1, 2004 and December 31, 2011 were included. The clinical outcome indexes were hospitalization for any mood, manic/mixed, or depressive episodes. In addition, the all-cause discontinuation of long-acting injectable antipsychotic treatment was also assessed. Results A total of 3916 patients with bipolar disorder were extracted. Compared with risperidone, the use of first-generation antipsychotics was associated with a higher rate of hospitalization for any mood episode and major depressive episode. However, there was no statistically significant difference in treatment discontinuation rate between risperidone and first-generation antipsychotics. Limitations Information for the severity of mood symptoms, social support, life style, neurological and metabolic adverse effect was not available in this database. In addition, we only measured severe mood episodes with hospitalization as our outcome index. It may not be possible to generalize our findings to mild mood episodes. Conclusions Our findings suggested that patients treated with long-acting injectable risperidone might be superior to first-generation antipsychotics in the rate of psychiatric hospitalization.

OBJECTIVE To assess change in employment status in patients with bipolar disorder in comparison with non-mentally ill controls from 1 year before bipolar incidence to 10 years after. Sociodemographic factors of change in employment status were also examined for patients with bipolar disorder. METHOD A cohort of 502 patients with ICD-9-CM bipolar disorder was identified using claims data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan between 1998 and 2001 and compared to non-mentally ill controls through December 31, 2008. The primary outcome measure was the time from bipolar incidence to the time of change in employment status, ie, from earning income to not earning income. RESULTS The probability of changing to a non-income earner was significantly higher (P < .0001) in patients with bipolar disorder than in controls over time, even before the incidence of bipolar disorder (27% vs 14% for patients with bipolar disorder vs controls, respectively). Risks of occupational deterioration in patients with bipolar disorder were greater in the year before incidence and in the following year, with gradually decreasing risks over the subsequent 2 years, and comparable to controls from the third year onward. The adjusted hazard ratio of changing to a non-income earner was 2.06 (95% CI, 1.82-2.33) in patients with bipolar disorder. Male sex, ages 18 to 25 years, lower payroll bracket (< NT$50,001 [US $1,489]), and living in an urban area and insured area in the Northern region were associated with the risk of changing to a non-income earner in patients with bipolar disorder. CONCLUSIONS Patients with bipolar disorder had poorer employment outcomes than the controls, with greater risks of occupational deterioration before and after the bipolar episodes. Employment status should be incorporated as a measure of functioning and of treatment and intervention effectiveness in clinical practices and research.

Background:Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with advanced therapy (biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs) may be considered dose tapering after reaching treatment goal.1In EULAR 2016 recommendations, dose reduction can be considered if patients reach sustained remission.2A dose tapering policy of advanced therapy was introduced in the treatment guideline of RA since 2014 under the National Health Insurance (NHI) in Taiwan. The new reimbursement policy requests the dosage to be tapered in patients who received advanced therapy for 2 years and reached low disease activity defined by DAS28 (ESR).Objectives:This retrospective study aims to investigate the impact of dose tapering policy on prescription pattern of advanced therapy for RA patients in Taiwan.Methods:This study was an observational retrospective analysis on the population-based National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan. Patients with RA aged ≥18, initiated an index advanced therapy - abatacept, adalimumab, etanercept, golimumab, tocilizumab, or tofacitinib, during 2011-2017 were included (Figure 1). Patients were followed-up until the index advanced therapy was switched/discontinued or the end of data, whichever came first. The 4-week moving average of proportion of days covered (PDC) of the index therapy within each 12-week period were assessed. The outcome variable was whether dose tapering occurred which was defined as PDC being less than 0.5. The odds ratios (ORs) and the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) with logistic specification to examine the independent effect of tapering policy and treatment duration on the probability of dose tapering, after controlling for age, sex, and index advanced therapy.Figure 1.Flow chart of patient selection:Results:The study comprised 9,094 patients initiated advance treatment for RA, with mean age of 57.3 (SD 13.3) years and 78.8% were female. The median PDC dropped remarkably after 28 months since treatment initiation (Figure 2). Probability of dose tapering increased significantly when treatment duration ≥24-month (OR=2.73,pp=0.014. There were about 3 times increase in the odds of dose tapering probability for patient treated longer than 24 months after the policy implemented in April 2014.Figure 2.The change of PDC of advanced therapy over the treatment periodConclusion:For RA patients, PDC of advanced therapy dropped notably after patients received advanced therapy for more than 24 months. The tapering policy implementation significantly increased the probability of dose tapering of advanced therapy in patients with treatment duration ≥ 24 months.References:[1]Lenert A, Lenert P. Clin Rheumatol. 2017;36(1):1-8.[2]Smolen JS, et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017;76(6):960-977.Table 1.effect of treatment duration and dose tapering policy on the probability of dose taperingOdds ratio95%CIp valueEffect of Treatment Duration (in pre-policy period)≥24-month vs 2.73(2.45,3.05)Effect of Dose Tapering policy (in treatment duration Post-policy*vs Pre-policy0.94(0.87,1.01)0.110Interaction of Treatment Duration by Dose Tapering policy≥24-month x Post-policy1.17(1.03,1.32)0.014*Dose Tapering policy was implemented on April 1st, 2014Acknowledgments :Research is sponsored by Pfizer Ltd.Disclosure of Interests:Chao-Hsiun Tang: None declared, Chia-Li Chang: None declared, Wen-Yi Shau Employee of: Pfizer, Chih-Yi Hsin Employee of: Pfizer, Ko-Jen Li Speakers bureau: Speaker fee from Pfizer, Abbvie, Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson

Background The aim of this study was to assess the association between various classes of antidepressants and the risk of medication noncompliance as well as suicidal behavior among depressed patients. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted utilizing two nationwide population-based datasets in Taiwan from 2010 to 2016. The outcome measures included the risk of medication noncompliance, attempted suicide, and completed suicide. Cox proportional hazards models with stratification of the propensity score deciles were performed. Results A total of 447,411 new antidepressant users were identified. Compared to SSRIs, patients who received SARIs [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.124, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.108–1.142], SNRIs (aHR = 1.049, 95% CI = 1.033–1.065), and other classes of antidepressants (aHR = 1.037, 95% CI = 1.024–1.051) were more likely to exhibit poor medication noncompliance. Patients who received SNRIs had a higher risk of attempted suicide (aHR = 1.294, 95% CI = 1.114–1.513), compared to SSRIs. However, patents in the TCAs group revealed the opposite result (aHR = 0.543, 95% CI = 0.387–0.762). Concerning the risk of completed suicide, this analysis detected no statistical significance across different types of antidepressants. Limitations Although the universal coverage of Taiwan's national health insurance program tends to minimize the risk of selection and recall bias, it is difficult to rule out medical surveillance bias by using claim data. Conclusions This study demonstrated that classes of antidepressants exert different degrees of impact on the risk of medication noncompliance and attempted suicide, but not completed suicide, among depressed patients.

Pretreatment with statins is associated with improved outcomes in severe sepsis, acute coronary syndrome, and stroke. Patients with cardiac arrest experience sepsis-like syndrome and ischemia reperfusion injuries in the heart and brain. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of statin use before cardiac arrest on outcomes in cardiac arrest patients. Medical records of 142,131 adult patients who experienced nontraumatic cardiac arrest and were resuscitated between 2004 and 2011 were analyzed. Patients were grouped into 2 groups: the "statin group" comprised patients who had received statin treatment for at least 30 days before the cardiac arrest event; the "never statin group" comprised patients who had no statin use within 30 days before the event. Patients with previous statin treatment had better chance of survival to hospital discharge (6.1% vs 4.3%, p0.0001) and 1-year survival (4.8% vs 3.2%, p0.0001) after propensity score matching. Previous statin use was an independent predictor for 1-year survival (adjusted odds ratio 1.41, 95% confidence interval 1.16 to 1.71; p = 0.001). A favorable outcome effect of statin on 1-year survival was observed in the presence of diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and Charlson Comorbidity Index score greater than 5 in the subgroup analysis. In conclusion, statin use before cardiac arrest is associated with 1-year survival in a propensity score-matched nationwide cohort study.

Aim To examine the changes in the risks of death and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with conventional synthetic or biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARD or bDMARD) during 1997-2013. Methods Two cohorts of RA patients and their matched controls were identified from the National Health Insurance Research database. There were 1569 patients in the csDMARD cohort who received cyclosporine ≥50 mg/d with concomitant usage of ≥2 csDMARDs during 1997-2003. There were 1530 patients in the bDMARD cohort if patients had ≥1 claim for bDMARD during 2003-2011. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for the risk of death, myocardial infarction, and stroke, were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier survival curves and the Cox proportional hazards models. Results Compared with matched cohorts, the incidence of death was higher with csDMARD with a more than 6-fold increase (csDMARD vs controls: 33% vs 5%); while it only increased with a much smaller magnitude with bDMARD (bDMARD vs controls: 15% vs 11%). In addition, an increase in the reduction of incidence rate of stroke with bDMARD (bDMARD vs controls: 2% vs 5%) than that with csDMARD (csDMARD vs controls: 3% vs 4%) was found. Results from multivariate analysis showed that RA patients receiving bDMARD had a significantly lower increase in the risk of deaths (aHR 1.05; 95% CI 0.84-1.33) compared with those receiving csDMARD (aHR 8.75; 95% CI 7.43-10.31). In addition, bDMARD was associated with a higher reduction in the risk of stroke compared with csDMARD (bDMARD: aHR 0.37; 95% CI 0.22-0.62; csDMARD: aHR 0.73; 95% CI 0.51-1.05). Conclusion Biologics used in RA patients have been shown to have a beneficial impact on improving clinical outcomes, including decreased risks of death and stroke. The economic burden from costs of biologics may be alleviated by improving outcomes.

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on chronic hemodialysis (HD) experience chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation; whether these affect the development of chronic inflammatory disease such as psoriasis is unknown. We aimed to investigate the impact of ESRD on the development of psoriasis. We performed a retrospective cohort study using records between 1999 and 2013 from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Among 74 916 patients with ESRD on chronic HD and the control group comprising 74 916 sex and age group-matched patients, 165 and 81 incident psoriasis developed after a mean follow up of 2.4 and 2.9 years, respectively. The incidence rates of psoriasis in HD patients and the control group were 91.7 and 37.1 per 100 000 person-years, respectively (difference between groups, P < 0.001). HD patients had a shorter time to psoriasis diagnosis than the control group (P < 0.05). Cox proportional hazard adjustment showed the hazard ratio (HR) for psoriasis in HD patients as 2.09 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.49-2.94; P < 0.001) than that of the control group. Younger HD patients had relatively higher risk of psoriatic development (age

The aim of the nationwide retrospective matched cohort study was to evaluate health service utilization and medical costs between patients with schizophrenia who received long-acting injectable (LAI) risperidone and those who took risperidone orally. Data were sourced from the 2008 to 2013 Psychiatric Inpatient Medical Claim Dataset in Taiwan. The sample selection process was performed by propensity score matching. Finally, there were 691 patients in the exposed cohort and 1382 patients in the unexposed cohort. Each patient was individually followed for a 1-year period. Two-part models and generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate health service utilization and direct medical costs of patients. Analytical results showed that patients receiving LAI risperidone had used outpatient services significantly more, had greater hospital admissions, and had shorter lengths of stay than those who took risperidone orally. Furthermore, compared with their counterparts in the unexposed group, patients in the exposed group had incurred higher medical costs because of costs incurred from increased utilization of outpatient service and hospital admissions, under the special context of the healthcare system in Taiwan, a single-payer universal health coverage system with low copayment rates. In summary, this study suggested that patients with schizophrenia treated with LAI risperidone had shorter lengths of stay, higher medical costs largely because of increased utilization of outpatient service and hospital admissions, compared with those who took risperidone orally.

Objective Adjuvant chemotherapy was introduced in patients with early-stage ovarian cancer (OC). The benefit of standard chemotherapeutic regimens including taxane has not been established. Methods Patients with early-stage OC from the National Health Insurance Research database of Taiwan who received platinum plus cyclophosphamide (CP) or platinum plus paclitaxel (PT) for 3–6 cycles were recruited, and the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined. Results A total of 1,510 early-stage OC patients, including 841 who received CP regimen and 699 who received PT regimen, were included. The 2 groups had a similar estimated probability of 5-year DFS (PT vs. CP, 79.0% vs. 77.6%; p=0.410) and OS (84.6% vs. 84.3%; p=0.691). Patients >50 years of age who received the CP regimen had a lower 5-year DFS than the patients ≤50 years of age who received the CP (p50 years of age who received the CP regimen had a worse 5-year OS compared with the other 3 groups (p=0.019) (p=0.179 for patients >50 years of age in the PT group; p=0.002 for patients ≤50 years of age in the CP group; and p=0.061 for patients ≤50 years of age in the PT group). Patients with the CP or PT regimen for 3–5 cycles had a similar 5-year DFS and OS compared to 6 cycles (p>0.050). Conclusion Chemotherapeutic regimens with taxane could be recommended for early-stage OC patients >50 years of age.

ObjectivesTo date, a value set for the EQ-5D-5L based on the health state preferences of the general Taiwanese population has not been available. This study aimed to develop a Taiwanese value set for EQ-5D-5L to facilitate health technology assessment for medical products and services.MethodsAn international standardized protocol for EQ-5D-5L valuation studies developed by the EuroQol group was adopted. Adult members of the general public were recruited from six geographic regions in Taiwan. In computer-based face-to-face interviews, each participant completed 10 composite time trade-off (C-TTO) tasks and 7 discrete choice experiment (DCE) tasks. The C-TTO and DCE data were modeled alone or in combination (using hybrid models) with additive models containing 20 dummy variables as main effects. The model performance was assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively (mainly logical consistency and prediction patterns).ResultsOf 1,073 recruited participants, 1,000 completed the study. Approximately 13% of observed utility values were -1 in the C-TTO tasks. The hybrid model, using all available data that assumed C-TTO response values left-censored at -1 and with main effects coefficients with logical consistency (monotonicity), was considered as the most appropriate model. The predicted utility ranged from -1.0259 to 1.ConclusionsAn EQ-5D-5L value set was developed for Taiwan using an established study protocol and a representative sample of the general population. This may facilitate health economic evaluations and decision making on resource allocation under Taiwan's national health insurance program in the future.

Patients with risk factors including younger age, mastoiditis, external ear disease, treatment by older surgeons, and concomitant mastoidectomy should receive detailed management to minimize the probability of re-operation for chronic otitis media (COM).Although COM remains a common ear disease requiring surgical intervention, its re-operation risks are less well-documented. This study aimed to compare patients with COM who underwent re-operation and those patients with no re-operation, and identify the risks of re-operation.This retrospective cohort study analyzed the trend of COM surgery from 1999-2009, and identified the re-operation risks of 18 895 patients with COM who underwent surgery from 2002-2006 using the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan.Among the study population, 129 patients underwent revision surgery during a 5.5 ± 1.5 year follow-up period. A univariate logistic regression analysis showed that the re-operation rate was significantly higher in patients under 18 years of age, those with mastoiditis, disorders of external ear, treatment by surgeons of 50-64 years of age, use of a very high volume surgeon, and combined surgery with mastoidectomy. A multivariate analysis further limited the re-operation risk factors to younger patients, those with mastoiditis, external ear disorders, treatment by older surgeons, and concomitant mastoidectomy.

Summary Background An increased risk for ischaemic stroke has been reported in young hyperthyroidism patients independent of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, whether the use of antithyroid drugs in hyperthyroidism patients can reduce the occurrence of ischaemic stroke remains unclear. Methods A total of 36,510 newly diagnosed hyperthyroidism patients during 2003–2006 were identified from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research database. Each patient was individually tracked for 5 years from their index date (beginning the antithyroid drugs) to identify those who suffered from new episode of ischaemic stroke. Medication possession ratio (MPR) was used to represent the antithyroid drug compliance. The association between the MPR and the risk of stroke was examined. Results The stroke incidence rates for hyperthyroidism patients with age

Objective To elicit a patient's willingness to participate in a diabetes pay-for-performance for patient (P4P4P) program using a discrete choice experiment method. Methods The survey was conducted in March 2013. Our sample was drawn from patients with diabetes at five hospitals in Taiwan ( International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 250). The sample size was 838 patients. The discrete choice experiment questionnaire included the attributes monthly cash rewards, exercise time, diet control, and program duration. We estimated a bivariate probit model to derive willingness-to-accept levels after accounting for the characteristics (e.g., severity and comorbidity) of patients with diabetes. Results The preferred program was a 3-year program involving 30 minutes of exercise per day and flexible diet control. Offering an incentive of approximately US $67 in cash per month appears to increase the likelihood that patients with diabetes will participate in the preferred P4P4P program by approximately 50%. Conclusions Patients with more disadvantageous characteristics (e.g., elderly, low income, greater comorbidity, and severity) could have less to gain from participating in the program and thus require a higher monetary incentive to compensate for the disutility caused by participating in the program's activities. Our result demonstrates that a modest financial incentive could increase the likelihood of program participation after accounting for the attributes of the P4P4P program and patients' characteristics.

In patients already receiving combination of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)/angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) and calcium channel blocker (CCB), whether the choice of additional diuretic or beta-blocker affects the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular outcomes remains unclear. A total of 13,551 patients who were concurrently receiving three anti-hypertensive agents of different classes through outpatient clinics during 2004−2006 were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. Patients were further classified into two treatment groups according to the medication possession ratio of drug combinations; the A + B + C group as those who received concurrent therapy of ACEI/ARB, beta-blocker and CCB. The A + C + D group as patients who received ACEI/ARB, CCB, and diuretics. The event-free survival of stroke, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), mortality, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) between the two treatment groups was investigated. After propensity score matching, there were 5120 patients in each group. There were no differences in the incidence of cardiovascular events between the two groups. In patients with prior history of cerebrovascular accident (CVA), the A + C + D group had a significantly higher AMI-free survival (adjusted HR = 1.56; 95% CI 1.051−2.307; p

Objective Whether migraine is associated with urinary calculi is an unresolved issue, although topiramate, a migraine-preventive agent, is known to contribute to this complication. This study investigates the association between migraine and the risk of urinary calculi. Methods We identified a total of 147,399 patients aged ≥18 years with migraine diagnoses recorded in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database between 2005 and 2009. Each patient was randomly matched with one individual without headache using propensity scores. All participants were followed from the date of enrollment until urinary calculi development, death, or the end of 2010. Results The risk of urinary calculi was greater in the migraine than the control cohort (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 1.58; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.52–1.63; p Conclusions Our study showed migraine was associated with an increased risk of urinary calculi, independent of topiramate use. A higher frequency of clinic visits was associated with a greater risk.

Background Headaches resulting from proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use could cause discontinuation of PPI in as many as 40% of patients who experience such headaches. Previous studies focusing on acute headache risk from PPI use are rare and limited to clinical trials of a single PPI. Objectives To investigate the association between PPI use and headache with a nationwide population-based case-crossover study. Methods Records containing the first diagnosis of any headache, including migraine and tension-type headaches, were retrieved from Taiwan National Health Insurance Database (1998–2010). We compared the rates of PPI use for cases and controls during time windows of 7, 14, and 28 days. The adjusted self-matched odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from a conditional logistic regression model were used to determine the association between PPI use and headache. Results Overall, 314,210 patients with an initial diagnosis of any headache during the study period were enrolled. The adjusted ORs for headache risk after PPI exposure were calculated for three time periods (within 7 days = 1.41, p = 0.002, 95% CI 1.14–1.74; within 14 days = 1.36, p < 0.001, 95% CI 1.16–1.59; within 28 days = 1.20, p = 0.002, 95% CI 1.07–1.35). Subgroup analyses showed female patients had an increased risk of headache. Among PPIs, lansoprazole and esomeprazole had the highest risks of headache incidence, which were similar to that of nitrates. Conclusion PPI usage is associated with an increased risk for acute headache. Female patients and use of lansoprazole or esomeprazole present the greatest risks of headache.

Background. A rapid surge of young-female breast cancer (YFBC) has been observed in Taiwan and other East Asian countries. We recently reported that these cases of YFBC, in contrast to their Western counterparts, are predominantly luminal A subtype. YFBC in Asia may have distinct clinicopathological features and outcomes. Methods. Data collected prospectively by participating hospitals were retrieved from the Taiwan Cancer Database. A total of 15,881 women with newly diagnosed stage I–III breast cancer in 2002–2006 were included. The age at diagnosis was categorized into nine 5-year groups (from Results. The rates of stage I, estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), and progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer were higher in the younger patients ( Conclusion. Emerging YFBC in Taiwan is uniquely associated with favorable pathological features and better outcomes and should not be regarded as the mirror image of its Western counterpart.

Summary Background Suicide is an important public health issue worldwide. Suicidal behavior in the elderly population represents a huge potential burden on national health care systems and economies, as the average lifespan has increased significantly in most countries in recent decades. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between nursing care and the overall suicide rate in the elderly. Methods We used a fixed-effect model to analyze panel data comprising suicide-related events in Taiwan from 2001 to 2009. Two data sets provided by the Taiwan Department of Health of the Executive Yuan, Taiwan, and the Taiwan Demographic Fact Book produced by the Taiwan Ministry of the Interior were used. Death by suicide was defined as those coded E950-E958 according to the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision (ICD-9). These data comprised a longitudinal population-based survey of a nationwide sample of 23, 224, 912 residents. Results Our study suggests that suicides in the elderly can be prevented with medical care offered by nurses. Our findings show that increasing the number of nursing staff reduced suicidal ideation in older adults. Although the results regarding elderly male suicides were not statistically significant, elderly female suicides were found to be significantly reduced. Conclusion This study concluded that it is possible to reduce this public health issue and decrease the associated national financial burden by increasing the nursing workforce.

Background Cluster headache (CH) is well known to show a seasonal predilection; however, the impact of temperature and other meteorological factors on cluster periods (or bouts) has not been established. Methods This nationwide survey included 758 patients with episodic CH retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database from 2005 to 2009. Corresponding meteorological recordings were obtained from the Central Weather Bureau. A case-crossover study design was used to investigate the association between cluster periods and meteorological factors. Results A total of 2452 episodes of cluster periods were recorded. The cluster periods were most frequent in the autumn and least frequent in the winter. Seasonal changes from winter to spring and from autumn to winter also increased the frequency of cluster periods. The risk of cluster periods increased when there was a higher mean temperature on event days (odds ratio (OR), 1.014, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.005–1.023, p = 0.003) or within seven to 56 days. Either an increase or a decrease in temperature (0.05℃/day) following a warm period (mean temperature ≥26℃) was associated with the onset of cluster periods. In contrast, a greater increase in temperature (0.15℃/day) following a cold period (mean temperature Discussion Our study shows that temperature is associated with precipitating or priming cluster periods. The influence depends on the temperature of the preceding periods.

The association between selective serotonin receptor inhibitors (SSRIs) and risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding remains controversial. Previous studies have generally evaluated the issue for approximately 3 months, even though the SSRI-mediated inhibition of platelet serotonin concentrations occurs within 7-14 days. The authors explored the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding after short-term SSRI exposure by a case-crossover design.The records of psychiatric inpatients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding were retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database (1998-2009). Rates of antidepressant use were compared for case and control periods with time windows of 7, 14, and 28 days. The adjusted self-matched odds ratios from a conditional logistic regression model were used to determine the association between SSRI use and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.A total of 5,377 patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding were enrolled. The adjusted odds ratio for the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding after SSRI exposure was 1.67 (95% CI=1.23-2.26) for the 7-day window, 1.84 (95% CI=1.42-2.40) for the 14-day window, and 1.67 (95% CI=1.34-2.08) for the 28-day window. SSRIs with high and intermediate, but not low, affinity for serotonin transporter were associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. An elevated risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding after SSRI exposure was seen in male but not female patients.Short-term SSRI use (7-28 days) is significantly associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Gender differences may exist in the relationship between SSRI use and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Physicians should carefully monitor signs of upper gastrointestinal bleeding even after short-term exposure to SSRIs, as is done with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and aspirin.

Limited data exist regarding the incidence rate and hazard ratios (HRs) of major adverse cardiovascular events and mortality in the successful-delivery women with or without systemic lupus erythematosus.A retrospective, population-based cohort study was performed on 1,132,089 parturients from 1999 to 2003. The Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test were used to examine the effect of systemic lupus erythematosus on the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events and mortality. Cox-proportional hazard regression modeling was used to determine the adjusted HRs of systemic lupus erythematosus on the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events and mortality among successful-delivery women.Systemic lupus erythematosus group has the highest risk for major adverse cardiovascular events and mortality. The incidence rate of major adverse cardiovascular events and all-causes mortality among lupus women was 194.67 and 438.82 per 100,000 patients per year, respectively. Lupus women had higher incidence rates of major adverse cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, (HR, 54.43; confidence interval [CI], 16.04-184.78; P0.0001), heart failure (HR, 11.10; CI, 2.71-45.52; P0.0001), percutaneous coronary intervention (HR, 228.32; CI, 43.34-1203.00; P0.0001), stroke (HR, 8.02; CI, 3.79-16.99; P0.0001) and maternal death (HR, 11.68; CI, 7.97-17.10; P0.0001).Although major adverse cardiovascular events and mortality are rare events in women of reproductive age, the incidence rates have increased approximately 10-fold among lupus women with successful delivery. Clinicians should note the possibility of persisting major adverse cardiovascular events and death in young women with lupus and successful delivery.

Background: Novel agents such as thalidomide and bortezomib have changed the treatment landscape of multiple myeloma (MM). As patients with MM live longer, the risk of developing a second primary malignancy (SPM) increases. Few data describe the rate of SPM in patients with MM in Asia. Objectives: To describe SPM in patients with MM using the Taiwan Cancer Registry according to first-line treatment regimen. Methods: Connections between MM treatment and SPM were made by linking data from the Cancer Registry with the National Health Insurance Research database. All patients with a new diagnosis of MM (ICD-O-3 codes M-97323 and C42) in the cancer registry from 01 January 2000 until 31 June 2014 were included. Patients with a prior malignancy were excluded. Patients must have received at least one treatment for MM in the follow-up period with either novel agents alone, chemotherapy + novel agents, or chemotherapy alone. Patients were followed up for the occurrence of SPMs in the cancer registry from the diagnosis date until death, occurrence of the first SPM, or 31 December 2014, whichever occurred first. The incidence of SPM was calculated from the date of the first administered MM treatment. A competing risk model assessed possible effects of death on incidence rates. Results: There were 4327 eligible patients included in the cohort analysis. The mean age at diagnosis was 66.3 years (SD 11.8) and 57.8% were men. A total of 23.7% of patients received treatment with novel agents alone, 21.9% with chemotherapy + novel agents, and 54.4% with chemotherapy alone. Patients treated with novel agents were younger (mean age 64.4 years vs. 69.6 for chemotherapy + novel agents and 65.9 years for chemotherapy alone; p There were 91 (2.1%) patients who developed at least 1 SPM, of which 83.5% developed solid tumors and 16.5% developed a hematological cancer. The crude incidence of SPM per 1000 person-years from the date of first line treatment was 13.93 in patients who received chemotherapy + novel agents, 9.14 in patients receiving chemotherapy alone and 4.48 in patients who received novel agents alone (Table). In the competing risk model, the sub-distribution hazard ratio (adjusted for comorbidity index, sex, age and year of diagnosis) for developing at least one SPM was 3.34 (95% CI 1.51-7.39; p≤0.03) in patients treated with chemotherapy + novel agents, and 2.93 (95% CI 1.12-7.67 p≤0.03) in patients treated with chemotherapy alone as first line therapy in comparison with patients treated with novel agents alone. The 3-year cumulative probability was 1.88% for developing a solid SPM, and 0.47% for a hematological malignancy. The 3-year cumulative probability of developing any SPM was 0.71% in patients treated with novel agents, 4.88% after chemotherapy + novel agents, and 1.99% after chemotherapy alone (Figure). Conclusion: The availability of novel agents appears to be favorable for the prognosis of MM in terms of SPM development. This study shows that linking high quality databases increases the breadth and depth of knowledge that can be gained from real-world data and could be used in other disease areas. Disclosures Hou: Abbvie, Astellas, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Daiichi Sankyo, IQVIA, Johnson & Johnson, Kirin, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, PharmaEssential, Roche, Takeda: Honoraria; Celgene: Research Funding. Liu:Janssen Research & Development: Employment, Equity Ownership. Qiu:Janssen Research & Development: Employment, Equity Ownership. Tien:Celgene: Research Funding; Alexion: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; BMS: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Johnson &Johnson: Honoraria; Daiichi Sankyo: Honoraria; Roche: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria; Roche: Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria. Tang:GSK: Consultancy; Roche: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding.