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Objective: To evaluate treatment patterns for ADHD in Sweden. Method: Observational retrospective study of patients with ADHD from the Swedish National Patient Register and Prescribed Drug Register, 2018 to 2021. Cross-sectional analyses included incidence, prevalence, and psychiatric comorbidities. Longitudinal analyses (newly diagnosed patients) included medication, treatment lines, duration, time-to-treatment initiation, and switching. Results: Of 243,790 patients, 84.5% received an ADHD medication. Psychiatric comorbidities were common, particularly autism among children, and depression in adults. Most frequent first-/second-line treatments were methylphenidate (MPH; 81.6%) and lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX; 46.0%), respectively. In the second-line, LDX was most frequently prescribed (46.0%), followed by MPH (34.9%), then atomoxetine (7.7%). Median treatment duration was longest for LDX (10.4 months), followed by amphetamine (9.1 months). Conclusion: This nationwide registry study provides real-life insights into the current epidemiology of ADHD and the changing treatment landscape for patients in Sweden.

Niels Abildgaard,1,2 Jonatan Freilich,3,4 Pekka Anttila,5 Nawal Bent-Ennakhil,6 Yuanjun Ma,3 Mariann Lassenius,7 Sigurd Ørstavik,8 Iiro Toppila,7 Anders Waage,9 Ingemar Turesson,10 Markus Hansson11 1Hematology Research Unit, Department of Hematology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; 2Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; 3Department of Access Consulting, PAREXEL International, Stockholm, Sweden; 4Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Dermatology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; 5Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Hematology, University of Helsinki, and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; 6Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG, Zurich, Switzerland; 7Medaffcon, Espoo, Finland; 8Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG, Oslo, Norway; 9Department of Hematology, St Olav’s University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway; 10Lund University Cancer Centre, University of Lund, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden; 11Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, SwedenCorrespondence: Niels Abildgaard, Department of Hematology, Odense University Hospital, Kloevervaenget 10, Floor 12, 5000 Odense C, Denmark, Tel +45 6541 1155, Email niels.abildgaard@rsyd.dkPurpose: Linked health-care registries and high coverage in Nordic countries lend themselves well to epidemiologic research. Given its relatively high incidence in Western Europe, complexity in diagnosis, and challenges in registration, multiple myeloma (MM) was selected to compare registries in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.Patients and Methods: Data were obtained from four archetypal registries in each country (spanning January 2005–October 2018): National Patient Registry (NPR), Prescribed Drug Registry (PDR), Cancer Registry (CR), and Cause of Death Registry. Patients newly diagnosed with MM who received MM-specific treatment were included. PDR/NPR treatment records were used to assess incident NPR cases. The re

Purpose: Linked health-care registries and high coverage in Nordic countries lend themselves well to epidemiologic research. Given its relatively high incidence in Western Europe, complexity in diagnosis, and challenges in registration, multiple myeloma (MM) was selected to compare registries in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. Patients and Methods: Data were obtained from four archetypal registries in each country (spanning January 2005–October 2018): National Patient Registry (NPR), Prescribed Drug Registry (PDR), Cancer Registry (CR), and Cause of Death Registry. Patients newly diagnosed with MM who received MM-specific treatment were included. PDR/NPR treatment records were used to assess incident NPR cases. The registration quality of MM-specific drugs in the PDR of each country was also evaluated. Results: In Denmark, only 6% of patients in the NPR were not registered in the CR; in Sweden, it was 16.9%. No systematic differences were identified that could explain this discrepancy. In Denmark, lenalidomide and bortezomib were registered in the NPR with high coverage, but less expensive drugs typically given in combination with bortezomib were not covered in any of the registries. In Finland and Sweden, bortezomib records were not identified in the PDR, but some were in the NPR; other drugs had good coverage in the PDR. Conclusions: The registries evaluated in this study can be used to identify the MM population; however, given the gaps in MM registration in the Finnish and Swedish CRs, Danish registries provide the most comprehensive datasets for research on treatment patterns for MM.

Background To date, evidence on the dose adjustments of biologics in the real-world treatment of psoriasis is limited. However, dose adjustments may have important clinical and economic implications. Aims To study the dose adjustments of individual biologics over time in real-world practice in Sweden. Methods A retrospective observational study of adults with moderate to severe psoriasis was conducted based on Swedish national registry data from 2010 to 2018. Treatment episodes were identified for individual patients from the date of drug dispensation to the end of the supply of the drug. Dosing data were expressed as the proportion of treatment episodes with accumulated syringes/vials equal to, above or below the recommended guidelines. Real-world costs were calculated and compared with costs predicted from dosing guidelines. Results The mean dose was above recommended levels for all biologics investigated. Weighted mean dose adjustments for adalimumab, etanercept, secukinumab and ustekinumab were 13%, 23%, 8% and 3%, respectively, over the entire treatment period. Higher doses translate to higher costs, including notable increases over time vs. expected costs for secukinumab. Conclusions Dose adjustments of biologics are frequent in clinical practice but differ for the various biologics. The mean observed increases in dose above guideline recommendations might indicate perceptions of suboptimal efficacy for biologics, with implications for the cost and cost-effectiveness of these treatments. Further research is warranted to understand the reasons for dose adjustments in clinical practice., Funding Agencies|LEO Pharma A/S

This non-interventional, observational, longitudinal study describes treatment patterns of atopic dermatitis (AD) in Sweden. Data from 3 Swedish registries were merged, and included patients who received an AD diagnosis (during the period 1997 to 2019) and had AD treatment prescribed (during the period 2006 to 2020). Treatment persistence, treatment sequencing, time-to-event analysis, and 12-month prevalence were analysed. Overall, data for 99,885 patients with AD were included, of whom 4,086 (4.1%) received systemic treatments. Median persistence rates were 12.6 (95% CI 11.9, 13.4) months for methotrexate, 10.8 (9.1, 13.0) months for azathioprine, 5.6 (3.8, 6.2) months for mycophenolate, 5.1 (4.4, 5.7) months for alitretinoin and 3.4 (3.2, 3.7) months for cyclosporine. Median (Q1, Q3) time from first secondary care visit for AD to first systemic treatment was 5.8 (2.2, 11.0) years overall and 4.4 (1.3, 9.1) years in the Stockholm region. Methotrexate was a prominent first- and second-line treatment used during the period 2006 to 2020. Dupilumab was introduced during the study period and was increasingly used as first- or second-line therapy over time. The 12-month prevalence of AD generally remained steady, with a gradual increase observed over time for the overall population. A steep increase was observed in Stockholm from 2011. This study shows that a small proportion of patients with AD are offered systemic treatments in Sweden, with long periods in secondary care prior to systemic treatments and low persistence on systemic treatments. Regional differences highlight a need for national treatment guidelines., Funding Agencies|LEO Pharma AB

Background: To date, evidence on the dose adjustments of biologics in the real-world treatment of psoriasis is limited. However, dose adjustments may have important clinical and economic implications. Aims: To study the dose adjustments of individual biologics over time in real-world practice in Sweden. Methods: A retrospective observational study of adults with moderate to severe psoriasis was conducted based on Swedish national registry data from 2010 to 2018. Treatment episodes were identified for individual patients from the date of drug dispensation to the end of the supply of the drug. Dosing data were expressed as the proportion of treatment episodes with accumulated syringes/vials equal to, above or below the recommended guidelines. Real-world costs were calculated and compared with costs predicted from dosing guidelines. Results: The mean dose was above recommended levels for all biologics investigated. Weighted mean dose adjustments for adalimumab, etanercept, secukinumab and ustekinumab were 13%, 23%, 8% and 3%, respectively, over the entire treatment period. Higher doses translate to higher costs, including notable increases over time vs. expected costs for secukinumab. Conclusions: Dose adjustments of biologics are frequent in clinical practice but differ for the various biologics. The mean observed increases in dose above guideline recommendations might indicate perceptions of suboptimal efficacy for biologics, with implications for the cost and cost-effectiveness of these treatments. Further research is warranted to understand the reasons for dose adjustments in clinical practice.

Bakground The prognosis for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is substantially worse when compared with patients with earlier stage disease. Therefore, understanding the differences in epidemiology between these two patient groups is important. Studies using population–based cancer registries to identify MBC are hampered by the quality of reporting. Patients are registered once (at time of initial diagnosis); hence only data for patients with de novo MBC are identifiable, whereas data for patients with recurrent MBC are not. This makes accurate estimation of the epidemiology and healthcare utilisation of MBC challenging. This study aimed to investigate whether machine–learning could improve identification of MBC in national health registries. Material and methods Data for patients with confirmed MBC from a regional breast cancer registry were used to train machine–learning algorithms (or ‘classifiers’). The best performing classifier (accuracy 97.3%, positive predictive value 85.1%) was applied to Swedish national registries for 2008 to 2016. Results Mean yearly MBC incidence was estimated at 14 per 100,000 person–years (with 18% diagnosed de novo and 76% of the total with HR–positive MBC). Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first study to use machine learning to identify MBC regardless of stage at diagnosis in health registries covering the entire population of Sweden.