Risk of fragility fracture among patients with late-onset psoriasis: a UK population-based study.

This study aimed to examine fracture risk in patients with late-onset psoriasis. A cohort study was conducted using primary care records from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Psoriasis patients had a 10% increased risk of fracture compared to matched controls (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.10; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04, 1.16). INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to examine fracture risk in patients with late-onset psoriasis and investigate the effect of methotrexate on fracture risk. METHODS: A cohort study was conducted using primary care records from the UK-based Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Individuals aged 40 years and over, with incident (new onset) diagnoses of psoriasis, were identified from 1990 to 2004 and followed up until 2015. For each exposed individual, up to four age-, gender-, and practice-matched controls were randomly selected. Incidence rates of fragility fracture (hip, vertebral, spine, radius or unspecified site) per 10,000 person-years were calculated and hazard rates were compared to the unexposed using Cox regression models. The risk of fracture was also estimated, within the exposed group for patients receiving/not receiving methotrexate. RESULTS: Twenty-four thousand two hundred nineteen patients with psoriasis and 94,820 controls were identified. The absolute rate of fracture in psoriasis patients was 58 per 10,000 person-years (95% CI 55, 61) and 53 per 10,000 person-years in the matched controls (CI 52, 54). Psoriasis patients had a 10% increased risk of fracture compared to their matched controls (HR = 1.10; 95% CI 1.04, 1.16). Methotrexate use was not associated with increased risk (HR = 0.91; 95% CI 0.72, 1.15). CONCLUSIONS: Identifying additional clinical factors associated with increased fracture risk is important in improving fracture risk stratification. Further work is needed to determine the relationship between age of onset of psoriasis and fracture risk, explore causative explanations, and identify if existing fracture risk stratification tools underestimate fracture risk in patients with psoriasis.

Duration and magnitude of postoperative risk of venous thromboembolism after planned inguinal hernia repair in men: a population-based cohort study.

PURPOSE: Little is known regarding the magnitude and timing of the risk of VTE following inguinal hernia surgery. We aimed to determine the absolute and relative rates of venous thromboembolism (VTE) following planned inguinal hernia repair. METHODS: We analysed male adults with a first inguinal hernia repair with no prior record of VTE from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, linked to the Hospital Episode Statistics (2001-2011). Crude rates and adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of the first VTE were calculated using Cox regression analysis to compare specific time periods following the surgery compared to the general population. RESULTS: We identified 28,782 men who underwent an inguinal hernia repair with 53 (0.18%) having a first VTE in the 90 days following surgery. The overall rate of VTE in the first 90 days following surgery was 7.61 per 1000 person years (pyrs) (95% CI 5.82-9.96). Increasing age, a body mass index > 30 kg/m2 and an in-patient procedure were associated with an increased risk of VTE, when compared to the general population. The risk of VTE was highest in the 1st month following the surgery with a 2.3- (aHR 2.33; 95% CI 1.09-4.99) and 3.5- (aHR 3.47; 95% CI 2.07-5.83) fold increased risk compared to the general population for both day case and planned in-patient procedures, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Reassuringly, the absolute rates of VTE following inguinal hernia repair are low. Patients should be informed that their peak risk of VTE is during the 1st month following the surgery. Further studies on the optimum duration of thromboprophylaxis following surgery are required in high-risk patients undergoing hernia repair.

The risk of community-acquired pneumonia among 9803 patients with coeliac disease compared to the general population: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with coeliac disease are considered as individuals for whom pneumococcal vaccination is advocated. AIM: To quantify the risk of community-acquired pneumonia among patients with coeliac disease, assessing whether vaccination against streptococcal pneumonia modified this risk. METHODS: We identified all patients with coeliac disease within the Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked with English Hospital Episodes Statistics between April 1997 and March 2011 and up to 10 controls per patient with coeliac disease frequency matched in 10-year age bands. Absolute rates of community-acquired pneumonia were calculated for patients with coeliac disease compared to controls stratified by vaccination status and time of diagnosis using Cox regression in terms of adjusted hazard ratios (HR). RESULTS: Among 9803 patients with coeliac disease and 101 755 controls, respectively, there were 179 and 1864 first community-acquired pneumonia events. Overall absolute rate of pneumonia was similar in patients with coeliac disease and controls: 3.42 and 3.12 per 1000 person-years respectively (HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.91-1.24). However, we found a 28% increased risk of pneumonia in coeliac disease unvaccinated subjects compared to unvaccinated controls (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.02-1.60). This increased risk was limited to those younger than 65, was highest around the time of diagnosis and was maintained for more than 5 years after diagnosis. Only 26.6% underwent vaccination after their coeliac disease diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Unvaccinated patients with coeliac disease under the age of 65 have an excess risk of community-acquired pneumonia that was not found in vaccinated patients with coeliac disease. As only a minority of patients with coeliac disease are being vaccinated there is a missed opportunity to intervene to protect these patients from pneumonia.

Limited risks of major congenital anomalies in children of mothers with coeliac disease: a population-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine major congenital anomaly (CA) risks in children of mothers with coeliac disease (CD) compared with mothers without CD. DESIGN: Population-based cohort study. SETTING: Linked maternal-child medical records from a large primary care database from the UK. POPULATION: A total of 562,332 live singletons of mothers with and without CD in 1990-2013. METHODS: We calculated the absolute major CA risks in children whose mothers had CD, and whether this was diagnosed or undiagnosed before childbirth. Logistic regression with a generalised estimating equation was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for CAs associated with CD. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fourteen system-specific major CA groups classified according to the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies and neural tube defects (NTDs). RESULTS: Major CA risk in 1880 children of mothers with CD was 293 per 10,000 liveborn singletons, similar to the risk in those without CD (282; aOR 0.98, 95% CI 0.74-1.30). The risk was slightly higher in 971 children, whose mothers were undiagnosed (350; aOR 1.14, 95% CI 0.79-1.64), than in 909 children whose mothers were diagnosed (231; aOR 0.80, 95% CI 0.52-1.24). There was a three-fold increase in nervous system anomalies in the children of mothers with undiagnosed CD (aOR 2.98, 95% CI 1.06-8.33, based on five exposed cases and one had an NTD), and these women were all diagnosed with CD at least 4 years after their children were born. CONCLUSIONS: There was no statistically significant increase in risk of major CAs in children of mothers with coeliac disease overall, compared with the general population.