Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy after Implementation of a Mass Vaccination Campaign.

An online cross-sectional study on COVID-19 vaccination adhesion was conducted in Portugal nine months after vaccination rollout (September-November 2021). Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccine in the community-based survey, "COVID-19 Barometer: Social Opinion". Hesitancy was 11%; however, of those, 60.5% stated that they intended to take the vaccine. Hesitancy was associated with factors such as lower monthly household income; no intention of taking the flu vaccine this year; perceived reasonable health status; having two or more diseases; low confidence in the health service response; worse perception of the adequacy of anti-COVID-19 government measures; low or no perceived risk of getting COVID-19; feeling agitated, anxious or sad some days; and lack of trust in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. Confidence in vaccines, namely against COVID-19, is paramount for public health and should be monitored during vaccination rollout. Clear communication of the risks and benefits of vaccination needs improvement to increase adherence and public confidence.

Factors Associated with the Patient's Decision to Avoid Healthcare during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in changes in healthcare use. This study aimed to identify factors associated with a patient's decision to avoid and/or delay healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used data from a community-based survey in Portugal from July 2020 to August 2021, "COVID-19 Barometer: Social Opinion", which included data regarding health services use, risk perception and confidence in health services. We framed our analysis under Andersen's Behavioural Model of Health Services Use and utilised Poisson regression to identify healthcare avoidance associated factors. Healthcare avoidance was high (44%). Higher prevalence of healthcare avoidance was found among women; participants who reported lower confidence in the healthcare system response to COVID-19 and non-COVID-19; lost income during the pandemic; experienced negative emotions due to physical distancing measures; answered the questionnaire before middle June 2021; and perceived having worse health, the measures implemented by the Government as inadequate, the information conveyed as unclear and confusing, a higher risk of getting COVID-19, a higher risk of complications and a higher risk of getting infected in a health institution. It is crucial to reassure the population that health services are safe. Health services should plan their recovery since delays in healthcare delivery can lead to increased or worsening morbidity, yielding economic and societal costs.

Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy.

It is critical to develop tailored strategies to increase acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine and decrease hesitancy. Hence, this study aims to assess and identify factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Portugal. We used data from a community-based survey, "COVID-19 Barometer: Social Opinion", which includes data regarding intention to take COVID-19 vaccines, health status, and risk perception in Portugal from September 2020 to January 2021. We used multinomial regression to identify factors associated with intention to delay or refuse to take COVID-19 vaccines. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Portugal was high: 56% would wait and 9% refuse. Several factors were associated with both refusal and delay: being younger, loss of income during the pandemic, no intention of taking the flu vaccine, low confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine and the health service response during the pandemic, worse perception of government measures, perception of the information provided as inconsistent and contradictory, and answering the questionnaire before the release of information regarding the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. It is crucial to build confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine as its perceived safety and efficacy were strongly associated with intention to take the vaccine. Governments and health authorities should improve communication and increase trust.

The Association Between Chronic Disease and Serious COVID-19 Outcomes and Its Influence on Risk Perception: Survey Study and Database Analysis.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19, a viral respiratory disease first reported in December 2019, quickly became a threat to global public health. Further understanding of the epidemiology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the risk perception of the community may better inform targeted interventions to reduce the impact and spread of COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to examine the association between chronic diseases and serious outcomes following COVID-19 infection, and to explore its influence on people's self-perception of risk for worse COVID-19 outcomes. METHODS: This study draws data from two databases: (1) the nationwide database of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Portugal, extracted on April 28, 2020 (n=20,293); and (2) the community-based COVID-19 Barometer survey, which contains data on health status, perceptions, and behaviors during the first wave of COVID-19 (n=171,087). We assessed the association between relevant chronic diseases (ie, respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal diseases; diabetes; and cancer) and death and intensive care unit (ICU) admission following COVID-19 infection. We identified determinants of self-perception of risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal diseases were associated with mortality and ICU admission among patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 infection (odds ratio [OR] 1.48, 95% CI 1.11-1.98; OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.80-6.40; and OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.66-3.06, respectively). Diabetes and cancer were associated with serious outcomes only when considering the full sample of COVID-19-infected cases in the country (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.03-1.64; and OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.03-1.89, respectively). Older age and male sex were both associated with mortality and ICU admission. The perception of risk for severe COVID-19 disease in the study population was 23.9% (n=40,890). This was markedly higher for older adults (n=5235, 46.4%), those with at least one chronic disease (n=17,647, 51.6%), or those in both of these categories (n=3212, 67.7%). All included diseases were associated with self-perceptions of high risk in this population. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate the association between some prevalent chronic diseases and increased risk of worse COVID-19 outcomes. It also brings forth a greater understanding of the community's risk perceptions of serious COVID-19 disease. Hence, this study may aid health authorities to better adapt measures to the real needs of the population and to identify vulnerable individuals requiring further education and awareness of preventive measures.

Development and validation of psoriatic arthritis switch quality assessment tool (PASQAL) - an outcomes measurement tool to assess the quality of biologic switch decisions in psoriatic arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Switching between biologic therapies is a recommended strategy for Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) patients that show an insufficient response or adverse events. Although the choice of the subsequent biologic may be dependent on many factors, assessing the quality of the switch decision is of utmost relevance. OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate two outcomes measurement tools (for patients with peripheral and axial PsA phenotypes) that address the quality of treatment decisions in PsA regarding the switch of biologic therapies in clinical practice. METHODS: A Task Force and an Expert Panel were specifically assembled for this purpose. The Psoriatic Arthritis Switch Quality Assessment tool (PASQAL) development comprised a modified-Delphi method in a four-step procedure: 1) literature search and experts' opinion collection about quality indicators for PsA management; 2) Delphi design to address the development of the measurement tool; 3) three Delphi questionnaire rounds; 4) final consensus meeting. This phase resulted in the definition of two measurement tools, one to evaluate the quality of biologic switch in peripheral (pPASQAL) and another one in axial PsA (axPASQAL). For the validation of PASQAL, 12 experienced rheumatologists were asked to evaluate and classify the biologic switch of 80 clinical cases (40 with predominant peripheral and 40 with predominant axial PsA). Clinical judgement was defined to be the "gold standard" against which the performance of PASQAL was assessed. The results were used to assess tools' performance (sensitivity/specificity analysis) and the agreement between the tools and the gold standard (Cohen's kappa). RESULTS: PASQAL consists of 6 domains (joint disease activity, dactylitis, enthesis, physical function, quality of life, and skin and nail manifestations), respective instruments and thresholds. The classification of the biologic switch was divided into three quality levels: "Good", based on treat-to-target thresholds; "Moderate", based on improvement from baseline; and the remaining as "Insufficient". pPASQAL was found to be highly sensitive (92%) with the "Good" quality level and specific (97%) with the "Insufficient" quality level. Whilst axPASQAL showed overall higher sensitivity and specificity for all quality levels, as well as a higher level of agreement between the tool and the gold standard than pPASQAL (k=0.87 vs k=0.71). CONCLUSION: PASQAL was developed and showed good criterion validity for the evaluation of the quality of switch in both peripheral and axial PsA phenotypes. These tools may be used in research as well as in clinical practice, to support rheumatologists in making more informed therapeutic decisions.

Cost Effectiveness of Pembrolizumab for Advanced Melanoma Treatment in Portugal.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of pembrolizumab in treating patients with ipilimumab-naïve advanced melanoma in Portugal. METHODS: A cost-effectiveness model was developed to analyze the costs and consequences of treatment with pembrolizumab compared to treatment with ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma not previously treated with ipilimumab. The model was parameterized by using data from a head-to-head phase III randomized clinical trial, KEYNOTE-006. Extrapolation of long-term outcomes was based on approaches previously applied, combining ipilimumab data and melanoma patients' registry data. The analysis was conducted from the perspective of the Portuguese National Health Service, and a lifetime horizon (40 years) was used. Portugal-specific disease management costs were estimated by convening a panel of six clinical experts to derive health state resource use and multiplying the results by national unit costs. To test for the robustness of the conclusions, we conducted deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: Pembrolizumab increases life expectancy in 1.57 undiscounted life-years (LYs) and is associated with an increase in costs versus that of ipilimumab. The estimated incremental cost-effectiveness ratio is €47,221 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) and €42,956 per LY. Deterministic sensitivity analysis showed that the results were robust to the change of most input values or assumptions and were sensitive to time on treatment scenarios. According to the probabilistic sensitivity analysis performed, pembrolizumab is associated with a cost per QALY gained inferior to €50,000 in 75% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the usually accepted thresholds in oncology, pembrolizumab is a cost-effective alternative for treating patients with advanced melanoma in Portugal.

Interventions aiming to reduce early retirement due to rheumatic diseases.

INTRODUCTION: Aging of the population and early retirement translates into productivity losses to society. Persistence of working life is crucial to counteract this sustainability issue faced by western countries. Musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases (RD) may cause work disability and early exit from work, including early retirement. The objective of this article is to review the current knowledge about interventions aiming to reduce early retirement due to RD. METHODS: We searched PubMed and The Cochrane Library for studies either in English or Portuguese between January 2000 and June 2016 that evaluated the impact of interventions targeting early retirement in RD patients still at work. We also searched for grey literature from Portuguese institutional repositories. RESULTS: We identified several published studies testing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic vocational rehabilitation interventions. None was specifically identified for Portugal. The general low quality of the literature and its inconsistency makes it unfeasible to draw definitive conclusions. However, some broad recommendations might be outlined. An effective intervention must: 1) act upon different levels (e.g. RD patient, workplace), involving several stakeholders (e.g. rheumatologists, occupational physicians, employers); 2) prioritize the right patients (e.g. more disabling RD); and 3) consider the patients' role, for instance by including an element of patient education and support. Despite the lack of good quality evidence on this field, there seems to be a growing interest in the international scientific community with several ongoing studies promoting such interventions. This promising data will be very useful to set up effective policies. CONCLUSIONS: This article summarizes the current knowledge about the impact of interventions to avoid or mitigate early retirement in RD patients. It highlights the demand for further research and it also contributes to aware decision-makers about the relevance of this topic, particularly in Portugal.

The cost of managing severe hypoglycemic episodes in Type 2 diabetic patients.

INTRODUCTION: Hypoglycemia is an acute complication of diabetes that increases morbidity, mortality and disease costs. We aim to estimate healthcare resource consumption and costs associated with severe hypoglycemia using the societal perspective. METHODS: A cross-sectional, observational, nationwide, multicenter, hospital-based study was conducted in seven centers of Portuguese mainland with a 1-year enrolment period. Unit costs were extracted from official/public data sources. Patient-level data were used to quantify healthcare resource use related to emergency transportation, emergency-department care and hospitalization. Productivity loss was calculated based on the Human Capital Approach. RESULTS: The study enrolled 238 Type-2 diabetic patients and the proportion of hypoglycemic episodes among all emergency events during the study period was 0.075% (95% CI: 0.067-0.083%). Mean patient age was 76 years and 57.6% were female. At time of the emergency department admission, 55% of patients were using insulin, 31.5% were being treated with secretagogues, 6.7% were on a combination of both, and 6.7% were on other oral antihyperglycemic agents. Estimated mean costs in the emergency department were: emergency transportation €33, medication €4, laboratory workup €56, other exams €72, physician and nurse time €30 and €13, respectively. Mean hospitalization cost was €1271. Indirect cost averaged €15. Overall cost per hypoglycemic episode averaged €1493 (standard deviation: €2962; range: €34-26,818). Patients treated with secretagogues had the highest rates of hospitalizations and mean costs. CONCLUSION: We conclude that severe hypoglycemic events represent a substantial cost for society and in particular for the hospitals of the National Health Service.