Multiple psychiatric diagnoses common in privately insured children on atypical antipsychotics.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of atypical antipsychotic use in privately insured children and the diagnoses associated with treatment. STUDY DESIGN: Claims were used to conduct a retrospective cohort study of children aged 2 through 18 years in the Midwest, covered by private insurance between 2002 and 2005 (n = 172,766). The 1-year prevalence of children receiving atypical antipsychotics was determined along with associated diagnoses. RESULTS: The 1-year prevalence of atypical antipsychotics ranged from 7.9 per 1000 in 2002 to 9.0 in 2005. The leading diagnoses were disruptive behavior disorders (67%), mood disorders (65%), and anxiety disorders (43%).The authors found that 75% of children on atypical antipsychotics had more than one psychiatric diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Atypical antipsychotic use is primarily seen in children who have multiple psychiatric diagnoses. Studies are needed to assess the long-term safety and effectiveness in such patients with multiple diagnoses.

An economic analysis of aspirin desensitization in aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease.

BACKGROUND: Aspirin desensitization is an effective therapy for moderate-to-severe aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD). Desensitization also allows the use of aspirin for secondary cardiovascular prevention. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the cost-effectiveness of aspirin desensitization with subsequent aspirin therapy in patients with AERD. METHODS: The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project was used, together with average reimbursements from a large Midwestern health care plan, to model the costs of aspirin desensitization for therapeutic and prophylactic use in patients with AERD. Event probabilities were based on the published literature. RESULTS: Ambulatory desensitization for AERD cost $6768 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) saved ($18.54 per additional symptom-free day). Aspirin desensitization for AERD remained cost-effective (<$50,000 per QALY saved) across a wide range of assumptions. When secondary cardiovascular prophylaxis was considered, ambulatory aspirin desensitization was less expensive than an alternative antiplatelet agent, clopidogrel. Clopidogrel cost $106,453 per incremental QALY saved when compared with desensitization. CONCLUSIONS: Aspirin desensitization is a cost-effective therapeutic intervention in patients with moderate-to-severe AERD. Although the incremental cost-effectiveness of clopidogrel in individuals with aspirin allergy is marginal, if available, ambulatory desensitization remains a less-expensive option for secondary cardiovascular prophylaxis.

Influence of early posttransplantation prednisone and calcineurin inhibitor dosages on the incidence of new-onset diabetes.

Risk for new-onset diabetes (NOD) after renal transplantation is higher with tacrolimus (Tac) than with cyclosporine (CsA), but the extent to which the diabetogenic effect of Tac is dosage dependent or steroid dependent remains uncertain. Patients who received a transplant between 1995 and 2002 were drawn from the United Network for Organ Sharing registry and prescription records and NOD diagnoses from Medicare claims, both provided by the United States Renal Data System. Patients were divided into six groups of steroid and Tac doses at 30 d after transplantation and referenced against CsA. Relative hazards of NOD with Cox proportional hazards regression were estimated incorporating propensity scores for Tac and nonimmunosuppressive factors related to NOD. A total of 8839 patients with valid immunosuppression records and without pretransplantation evidence of diabetes were included in the study. Unadjusted, cumulative, NOD incidence 1 yr after transplantation was 14.6% with CsA and 22.2% with Tac and at 3 yr after transplantation was 23.4% with CsA and 32.9% with Tac (P < 0.0001). Neither higher CsA nor higher steroid dosages were associated with NOD in CsA-treated patients. However, NOD hazard was significantly higher with Tac than with CsA in all six steroid/Tac dosing groups, including the cohort with the lowest dosages of Tac (dosage thresholds at 30 d after transplantation <0.12 mg/kg per d [mean 0.07 mg/kg per d] and steroids (<0.75 mg/kg per d; hazard ratio 1.28; 95% confidence interval 1.10 to 1.48; P = 0.0012). Whereas the incidence of NOD is greatest with high Tac dosages, the increased risk versus CsA is sustained with lower Tac dosages. Higher steroid dosages increase the early diabetogenic effect of Tac but not of CsA.