Exploring the effects of acceptable palliative care models on survival time and healthcare expenditure among patients with cancer: a national longitudinal population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: Hospice care ensures better end-of-life quality by relieving terminal symptoms. Prior research has indicated that hospice care could prolong survival and reduce end-of-life medical expenditures among patients with cancer. However, the dearth of studies on the effects of hospice care type and use sequence on survival time and end-of-life medical expenditures substantiates the need for investigation. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING: Two million random records were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database. STUDY DESIGN: We estimated the effects of the type and sequence of hospice care use on survival time and medical expenditures among advanced cancer patients. This was a cross-sectional study. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Patient data were collected from 2 million random records provided by the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. We included people with cancer and excluded patients under 20 years of age; 2860 patients remained after matching. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The results indicated that the average survival time of patients who received inpatient palliative care (1022 days) was significantly shorter than that of patients who did not receive palliative care (P < 0.001), but the health care expenditure during the entire course of cancer therapy was not the lowest. Interestingly, patients who received inpatient palliative care had the lowest health care expenditure at 1 year or month before the end of life (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The type and sequence of palliative care affected the survival time and health care expenditures of cancer patients. Receiving palliative care did not prolong survival but rather reduced health care expenditures. The sequence of receiving palliative care significantly affected health care expenditures.

Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter Increases Risk of Diabetes Mellitus: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: This nationwide cohort study aimed to examine the association between PM2.5 and diabetes mellitus (DM) risk. METHODS: We recorded annual average PM2.5 exposure levels at participants' locations. PM2.5 concentrations were categorized into quartiles: Q1 (<29.5 µg/m 3 ), Q2 (29.5-33.3 µg/m 3 ), Q3 (33.4-41.2 µg/m 3 ), and Q4 (>41.2 µg/m 3 ). RESULTS: A total of 158,038 patients (69,688 men and 88,350 women) were enrolled. Diabetes mellitus incidence increased with higher annual PM2.5 concentrations (2.81 in Q1, 3.06 in Q2, 3.65 in Q3, and 3.89 in Q4 per 10,000 person-years). After adjusting for confounders, patients exposed to PM2.5 in Q2, Q3, and Q4 had adjusted hazard ratios of 1.14 (95% CI: 1.05-1.23), 1.40 (95% CI: 1.30-1.50), and 1.42 (95% CI: 1.32-1.53), respectively, for developing DM compared with those exposed to Q1-PM2.5 concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: This study observed an increased risk of DM associated with PM2.5 exposure.

Disparities in the medical expenditures of patients with cancer and concomitant mental disorder: analyzing the effects of diagnosis sequence order.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is the leading cause of death in Taiwan. Medical expenditures related to cancer accounted for 44.8% of all major illness insurance claims in Taiwan. Prior research has indicated that the dual presence of cancer and mental disorder in patients led to increased medical burden. Furthermore, patients with cancer and concomitant mental disorder could incur as much as 50% more annual costs than those without. Although previous studies have investigated the utilization of patients with both diseases, the effects of morbidity sequence order on patient costs are, however, uncertain. This study explored medical expenditures linked with the comorbidity of cancer and mental disorder, with a focus on the impact of diagnosis sequence order. METHODS: This population-based retrospective matched cohort study retrieved patients with cancer and mental disorder (aged ≥ 20 years) from the Ministry of Health and Welfare Data Science Center 2005-2015 database. 321,045 patients were divided based on having one or both diseases, as well as on the sequence of mental disorder and cancer diagnosis. Study subjects were paired with comparison counterparts free of both diseases using Propensity Score Matching at a 1:1 ratio. Annual Cost per Patient Linear Model (with a log-link function and gamma distribution) was used to assess the average annual cost, covarying for socio-demographic and clinical factors. Binomial Logistic Regression was used to evaluate factors associated with the risk of high-utilization. RESULTS: The "Cancer only" group had higher adjusted mean annual costs (NT$126,198), more than 5-times that of the reference group (e^ß: 5.45, p < 0.001). However, after exclusion of patients with non-cancer and inclusion of diagnosis sequence order for patients with cancer and concomitant mental disorder, the post-cancer mental disorder group had the highest expenditures at over 13% higher than those diagnosed with only cancer on per capita basis (e^ß: 1.13, p < 0.001), whereas patients with cancer and any pre-existing mental disorder incurred lower expenditures than those with only cancer. The diagnosis of post-cancer mental disorder was significantly associated with high-utilization (OR = 1.24; 95% CI: 1.047-1.469). Other covariates associated with high-utilizer status included female sex, middle to old age, and late stage cancer. CONCLUSION: Presence of mental disorder prior to cancer had a diminishing effect on medical utilization in patients, possibly indicating low medical compliance or adherence in patients with mental disorder on initial treatments after cancer diagnosis. Patients with post-cancer mental disorder had the highest average annual cost. Similar results were found in the odds of reaching high-utilizer status. The follow-up of cancer treatment for patients with pre-existing mental disorders warrants more emphasis in an attempt to effectively allocate medical resources.

Efficacy and Safety of Exploring Deeper Sections of the Infrapapillary Area of the Duodenum by Using Sedative Esophagogastroduodenoscopy.

Background: Using conventional esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) to evaluate the infrapapillary area is not feasible. The use of sedative EGD may enable endoscopists to investigate the infrapapillary condition of the duodenum. In this study, we aimed to evaluate lesions in the infrapapillary regions by using sedative EGD. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we used the data of patients who underwent sedative EGD examinations at a tertiary hospital in southern Taiwan. The endoscopists evaluated the esophagus, stomach, and proximal duodenum and then attempted to explore the infrapapillary portion of the duodenum as deeply as possible. We assessed the success rate for the exploration of infrapapillary areas. Furthermore, we analyzed specific clinical findings of sedative EGD examination. Results: In total, 2973 patients underwent sedative EGD between November 1, 2010, and December 31, 2011. For 2632 of these patients, it was their first sedative EGD examination. In 2511 patients (95.4%), the exploration of the infrapapillary areas was successful. In approximately 10% of the patients, specific findings were detected over the infrapapillary region, and 7 of these patients exhibited clinically significant findings (i.e., gallbladder cancer with metastasis, periampullary Vater adenoma, natural killer cell enteropathy, villous adenoma with moderate dysplasia, infrapapillary duodenal adenoma with dysplasia, duodenal perforation with tumor-like formation, and follicular lymphoma). No patient experienced minor or major adverse reactions during the sedative EGD procedure. Conclusions: The current study provided evidence that sedative EGD examination enables a safe, comfortable, and effective endoscopic examination of deeper sections of the duodenum to evaluate the papillary and infrapapillary regions.

Prediction of Moderate to Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea Using Neck Computed Tomography With Computational Fluid Dynamics Study.

BACKGROUND: Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with cardiovascular disease. Polysomnography is time intensive and difficult to access for diagnosis of OSA. Neck computed tomography (CT) provides upper airway delineation but not diagnostic criteria for moderate to severe OSA. We explored neck CT with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study for airway pressure and airflow velocity to predict moderate to severe OSA. METHODS: Enrolled from February 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, patients with OSA with overnight oxygen desaturation (sPO2 <90%) received awake neck CT with a CFD study of their airway pressure and airflow velocity. CTL12 and CTL34 were defined as airflow velocity <3 and ≥3 m/s, respectively, and airway pressure <10 and ≥10 pa, respectively, in the narrowest upper airway. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients (42 male and 20 female; mean age: 50.4 ± 14.6 years) were included; 12 and 50 patients had mild OSA and moderate to severe OSA, respectively. The minimum sPO2 in the supine position was 80.7 ± 9.1%. The total time of sPO2 <90% at overnight oximetry was 29.3 ± 51.1 min. Most (85.5%) neck CT examinations with CFD study presented CTL34. Patients with CTL34 had a lower minimum sPO2 in the supine position (78.4 vs. 88.1%, P = 0.004) and longer duration of sPO2 <90% at overnight oximetry (33.9 vs. 1.9 min, P = 0.001) than those with CTL12. The values of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves of airway pressure and of airflow velocity at the narrowest upper airway were 0.788 and 0.733, respectively. CONCLUSION: Neck CT with CFD study of airway pressure and airflow velocity may provide a quick prediction of moderate to severe OSA.

Changing epidemiology and prognosis of nosocomial bloodstream infection: A single-center retrospective study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Nosocomial bloodstream infection (BSI) remains a significant cause of mortality and morbidity. We evaluate the trend of the pathogens of nosocomial BSI and investigate the distribution of the pathogens to demonstrate the risk factors of mortality. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we collected data from a 2076-bed tertiary referral center that offers a full range of clinical services in central Taiwan during January, 2016 to December, 2017. RESULTS: Five hundred and eighty-four patients were identified with nosocomial BSI. Among the comorbidities of nosocomial BSI patients with, the most frequent were hypertension, in 294 patients (50.3%), malignancy, in 279 patients (47.8%); diabetes, in 278 patients (47.6%); chronic kidney disease, in 171 patients (29.3%); and liver cirrhosis, in 132 patients (22.6%). Gram-positive organisms caused 22.9% of these nosocomial BSIs, gram-negative organisms caused 69.2%, and fungi caused 6.8%. The most common organism causing nosocomial BSIs were Klebsiella spp. (14%), E coli. (14%), and Enterococcus spp. (11%). Multivariate analysis of risk factors for mortality displayed that comorbidity with low body weight, liver cirrhosis, and malignancy, high CRP level, high Charlson Comorbidity Index and internal medicine and hematology/oncology distribution were strikingly associated with mortality (P = 0.0222, 0.0352, 0.0008, 0.0122, <0.001, and 0.041; [OR] = 1.8097, 1.9268, 2.7156, 2.7585, 3.5431, and 2.2449, respectively). CONCLUSION: K. spp. and E coli. became the most common pathogens of nosocomial BSI in recent years. Comorbidities could be important roles to predictive the outcome of nosocomial BSI. The modifiable risk factors of nosocomial BSI may be investigated further to improve the outcome.

Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Following Appendectomy in Adulthood.

Background: The appendix has a complicated immune function, and appendectomy may derange the immune system. Studies on the relationship between appendectomy and subsequent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been inconsistent. We conducted a nationwide cohort study consisting of individuals who underwent appendectomy to evaluate the incidence and risk of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Methods: We identified patients aged >20 years who underwent appendectomy between 2000 and 2012 from inpatient claims of the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and assigned them to the appendectomy cohort. Then, we randomly selected patients without appendectomy in the NHIRD and assigned them to the comparison cohort in a frequency-matched 1:1 ratio based on sex, age, and index year. We tracked down all participants until IBD diagnosis, death, or the end of 2013. Cox models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to compare the IBD risk between the appendectomy and comparison cohorts. Results: The appendectomy and comparison cohorts in the study consisted of 246 562 patients each. The appendectomy cohort exhibited a 2.23- and 3.48-fold higher risk of UC (adjusted HR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.59-3.12) and CD (adjusted HR = 3.48, 95% CI = 2.42-4.99), respectively, than did the comparison cohort. UC and CD risks significantly increased in the appendectomy cohort regardless of whether appendicitis was present. Conclusions: Our study suggests that appendectomy increases UC and CD risks irrespective of appendicitis.

Mortality outcomes with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in COVID-19 from an international collaborative meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Substantial COVID-19 research investment has been allocated to randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, which currently face recruitment challenges or early discontinuation. We aim to estimate the effects of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine on survival in COVID-19 from all currently available RCT evidence, published and unpublished. We present a rapid meta-analysis of ongoing, completed, or discontinued RCTs on hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine treatment for any COVID-19 patients (protocol: https://osf.io/QESV4/ ). We systematically identified unpublished RCTs (ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, Cochrane COVID-registry up to June 11, 2020), and published RCTs (PubMed, medRxiv and bioRxiv up to October 16, 2020). All-cause mortality has been extracted (publications/preprints) or requested from investigators and combined in random-effects meta-analyses, calculating odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), separately for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. Prespecified subgroup analyses include patient setting, diagnostic confirmation, control type, and publication status. Sixty-three trials were potentially eligible. We included 14 unpublished trials (1308 patients) and 14 publications/preprints (9011 patients). Results for hydroxychloroquine are dominated by RECOVERY and WHO SOLIDARITY, two highly pragmatic trials, which employed relatively high doses and included 4716 and 1853 patients, respectively (67% of the total sample size). The combined OR on all-cause mortality for hydroxychloroquine is 1.11 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.20; I² = 0%; 26 trials; 10,012 patients) and for chloroquine 1.77 (95%CI: 0.15, 21.13, I² = 0%; 4 trials; 307 patients). We identified no subgroup effects. We found that treatment with hydroxychloroquine is associated with increased mortality in COVID-19 patients, and there is no benefit of chloroquine. Findings have unclear generalizability to outpatients, children, pregnant women, and people with comorbidities.

A multicenter, randomized, open-label, controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of hydroxychloroquine and a retrospective study in adult patients with mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) via a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and a retrospective study. METHODS: Subjects admitted to 11 designated public hospitals in Taiwan between April 1 and May 31, 2020, with COVID-19 diagnosis confirmed by pharyngeal real-time RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2, were randomized at a 2:1 ratio and stratified by mild or moderate illness. HCQ (400 mg twice for 1 d or HCQ 200 mg twice daily for 6 days) was administered. Both the study and control group received standard of care (SOC). Pharyngeal swabs and sputum were collected every other day. The proportion and time to negative viral PCR were assessed on day 14. In the retrospective study, medical records were reviewed for patients admitted before March 31, 2020. RESULTS: There were 33 and 37 cases in the RCT and retrospective study, respectively. In the RCT, the median times to negative rRT-PCR from randomization to hospital day 14 were 5 days (95% CI; 1, 9 days) and 10 days (95% CI; 2, 12 days) for the HCQ and SOC groups, respectively (p = 0.40). On day 14, 81.0% (17/21) and 75.0% (9/12) of the subjects in the HCQ and SOC groups, respectively, had undetected virus (p = 0.36). In the retrospective study, 12 (42.9%) in the HCQ group and 5 (55.6%) in the control group had negative rRT-PCR results on hospital day 14 (p = 0.70). CONCLUSIONS: Neither study demonstrated that HCQ shortened viral shedding in mild to moderate COVID-19 subjects.

Demographics and medical disorders associated with smoking: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated factors associated with smoking behaviors. In this population-based study, we investigated demographics and medical comorbid diseases to establish a prediction model for smoking behaviors by using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). METHODS: We enrolled individuals aged ≥40 years who had participated in the NHIS in 2001, 2005, and 2009. We identified the smoking behaviors of the study participants in the NHIS. Smoking behaviors were divided into ever smokers (current smokers and ex-smokers) and nonsmokers (never smokers).We defined medical comorbid disorders of the study participants by using medical claim data from the NHIRD. We used multivariable logistic regression models to calculate the adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval for variables associated with smoking. The significant variables in the multivariable model were included in the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) to predict the sensitivity and specificity of the model. RESULTS: In total, 26,375 participants (12,779 men and 13,596 women) were included in the analysis. The prevalence of smoking was 39.29%. The mean ages of the 16,012 nonsmokers were higher than those of the 10,363 smokers (57.86 ± 12.92 years vs. 53.59 ± 10.82 years). Men outnumbered women among smokers (68.18% vs. 31.82%). Male sex, young age and middle age, being insured categories, residence in suburban areas, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were independent factors associated with smoking. The area under the ROC curve of these significant factors to predict smoking behaviors was 71.63%. CONCLUSION: Sex, age, insured categories, residence in suburban areas, and COPD were associated with smoking in people.

Association between venous thromboembolism and acute pancreatitis: An analysis from the nationwide inpatient sample.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Acute inflammation of the pancreas may trigger a systemic inflammatory response and initiate coagulation. Few studies have been conducted on the association between venous thromboembolism (VTE) and acute pancreatitis (AP). We investigated the incidence and risk of VTE in patients with AP. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis for the nationwide AP cohort. We identified 91 786 patients with AP and 183 557 controls who were frequency-matched according to sex, age (5-y interval), and index year from the National Health Insurance Research Database between 2000 and 2008. The patients and controls were followed until diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE), death or the end of 2011. RESULTS: The nationwide cohort study showed that patients with AP exhibited a higher incidence of VTE (13.1 vs 5.65 per 10 000 person-y) than did the controls. After covariates were controlled for, the patients with AP had a 1.88-fold higher risk of VTE than did the controls (adjusted hazard ratios [aHR] = 1.88; 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.68-2.10). The incidence rates of DVT and PE were higher in the patients with AP than in the controls, irrespective of sex, age or comorbidity. The patients with AP exhibited a 1.86-fold higher aHR of DVT (95% CI = 1.63-2.12) and a 1.92-fold higher aHR of PE (95% CI = 1.59-2.31) than did the controls. CONCLUSION: Patients with AP exhibited a significantly higher risk of VTE than did the controls.

Is incentive spirometry beneficial for patients with lung cancer receiving video-assisted thoracic surgery?

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of Incentive spirometry (IS) in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) remains lacking. We conducted a population-based study to investigate the effectiveness of IS on patients with lung cancers following VATS. METHODS: We identified patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer who underwent surgical resection by VATS or thoracotomy from the years 2000 to 2008 in the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. Exposure variable was the use of IS during admission for surgical resection by VATS or thoracotomy. Primary outcomes included hospitalization cost, incidence of pneumonia, and length of hospital stay. Secondary outcomes included the frequency of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations at 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups after thoracic surgery. RESULTS: We analyzed 7549 patients with lung cancer undergoing surgical resection by VATS and thoracotomy. The proportion of patients who were subjected to IS was significantly higher in those who underwent thoracotomy than in those who underwent VATS (68.4% vs. 53.1%, P < 0.0001). After we controlled for potential covariates, the IS group significantly reduced hospitalization costs (- 524.5 USD, 95% confidence interval [CI] = - 982.6 USD - -66.4 USD) and the risk of pneumonia (odds ratio = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.32-0.95) compared to the non-IS group following VATS. No difference in ED visit frequency and hospitalization frequency at 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year follow-up was noted between the IS and the non-IS groups following VATS. CONCLUSIONS: The use of IS in patients with lung cancers undergoing VATS may reduce hospitalization cost and the risk of pneumonia.

Incidence and risk of venous thromboembolism in patients following appendectomy: a nationwide cohort study.

Surgery may lead to poor blood flow and hypercoagulation. Few studies have investigated the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in Asian patients following appendectomy. We conducted a nationwide cohort study to investigate the risk of VTE in patients who underwent appendectomy compared with those who did not in Taiwan. We studied the entire hospitalized population in Taiwan from 2000 to 2012, with a follow-up period extending to the end of 2013. We identified patients who underwent appendectomy in Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database as the appendectomy cohort, and selected a nonappendectomy cohort from the general population that was 4:1 frequency-matched by age (5-year interval), sex, and index year for each appendectomy case. We used Cox models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for symptomatic VTE in the appendectomy cohort for comparison with the nonappendectomy cohort. The appendectomy cohort exhibited a higher incidence of symptomatic VTE than the nonappendectomy cohort (5.90 vs. 3.29 per 10,000 person-years). After adjustment for covariates, a 1.68-fold HR for symptomatic VTE was observed in the appendectomy cohort (95% CI 1.56-1.81). Compared with the nonappendectomy cohort, the patients who underwent open appendectomy had a 1.73-fold increased adjusted HR for symptomatic VTE (95% CI 1.61-1.87). Laparoscopic appendectomy was not significantly associated with symptomatic VTE. An 8.15-fold higher adjusted HR for VTE was observed in patients who underwent appendectomy within the first month after surgery compared with the nonappendectomy cohort. Open appendectomy carried an increased risk of symptomatic VTE. Laparoscopic appendectomy was not significantly associated with symptomatic VTE.

Sleep disorders associated with risk of prostate cancer: a population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Disrupted sleep rhythms may lead to cancer development. We conducted a population-based cohort study to evaluate the incidence and risk of prostate cancer in patients with sleep disorders (SDs). METHODS: Patients newly diagnosed with SDs between 2000 and 2010 were enrolled from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. A non-SD cohort age-matched (5-y intervals), comorbidities, and medications was randomly sampled from the general population at a 1:1 ratio. The follow-up period extended from the index date of SDs to the diagnosis of prostate cancer, censoring, or the end of 2013. We used Cox proportional hazards models to calculate the risk of prostate cancer. RESULTS: In total, 41,444 patients were enrolled in each cohort. The mean age of the SD cohort was 48.0 years and that of the non-SD cohort was 47.8 years, with 58.2% of both cohorts aged younger than 50 years. The incidence of prostate cancer increased with age. The overall incidence of prostate cancer was higher in the SD cohort than in the non-SD cohort (9.56 vs 6.36 per 10,000 person-y), with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.42 (95% CI = 1.20-1.69). Age-specific analysis revealed a 1.35-fold increased risk of prostate cancer in the patients aged ≥65 years in the SD cohort compared with the non-SD counterparts (95% CI = 1.10-1.65). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with SDs are associated with increased risk of prostate cancer.

Women who had appendectomy have increased risk of systemic lupus erythematosus: a nationwide cohort study.

The appendix is involved in immune function, and an appendectomy may alter the immune system. Studies evaluating the relationship between previous appendectomy and the risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are lacking. This nationwide cohort study investigated the incidence and risk of SLE in patients who underwent appendectomy. Patients aged > 20 years who received appendectomy from 2000 to 2011 were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database and assigned to the appendectomy cohort. Patients without appendectomy were randomly selected from the NHIRD and assigned to the control cohort; they were frequency matched to each study patient at a 4:1 ratio by sex, age, and index year. All patients were followed until SLE diagnosis, withdrawal from the National Health Insurance program, or the end of 2011. We used Cox models to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) to compare the risk of SLE between the appendectomy and control cohorts. From 23.74 million people in the cohort, 80,582 patients undergoing appendectomy and 323,850 patients without appendectomy were followed for 723,438 and 2,931,737 person-years, respectively. The appendectomy cohort had a 2.04-fold higher risk of SLE than the control cohort (adjusted HR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.52-2.76). Women aged ≤ 49 years who underwent appendectomy had a 2.27-fold higher risk of SLE than the corresponding controls (adjusted HR = 2.27, 95% CI = 1.62-3.19). Women aged ≤ 49 years who underwent appendectomy have a significantly higher risk of SLE.

Acute respiratory events in patients with bronchiectasis-COPD overlap syndrome: A population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The clinical phenotypes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are related to various outcomes. We investigated the risk of acute respiratory events in patients with bronchiectasis-COPD overlap syndrome (BCOS) in Taiwan. METHODS: We included 3955 patients who received diagnoses of COPD and bronchiectasis from 2000 to 2007 from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database in the BCOS cohort. In the comparison cohort, we included patients with COPD but without bronchiectasis at a ratio of 4:1, frequency matched by age, sex, and index year with each patient with BCOS. We followed both cohorts for 5 years to investigate the incidence and risk of acute respiratory events in the BCOS cohort relative to the comparison cohort, the incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were determined using Poisson regression models. RESULTS: The BCOS cohort experienced more episodes of acute respiratory events than did the comparison cohort (16.4 vs 5.52 per 100 person-y). After adjustment for potential covariates, the BCOS cohort had a 2.20-fold higher risk of pneumonia (adjusted IRR = 2.20, 95% CI = 2.06-2.34), a 3.88-fold higher risk of acute exacerbation (adjusted IRR = 3.88,95% CI = 3.64-4.13), a 1.74-fold higher risk of acute respiratory failure (adjusted IRR = 1.74,95% CI = 1.47-2.06), and a 1.99-fold higher risk of cardiopulmonary arrest (adjusted IRR = 1.99,95% CI = 1.81-2.20) than did the comparison cohort. CONCLUSION: The patients with BCOS had a higher risk of acute respiratory events than did COPD patients without bronchiectasis.

Design of a Clinical Decision Support System for Fracture Prediction Using Imbalanced Dataset.

More than 1 billion people suffer from chronic respiratory diseases worldwide, accounting for more than 4 million deaths annually. Inhaled corticosteroid is a popular medication for treating chronic respiratory diseases. Its side effects include decreased bone mineral density and osteoporosis. The aims of this study are to investigate the association of inhaled corticosteroids and fracture and to design a clinical support system for fracture prediction. The data of patients aged 20 years and older, who had visited healthcare centers and been prescribed with inhaled corticosteroids within 2002-2010, were retrieved from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). After excluding patients diagnosed with hip fracture or vertebrate fractures before using inhaled corticosteroid, a total of 11645 patients receiving inhaled corticosteroid therapy were included for this study. Among them, 1134 (9.7%) were diagnosed with hip fracture or vertebrate fracture. The statistical results showed that demographic information, chronic respiratory diseases and comorbidities, and corticosteroid-related variables (cumulative dose, mean exposed daily dose, follow-up duration, and exposed duration) were significantly different between fracture and nonfracture patients. The clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) were designed with integrated genetic algorithm (GA) and support vector machine (SVM) by training and validating the models with balanced training sets obtained by random and cluster-based undersampling methods and testing with the imbalanced NHIRD dataset. Two different objective functions were adopted for obtaining optimal models with best predictive performance. The predictive performance of the CDSSs exhibits a sensitivity of 69.84-77.00% and an AUC of 0.7495-0.7590. It was concluded that long-term use of inhaled corticosteroids may induce osteoporosis and exhibit higher incidence of hip or vertebrate fractures. The accumulated dose of ICS and OCS therapies should be continuously monitored, especially for patients with older age and women after menopause, to prevent from exceeding the maximum dosage.

Increased risk of acute coronary syndrome in patients with bronchiectasis: A population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: There are few studies on the relationship between bronchiectasis and acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We conducted a population-based cohort study to assess whether bronchiectasis was associated with an increased risk of ACS. METHODS: We identified 3521 patients diagnosed with bronchiectasis between 2000 and 2010 (bronchiectasis cohort) and frequency matched them with 14 084 randomly selected people without bronchiectasis from the general population (comparison cohort) according to sex, age and index year using the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. Both cohorts were followed until the end of 2010 to determine the ACS incidence. Hazard ratios of ACS were measured. RESULTS: Based on 17 340 person-years for bronchiectasis patients and 73 639 person-years for individuals without bronchiectasis, the overall ACS risk was 40% higher in the bronchiectasis cohort (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.40; 95% CI: 1.20-1.62). Compared with those in the comparison cohort with one respiratory infection-related emergency room (ER) visit per year, the ACS risk was 5.46-fold greater in bronchiectasis patients with three or more ER visits per year (adjusted HR = 5.46, 95% CI: 4.29-6.96). Patients with bronchiectasis and three or more respiratory infection-related hospitalizations per year had an 8.15-fold higher ACS risk (adjusted HR = 8.15, 95% CI: 6.27-10.61). CONCLUSION: Bronchiectasis patients, particularly those experiencing frequent exacerbations with three or more ER visits and consequent hospitalization per year, are at an increased ACS risk.