Is a Vitrimer with a High Glass Transition Temperature Available? A Case Study on Rigid Polyimides Cross-Linked with Dynamic Ester Bonds.

Vitrimers, possessing associative covalent adaptable networks, are cross-linked polymers exhibiting malleable (glass-like) feature and recyclable and reprocessable (thermoplastics-like) properties. The dynamic behaviors of vitrimer are dependent on both chain/molecular mobility (glass transition temperature, Tg) and dynamic bond-exchanging reaction rate (topology freezing transition temperature, Tv). This work aims on probing the effect of high Tg on the stress relaxation and physical recyclability of vitrimers, employing a polyimide cross-linked with dynamic ester bonds (Tg: 310 °C) as the example. Due to its high Tg and chain rigidity, the cross-linked polyimide does not exhibit a high extent of stress relaxation behavior at 320 °C (10 °C above its Tg), even though the temperature is much higher than the hypothetical Tv. While raising the processing temperature to 345 °C, the cross-linked polyimide exhibits a stress relaxation time of about 3300 s and physical malleability. Nevertheless, side reactions may occur in the recycling and reprocessing process under the harsh condition (high temperature and high pressure) to alter the thermal properties of the recycled sample. The diffusion control plays a critical role on the topography transition of a vitrimer having a high Tg. The Tg ceiling is noticeable for developments of vitrimers.

Impact of pre-existing mental health disorders on the receipt of guideline recommended cancer treatments: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Disparities in cancer outcomes for individuals with pre-existing mental health disorders have already been identified, particularly for cancer screening and mortality. We aimed to systematically review the influence on the time from cancer diagnosis to cancer treatment, treatment adherence, and differences in receipt of guideline recommended cancer treatment. METHODS: We included international studies published in English from 1 January 1995 to 23 May 2022 by searching MEDLINE, Embase, and APA PsycInfo. RESULTS: This review identified 29 studies with 27 being published in the past decade. Most studies focused on breast, non-small cell lung and colorectal cancer and were of high or medium quality as assessed by the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. All studies were from high-income countries, and mostly included patients enrolled in national health insurance systems. Five assessed the impact on treatment delay or adherence, and 25 focused on the receipt of guideline recommended treatment. 20/25 studies demonstrated evidence that patients with pre-existing mental health disorders were less likely to receive guideline recommended therapies such as surgery or radiotherapy. In addition, there was a greater likelihood of receiving less intensive or modified treatment including systemic therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Across different cancer types and treatment modalities there is evidence of a clear disparity in the receipt of guideline recommended cancer treatment for patients with pre-existing mental health disorders. The effect of pre-existing mental health disorders on treatment delay or adherence is under-researched. Future research needs to include low- and middle-income countries as well as qualitative investigations to understand the reasons for disparities in cancer treatment.

Association between the Development of Hospice and Palliative Care and Government-Funded Research Priority: Taiwan-Based Example.

In recent years, hospice and palliative care (HPC) has grown, developed, and changed in response to the humanistic and social needs for supporting those with incurable illnesses. As a relatively new discipline, research is needed in HPC, and the priority setting of research is essential to help direct finite resources to support research. To promote creative research in different fields including HPC, the Taiwan government subsidized institutions to conduct research. In this study, we obtained data from the Government Research Bulletin, an open-source online system containing complete information about government subsidized studies since 1993 to investigate the development of research priority in HPC in Taiwan. In total, 552 studies were recorded during 1993-2021, with a continued upward trend. An association was found between research priority and the promulgation of new HPC regulations. The type of diseases in research extended from cancer to all advanced chronic conditions. The increased diversity in out-of-hospital settings of palliative research was also observed. Numerous studies have focused on education, and the theme gradually shifted from "training and education for healthcare professionals" to "public education". Here, the results may serve as a basis to understand the commonalities of research and enhance dialog in HPC research.

Family Physicians Working at Hospitals: A 20-Year Nationwide Trend Analysis in Taiwan.

Family physicians play an essential role as gatekeepers in primary health care. However, most studies in the past focused on the geographic maldistribution of family physicians, and few studies focused on the distribution of family physicians between private practices and hospitals. This study aims to analyze the trends in practice locations of family physicians in Taiwan between 1999 and 2018, using the databases of the Taiwan Association of Family Medicine and Taiwan Medical Association. Although the annual number of physicians registered as family physicians had steadily increased from 1876 in 1999 to 3655 in 2018, the ratio of family physicians practicing in hospitals to total family physicians remained stable around 40% in the study period. Even after eliminating the trainees who were entirely registered at hospitals, the proportion of hospital-based family physicians still accounted for about one-third of the total in each year. In conclusion, family physicians had been continuously demanded by hospitals in Taiwan. If the supply of primary care-oriented family physicians is insufficient outside hospitals, health manpower planning would require urgent adjustments.

COVID-19 Publications in Family Medicine Journals in 2020: A PubMed-Based Bibliometric Analysis.

Family medicine physicians have been on the front lines of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; however, research and publications in family medicine journals are rarely discussed. In this study, a bibliometric analysis was conducted on COVID-19-related articles published in PubMed-indexed English language family medicine journals in 2020, which recorded the publication date and author's country and collected citations from Google Scholar. Additionally, we used LitCovid (an open database of COVID-19 literature from PubMed) to determine the content categories of each article and total number of global publications. We found that 33 family medicine journals published 5107 articles in 2020, of which 409 (8.0%) were COVID-19-related articles. Among the article categories, 107 were original articles, accounting for only 26.2% of the articles. In terms of content, the main category was prevention, with 177 articles, accounting for 43.3% of the articles. At the beginning of the epidemic, 10 articles were published in family medicine journals in January 2020, accounting for 11% of all COVID-19-related articles worldwide; however, this accounted for <0.5% of all disciplinary studies in the entire year. Therefore, family medicine journals indeed play a sentinel role, and the intensities and timeliness of COVID-19 publications deserve further investigation.

Effects and Relative Factors of Adjunctive Chinese Medicine Therapy on Survival of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Taiwan.

Some patients with cancer use adjunctive Chinese medicine, which might improve the quality of life. This study aims to investigate the effects and relative factors of adjunctive Chinese medicine on survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients at different stages. The study population was 23 581 newly diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma patients and received surgery from 2004 to 2010 in Taiwan. After propensity score matching with a ratio of 1:10, this study included 1339 hepatocellular carcinoma patients who used adjunctive Chinese medicine and 13 390 hepatocellular carcinoma patients who used only Western medicine treatment. All patients were observed until the end of 2012. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model was applied to find the relative risk of death between these 2 groups. The study results show that the relative risk of death was lower for patients with adjunctive Chinese medicine treatment than patients with only Western medicine treatment (hazard ratio = 0.68; 95% confidence interval = 0.62-0.74). The survival rates of patients with adjunctive Chinese medicine or Western medicine treatment were as follows: 1-year survival rate: 83% versus 72%; 3-year survival rate: 53% versus 44%; and 5-year survival rate: 40% versus 31%. The factors associated with survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients included treatment, demographic characteristics, cancer stage, health status, physician characteristics, and characteristics of primary medical institution. Moreover, stage I and stage II hepatocellular carcinoma patients had better survival outcome than stage III patients by using adjunctive Chinese medicine therapy. The effect of adjunctive Chinese medicine was better on early-stage disease.

Comparative Effectiveness and Safety of Antithrombotic Therapy in Atrial Fibrillation Patients Presenting with Acute Coronary Syndrome or Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

BACKGROUND: There remains insufficient evidence to determine the optimal antithrombotic strategy in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), especially in Asian populations. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the real-world patterns of antithrombotic treatment among these patients and to compare the effectiveness and safety of different antithrombotic regimens. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in AF patients presenting with a new ACS or PCI during 2006/1/1-2016/4/1. Three antithrombotic regimens were compared: dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT, as the reference group), triple therapy (TT: DAPT plus an oral anticoagulant), and dual therapy (DT: single antiplatelet plus an oral anticoagulant). The outcomes of interest were major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) and bleeding. Treatment effect was estimated using a Cox proportional hazards model. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to balance baseline characteristics among comparison groups. RESULTS: Overall, 532 patients were included. At discharge from the index hospitalization, DAPT was the most common antithrombotic therapy, followed by TT and DT. No significant difference in MACCEs was found among the different antithrombotic regimens. However, DT was associated with a lower risk of any bleeding [adjusted hazard ratio 0.20 (95% confidence interval, 0.06-0.75)] than DAPT. CONCLUSIONS: In the study population, DAPT was the most commonly prescribed antithrombotic regimen for cardio-cerebrovascular disease prevention. The effectiveness outcomes were comparable across different antithrombotic strategies. The lower risk of bleeding with DT compared with DAPT warrants further investigation.

Effect of time interval from diagnosis to treatment for cervical cancer on survival: A nationwide cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Despite the ease of health care access and the waiver of copayments for cancer patients, treatment is delayed in a small proportion of Taiwanese patients diagnosed with cervical cancer. In this study, we explored the relationship between the time interval from diagnosis to treatment and survival in cervical cancer patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was a retrospective population-based observational study conducted between 2004 and 2010. In Taiwan, 12,020 patients were newly diagnosed with cervical cancer from 2004 to 2010, and 9,693 patients (80.6%) were enrolled in our final analysis. RESULTS: Most of the patients received treatment within 90 days of diagnosis (n = 9,341, 96.37%). After adjustment for other variables, patients who received treatment between 90 and 180 days and >180 days after diagnosis had a 1.33 (95% CI: 1.02-1.72, P < 0.05) and 1.36 (95% CI: 1.12-1.65, P < 0.05) times higher risk of death, respectively, than those who received treatment within 90 days. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the patients treated after 90 days from diagnosis had a lower overall survival rate than those treated within 90 days. In analysis stratifying the patients according to their initial tumor stage, namely stages I and II and stage III and IV, the time interval from diagnosis to treatment remained a significant prognosticator in those who received treatment >180 days after diagnosis. CONCLUSION: A longer interval between diagnosis and treatment is associated with poorer prognosis among cervical cancer patients.

Effect of length of time from diagnosis to treatment on colorectal cancer survival: A population-based study.

Evidence is limited regarding the effect of diagnosis-to-treatment interval (DTI) on the survival of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. In addition, previous studies on treatment delay and CRC survival have largely grouped patients from all stages (I-IV) into one cohort. Our study provides analysis on each stage individually. We conducted a retrospective cohort study with 39,000 newly diagnosed CRC patients obtained from the Taiwan Cancer Registry Database from 2004-2010 to examine the effect of DTIs on overall survival. DTIs were divided into 3 groups: ≤ 30 days (36,115 patients, 90.5% of study patients), 31-150 days (2,533, 6.4%), and ≥ 151 days (1,252, 3.15%). Risk of death was increased for DTI 31-150 days (hazard ratio 1.51; 95% confidence interval 1.43-1.59) and DTI ≥ 151 days (1.64; 1.54-1.76) compared to DTI ≤ 30. This risk was consistent across all cancer stages. Additional factors that increased risk of death include male gender, age >75, Charlson Comorbidity Index ≥7, other catastrophic illnesses, lack of multidisciplinary team involvement, and treatment in a low volume center. From these results, we advise that the DTI for all CRC patients, regardless of cancer staging, should be 30 days or less.

Propensity score-matching analyses on the effectiveness of integrated prospective payment program for patients with prolonged mechanical ventilation.

OBJECTIVES: An integrated delivery system with a prospective payment program (IPP) for prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) was launched by Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) due to the costly and limited ICU resources. This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of IPP and evaluate the factors associated with successful weaning and survival among patients with PMV. METHODS: Taiwan's NHI Research Database was searched to obtain the data of patients aged ≥17 years who had PMV from 2006 to 2010 (N=50,570). A 1:1 propensity score matching approach was used to compare patients with and without IPP (N=30,576). Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to examine the factors related to successful weaning and survival. RESULTS: The related factors of lower weaning rate in IPP participants (hazard ratio [HR]=0.84), were older age, higher income, catastrophic illness (HR=0.87), and higher comorbidity. The effectiveness of IPP intervention for the PMV patients showed longer days of hospitalization, longer ventilation days, higher survival rate, and higher medical costs (in respiratory care center, respiratory care ward). The 6-month mortality rate was lower (34.0% vs. 32.9%). The death risk of IPP patients compared to those non-IPP patients was lower (HR=0.91, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The policy of IPP for PMV patients showed higher survival rate although it was costly and related to lower weaning rate.

Influence of the time interval from diagnosis to treatment on survival for early-stage liver cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in men and the ninth most common cancer in women, and the WHO expects that there will be 1,341,344 cases in 2034 worldwide. Liver cancer also has the second-highest cancer death rate, accounting for 7% of all cancers. The study is going to explore the relationship between time interval from diagnosis to treatment and survival status of early-stage liver cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study using the national database from Taiwan. The datasets include the Taiwan Cancer Registry Database (TCR), the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), and the National Registry of Deaths. The target population for the study was patients newly diagnosed with stage I and stage II liver cancer between the years 2004 and 2010. Total of 26,038 cases were included in the study. Except descriptive analysis, the relationship between patient characteristics and the time interval from diagnosis to treatment was examined by chi-square tests. In addition, modified Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyze the hazard ratio of patient death with various treatment delay durations. RESULTS: There were 20,430 patients (78.46%) who received treatment less than 30 days after diagnosis, while 2,674 patients (10.27%) received treatment between 31 and 60 days after diagnosis, and 2,068 patients (7.94%) received treatment between 61 and 180 days after diagnosis, and 866 patients (3.33%) who received treatment 181 days after diagnosis. Those treated more than 181 days and 61-180 days after diagnosis had a 1.68-fold increased risk of death (95% confidence interval: 1.50-1.88) and a 1.39-fold increased risk of death (95% confidence interval: 1.31-1.17), respectively. Being male, being elderly, having a higher CCI level, and being treated in a hospital with a low service volume were factors associated with a poorer prognosis. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study utilized a national cohort to conclude that for early-stage liver cancer patients, a longer the time interval from diagnosis to treatment results in a lower survival rate.

The prescribing trend of oral antidiabetic agents for type 2 diabetes in Taiwan: An 8-year population-based study.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prescription trend and pattern of oral antidiabetic (OAD) medications, which are extensively used worldwide for treating type 2 diabetes, in 2 age groups.In this population-based study, data obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database, Taiwan, were analyzed to investigate the prescription trend of all types of OAD medications during 2005 to 2012. We used descriptive statistics to demonstrate the trend of prescription patterns stratified by age (aged 65 years and above or younger than 65).Sulfonylurea (SU) was once the most commonly used drug, but the proportion of its prescription had declined gradually (76.83% in 2005 to 63.70% in 2012). Consequently, biguanide (BG) became the most commonly used drug since 2010 (64.31% in 2005 to 74.41% in 2012). In addition, the prescriptions of thiazolidinedione decreased significantly (9.20% in 2005 to 2.86% in 2012), whereas the usage of DPP-4 inhibitor increased with time (3.73% in 2009 to 19.64% in 2012). The treatment choice of SU and α-glucosidase inhibitor (AGI) was higher in elderly patients compared with the younger population (SU: 62.70% in 2012, AGI: 12.78% in 2012). Two-drug combination therapies were the prevalent treatment choices for patients with type 2 diabetes (44.77% in 2012), particularly in the elderly group; however, ≥3 drug combination therapies increased gradually during the study period, particularly in the younger group.This descriptive study presents the change in the prescription of OAD medication for different age groups during 2005 to 2012.

Effects of multidisciplinary team on emergency care for colorectal cancer patients: A nationwide-matched cohort study.

The literature describing the effectiveness of multidisciplinary team (MDT) for the care of colorectal cancer remains unclear. We investigated the effects of MDT care on the quality of colorectal cancer treatment, and the emergency department visit number was used as an indicator. In total, 45,418 patients newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (2005-2009) were included. Propensity score matching with a ratio of 1:3 was adopted to reduce differences in characteristics between MDT care participants and non-MDT care participants. After matching, 3039 participation MDT care groups and 9117 nonparticipation groups were included and analyzed with χ and t tests, determine the distribution was similar. Without the control of variables, the percentage difference between participation and nonparticipation MDT care groups in utilization of emergency care was 0.03% (P > .05). The logistic regression model involving controlled variables demonstrated that odds ratio (OR) by probability of emergency care used for participation MDT care groups within a year of cancer diagnosis was less than that for nonparticipation (OR = 0.87, 95% confidence interval: 0.78-0.96). Large amount data were used and confirmed significant benefits of MDT in colorectal cancer care.

Influence of time interval from diagnosis to treatment on survival for oral cavity cancer: A nationwide cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to explore the relationship between the time interval from diagnosis to treatment and survival of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A population-based study was conducted between 2004 and 2010. Claims data of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients were retrieved from the Taiwan Cancer Registry Database. Secondary data were obtained from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. RESULTS: A total of 21,263 patients were included in the final analysis. The majority of the patients received treatment within 30 days of diagnosis (n = 18,193, 85.5%), while 572 patients (2.7%) underwent treatment after 120 days. The patients who were treated after 120 days had a higher risk of death when compared to those treated within 30 days (Hazard ratio: 1.32, 95% Confidence intervals: 1.19 to 1.47). CONCLUSION: A longer time interval from diagnosis to treatment was found to be associated with a poorer prognosis among patients suffering from oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Factors involved in the delay of treatment initiation for cervical cancer patients: A nationwide population-based study.

Cervical cancer ranks as the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. In Taiwan, although the universal health insurance system has achieved 99.9% coverage and ensured easy access to medical care, some cervical cancer patients continue to delay initiation of definitive treatment after diagnosis. This study focused on cervical cancer patients who delayed treatment for at least 4 months, and examined the characteristics, related factors, and survival in these patients.Data on patients with a new confirmed diagnosis of cervical cancer by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system between 2005 and 2010 were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database and the Taiwan Cancer Registry. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the association of various factors with treatment delay. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the effects of various factors on mortality risk.The rate of treatment delay for cervical cancer decreased steadily from 6.46% in 2005 to 2.48% in 2010. Higher rates of treatment delay were observed among patients who were aged ≥75 years (9.91%), had severe comorbidity, had stage IV (9.50%), diagnosing hospital level at nonmedical center, or at public hospital ownership. Factors that correlated with treatment delay were age ≥75 years (odds ratio [OR] = 2.42), higher comorbidity Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) 4-6, or ≥7 (OR = 1.60, 2.00), cancer stage IV (OR = 2.60), the diagnosing hospital being a regional, district hospital, or other (OR = 3.00, 4.01, 4.60), and at public hospital ownership. Those who delayed treatment had 2.31 times the mortality risk of those who underwent timely treatment (P < 0.05).Delayed cervical cancer treatment in Taiwan was associated with age, comorbidity, cancer stage, diagnosing hospital level, and hospital ownership. Delaying treatment for ≥4 months substantially raised mortality risk in cervical cancer patients.

A comparison of the stages at which cancer is diagnosed in physicians and in the general population in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Previous investigations have reported that physicians tend to neglect their own health care; however, they may also use their professional knowledge and networks to engage in healthier lifestyles or seek prompt health services. We sought to determine whether the stage at which cancer is diagnosed differs between physicians and nonphysicians. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide matched cohort study over a period of 14 years in Taiwan. We accessed data from two national databases: the National Health Insurance Research Database and the Taiwan Cancer Registry File. We collected data on all patients with the 6 most common cancers in Taiwan (hepatoma, lung, colorectal, oral, female breast and cervical cancer) from 1999 to 2012. We excluded patients less than 25 years of age, as well as those with a history of organ transplantation, cancer or AIDS. We used propensity score matching for age, sex, residence and income to select members for the control (nonphysicians) and experimental (physicians) groups at a 5:1 ratio. We used χ(2) tests to analyze the distribution of incident cancer stages among physicians and nonphysicians. We compared these associations using multinomial logistic regression. We performed sensitivity analyses for subgroups of doctors and cancers. RESULTS: We identified 274,003 patients with cancer, 542 of whom were physicians. After propensity score matching, we assigned 536 physicians to the experimental group and 2680 nonphysicians to the control group. We found no significant differences in cancer stage distributions between physicians and controls. Multinomial logistic regression and sensitivity analyses showed similar cancer stages in most scenarios; however, physicians had 2.64-fold higher risk of having stage IV cancer at diagnosis in cases of female breast and cervical cancer. INTERPRETATION: In this cohort of physicians in Taiwan, cancer was not diagnosed at earlier stages than in nonphysicians, with the exception of stage IV cancer of the cervix and female breast.

Characteristics of the Delayed or Refusal Therapy in Breast Cancer Patients: A Longitudinal Population-Based Study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: The evidence indicated breast cancer was a cancer with high survival rate. However, there were still some breast cancer patients delaying or refusing therapy. So we conducted a cohort study to explore the relationship between characteristics of breast cancer patients and delay or refusal of therapy within four months after cancer diagnosed. METHODS: This was a retrospective national population-based study from 2004 to 2010 in Taiwan. This study included 35,095 patients with new diagnosis breast cancer from Taiwan Cancer Registry Database. Several analysis methods, including t test, Chi-square test, generalized estimating equations of logistic regression analysis, and Cox proportional hazards model, were performed to explore the characteristics of these patients and the relative risk of mortality with delay or refusal of therapy. RESULTS: Our study showed that the overall survival rates were significantly different (p <0.05) between the breast cancer patients who delayed or refused therapy and those with treatment. The patients who delayed or refused therapy had lower 5-year overall survival rate compared with the treated group. The related factors included age, Charlson comorbidity index, cancer staging (OR = 1.30-19.69; p <0.05), other catastrophic illnesses or injuries and the level of diagnostic hospitals. However, the patients with different income levels and degree of urbanization in living area were not statistically significant factors. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that age and cancer staging were the main patient characteristics affecting whether the patients delayed or refused therapy. The delay or refusal of treatment was associated with the level of diagnosing hospital.

Effects of multidisciplinary team care on the survival of patients with different stages of non-small cell lung cancer: a national cohort study.

In Taiwan, cancer is the top cause of death, and the mortality rate of lung cancer is the highest of all cancers. Some studies have demonstrated that multidisciplinary team (MDT) care can improve survival rates of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, no study has discussed the effect of MDT care on different stages of NSCLC. The target population for this study consisted of patients with NSCLC newly diagnosed in the 2005-2010 Cancer Registry. The data was linked with the 2002-2011 National Health Insurance Research Database and the 2005-2011 Cause of Death Statistics Database. The multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to explore whether the involvement of MDT care had an effect on survival. This study applied the propensity score as a control variable to reduce selection bias between patients with and without involvement of MDT care. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of death of MDT participants with stage III & IV NSCLC was significantly lower than that of MDT non-participants (adjusted HR = 0.87, 95% confidence interval = 0.84-0.90). This study revealed that MDT care are significantly associated with higher survival rate of patients with stage III and IV NSCLC, and thus MDT care should be used in the treatment of these patients.