Antibiotic prescription in the outpatient paediatric population attending emergency departments in Lombardy, Italy: a retrospective database review.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the appropriateness of antibiotic prescription in children seen in emergency departments (EDs) and to compare prescription profiles in ED and primary care.

Design: This is a retrospective analysis of healthcare administrative databases.

Setting: The study analysed data collected in emergency departments (EDs) and primary care practices (PCPs) in Lombardy, Italy.

Sex-related differences in prevalence, treatment and outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation.

To analyze sex-related differences about AF prevalence, use of OAC and outcomes focusing on the older age classes. We used administrative data of the Lombardy Region, describing period prevalence, use of OAC and outcomes from 2002 to 2014 for all patients diagnosed with AF. AF prevalence over the 2002-2014 period was higher in males than in females (2.

Perinatal outcome and healthcare resource utilization in the first year of life after antiepileptic exposure during pregnancy.

Healthcare administrative databases of Italy's Lombardy Region were analyzed with the aim to assess perinatal outcomes and healthcare resource utilization during the first year of life in infants exposed to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy. Drug prescriptions dispensed in the 12 months before delivery to women, who delivered between 2005 and 2011, were analyzed. Neonates were classified as cases if exposed to AEDs, and each case was randomly matched to seven controls.

Spirometry monitoring in asthmatic children in Lombardy Region, Italy.

Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in a cohort of asthmatic children before and after starting drug therapy.

Methods: Data were retrieved from administrative databases of the Lombardy Region. The study population was composed of 78 184 children born in the Lombardy Region in 2002 and followed until their 10th birthday.

Emergency department use by paediatric patients in Lombardy Region, Italy: a population study.

Objectives: To estimate the rate of paediatric attendance at emergency departments (EDs) in the Lombardy Region, Italy, and to determine the factors contributing to different patterns of use.

Methods: By analysing healthcare administrative databases, ED attendance by 1.6 million youths <18 years old during 2012 in the Lombardy Region was assessed.

Peripheral arterial disease: Changes in clinical outcomes and therapeutic strategies in two cohorts, from 2002 to 2008 and from 2008 to 2014. A population-based study.

Background The aim of our study was to evaluate whether treatments for peripheral artery disease changed in two different cohorts identified in 2002 and 2008, and whether this had an impact on mortality and major clinical outcomes after six years of follow-up. Methods Using administrative health databases of the largest region in Northern Italy, we identified patients admitted to hospital for peripheral artery disease in 2002 and 2008. Both cohorts were followed for six years.

Assessing the quality of paediatric antibiotic prescribing by community paediatricians: a database analysis of prescribing in Lombardy.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of paediatricians' antibiotic prescribing using administrative databases.

Methods: The data source was the database of reimbursed prescriptions of the Lombardy Region, Italy. Children 1-13 years were included.

Prevalence and management of diabetes in immigrants resident in the Lombardy Region: the importance of ethnicity and duration of stay.

Aims: To describe the prevalence and management of diabetes among immigrants according to ethnic group and duration of stay, compared to Italian citizens.

Methods: Diabetic immigrant and Italian residents aged 20-69 years in the administrative database of the Lombardy Region. Immigrants were classified by region of origin and as long-term residents (LTR) and short-term residents (STR).

Diabetes mellitus: a risk factor for seizures in the elderly-a population-based study.

Aims: To evaluate the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and risk of seizures in a well-defined elderly population.

Methods: The administrative databases of the Lombardy region (a 10 million population area in Northern Italy) were used to identify persons aged 65 years or older with DM (defined by prescription of antidiabetic drugs and/or through ICD-9 CM code and/or exemption code for diabetes) during the year 2002. Seizure-free DM subjects were followed until 2012 in search of individuals with incident seizures (identified through ICD-9 CM codes for epilepsy/seizures or ATC codes for antiepileptic drugs associated with the prescription of an electroencephalogram).

Antiepileptic drug use in Italian children over a decade.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate prescription profiles of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and to assess hospitalizations and specialist visits in pediatric patients with epilepsy.

Methods: The data sources were administrative health databases of Italy's Lombardy Region, which collect prescriptions for drugs, diagnostic tests, specialist visits, and hospital discharge forms. All patients aged 0-16 years with at least seven AED (group N03A of the International Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification) prescriptions over two consecutive years between 2003 and 2010 were identified and classified as prevalent or incident cases (no prescriptions in two previous years).

Risk of dementia and death in patients with atrial fibrillation: A competing risk analysis of a population-based cohort.

Background: Previous studies have stated that atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with a higher risk of dementia. However, none have examined the competition between death and incident dementia in patients with AF. We evaluated the risk of incident dementia in patients with AF in comparison to people without this arrhythmia, considering of the competing risk of death.

Outcomes in patients hospitalized for heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: differences in clinical profile and treatment between 2002 and 2009.

Aims: Heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently co-exist, and each is a major public health issue. In a large cohort of hospitalized HF patients, we evaluated: (i) the impact of COPD on clinical outcomes; (ii) whether outcomes and treatments changed from 2002 to 2009; and (iii) the relationship between outcomes and treatments focusing on beta-blockers (BBs) and bronchodilators (BDs).

Methods And Results: From linkable Lombardy administrative health databases, we selected individuals with a discharge diagnosis of HF with or without concomitant COPD (HF yesCOPD and HF noCOPD) in 2002 and 2009.

Emergency department visits in older people: pattern of use, contributing factors, geographical differences and outcomes.

Aims: To assess the pattern of use of Emergency Departments (EDs), factors contributing to the visits, geographical distribution and outcomes in people aged 65 years or more living in the Italian Lombardy Region in 2012.

Methods: Based on an administrative database the study population was divided into groups according to the number of ED visits. A multinomial logistic regression model was performed to compare the characteristics of each group.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and motor neuron disease: An unconfirmed association.

Objective: To investigate the association between angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin II receptors blockers (ARBs) and motor neuron disease (MND).

Methods: This is a population-based nested case-control study. Data were obtained from a population registry and the administrative database of the Lombardy Region (Northern Italy) from 2000 through 2010.

Serological screening for celiac disease in a northern Italian child and adolescent population after the onset of type 1 diabetes: a retrospective longitudinal study of a 7-year period.

Aim: To evaluate the temporal trend and extent of screening for celiac disease in an Italian pediatric population of incident type 1 diabetes in the period 2006-2011, providing information on adherence to guidelines in primary care.

Methods: Using the Lombardy region's administrative database, 1-17-year-old children and adolescents diagnosed with type 1 diabetes during the 2006-2011 period were identified. Among these patients, the number screened for celiac disease was calculated on the basis of specific antibodies.

Changes in clinical outcomes for community-dwelling older people exposed to incident chronic polypharmacy: a comparison between 2001 and 2009.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of incident chronic polypharmacy on 1-year hospitalization, institutionalization, and mortality among older people and to evaluate whether or not the effect differed according to index year (2001 or 2009), sex, and age.

Methods: Data were obtained from the administrative database of the Lombardy region (Northern Italy). We compared community-dwelling elderly people with an incident exposure to chronic polypharmacy (five or more drugs during 1 month for at least 6 months in 1 year) in either index year (2001 and 2009) with not exposed elderly people in the same years.

Diabetes mellitus as risk factor for atrial fibrillation hospitalization: Incidence and outcomes over nine years in a region of Northern Italy.

Aims: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and atrial fibrillation (AF) are worldwide public health challenges and major causes of death and cardiovascular events. The association between DM and AF is controversial in literature and data on outcomes of individuals with both diseases have not been evaluated in population studies. We tested the hypothesis that DM is independently associated to AF hospitalization and assessed the risk of stroke and mortality in people with both conditions.

Epidemiologic Trends in Hospitalized Ischemic Stroke from 2002 to 2010: Results from a Large Italian Population-Based Study.

Background: To describe the incidence of ischemic stroke, short-term mortality, recurrences, and prescription patterns.

Methods: Data from administrative health databases of the Lombardy Region from 2002 to 2010 (about 4 million people) were analyzed for stroke incidence and recurrence, mortality, and drug prescriptions after an ischemic stroke.

Results: A total of 43,352 patients with a first hospital admission for ischemic stroke were identified.

Comparison of Health Care Resource Utilization by Immigrants Versus Native Elderly People.

To compare the utilization of health care resources (drug prescriptions, hospital admissions and health care services) by immigrant versus native elderly people (65 years or more), by using administrative database of the Lombardy Region. For each immigrant (an older people born out of Italy), one person born in Lombardy (native) was randomly selected and matched by age, sex and general practitioner. The 25,508 immigrants selected were less prescribed with at least one drug (OR 0.

The drug prescription network: a system-level view of drug co-prescription in community-dwelling elderly people.

Networks are well suited to display and analyze complex systems that consist of numerous and interlinked elements. This study aimed at: (1) generating a series of drug prescription networks (DPNs) displaying co-prescription in community-dwelling elderly people; (2) analyzing DPN structure and organization; and (3) comparing various DPNs to unveil possible differences in drug co-prescription patterns across time and space. Data were extracted from the administrative prescription database of the Lombardy Region in northern Italy in 2000 and 2010.

Electrocardiographic monitoring for new prescriptions of quetiapine co-prescribed with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors or memantine from 2005 to 2009. A population study on community-dwelling older people in Italy.

Purpose: The aims of this study are to analyse, in community-dwelling people aged 65+ living in Italy's Lombardy Region, electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring for new users of the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine co-prescribed with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) or memantine and to find independent predictors of ECG monitoring before and after the starting of this prescription.

Methods: The Lombardy Region's administrative health database was used to retrieve prescriptions of ECG exams as well as prevalence rates of subjects aged 65+ who were prescribed such psychotropic drugs from 2005 to 2009. Multivariable analyses were adjusted for age, sex, number of drugs, treatment with beta-blockers, digoxin, verapamil or diltiazem, any antiarrhythmic drug and antidepressants.

Comparing recurrent antibiotic prescriptions in children treated with a brand name or a generic formulation.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of recurrent prescriptions and hospital admissions in children receiving a brand name or generic antibiotic prescription.

Methods: The data source was a database of reimbursed prescriptions. Outpatient children/adolescents <18 years old (Lombardy Region, Italy) were included.

Changes in prescribing patterns and clinical outcomes in elderly diabetic patients in 2000 and 2010: analysis of a large Italian population-based study.

Purpose: To describe prescribing patterns in elderly Italian diabetic patients of the Lombardy Region in 2000 and 2010 using an administrative database. Hospital admissions and mortality were also recorded and compared in the two index years.

Methods: Analyses were performed on the whole cohort of elderly diabetic patients and across age groups.

Sex differences in cardiovascular outcomes, pharmacological treatments and indicators of care in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes: Analyses on administrative database.

Background: The impact of diabetes on cardiovascular disease in both sexes is known, but the specifics have not been fully clarified. We investigated whether sex-related differences exist in terms of management and hospitalization in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes.

Methods: We examined the rates of hospitalization for cardiovascular causes, mortality, treatments and management of patients with diabetes compared to subjects without, from administrative database.

Changes in drug prescribing to Italian community-dwelling elderly people: the EPIFARM-Elderly Project 2000-2010.

Purpose: To investigate the changes in the last decade (2000-2010) in drug prescribing among community-dwelling elderly people aged 65-94 years, in relation to age and sex.

Methods: We analyzed the data of nearly two million subjects ranging in age from 65 to 94 years recorded in the Drug Administrative Database of the Lombardy Region (Italy) from 2000 to 2010. Associations between drug use (at least one drug, one chronic drug, polypharmacy or chronic polypharmacy) and age, sex, and year of prescription were analyzed by logistic regression analysis.