Quantifying the likelihood and costs of hip replacement surgery after sports injury: A population-level analysis.

Objectives: To quantify the likelihood of hip replacement (HR) surgery at a population level up to 15 years after sports injury.

Design: Cohort study.

Settings: Public and private hospitals in the state of Victoria, Australia.

The projected burden of primary total knee and hip replacement for osteoarthritis in Australia to the year 2030.

Background: Comprehensive national joint replacement registries with well-validated data offer unique opportunities for examining the potential future burden of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) at a population level. This study aimed to forecast the burden of primary total knee (TKR) and hip replacements (THR) performed for OA in Australia to the year 2030, and to model the impact of contrasting obesity scenarios on TKR burden.

Methods: De-identified TKR and THR data for 2003-2013 were obtained from the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry.

Likelihood of knee replacement surgery up to 15 years after sports injury: A population-level data linkage study.

Objectives: Knee injury is strongly associated with the development of knee osteoarthritis. While there is preliminary evidence for an increased risk of knee replacement (KR) surgery after sports injury, no studies have investigated this at a population level. This population-level study aimed to quantify the likelihood of KR surgery and direct healthcare costs 10-15 years after sports injury.

Protocol for a multi-centre randomised controlled trial comparing arthroscopic hip surgery to physiotherapy-led care for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI): the Australian FASHIoN trial.

Background: Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAI), a hip disorder affecting active young adults, is believed to be a leading cause of hip osteoarthritis (OA). Current management approaches for FAI include arthroscopic hip surgery and physiotherapy-led non-surgical care; however, there is a paucity of clinical trial evidence comparing these approaches. In particular, it is unknown whether these management approaches modify the future risk of developing hip OA.

Lifetime Risk of Primary Total Hip Replacement Surgery for Osteoarthritis From 2003 to 2013: A Multinational Analysis Using National Registry Data.

Objective: To compare the lifetime risk of total hip replacement (THR) surgery for osteoarthritis (OA) between countries, and over time.

Methods: Data on primary THR procedures performed for OA in 2003 and 2013 were extracted from national arthroplasty registries in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Life tables and population data were also obtained for each country.

Is a biomarker-based diagnostic strategy for invasive aspergillosis cost effective in high-risk haematology patients?

Empirical antifungal therapy is frequently used in hematology patients at high risk of invasive aspergillosis (IA), with substantial cost and toxicity. Biomarkers for IA aim for earlier and more accurate diagnosis and targeted treatment. However, data on the cost-effectiveness of a biomarker-based diagnostic strategy (BDS) are limited.

A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Nivolumab Compared with Ipilimumab for the Treatment of BRAF Wild-Type Advanced Melanoma in Australia.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of nivolumab versus ipilimumab for the treatment of previously untreated patients with BRAF-advanced melanoma (BRAF-AM) from an Australian health system perspective.

Methods: A state-transition Markov model was constructed to simulate the progress of Australian patients with BRAF-AM. The model had a 10-year time horizon with outcomes discounted at 5% annually.

Substantial rise in the lifetime risk of primary total knee replacement surgery for osteoarthritis from 2003 to 2013: an international, population-level analysis.

Objective: To estimate and compare the lifetime risk of total knee replacement surgery (TKR) for osteoarthritis (OA) between countries, and over time.

Method: Data on primary TKR procedures performed for OA in 2003 and 2013 were extracted from national arthroplasty registries in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Life tables and population data were also obtained for each country.

Medical review licensing outcomes in drivers with visual field loss in Victoria, Australia.

Background: Good vision is essential for safe driving and studies have associated visual impairment with an increased crash risk. Currently, there is little information about the medical review of drivers with visual field loss. This study examines the prevalence of visual field loss among drivers referred for medical review in one Australian jurisdiction and investigates factors associated with licence outcome in this group.

Aged-Care Professionals' and Health Care Professionals' Self-Reported Impact of Printed Educational Material on Clinical Practice.

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the printed educational material (PEM), the Residential Aged-Care (RAC) Communiqué, on the changing clinical practice of health and aged-care professionals.

Methods: The RAC Communiqué is a PEM that contains case narratives from Coroners' investigations into potentially preventable deaths in nursing homes. A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted, using an anonymous electronic survey distributed to all subscribers of the RAC Communiqué.

The extra resource burden of in-hospital falls: a cost of falls study.

Objective: To quantify the additional hospital length of stay (LOS) and costs associated with in-hospital falls and fall injuries in acute hospitals in Australia.

Design, Setting And Participants: A multisite prospective cohort study conducted during 2011-2013 in the control wards of a falls prevention trial (6-PACK). The trial included all admissions to 12 acute medical and surgical wards of six Australian hospitals.

Return to work outcomes for workers with mental health conditions: A retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to describe predictors of sustained return to work (RTW) among a cohort of workers with compensated work-related mental health conditions (MHCs); and to examine predictors of subsequent absences due to the same condition.

Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of compensation claims data in Victoria, Australia. We selected workers with an accepted wage replacement claim due to a work-related MHC from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2009, with two years of follow-up data.

Feasibility of Pilates exercise to decrease falls risk: a pilot randomized controlled trial in community-dwelling older people.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of Pilates exercise in older people to decrease falls risk and inform a larger trial.

Design: Pilot Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Community physiotherapy clinic.

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.

Background: The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor study 2013 (GBD 2013) is the first of a series of annual updates of the GBD. Risk factor quantification, particularly of modifiable risk factors, can help to identify emerging threats to population health and opportunities for prevention. The GBD 2013 provides a timely opportunity to update the comparative risk assessment with new data for exposure, relative risks, and evidence on the appropriate counterfactual risk distribution.

Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 306 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 188 countries, 1990-2013: quantifying the epidemiological transition.

Background: The Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) aims to bring together all available epidemiological data using a coherent measurement framework, standardised estimation methods, and transparent data sources to enable comparisons of health loss over time and across causes, age-sex groups, and countries. The GBD can be used to generate summary measures such as disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and healthy life expectancy (HALE) that make possible comparative assessments of broad epidemiological patterns across countries and time. These summary measures can also be used to quantify the component of variation in epidemiology that is related to sociodemographic development.

A Telephone Support Program to Reduce Costs and Hospital Admissions for Patients at Risk of Readmissions: Lessons from an Evaluation of a Complex Health Intervention.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a telephone health coaching and support service provided to members of an Australian private health insurance fund-Telephonic Complex Care Program (TCCP)-on hospital use and associated costs. A case-control pre-post study design was employed using propensity score matching. Private health insurance members (n=273) who participated in TCCP between April and December 2012 (cases) were matched (1:1) to members who had not previously been enrolled in the program or any other disease management programs offered by the insurer (n=232).

A randomised controlled trial of low-dose aspirin for the prevention of fractures in healthy older people: protocol for the ASPREE-Fracture substudy.

Background: Disability, mortality and healthcare burden from fractures in older people is a growing problem worldwide. Observational studies suggest that aspirin may reduce fracture risk. While these studies provide room for optimism, randomised controlled trials are needed.

Increased 30-day and 1-year mortality rates and lower coronary revascularisation rates following acute myocardial infarction in patients with autoimmune rheumatic disease.

Introduction: It is now well-recognised that patients with autoimmune rheumatic disease (AIRD) have a predisposition to cardiovascular disease that results in increased morbidity and mortality. Following myocardial infarction (MI), patients with rheumatoid arthritis have been shown to have an increased case fatality rate; however, this has not been demonstrated in other forms of AIRD. The aim of this study was to compare case fatality rates following a first MI in patients with AIRD versus the general population.

Myocardial infarction and mortality following joint surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and post-MI fatality compared with the general population. In a previous study examining post-MI treatment in RA compared with controls we noted that a higher proportion of the RA patients had experienced MI following a surgical procedure. The aim of this study was to compare the risk of MI and mortality at 6 weeks and 12 months following joint surgery in patients with RA compared with the general population.

Statin initiation and treatment non-adherence following a first acute myocardial infarction in patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease versus the general population.

Introduction: To compare statin initiation and treatment non-adherence following a first acute myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease (IRD) and the general population.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using a population-based linked database. Cases of first MI from July 2001 to June 2009 were identified based on International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10-AM) codes.

Clinical presentation and patterns of care for short-term survivors of malignant glioma.

Palliative care provision for patients with high-grade malignant glioma is often under-utilised. Difficulties in prognostication and inter-patient variability in survival may limit timely referral. This study sought to (1) describe the clinical presentation of short-term survivors of malignant glioma (survival time <120 days); (2) map their hospital utilisation, including palliative and supportive care service use, and place of death; (3) identify factors which may be important to serve as a prompt for palliative care referral.

Predictors of health care use among patients with or at high risk of atherothrombotic disease: two-year follow-up data.

Background: Atherothrombotic diseases are the leading health problems in the world, both in terms of morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to identify and quantify the predictors of medication, hospital and outpatient service use among patients with or at high risk of atherothrombotic disease.

Methods: Two-year follow-up data were analyzed for 2873 Australian participants of the Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH) registry.

Geographical variation in incidence of knee arthroscopy for patients with osteoarthritis: a population-based analysis of Victorian hospital separations data.

Background/aim: To evaluate the frequency and geographical variation in knee arthroscopy for adults (>25 years) with a concomitant diagnosis of osteoarthritis.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of hospital separations involving an elective knee arthroscopy in public and private hospitals in Victoria, Australia. Participants included patients receiving knee arthroscopies with a diagnosis code indicating osteoarthritis (OA) from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.

Using WOMAC Index scores and personal characteristics to estimate Assessment of Quality of Life utility scores in people with hip and knee joint disease.

Purpose: To determine whether Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL) utility scores can be reliably estimated from Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores in people with hip and knee joint disease (arthritis or osteoarthritis).

Methods: WOMAC and AQoL data were analysed from 219 people recruited for a national population-based study. Generalised linear models were used to estimate AQoL utility scores based on WOMAC total and subscale scores and personal characteristics.

Lifetime risk of total hip replacement surgery and temporal trends in utilization: a population-based analysis.

Objective: To investigate lifetime risk of total hip replacement (THR) surgery in the state of Victoria, Australia and to describe temporal trends in THR incidence.

Methods: We analyzed a retrospective population-based longitudinal cohort of patients who received a primary THR in Victoria from 1998-2009. The factors potentially contributing to changes in lifetime risk were also examined, including temporal changes in THR incidence according to health care setting (public versus private), socioeconomic status, and geographic location (regional versus metropolitan).