Trends in COPD severe exacerbations, and all-cause and respiratory mortality, before and after implementation of newer long-acting bronchodilators in a large population-based cohort.

Background: Little is known about the trends in morbidity and mortality at the population level that followed the introduction of newer once-daily long-acting bronchodilators for COPD. The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether the availability of new bronchodilators was associated with changes in the temporal trends in severe COPD exacerbations and mortality between 2007 and 2018 in the older population with COPD; and whether this association was homogeneous across sex and socioeconomic status classes.

Methods: We used an interrupted time-series and three segments multivariate autoregressive models to evaluate the adjusted changes in slopes (i.

Prediction of Osteoporotic Fractures in Elderly Individuals: A Derivation and Internal Validation Study Using Healthcare Administrative Data.

In Canada and other countries, osteoporosis is monitored as part of chronic disease population surveillance programs. Although fractures are the principal manifestation of osteoporosis, very few algorithms are available to identify individuals at high risk of osteoporotic fractures in current surveillance systems. The objective of this study was to derive and validate predictive models to accurately identify individuals at high risk of osteoporotic fracture using information available in healthcare administrative data.

Are Generic Drugs Used in Cardiology as Effective and Safe as their Brand-name Counterparts? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Previous systematic reviews (2008; 2016) concluded similarity in outcomes between brand-name and generic drugs in cardiology, but they included ≥ 50% comparative bioavailability studies, not designed or powered to detect a difference in efficacy or safety between drug types. We aimed to summarise best-evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of generic versus brand-name drugs used in cardiology.

Methods: For this systematic review of the literature, scientific databases (MEDLINE and EMBASE) were searched from January 1984 to October 2018.

Comparison of Fracture Prediction Tools in Individuals Without and With Early Chronic Kidney Disease: A Population-Based Analysis of CARTaGENE.

Whether fracture prediction tools developed for the management of osteoporosis can be used in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is poorly known. We aimed to compare the performance of fracture prediction tools in non-CKD and CKD. We analyzed CARTaGENE, a population-based survey of 40-year-old to 69-year-old individuals recruited between 2009 and 2010.

Number, Location, and Time Since Prior Fracture as Predictors of Future Fracture in the Elderly From the General Population.

Prognostic tools are available to identify individuals at high risk of osteoporotic fracture and to assist physicians in management decisions. Some authors have suggested improving the predictive ability of these tools by integrating characteristics of prior fractures (number, location, and time since prior fracture). The objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the sex- and age-specific associations between characteristics of prior fractures and the occurrence of a future osteoporotic fracture; and (2) to assess whether the characteristics of prior fractures could increase the discriminative ability of fracture risk prediction tools.

Performance of International Classification of Diseases-based injury severity measures used to predict in-hospital mortality and intensive care admission among traumatic brain-injured patients.

Background: The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the main classification system used for population-based traumatic brain injury (TBI) surveillance activities but does not contain direct information on injury severity. International Classification of Diseases-based injury severity measures can be empirically derived or mapped to the Abbreviated Injury Scale, but no single approach has been formally recommended for TBI.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of different ICD-based injury severity measures for predicting in-hospital mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission in TBI patients.

Environmental factors associated with familial or non-familial forms of Paget's disease of bone.

Objectives: The most frequent mutation linked to Paget's disease of bone (PDB), p.Pro392Leu within SQSTM1 gene, leads to phenotypic characteristics of PDB, but this mutation is seemingly insufficient to result in complete pagetic osteoclast phenotype, suggesting that possible environmental factors play a role in PDB pathogenesis. We performed an exploratory study to identify environmental factors potentially associated with familial or non-familial form of PDB in the French-Canadian population.

Performance of International Classification of Diseases-based injury severity measures used to predict in-hospital mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the main classification system used for population-based injury surveillance activities but does not contain information on injury severity. ICD-based injury severity measures can be empirically derived or mapped, but no single approach has been formally recommended. This study aimed to compare the performance of ICD-based injury severity measures to predict in-hospital mortality among injury-related admissions.