Preferences for herpes zoster vaccination among adults aged 50 years and older in the United States: results from a discrete choice experiment.

Background: Most adults, and disproportionately fewer African-Americans, have not received herpes zoster (HZ) vaccination despite current recommendations. This study (GSK study identifiers: 208677/HO-17-18066) assessed HZ vaccination preferences among adults aged ≥ 50 years.

Research Design And Methods: In this discrete choice experiment, respondents chose among a 'no vaccine' option and two HZ vaccine profiles, characterized by seven attributes, in a series of choice questions.

The epidemiology of medically attended respiratory syncytial virus in older adults in the United States: A systematic review.

Objective: This review was undertaken to assess the historical evidence of the disease incidence and burden of laboratory-confirmed respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in medically attended older adults.

Design: A qualitative systematic literature review was performed; no statistical synthesis of the data was planned, in anticipation of expected heterogeneity across studies in this population.

Methods: A literature search of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was conducted for studies of medically attended RSV in older adults (≥ 50 years) published in the last 15 years.

Warfarin time in therapeutic range and its impact on healthcare resource utilization and costs among patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

Background: Warfarin is efficacious for reducing stroke risk among patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). However, the efficacy and safety of warfarin are influenced by its time in therapeutic range (TTR).

Objective: To assess differences in healthcare resource utilization and costs among NVAF patients with low (<60%) and high (≥60%) warfarin TTRs in an integrated delivery network (IDN) setting.

Health care expenditures in ulcerative colitis: the perspective of a self-insured employer.

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the incidence, prevalence, treatment patterns, disease severity, and direct costs associated with ulcerative colitis (UC) for claimants in health plans offered by a large self-insured employer in the United States.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of medical claims with and without UC identified from a population of approximately 500,000 employees, retirees, and dependents.

Results: Costs for UC claimants were more than twice those for the comparator group ($14,486 vs $6158; P < 0.

Economic implications of extended-release metoprolol succinate for heart failure in the MERIT-HF trial: a US perspective of the MERIT-HF trial.

Background: The MERIT-HF trial demonstrated improved survival and fewer hospitalizations for worsening heart failure with extended-release (ER) metoprolol succinate in patients with heart failure. This study sought to estimate the economic implications of this trial from a US perspective.

Methods And Results: A discrete event simulation was developed to examine the course of patients with heart failure.

Validation of a quality-of-life instrument for laryngopharyngeal reflux.

Objectives: To establish the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of a new, disease-specific assessment tool, the LPR-HRQL, which assesses patient-reported outcomes (PRO) with regard to health-related quality of life (HRQL) of patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR).

Design: A prospective, open-label, repeated-measures study.

Setting: Six centers in 4 states in the eastern United States.

The impact of laryngopharyngeal reflux on patient-reported quality of life.

Objectives/hypothesis: The objectives were to assess patient-reported outcomes, specifically, the health-related quality of life of patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux, and to compare those reported levels with the health-related quality of life of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and a general population.

Study Design: Prospective study.

Methods: As part of a prospective study to validate a health-related quality of life instrument for laryngopharyngeal reflux, patient-reported data were collected before the initiation of therapy.

The clinical characteristics and impact of laryngopharyngeal reflux disease on health-related quality of life.

Background And Objectives: Although it is accepted that reflux of stomach acid causes gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), it is less well understood that it also contributes to the clinical signs and symptoms of laryngitis in the form of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). Study objectives were to identify what is known about the impact of LPR on health-related quality of life (HRQL) compared with the impact of GERD on HRQL and to assess whether currently available HRQL instruments adequately measure this impact or if a new disease-specific instrument should be recommended.

Methods: The authors combined a systematic literature review with prospective patient evaluation via focus groups.