Increased risk of developing dementia in patients with bipolar disorder: a nested matched case-control study.

Objective: The association between bipolar disorder and subsequent dementia risk is not well established. The objective of this study was to investigate whether patients with bipolar disorder were at an increased risk for developing dementia.

Methods: A conditional logistic regression model was performed using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database, a nationwide dataset in Taiwan.

Association between antidepressants and venous thromboembolism in Taiwan.

Objective: To investigate the association between venous thromboembolism (VTE) and antidepressant use in an Asian population.

Methods: The authors conducted a nested case-control study of 1888 patients with VTE and 11,222 matched controls enrolled in the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan from 2001 to 2009. The antidepressant exposure status and potential confounding factors were measured and included in the analyses.

Psychotropic drugs and risk of motor vehicle accidents: a population-based case-control study.

Aim: To examine comprehensively the relationship between exposure to four classes of psychotropic drugs including antipsychotics, antidepressants, benzodiazepines (BZDs) and Z-drugs, and motor vehicle accidents (MVAs).

Method: The authors conducted a matched case-control study of 5183 subjects with MVAs and 31 093 matched controls, identified from the claims records of outpatient service visits during the period from 2000 to 2009. Inclusion criteria were defined as subjects aged equal to or more than 18 years and involved in MVAs.

Overlapping Prescriptions of Stimulants for Children and Adolescents With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Objectives: The study aimed to assess the occurrence of overlapping prescriptions for methylphenidate among children and adolescents with newly diagnosed attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to evaluate the extent to which physician-level and patient-level characteristics affected the risk of prescription overlap during a one-year treatment period.

Methods: The analytic sample comprised 3,081 incident cases of ADHD in 2002 involving children aged 17 years or younger from a retrospective cohort study in Taiwan. Medical and pharmacy claims data from 1999 to 2002 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance Program.

Adherence patterns with first- versus second-generation antipsychotics for newly diagnosed schizophrenia in Taiwan.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the early adherence patterns for first-generation antipsychotics and second-generation antipsychotics during the first month of treatment for patients newly diagnosed as having schizophrenia.

Methods: With a random sample from the Taiwan national health insurance database, persons with a schizophrenia diagnosis (ICD-9-CM code 295.X) and a concurrent initial antipsychotic prescription from 1998 to 2006 were defined as being newly treated for schizophrenia.

Prevalence of autoimmune diseases in in-patients with schizophrenia: nationwide population-based study.

Background: The association between autoimmune diseases and schizophrenia has rarely been systematically investigated.

Aims: To investigate the association between schizophrenia and a variety of autoimmune diseases and to explore possible gender variation in any such association.

Method: Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database was used to identify 10 811 hospital in-patients with schizophrenia and 108 110 age-matched controls.

Five-year trajectories of long-term benzodiazepine use by adolescents: patient, provider, and medication factors.

Objectives: This study sought to understand the stability of and change in benzodiazepine use among incident long-term benzodiazepine users over a five-year period and to investigate predictors of variation in use patterns from adolescence into adulthood.

Methods: Long-term use was defined as receipt of benzodiazepine prescriptions for 31 or more cumulative days in a calendar year. Data for 1999-2005 were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan.

Differential effects of predictors on methylphenidate initiation and discontinuation among young people with newly diagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: Previous population-based studies have identified factors accounting for differential utilization of psychotropic medications among young patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHDs); yet, few analyses have addressed changes in such factors that can occur in the help-seeking process. The aim of this study was to examine patient- and service provider-level predictors for methylphenidate (MPH) initiation and discontinuation.

Method: This cohort study included 10,153 newly diagnosed ADHD patients under 18 years of age in 2000, identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database.

Predictors of the incidence and discontinuation of long-term use of benzodiazepines: a population-based study.

Long-term use of benzodiazepines (BZDs) has been linked with an array of negative health consequences and increased medical costs and social burden. In this study, we sought to investigate the factors accounting for differential risks in the process from incident BZD use to long-term use and discontinuation in the general population. On the basis of a random sample of 187,413 people enrolled in Taiwan's National Health Insurance program on January 1, 2000, data of 2000-2002 healthcare and pharmacological services utilization were retrieved.

Benzodiazepine and risk of hip fractures in older people: a nested case-control study in Taiwan.

Objective: To examine the characteristics of benzodiazepines usage and their associations with hip fractures.

Method: All subjects were aged 65 and older and enrolled in the National Health Insurance program in Taiwan, 2001-2004. Cases (N = 217) were elderly patients who were identified with hip fractures for the first time in their outpatient claims.