Publications by authors named "Feride H Frech"
Background: Over 90% of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may not receive a timely diagnosis. Understanding community-based practice patterns, where most individuals are seen, is critical to improving patient care.
Objective: To understand how patients with MCI and mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) are diagnosed and managed in community-based settings, including the use of clinical and cognitive assessments, referrals to dementia-related specialties, and receipt of treatment.
Study Objectives: Approximately 85% of insomnia co-occurs with other disorders. Whereas insomnia was once considered "secondary" to these disorders, it is now widely recognized as an independent condition warranting treatment. While it is clear that insomnia can affect the course of other medical conditions, there is scant literature on the economic impact of comorbid insomnia among patients with common medical conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed for insomnia management but are often associated with negative safety outcomes such as falls and abuse, particularly among older adults.
Objective: The purpose of this real-world study was to compare the impact of benzodiazepines, low-dose trazodone, and zolpidem immediate release (IR) on healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), and costs among older adults (age ≥ 65 years) with insomnia in the US.
Methods: Using the IBM MarketScan Medicare Supplemental Database, older adults with >1 physician-assigned diagnosis of insomnia and treated with benzodiazepines were matched 1:1 on age, sex, and index-date to individuals treated with trazodone, and separately matched 1:1 on age and sex, to individuals treated with zolpidem immediate release (IR).
Cardiovascular (CV) event risk, healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs have not been elucidated among hypertension patients with treated insomnia (H + TI). Adult patients with H + TI were identified in IBM MarketScan databases. H + TI patients were matched 1:1 on age and sex to controls with hypertension but without sleep disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths among older adults, and insomnia may increase fall risk and health care costs, but the effects of insomnia treatments on these factors were largely unexplored in this study.
- The research analyzed Medicare claims data from 2011 to 2017, comparing those treated for insomnia with common medications like zolpidem and benzodiazepines to non-sleep disordered individuals regarding falls, mortality, healthcare usage, and costs.
- Findings indicated that older adults on insomnia medications had more than twice the risk of falls and significantly higher mortality rates than controls, along with increased healthcare visits and costs for treating their conditions.
Introduction: Falls are a common cause for morbidity and mortality among patients taking prescription insomnia medication. The objective of this study is to compare the risk of falls, all-cause healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), and costs among patients treated with commonly used, older generation insomnia medications and non-sleep-disordered controls.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental Databases to identify patients aged at least 18 years treated with commonly prescribed medications for insomnia (zolpidem, trazodone, benzodiazepines) between 1 January 2012 and 30 September 2017.
Background: Heart failure is a widespread and costly malady. It represents the leading single diagnosis for hospitalized patients. For many heart failure patients, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are either not tolerated or contraindicated, but angiotensin receptor blockers such as valsartan may be a therapeutic option for them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To estimate 8-year health and economic outcomes of the angiotensin II receptor blocker valsartan versus the calcium channel blocker amlodipine in therapy of patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria based on clinical endpoints from a 6-month randomized controlled clinical trial, the MicroAlbuminuria Reduction With VALsartan (MARVAL) study.
Methods: We developed a Markov model that utilized urinary albumin excretion rate data to project patient distributions to 7 possible health states over 8 years. For each health state, we identified quality-adjustment weights (health utilities) and medical care costs from public sources.