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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Quantifying the excess cost and resource utilisation for patients with complications associated with elective knee arthroscopy: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated morbidity associated with elective knee arthroscopy. The objective of the current study was to quantify resource utilisation and costs associated with postoperative complications following an elective knee arthroscopy.

Methods: We undertook a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study using routinely collected hospital data from Victorian public hospitals during the period from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2009.

Mapping the patterns of care, the receipt of palliative care and the site of death for patients with malignant glioma.

High-grade malignant glioma patients face a poor prognosis, preceded by rapid functional and neurobehavioural changes, making multidisciplinary care incorporating supportive and palliative care important. This study aimed to quantify the association between symptoms,receipt of supportive and palliative care and site of death. We undertook a retrospective cohort study between 2003 and 2009 of incident malignant glioma cases who survived for at least 120 days between their first hospitalisation and their death (n = 678) in Victoria, Australia, using linked hospital, emergency department and death data.

Lifetime risk of total knee replacement and temporal trends in incidence by health care setting, socioeconomic status, and geographic location.

Objective: To estimate the lifetime risk of total knee replacement (TKR) and examine temporal trends in TKR incidence in the state of Victoria, Australia.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of a population-based longitudinal cohort of patients (ages ≥40 years) who received a primary TKR in Victoria from 1999-2008. Hospital separations and life tables were used to estimate lifetime risk.

Performance of the assessment of quality of life measure in people with hip and knee joint disease and implications for research and clinical use.

Objective: To comprehensively evaluate the performance of the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL) instrument for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in people with hip and knee joint disease (arthritis or osteoarthritis).

Methods: Data from 237 individuals were available for analysis from a national cross-sectional, population-based study of hip and knee joint disease in Australia. AQoL-4D data were evaluated using Rasch analysis.

Adverse outcomes associated with elective knee arthroscopy: a population-based cohort study.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to quantify the frequency of adverse outcomes after elective knee arthroscopies in Victoria, Australia, and to identify risk factors associated with adverse outcomes.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study of elective orthopaedic admissions using the Victorian Admitted Episodes database, a routinely collected public and private hospital episodes database linked to death registry data, from July 1, 2000, to June 30, 2009. Adverse outcome measures included pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), hemarthrosis, effusion and synovitis, cellulitis, wound infection, synovial fistula, acute renal failure, myocardial infarct, stroke, and death.

Chronic disease management: a review of current performance across quality of care domains and opportunities for improving osteoarthritis care.

Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent chronic joint disease worldwide. The incidence and prevalence are increasing as the population ages and lifestyle risk factors such as obesity increase. There are several evidence-based clinical practice guidelines available to guide clinician decision making, but there is evidence that care provided is suboptimal across all domains of quality: effectiveness, safety, timeliness and appropriateness, patient-centered care, and efficiency.

Trends in elective knee arthroscopies in a population-based cohort, 2000-2009.

Objective: To assess the use of elective knee arthroscopy procedures for all adults 20 years and older, and for adults with a concomitant diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) in Victoria.

Design, Setting And Patients: Retrospective, longitudinal cohort study of 807 030 elective orthopaedic admissions using routinely collected public and private hospital data from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2009.

Main Outcome Measure: Trends in rates of elective knee arthroscopy in the time period (defined as a statistically significant change in the incident rate ratio for each financial year with respect to the reference year).

Prognostic models based on administrative data alone inadequately predict the survival outcomes for critically ill patients at 180 days post-hospital discharge.

Unlabelled: There is interest in evaluating the quality of critical care by auditing patient outcomes after hospital discharge. Risk adjustment using acuity of illness scores, such as Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE III) scores, derived from clinical databases is commonly performed for in-hospital mortality outcome measures. However, these clinical databases do not routinely track patient outcomes after hospital discharge.

Development and validation of reporting guidelines for studies involving data linkage.

Objective: Data or record linkage is commonly used to combine existing data sets for the purpose of creating more comprehensive information to conduct research. Linked data may create additional concerns about error if cases are not linked accurately. It is important that factors compromising the quality of studies using linked data be reported in a clear and consistent way that allows readers and researchers to accurately appraise the results.

Data linkage: a powerful research tool with potential problems.

Background: Policy makers, clinicians and researchers are demonstrating increasing interest in using data linked from multiple sources to support measurement of clinical performance and patient health outcomes. However, the utility of data linkage may be compromised by sub-optimal or incomplete linkage, leading to systematic bias. In this study, we synthesize the evidence identifying participant or population characteristics that can influence the validity and completeness of data linkage and may be associated with systematic bias in reported outcomes.