Ubrogepant users' real-world experience: Patients on ubrogepant, characteristics and outcomes (UNIVERSE) study.

Objective: To assess the real-world effectiveness of ubrogepant by evaluating self-reported satisfaction with pain relief, ability to think clearly, and return to normal function in individuals who had used ubrogepant to treat a migraine episode within the preceding 14 days.

Background: Ubrogepant is an oral calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist approved for the acute treatment of migraine in adults. Few studies have evaluated the real-world effectiveness of ubrogepant.

Shorter Duration Hepatitis C Virus Treatment is Associated with Better Persistence to Prescription Refills in People Who Inject Drugs: A Real-World Study.

Introduction: Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy is highly effective in curing hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in people who inject drugs (PWID). Previous studies showed declining persistence to DAA therapy over the course of treatment. This study compares real-world medication persistence to prescription refills for 8- versus 12-week DAA in treatment-naïve PWID with chronic HCV with compensated cirrhosis or without cirrhosis.

Patterns of Prescription Opioid Use in Women With Endometriosis: Evaluating Prolonged Use, Daily Dose, and Concomitant Use With Benzodiazepines.

Objective: To examine opioid use, opioid prescribing patterns, and timing of the first opioid prescription in endometriosis patients compared with matched women in the control group without endometriosis.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the Clinformatics Datamart database. Women diagnosed with endometriosis from January 2006 through December 2016 and aged 18-49 years were compared with women in the control group matched on age, region, race, insurance payer, and plan type.

Development of a Comprehensive Dataset of Hepatitis C Patients and Examination of Disease Epidemiology in the United States, 2013-2016.

Introduction: Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of liver disease and infectious disease deaths. While recent and emerging treatment options for HCV patients have enabled higher rates of sustained virologic response (SVR), the demographic, clinical, geographic, and payer characteristics of the estimated 3.4 million chronic HCV patients in the USA are poorly understood.

Adherence to thyroid hormone replacement therapy: a retrospective, claims database analysis.

Objective: The objective of this analysis was to compare adherence at 6 months and 12 months across levothyroxine formulations for patients with hypothyroidism.

Methods: This retrospective analysis utilized insurance claims data from a commercially insured population from January 1, 2000 through March 31, 2016. Patients were included if they were diagnosed with hypothyroidism and initiated treatment with generic levothyroxine, Levoxyl, Synthroid, Unithroid, or Tirosint.

Premature ovarian senescence and a high miscarriage rate impair fertility in women with HCV.

Background & Aims: Premenopausal women who are HCV positive (HCV+) have failing ovarian function, which is likely to impact their fertility. Thus, we investigated the reproductive history, risk of infertility, and pregnancy outcomes in women of childbearing age who were HCV+.

Methods: Three different groups were studied: (1) Clinical cohort: 100 women who were HCV+ and also had chronic liver disease (CLD), age matched with 50 women who were HBV+ with CLD and with 100 healthy women; all women were consecutively observed in three gastroenterology units in hospitals in Italy; (2) 1,998 women who were HCV+ and enrolled in the Italian Platform for the Study of Viral Hepatitis Therapies (PITER); (3) 6,085 women, who were mono-infected with HCV, and 20,415 women, who were HCV-, from a large de-identified insurance database from the USA.

Ankylosing spondylitis diagnosis in US patients with back pain: identifying providers involved and factors associated with rheumatology referral delay.

This study aimed to identify providers involved in diagnosing ankylosing spondylitis (AS) following back pain diagnosis in the USA and to identify factors leading to the delay in rheumatology referrals. The Truven Health MarketScan® US Commercial Database was searched for patients aged 18-64 years with back pain diagnosis in a non-rheumatology setting followed by AS diagnosis in any setting during January 2000-December 2012. Patients with a rheumatologist visit on or before AS diagnosis were considered referred.

The impact of ribavirin on real-world adherence rates in hepatitis C patients treated with sofosbuvir plus simeprevir.

Background: Combination therapy with sofosbuvir (SOF) and simeprevir (SIM) is used to treat patients with hepatitis C virus infection. It is currently unknown whether adding ribavirin (RBV) to SOF + SIM, which raises the pill count from two up to eight pills a day, impacts adherence. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of pill count on real-world adherence rates in patients treated with SOF + SIM with and without RBV.

Early View of the Effectiveness of New Direct-Acting Antiviral (DAA) Regimens in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV).

Introduction: Clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of all-oral direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimens in the treatment of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). This study assessed real-world effectiveness of two recently approved regimens; paritaprevir/ritonavir/ombitasvir; dasabuvir (3D), and sofosbuvir/ledipasvir (SOF/LDV) in patients with HCV genotype 1.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of administrative claims data (IMS Health Patient-Centric Data Warehouse/Medivo database) from October 1, 2013 to August 14, 2015 was conducted.

Impact of change in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol from baseline on risk for major cardiovascular events.

Introduction: Low concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) has increasingly been recognized as a strong and independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to determine the association between change in HDL-C concentration from baseline and risk of a major cardiovascular event in a commercially insured population cohort with suboptimal HDL-C and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations at baseline.

Methods: A retrospective longitudinal survival analysis was conducted using claims data from a large, commercial US health plan.

Association between HDL-C concentration and risk for a major cardiovascular event.

Objective: To determine the association between baseline HDL-C concentrations and risk of a major cardiovascular event (within 5 years) in a large US claims database.

Methods: A retrospective longitudinal analysis using claims data from the i3 Ingenix LabRx database was conducted. Patients were included if they had complete lipid panel lab results, were continuously enrolled for >or=6 months prior to and >or=12 months following the lab test (index date), and were >or=50 years of age.