Lessons learned from Taiwan's response to the COVID-19 pandemic: successes, challenges, and implications for future pandemics.

This study aims to provide an investigation of the containment and mitigation strategies encompassing the entirety of the pandemic in Taiwan. This descriptive, observational study used COVID-19 data from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, and analysed news releases from the Taiwanese health authority. Statistics provided evidence of outbreak severity through infection and mortality rates, while qualitative results from the document review offered insights on the actions taken by the government chronologically from 2 February 2020 to 31 December 2022.

Endoscopic Versus Microscopic Type I Tympanoplasty: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objective: Our objective was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the clinical outcomes after endoscopic and microscopic type I tympanoplasty.

Study Design: Randomized controlled trials, two-arm prospective studies, and retrospective studies were included.

Setting: Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases were searched until March 1, 2022 using the combinations of search terms: "endoscopic," "microscopic," and "tympanoplasty.

Bridging geographical disparities across 368 townships with healthcare system and socioeconomic factors in Taiwan.

A universal health insurance program such as the National Health Insurance in Taiwan offers a wide coverage and increased access to healthcare services. Despite its ongoing efforts to enhance healthcare accessibility, differences in health for people living in urban and resource-deprived areas remain substantial. To investigate the longitudinal impact of the healthcare system and other potential structural drivers such as education and economic development on geographical disparities in health, we designed a panel study with longitudinal open secondary data, covering all 368 townships in Taiwan between 2013 and 2017.

Association between medication adherence and disease outcomes in patients with hepatitis B-related cirrhosis: a population-based case-control study.

Objective: To evaluate medication adherence among patients with hepatitis B-related cirrhosis who developed decompensation and mortality, and to examine the association between medication adherence and patients' disease outcomes.

Design: In this retrospective case-control study, patients aged over 20 years old and diagnosed with both chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis from 2007 to 2016 are identified using a population-based medical claims database. Two prognosis endpoints (decompensation and mortality) are used, respectively, to classify subjects into two different case-control sets.

Long-Term Exposures to Air Pollutants and Risk of Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Taiwan.

Air pollution is one of the most alarming environmental issues which causes multiple health hazards. An association between air pollution and cardiovascular diseases has been established through many prior studies. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the risk of long-term exposure to air pollution (PM, CO, and NO) and its association with the risk of developing peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD).

Risk for hypoglycemic emergency with levofloxacin use, a population-based propensity score matched nested case-control study.

Potential association between oral levofloxacin use and hypoglycemic emergency (HE) have been established. However, a large epidemiological study is required to verify this observation. This study aimed to determine if use of oral levofloxacin increased the risk of HE.

Type 2 Diabetic Sepsis Patients Have a Lower Mortality Rate in Pioglitazone Use: A Nationwide 15-Year Propensity Score Matching Observational Study in Taiwan.

Background: Pioglitazone use via the PPAR agonist in sepsis patients is inconclusive. It was based on a great number of animal studies. However, except for information from animal studies, there are merely any data of human studies for reference.

Mortality Risk and Decompensation in Hospitalized Patients with Non-Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis: Implications for Disease Management.

Here we aimed to assess the mortality risk and distribution of deaths from different complications and etiologies for non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis (NALC) adult inpatients and compare them with that of the general hospitalized adult population. Hospitalized patients with a primary diagnosis of NALC and aged between 30 and 80 years of age from 1999 to 2010 were identified using a population-based administrative claims database in Taiwan. They were matched with a general, non-NALC population of hospitalized patients.

Association between thiazolidinedione use and rheumatoid arthritis risk in patients with type II diabetes, a population-based, case-control study.

Aim: A previous study revealed that PPARγ agonists have anti-inflammatory effects in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Furthermore, some studies have shown that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) may elicit the development of RA. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the use of thiazolidinediones (TZDs) is associated with a lower risk of developing RA in patients with T2DM.

Unmet Supportive Care Needs of Survival Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

This study examined unmet supportive care needs for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients by cancer stage and treatment phase, as well as the factors associated with these unmet needs. At a cancer center in central Taiwan, information on consultations and services patients received at the resource center was described in the service chart. We extracted data available for NPC patients to evaluate their unmet supportive care needs (health information, patient care, treatment, nutritional, psychosocial, and economic) and their association with sex, age, cancer stage, and treatment phase.

Forgone Health and Economic Benefits Associated with Socioeconomic Differences in Organized Cervical Cancer Screening.

Objective: To describe cervical cancer screening participation among women in Taiwan under its population-based screening policy and to estimate the economic burden of disease attributable to avoidable disparities in cervical cancer (CC) screening.

Methods: We identified a nationally-representative sample of females aged 30 years or above who were eligible for Pap smear testing in Taiwan from 1 January to 31 December 2013. An administrative database with detailed claims of health care utilization under the universal coverage health care system was used.

A population-based cohort study examining the association of documented bladder diverticulum and bladder cancer risk in urology patients.

Objectives: Studies have shown a high risk of tumor development within a bladder diverticulum (BD). We were interested in the relationship between BD and the development of bladder cancer. Herein, we attempted to investigate whether there exists an association between documented BD and subsequent risk of bladder cancer.

Hospital outcomes and cumulative burden from complications in type 2 diabetic sepsis patients: a cohort study using administrative and hospital-based databases.

Background: The association between type 2 diabetes and hospital outcomes of sepsis remains controversial when severity of diabetes is not taken into consideration. We examined this association using nationwide and hospital-based databases.

Methods: The first part of this study was mainly conducted using a nationwide database, which included 1.

Neurotransmitter-Responsive Nanosensors for -Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Neurotransmitter-sensitive contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have recently been used for mapping signaling dynamics in live animal brains, but paramagnetic sensors for -weighted MRI are usually effective only at micromolar concentrations that themselves perturb neurochemistry. Here we present an alternative molecular architecture for detecting neurotransmitters, using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles conjugated to tethered neurotransmitter analogs and engineered neurotransmitter binding proteins. Interactions between the nanoparticle conjugates result in clustering that is reversibly disrupted in the presence of neurotransmitter analytes, thus altering -weighted MRI signals.

Preadmission Antihypertensive Drug Use and Sepsis Outcome: Impact of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEIs) and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs).

Background: Several studies have reported improved sepsis outcomes when certain preadmission antihypertensive drugs, namely, calcium channel blockers (CCBs), are used. This study aims to determine whether preadmission antihypertensive drug use, especially angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), is associated with decreased total hospital mortality in sepsis.

Methods: This study was conducted using the unique database of a sepsis cohort from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan.

Statins improve the long-term prognosis in patients who have survived sepsis: A nationwide cohort study in Taiwan (STROBE complaint).

Most patients diagnosed with sepsis died during their first episode, with the long-term survival rate upon post-sepsis discharge being low. Major adverse cardiovascular events and recurrent infections were regarded as the major causes of death. No definite medications had proven to be effective in improving the long-term prognosis.

Emergency Department Visits and Disease Burden Attributable to Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions in Elderly Adults.

Many countries worldwide are aging rapidly, and the complex care needs of older adults generate an unprecedented demand for health services. Common reasons for elderly emergency department (ED) visits frequently involve conditions triggered by preventable infections also known as ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs). This study aims to describe the trend and the associated disease burden attributable to ACSC-related ED visits made by elderly patients and to characterize their ED use by nursing home residence.

Diabetes Shared Care Program (DSCP) and risk of infection mortality: a nationwide cohort study using administrative claims data in Taiwan.

Objective: The Diabetes Shared Care Program (DSCP) is an integrated care model in Taiwan that has been proven to improve the care quality of patients with diabetes. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of DSCP in decreasing the hospital mortality of infectious diseases.

Methods: From 1 662 929 patients with type 2 diabetes newly diagnosed between 1999 and 2013, we retrieved a total of 919 patients who participated in the DSCP with the first hospitalisation for an infectious disease as the study cohort and 9190 propensity score-matched patients with type 2 diabetes who did not participate as the comparison.

Cost-Effectiveness of Sorafenib Monotherapy and Selected Combination Therapy with Sorafenib in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Objectives: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of sorafenib treatment in combination with other therapies versus sorafenib monotherapy among patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are enrolled in Taiwan's National Health Insurance.

Methods: A Markov model was constructed to simulate treatment outcomes and direct medical costs of sorafenib combination therapy and monotherapy from the perspective of the healthcare payer in Taiwan. Both life-years (LYs) and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were used to measure treatment outcomes, and all costs were expressed in 2014 New Taiwan dollars (NT$).

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis B virus-infected patients.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the association between the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study by using claims data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). The study cohort comprised 1380 newly diagnosed HBV-infected patients with SSRI use who were frequency matched by age, sex, liver cirrhosis, and index year with HBV-infected patients without SSRI use in the comparison cohort.