Epidemiologic study of pterygium in Taiwan.

Purpose: To investigate the incidence, prevalence, and factors related to pterygium in Taiwan.

Study Design: An ecological study METHODS: We analyzed a random sample of 1 million individuals in Taiwan drawn from the National Health Insurance Database (NHIRD), established in 2005, for the period 2000 to 2011. Patients with pterygium were identified using ICD-9-CM diagnostic codes.

Risk factor for first-incident hip fracture in Taiwanese postmenopausal women.

Objective: The variation in hip fracture risk between countries is greater than 10-fold. The present study aimed at identifying risk factors that resulted in the first occurrence of hip fracture in Taiwanese postmenopausal women.

Materials And Methods: A case-control study with a patient group of 50 postmenopausal women, who were admitted to Keelung Chang Gung Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan due to the first incident of accidental hip fracture, was used to examine potential risk factors, including bone mass.

Effects of Antiplatelet Medication on Arteriovenous Fistula Patency After Surgical Thrombectomy.

Objectives: To study the effect of antiplatelet agents on preventing arteriovenous (AV) fistulae thrombosis in hemodialysis (HD) patients after surgical thrombectomy (ST) for acute AV fistulae occlusion. Whether post-operative antiplatelet drugs have similar effects on the patency of AV fistula after surgical thrombectomy in patients with end-stage renal disease who undergo HD has not been investigated.

Design, Materials And Methods: We employed the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from 1999 to 2010 to assess the recurrent occlusion requiring ST and longevity of AV fistula after ST in 1049 patients on regular HD, with or without antiplatelet drugs.

Application of the World Health Organization Fracture Risk Assessment Tool to predict need for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scanning in postmenopausal women.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the World Health Organization Fracture Risk Assessment Tool, excluding bone mineral density (pre-BMD FRAX), in identifying Taiwanese postmenopausal women needing dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) examination for further treatment.

Materials And Methods: The pre-BMD FRAX score was calculated for 231 postmenopausal women who participated in public health education workshops in the local Keelung community, Taiwan. DXA scanning and vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) were arranged for women classified as intermediate or high risk for fracture using the pre-BMD FRAX fracture probability.