Real-World Treatment Outcomes Associated With Early Versus Delayed Vedolizumab Initiation in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) typically receive a targeted inflammatory bowel disease therapy after treatment with conventional therapies and after the development of significant morbidity. Evidence suggests that early biologic treatment after diagnosis could improve treatment response and prevent disease complications compared with delayed biologic treatment after conventional therapy.

Methods: RALEE was a retrospective study using claims data from IBM® MarketScan® Research Databases between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2019.

Review on epidemiology, disease burden, and treatment patterns of IgA nephropathy in select APAC countries.

Background: Immunoglobulin type A (IgA) nephropathy is the most common primary glomerulonephritis (GN) worldwide with higher rates in East and Pacific Asia compared to North America and Europe. Despite high reported prevalence of IgAN in these countries, the overall disease prevalence across Asia is not available. Treatment patterns of IgAN patients across Asian countries have also not been summarized.

Insurance reimbursements for recombinant zoster vaccine in the private sector.

A two-dose series of the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV, Shingrix) was licensed by the Food and Drug Administration in 2017 and recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in 2018 for adults in the United States age 50 years and older. Despite the health benefits of shingles vaccination, coverage has remained low, with financial barriers among healthcare providers identified as one potential factor. This study estimates the reimbursement levels for RZV among a large sample of privately insured individuals in the US from the 2018 IBM® MarketScan® Commercial Claims and Encounters database.

A review of health-related quality of life associated with pneumococcal disease: pooled estimates by age and type of disease.

Background: Estimates in the research literature on the health-related quality of life (QOL) associated with pneumococcal disease exhibit variation. It complicates the selection of estimates in modeling projects that evaluate the health impact and economic value of the prevention and treatment. This study reviewed the literature and developed pooled QOL estimates associated with pneumococcal disease states.

Costs of Interventions to Increase Vaccination Coverage Among Children in the United States: A Systematic Review.

Background: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) has recommended several interventions that have been demonstrated to be effective at increasing vaccination coverage.

Objective: Conduct a systematic review to examine the costs of interventions designed to increase vaccination coverage among children and adolescents in the United States.

Data Sources: PubMed, EconLit, Embase, and Cochrane.

Primary Care Use Among Commercially Insured Adolescents: Evidence From the 2018 Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set.

Introduction: Improving the utilization of preventive care among adolescents is important for achieving individual-level and population-level health goals. The Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set reports data submitted by managed care health plans, capturing a large number of individuals in the U.S.

Association between patient psychosocial characteristics and receipt of in-center nocturnal hemodialysis among prevalent dialysis patients.

Introduction: Compared to traditional in-center hemodialysis (HD), in-center nocturnal dialysis (INHD) is characterized by longer sessions and nighttime administration, which may lead to better outcomes for some patients. Given the importance of patient choice in the decision to initiate INHD, we explored associations between patients' psychosocial characteristics and their receipt of INHD.

Methods: Among hemodialysis patients at a medium-sized dialysis organization, we identified INHD patients as those for whom ≥80% of dialysis sessions were INHD sessions-starting at 6:30 pm or later and lasting ≥5 hours-over the 3 months (≥20 sessions total) after their first INHD session.

Is the High Frequency of Machado-Joseph Disease in China Due to New Mutational Origins?

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD, also known as spinocerebellar ataxia 3 or SCA3) is the most common dominant ataxia worldwide, with an overall average prevalence of 1-5/100,000. To this date, two major ancestral lineages have been found throughout the world. In China, the relative frequency of MJD among the SCAs reaches as high as 63%, however, little is known about its mutational origin in this country.

Identification of a de novo DYNC1H1 mutation via WES according to published guidelines.

De novo mutations that contribute to rare Mendelian diseases, including neurological disorders, have been recently identified. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) has become a powerful tool for the identification of inherited and de novo mutations in Mendelian diseases. Two important guidelines were recently published regarding the investigation of causality of sequence variant in human disease and the interpretation of novel variants identified in human genome sequences.

Primary erythromelalgia: a review.

Primary erythromelalgia (PE ORPHA90026) is a rare autosomal dominant neuropathy characterized by the combination of recurrent burning pain, warmth and redness of the extremities. The incidence rate of PE ranges from 0.36 to 1.

The Chinese version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale: An examination of its validation in a sample of female adolescents.

Introduction: The present study developed and tested a Chinese version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS-R-C) in a sample of female normal-school students, with the aim of producing a psychometrically sound tool for assessing food addiction in female adolescents.

Methods: A preliminary study of 72 normal-school students tested the YFAS-R-C and collected suggestions to improve it. Twenty days later, the formal YFAS-R-C, the Binge Eating Scale (BES), Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), BIS/BAS Reactivity (BIS/BAS) scale, and Regulatory Emotional Self-efficacy (RES) scale were administrated to a sample of 950 normal-school students.