Objectives: To determine the concordance between two methods to measure drug exposure duration from pharmacy claim data.
Study Design And Setting: We conducted a cohort study using 2002-2007 US Medicaid data. Initiators of eight drug groups were identified: statins, metformin, atypical antipsychotics, warfarin, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ns-NSAIDs), and coxibs. For each patient, we calculated two measures of exposure duration using (1) observed days' supply available in US pharmacy claims and (2) the World Health Organisation's Defined Daily Dose (DDD) methodology. We used Wilcoxon signed rank tests to compare medians and Spearman correlations to assess correlation between the two measures.
Results: Cohort sizes ranged from 143,885 warfarin users to >3,000,000 ns-NSAID users. Similar median exposure durations were observed for ACE inhibitors (70 days vs.75 days), PPIs (44 days vs. 45 days), and coxibs (44 days vs. 45 days). The DDD method overestimated exposure duration for ns-NSAIDs and underestimated for the remaining drug groups, relative to days' supply. Spearman correlation coefficients ranged from 0.2 to 0.8.
Conclusion: Using DDDs to estimate drug exposure duration can result in misclassification. The magnitude of this misclassification might depend on doses used which can vary according to factors such as local prescribing practices, renal function, and age.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2015.05.026 | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
January 2025
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 816-8580, Japan.
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of plasma treated metal contaminated water, used for irrigation, on plant growth. Zinc (Zn) is a commonly used metal that can enter the environment through industrial processes. It may be released as particles into the atmosphere or discharged as wastewater into waterways or the ground.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Respir J
January 2025
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital - Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, Denmark
Background: Biologics can induce remission in some patients with severe asthma, however, little is known about pre-biologic disease trajectories and their association with outcomes from biological treatment. We aimed to identify long-term trajectories of disease progression in patients initiating biologics and investigate trajectory associations with disease burden and impact on biologic therapy efficacy.
Methods: Patients in the Danish Severe Asthma Registry initiating biologic therapy between 2016-2022 were included and followed retrospectively in prescription databases starting 1995.
Environ Res
January 2025
Department of Public Health, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address:
Background: Exposure to residential greenness has been linked with improved sleep duration; however, longitudinal evidence is limited, and the potential mediating effect of ambient fine particulate matter (PM) has yet to be assessed.
Methods: We obtained data for 19,567 participants across seven counties in a prospective cohort in Ningbo, China. Greenness was estimated using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within 250-m, 500-m and 1000-m buffer zones, while yearly average PM concentrations were measured using validated land-use regression models, both based on individual residential addresses.
Acta Trop
January 2025
Dept. of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, Legnaro, viale dell'Università 16, 35020, Italy. Electronic address:
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral zoonotic disease endemic to regions of Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Asia, with increasing reports of cases in southern Europe. Human transmission occurs primarily through the bite of infected ticks and by body fluids from infected human. Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) affects a broad host range, including both domestic and wild vertebrates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Photochem Photobiol B
January 2025
Department of Ophthalmology, Aotearoa New Zealand National Eye Centre, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address:
Purpose: Preclinical studies have confirmed the safety and efficacy of narrowband low-intensity ultraviolet C light (UVC) in managing bacterial corneal infection. To further consolidate these findings, the present study aimed to explore in vitro anti-biofilm efficacy of low-intensity UVC light for its potential use in biofilm-related infections.
Methods: Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm was grown in chamber well slides for 48 h and exposed to one of the following challenges: UVC (265 nm wavelength, intensity 1.
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