Comparison of Health Care Utilization and Costs for Patients with Asthma by Severity and Health Insurance in Thailand.

Background: To compare health care utilization and cost by asthma severity and type of health insurance in Thailand.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study using an electronic database was conducted in patients with asthma. Patients who were diagnosed with asthma from 2009 to 2011, had at least two subsequent health care encounters for asthma during the first six months after the first asthma diagnosis, and had at least 90 days of follow-up were included.

Evaluation of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus receiving treatment during the pre-diabetes period: Is early treatment associated with improved outcomes?

Aim: This study evaluates the association of pretreatment with oral antidiabetics (OADs) on clinical outcomes and health resource utilization among commercially insured type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in the United States.

Methods: Using administrative data (Truven MarketScan® Research Databases), patients diagnosed with T2DM between 2007 and 2014 with ⩾6months continuous enrolment pre- and post-diagnosis were evaluated. Pretreatment was defined as OAD use at least 3months prior to T2DM diagnosis.

Characteristics associated with nonadherence to medications for hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia among breast cancer survivors.

Objective: Comorbidity among breast cancer survivors is prevalent, and adherence to medication management of comorbidities may be important for both chronic disease and cancer-related outcomes. Our objective was to determine characteristics associated with nonadherence to common chronic medications among breast cancer survivors.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 4216 women in an integrated care system diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer between 1990 and 2008 and alive without recurrence or second primary breast cancer in the second-year following diagnosis.

Use of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Inhibitors in Children and Young Adults With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To characterize the use of tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors (TNFIs) in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and young adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Patients with incident JIA or RA were identified by using the Truven Health MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database from 2009 to 2013. The incident diagnosis was defined as no prior claims with a JIA/RA code and no JIA/RA medications recorded during the previous 6 months.

Transforming Latent Utilities to Health Utilities: East Does Not Meet West.

Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are a promising alternative to more resource-intensive preference elicitation methods such as time trade-off (TTO), as pairwise comparisons are more amenable to online completion, which can save time and money. However, modeling DCE data produces latent utilities which are on an unknown scale. Therefore, latent utilities need to be transformed to a full health-dead scale before they can be used in quality-adjusted life year calculations.

Therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome following primary breast cancer.

Background: Therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome (t-MDS) is a serious clinical disease occurring after breast cancer treatment.

Methods: A cohort of 11,684 invasive breast cancer (BC) patients from 1990-2014 were followed for incidence of t-MDS through institutional and the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program registries. t-MDS cases were identified using ICD-O SEER registry codes, pathology and chart reports.

A National Assessment of Medication Adherence to Statins by the Racial Composition of Neighborhoods.

Adherence to statins is lower in black and Hispanic patients and is linked to racial/ethnic disparities in cardiovascular mortality. Poverty, education, and prescription coverage differentials are typically invoked to explain adherence disparities, but analyses at the level of neighborhoods and their pharmacies may provide additional insights. Among individuals filling new statin prescriptions in a national pharmacy chain (N = 326,171), we compared adherence for patients residing in mostly minority neighborhoods to those living in mainly white areas.

Developing a Valuation Function for the Preference-Based Multiple Sclerosis Index: Comparison of Standard Gamble and Rating Scale.

Objective: The standard gamble (SG) and rating scale (RS) are two approaches that can be employed to elicit health state preferences from patients in order to inform decision making. The objectives of this study were: (i) to contribute evidence towards the similarities and differences in the SG and the RS to reflect patient preferences, and (ii) to develop a multi-attribute utility function (MAUF) (i.e.

Validation of a New Risk Measure for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbation Using Health Insurance Claims Data.

Rationale: Current chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation risk prediction models are based on clinical data not easily accessible to national quality-of-care organizations and payers. Models developed from data sources available to these organizations are needed.

Objectives: This study aimed to validate a risk measure constructed using pharmacy claims in patients with COPD.

Comparative safety of diabetes medications and risk of incident invasive breast cancer: a population-based cohort study.

Purpose: Growing evidence suggests that certain commonly used diabetes medications have the potential to differentially alter breast cancer risk. We evaluated the influence of metformin, insulin, and sulfonylureas on risk of incident invasive breast cancer.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of women ≥40 years of age enrolled in a health plan between 1996 and 2011.

Myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia following adjuvant chemotherapy with and without granulocyte colony-stimulating factors for breast cancer.

Risk of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) post-breast cancer treatment with adjuvant chemotherapy and granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF) is not fully characterized. Our objective was to estimate MDS/AML risk associated with specific breast cancer treatments. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of women aged ≥66 years with stage I-III breast cancer between 2001 and 2009 using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database.

Relationship between time spent at extreme International Normalized Ratios and time in therapeutic range with bleeding and thrombosis in warfarin-treated patients.

Purpose: The relationship between the time spent at extreme International Normalized Ratios (INRs) and the time in the therapeutic range (TTR) with bleeding and thrombosis in warfarin-treated patients was examined.

Methods: Consecutive patients treated with warfarin for atrial fibrillation or for venous thrombosis who were managed by the anticoagulation management service or adult internal medicine clinic of a large, tertiary care, integrated health system between June 1, 2011, and October 9, 2012, were eligible for study inclusion. Data collected for the outcomes analysis included INRs and dates; current use of aspirin, clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor, ticlopidine, or nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs; and any clinically significant bleeding or thrombosis events identified.

Racial and ethnic differences in risk of second primary cancers among breast cancer survivors.

Disparities exist in breast cancer (BC) outcomes between racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Reasons for these disparities are multifactorial including differences in genetics, stage at presentation, access to care, and socioeconomic factors. Less is documented on racial/ethnic differences in subsequent risk of second primary cancers (SPC).

Associations between diabetes medication use and risk of second breast cancer events and mortality.

Purpose: Diabetes and certain diabetes medications have been shown to influence breast cancer (BC) risk. Less is known about their relation to BC outcomes. Our objective was to evaluate the effects of diabetes and diabetes medications on risk of second breast cancer events (SBCE) and mortality.

Trends in exposure to televised prescription drug advertising, 2003-2011.

Introduction: TV accounts for more than half of pharmaceutical direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) spending in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to quantify average household exposure to branded and non-branded (help-seeking) televised prescription drug advertisements and describe variation over time and according to medication indication and geography.

Effect of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Asthma Medication Sales and Healthcare Use.

Rationale: The United States is one of only two countries that permit direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs, and many questions remain regarding its effects.

Objectives: To quantify the association between asthma-related DTCA, pharmacy sales, and healthcare use.

Methods: This was an ecological study from 2005 through 2009 using linked data from Nielsen (DTCA television ratings), the IMS Health National Prescription Audit (pharmacy sales), and the MarketScan Commercial Claims data (healthcare use) for 75 designated market areas in the United States.

Effect of treatment and mammography detection on breast cancer survival over time: 1990-2007.

Background: The extent to which improvements over time in breast cancer survival are related to earlier detection by mammography or to more effective treatments is not known.

Methods: At a comprehensive cancer care center, the authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of women ages 50 to 69 years who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer (stages I through III) and were followed over 3 periods (1990-1994, 1995-1999, and 2000-2007). Data were abstracted from patient charts and included detection method, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up for vital status in the institutional breast cancer registry (n = 2998).

Practical management of anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation has become more complex due to the introduction of new anticoagulant agents, the number and kinds of patients requiring therapy, and the interactions of those patients in the matrix of care. The management of anticoagulation has become a "team sport" involving multiple specialties in multiple sites of care. The American College of Cardiology, through the College's Anticoagulation Initiative, convened a roundtable of experts from multiple specialties to discuss topics important to the management of patients requiring anticoagulation and to make expert recommendations on issues such as the initiation and interruption of anticoagulation, quality of anticoagulation care, management of major and minor bleeding, and treatment of special populations.

Quality of reporting of randomised controlled trials of herbal interventions in ASEAN Plus Six Countries: a systematic review.

Background: Many randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of herbal interventions have been conducted in the ASEAN Communities. Good quality reporting of RCTs is essential for assessing clinical significance. Given the importance ASEAN placed on herbal medicines, the reporting quality of RCTs of herbal interventions among the ASEAN Communities deserved a special attention.

Balance of academic responsibilities of clinical track pharmacy faculty in the United States: a survey of select American College of Clinical Pharmacy Practice and Research Network Members.

Study Objectives: To characterize the balance of clinical and academic responsibilities of clinical track pharmacy faculty in the United States and evaluate organizational structures that promote satisfactory balance between these responsibilities.

Design: Prospective cross-sectional survey.

Setting: A 22-item online survey was developed and distributed via Qualtrics software.

Metabolic syndrome and outcomes following early-stage breast cancer.

The prevalence of risk factors contributing to metabolic syndrome (MetS) is increasing, and numerous components of MetS are associated with increased primary breast cancer (BC) risk. However, less is known about the relationship of MetS to BC outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether MetS, characterized by increased weight, hypertension, low HDL-cholesterol, high triglycerides, and diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance, is associated with risk of second breast cancer events (SBCE) and BC-specific mortality.

Warfarin pharmacogenetics: to genotype or not to genotype, that is the question.

Genotype is well recognized to influence the dose of warfarin necessary for therapeutic anticoagulation. Recent randomized controlled trials evaluating the clinical utility of genotype-guided warfarin dosing have produced varying results. We review the design and results of the recent clinical trials, assess the impact of their findings on warfarin dosing, and examine unanswered questions related to clinical implementation of warfarin pharmacogenetics.