Ching Chun Lin

Zolpidem use and the risk of injury: a population-based follow-up study

Background While an association between zolpidem use and fracture and road accident was previously proposed, this study aimed to further explore the frequency and risk of a wide spectrum of injuries in subjects prescribed with zolpidem in Taiwan. Methods We identified 77,036 subjects who received Zolpidem treatment between 2005 and 2007. We randomly selected 77,036 comparison subjects who were frequency-matched based-on their demographic profiles. We individually tracked each subject for a 90-day period to identify those who subsequently suffered an injury. Cox proportional hazards regressions were performed to calculate the hazard ratio of injury between the two groups. Results The incidence rate of injury during the 90-day follow-up period for the total subjects was 18.11 (95% CI = 17.69–18.54) per 100 person-years; this was 24.35 (95% CI = 23.66–25.05) and 11.86 (95% CI = 11.39–12.36) for the study and comparison cohort, respectively. After adjusting for demographic variables, the hazard ratio (HR) of injury during the 90-day follow-up period for study subjects was 1.83 (95% CI = 1.73–1.94) that of comparison subjects. Additionally, compared to comparison subjects, the adjusted HR of injury during the 90-day follow-up period for study subjects who were prescribed Zolpidem for >30 days was as high as 2.17 (95% CI = 2.05–2.32). The adjusted HR of injury to blood vessels for study subjects was particularly high when compared to comparison subjects (HR = 6.34; 95% CI = 1.37–29.38). Conclusions We found that patients prescribed with Zolpidem were at a higher risk for a wide range of injuries.

Increased risk of concurrent asthma among patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease: a nationwide population-based study.

Aims The possibility of a relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and asthma has been controversial. Using a nationwide population-based data set, this study aims to investigate the prevalence and risk of concurrent asthma among GERD patients, compared with patients without GERD in Taiwan. Methods This study used the National Health Insurance Research Database. A total of 61 941 patients with GERD and 61 941 randomly selected patients without GERD were included from the year 2006. Conditional logistic regression analyses were used to explore the risk of concurrent asthma for patients with and without GERD. Furthermore, the analyses performed were stratified by sex and age (18–44, 45–64, 65–74 and >74 years) to evaluate the association between GERD and concurrent asthma. Results Of the 123 882 sampled patients, 3% (3681 patients) were diagnosed with asthma in 2006, consisting of 3.9% of the GERD patients (2427 from the study group) and 2% of the patients without GERD (1254 from the comparison group). Conditional logistic regression analysis showed that the odds of concurrent asthma for patients with GERD were 1.97 times greater [95% confidence interval (CI) =1.84–2.12, P<0.001] than the odds of asthma for patients without GERD. When stratifying by age groups, the odds ratios for GERD with concurrent asthma were 2.61 (95% CI=2.24–3.03, P<0.001) for patients 18–44 years of age, 2.00 for patients 45–64 years of age (95% CI=1.79–2.23, P<0.001), 1.58 for those aged 65–74 (95% CI=1.36–1.83, P<0.001) and 1.80 for those aged 75 years or more (95% CI=1.52–2.12, P<0.001). Conclusion Patients with GERD had a significantly higher risk of concurrent asthma compared with patients without GERD.

Increased healthcare service utilizations for patients with dementia: a population-based study.

Background The majority of previous studies investigating the health care utilization of people with dementia were conducted in Western societies. There is little information on the economic burden on the healthcare system attributable to dementia in Asian countries. This study thus investigated differences in utilization of healthcare services between subjects with and those without a diagnosis of dementia using Taiwan’s National Health Insurance population-based database. Methods This study comprised 5,666 subjects with a dementia diagnosis and 5,666 age- and gender-matched comparison subjects without a dementia diagnosis. We individually followed each subject for a 1-year period starting from their index date to evaluate their healthcare resource utilization. Healthcare resource utilization included the number of outpatient visits and inpatient days, and the mean costs of outpatient and inpatient treatments. In addition, we divided healthcare resource utilization into psychiatric and non-psychiatric services. Results As for utilization of psychiatric services, subjects with a dementia diagnosis had significantly more outpatient visits (2.2 vs. 0.3, p<0.001) and significantly higher outpatient costs (US

A case–control study on the association between bladder cancer and prior bladder calculus

124 vs. US

Bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis increase the risk of coronary heart disease

16, p<0.001) than comparison subjects. For non-psychiatric services, subjects with a dementia diagnosis also had significantly more outpatient visits (34.4 vs. 31.6, p<0.001) and significantly higher outpatient costs (US

Urinary calculi increase the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes: a nationwide study

1754 vs. US

Increased risk of Parkinsonism among patients with cirrhosis: a 7-year follow-up study.

1322, p<0.001) than comparison subjects. For all healthcare services, subjects with a dementia diagnosis had significantly more outpatient visits (36.7 vs. 32.0, p<0.001) and significantly higher outpatient costs (US

Increased risk of colorectal cancer among patients with biliary tract inflammation: a 5-year follow-up study

1878 vs. US

Obstructive sleep apnea increases the risk of bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis: A population-based matched-cohort study

1338, p<0.001) than comparison subjects. Furthermore, the total cost was about 2-fold greater for subjects with a dementia diagnosis than for comparison subjects (US

Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis Is Associated with Hyperthyroidism

3997 vs. US