Hsien Yen Chang

Glucagonlike Peptide 1–Based Therapies and Risk of Hospitalization for Acute Pancreatitis in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Population-Based Matched Case-Control Study

IMPORTANCE Acute pancreatitis has significant morbidity and mortality. Previous studies have raised the possibility that glucagonlike peptide 1 (GLP-1)-based therapies, including a GLP-1 mimetic (exenatide) and a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor (sitagliptin phosphate), may increase the risk of acute pancreatitis. OBJECTIVE To test whether GLP-1-based therapies such as exenatide and sitagliptin are associated with an increased risk of acute pancreatitis. We used conditional logistic regression to analyze the data. DESIGN Population-based case-control study. SETTING A large administrative database in the United States from February 1, 2005, through December 31, 2008. PARTICIPANTS Adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus aged 18 to 64 years. We identified 1269 hospitalized cases with acute pancreatitis using a validated algorithm and 1269 control subjects matched for age category, sex, enrollment pattern, and diabetes complications. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Hospitalization for acute pancreatitis. RESULTS The mean age of included individuals was 52 years, and 57.45% were male. Cases were significantly more likely than controls to have hypertriglyceridemia (12.92% vs 8.35%), alcohol use (3.23% vs 0.24%), gallstones (9.06% vs 1.34), tobacco abuse (16.39% vs 5.52%), obesity (19.62% vs 9.77%), biliary and pancreatic cancer (2.84% vs 0%), cystic fibrosis (0.79% vs 0%), and any neoplasm (29.94% vs 18.05%). After adjusting for available confounders and metformin hydrochloride use, current use of GLP-1-based therapies within 30 days (adjusted odds ratio, 2.24 [95% CI, 1.36-3.68]) and recent use past 30 days and less than 2 years (2.01 [1.37-3.18]) were associated with significantly increased odds of acute pancreatitis relative to the odds in nonusers. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this administrative database study of US adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus, treatment with the GLP-1-based therapies sitagliptin and exenatide was associated with increased odds of hospitalization for acute pancreatitis.

Ambulatory diagnosis and treatment of nonmalignant pain in the United States, 2000-2010.

Background:Escalating rates of prescription opioid use and abuse have occurred in the context of efforts to improve the treatment of nonmalignant pain. Objective:The aim of the study was to characterize the diagnosis and management of nonmalignant pain in ambulatory, office-based settings in the United States between 2000 and 2010. Design, Setting, and Participants:Serial cross-sectional and multivariate regression analyses of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), a nationally representative audit of office-based physician visits, were conducted. Measures:(1) Annual visit volume among adults with primary pain symptom or diagnosis; (2) receipt of any pain treatment; and (3) receipt of prescription opioid or nonopioid pharmacologic therapy in visits for new musculoskeletal pain. Results:Primary symptoms or diagnoses of pain consistently represented one-fifth of visits, varying little from 2000 to 2010. Among all pain visits, opioid prescribing nearly doubled from 11.3% to 19.6%, whereas nonopioid analgesic prescribing remained unchanged (26%–29% of visits). One-half of new musculoskeletal pain visits resulted in pharmacologic treatment, although the prescribing of nonopioid pharmacotherapies decreased from 38% of visits (2000) to 29% of visits (2010). After adjusting for potentially confounding covariates, few patient, physician, or practice characteristics were associated with a prescription opioid rather than a nonopioid analgesic for new musculoskeletal pain, and increases in opioid prescribing generally occurred nonselectively over time. Conclusions:Increased opioid prescribing has not been accompanied by similar increases in nonopioid analgesics or the proportion of ambulatory pain patients receiving pharmacologic treatment. Clinical alternatives to prescription opioids may be underutilized as a means of treating ambulatory nonmalignant pain.

Risk of gastrointestinal bleeding associated with oral anticoagulants: population based retrospective cohort study

Objectives To determine the real world safety of dabigatran or rivaroxaban compared with warfarin in terms of gastrointestinal bleeding. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Large administrative database of commercially insured people in United States from 1 October 2010 through 31 March 2012. Participants Enrollees with a prescription of warfarin, dabigatran, or rivaroxaban between 1 October 2010 and 31 March 2012, who were aged 18 years or older, had continuous enrollment and no oral anticoagulant use during the six months before the entry date, with known age and sex, and with no gastrointestinal bleeding for at least six months before the cohort entry date. The final study sample of 46 163 patients included 4907 using dabigatran, 1649 using rivaroxaban, and 39 607 using warfarin. Main outcome measure Time to gastrointestinal bleeding. Hazard ratios were derived from Cox proportional hazard models with propensity score weighting and robust estimates of errors. Results Dabigatran users tended to be older (dabigatran v rivaroxaban v warfarin: 62.0 v 57.6 v 57.4 years) and more likely to be male (69% v 49% v 53%). The rate of gastrointestinal bleeding was highest among dabigatran users and lowest among rivaroxaban users (dabigatran v rivaroxaban v warfarin: 9.01 v 3.41 v 7.02 cases per 100 person years). After adjustment for potentially confounding covariates, there was no evidence of a statistically significant difference in the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding between dabigatran and warfarin users (adjusted hazard ratio 1.21, 95% confidence interval 0.96 to 1.53) or between rivaroxaban and warfarin users (0.98, 0.36 to 2.69). Conclusions Although rates of gastrointestinal bleeding seem to be similar in this commercially insured sample of adults in the United States, we cannot rule out as much as a 50% increase in the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding with dabigatran compared with warfarin or a more than twofold higher risk of bleeding with rivaroxaban compared with warfarin.

Impact of bariatric surgery on health care costs of obese persons: a 6-year follow-up of surgical and comparison cohorts using health plan data.

IMPORTANCE Bariatric surgery is a well-documented treatment for obesity, but there are uncertainties about the degree to which such surgery is associated with health care cost reductions that are sustained over time. OBJECTIVE To provide a comprehensive, multiyear analysis of health care costs by type of procedure within a large cohort of privately insured persons who underwent bariatric surgery compared with a matched nonsurgical cohort. DESIGN Longitudinal analysis of 2002-2008 claims data comparing a bariatric surgery cohort with a matched nonsurgical cohort. SETTING Seven BlueCross BlueShield health insurance plans with a total enrollment of more than 18 million persons. PARTICIPANTS A total of 29 820 plan members who underwent bariatric surgery between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2008, and a 1:1 matched comparison group of persons not undergoing surgery but with diagnoses closely associated with obesity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Standardized costs (overall and by type of care) and adjusted ratios of the surgical groups costs relative to those of the comparison group. RESULTS Total costs were greater in the bariatric surgery group during the second and third years following surgery but were similar in the later years. However, the bariatric groups prescription and office visit costs were lower and their inpatient costs were higher. Those undergoing laparoscopic surgery had lower costs in the first few years after surgery, but these differences did not persist. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Bariatric surgery does not reduce overall health care costs in the long term. Also, there is no evidence that any one type of surgery is more likely to reduce long-term health care costs. To assess the value of bariatric surgery, future studies should focus on the potential benefit of improved health and well-being of persons undergoing the procedure rather than on cost savings.

Emergency Department Visits by Adults for Psychiatric Medication Adverse Events

IMPORTANCE In 2011, an estimated 26.8 million US adults used prescription medications for mental illness. OBJECTIVE To estimate the numbers and rates of adverse drug event (ADE) emergency department (ED) visits involving psychiatric medications among US adults between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2011. DESIGN AND SETTING Descriptive analyses of active, nationally representative surveillance of ADE ED visits using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance system and of drug prescribing during outpatient visits using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. PARTICIPANTS Medical records from national probability samples of ED and outpatient visits by adults 19 years or older were reviewed and analyzed. EXPOSURES Antidepressants, antipsychotics, lithium salts, sedatives and anxiolytics, and stimulants. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES National estimates of ADE ED visits resulting from therapeutic psychiatric medication use and of psychiatric medication ADE ED visits per 10,000 outpatient visits at which psychiatric medications were prescribed. RESULTS From 2009 through 2011, there were an estimated 89,094 (95% CI, 68,641-109,548) psychiatric medication ADE ED visits annually, with 19.3% (95% CI, 16.3%-22.2%) resulting in hospitalization and 49.4% (95% CI, 46.5%-52.4%) involving patients aged 19 to 44 years. Sedatives and anxiolytics, antidepressants, antipsychotics, lithium salts, and stimulants were implicated in an estimated 30,707 (95% CI, 23,406-38,008), 25,377 (95% CI, 19,051-31,704), 21,578 (95% CI, 16,599-26,557), 3620 (95% CI, 2311-4928), and 2779 (95% CI, 1764-3794) respective ADE ED visits annually. Antipsychotics and lithium salts were implicated in 11.7 (95% CI, 10.1-13.2) and 16.4 (95% CI, 13.0-19.9) ADE ED visits per 10,000 outpatient prescription visits, respectively, compared with 3.6 (95% CI, 3.2-4.1) for sedatives and anxiolytics, 2.9 (95% CI, 2.3-3.5) for stimulants, and 2.4 (95% CI, 2.1-2.7) for antidepressants. The commonly used sedative zolpidem tartrate was implicated in 11.5% (95% CI, 9.5%-13.4%) of all adult psychiatric medication ADE ED visits and in 21.0% (95% CI, 16.3%-25.7%) of visits involving adults 65 years or older, in both cases significantly more than any other psychiatric medication. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Psychiatric medications are implicated in many ADEs treated in US EDs. Efforts to reduce ADEs should include adults of all ages but might prioritize medications causing high numbers and rates of ED visits.

Ambulatory specialist use by nonhospitalized patients in us health plans: Correlates and consequences

Approximately 7 of 10 (and 95% of the elderly) people in US health plans see one or more specialists in a year. Controlling for extent of morbidity, discontinuity of primary care physician visits is associated with seeing more different specialists. Having a general internist as the primary care physician is associated with more different specialists seen. Controlling for differences in the degree of morbidity, receiving care from multiple specialists is associated with higher costs, more procedures, and more medications, independent of the number of visits and age of the patient.

Prevalence and treatment of pain in EDs in the United States, 2000 to 2010

OBJECTIVES To describe changes in the prevalence and severity of pain and prescribing of non-opioid analgesics in US emergency departments (EDs) from 2000 to 2010. METHODS Analysis of serial cross-sectional data regarding ED visits from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Visits were limited to patients ≥18 years old without malignancy. Outcome measures included annual volume of visits among adults with a primary symptom or diagnosis of pain, annual rates of patient-reported pain severity, and predictors of non-opioid receipt for non-malignant pain. RESULTS Rates of pain remained stable, representing approximately 45% of visits from 2000 through 2010. Patients reported pain as their primary symptom twice as often as providers reported a primary pain diagnosis (40% vs 20%). The percentage of patients reporting severe pain increased from 25% (95% confidence intervals [CI] 22%-27%) in 2003 to 40% (CI 37%-42%) in 2008. From 2000 to 2010, the proportion of pain visits treated with pharmacotherapies increased from 56% (CI 53%-58%) to 71% (CI 69%-72%), although visits treated exclusively with non-opioids decreased 21% from 28% (CI 27%-30%) to 22% (CI 20%-23%). The adjusted odds of non-opioid rather than opioid receipt were greater among visits for patients 18 to 24 years old (odds ratio [OR] 1.35, CI 1.24-1.46), receiving fewer medicines (OR 2.91, CI 2.70-3.15) and those with a diagnosis of mental illness (OR 2.24, CI 1.99-2.52). CONCLUSIONS Large increases in opioid utilization in EDs have coincided with reductions in the use of non-opioid analgesics and an unchanging prevalence of pain among patients.

An in-depth assessment of a diagnosis-based risk adjustment model based on national health insurance claims: the application of the Johns Hopkins Adjusted Clinical Group case-mix system in Taiwan

BackgroundDiagnosis-based risk adjustment is becoming an important issue globally as a result of its implications for payment, high-risk predictive modelling and provider performance assessment. The Taiwanese National Health Insurance (NHI) programme provides universal coverage and maintains a single national computerized claims database, which enables the application of diagnosis-based risk adjustment. However, research regarding risk adjustment is limited. This study aims to examine the performance of the Adjusted Clinical Group (ACG) case-mix system using claims-based diagnosis information from the Taiwanese NHI programme.MethodsA random sample of NHI enrollees was selected. Those continuously enrolled in 2002 were included for concurrent analyses (n = 173,234), while those in both 2002 and 2003 were included for prospective analyses (n = 164,562). Health status measures derived from 2002 diagnoses were used to explain the 2002 and 2003 health expenditure. A multivariate linear regression model was adopted after comparing the performance of seven different statistical models. Split-validation was performed in order to avoid overfitting. The performance measures were adjusted R2 and mean absolute prediction error of five types of expenditure at individual level, and predictive ratio of total expenditure at group level.ResultsThe more comprehensive models performed better when used for explaining resource utilization. Adjusted R2 of total expenditure in concurrent/prospective analyses were 4.2%/4.4% in the demographic model, 15%/10% in the ACGs or ADGs (Aggregated Diagnosis Group) model, and 40%/22% in the models containing EDCs (Expanded Diagnosis Cluster). When predicting expenditure for groups based on expenditure quintiles, all models underpredicted the highest expenditure group and overpredicted the four other groups. For groups based on morbidity burden, the ACGs model had the best performance overall.ConclusionsGiven the widespread availability of claims data and the superior explanatory power of claims-based risk adjustment models over demographics-only models, Taiwans government should consider using claims-based models for policy-relevant applications. The performance of the ACG case-mix system in Taiwan was comparable to that found in other countries. This suggested that the ACG system could be applied to Taiwans NHI even though it was originally developed in the USA. Many of the findings in this paper are likely to be relevant to other diagnosis-based risk adjustment methodologies.

The state of overuse measurement: A critical review.:

Health care overuse contributes to unnecessary expenditures and patient exposure to harm. Understanding and addressing this problem requires a comprehensive set of valid metrics. This article describes and critiques the current state of overuse measurement through a review of the published and gray literature, measures clearinghouses and ongoing work by major measure developers. Our review identified 37 fully specified measures and 123 measurement development opportunities. Many services were considered overuse due to the extension of diagnostic or screening services to low-risk populations. There were more diagnostic or therapeutic overuse measures than for screening or monitoring/surveillance. Imaging services is a major focus of current measures, but opportunities exist to expand overuse measurement in medication, laboratory services. Future development of overuse measures would benefit from new empirical research and clinical guidelines focused on identifying indications or populations for which there is likely to be no or low benefit.

Impact of prescription drug monitoring programs and pill mill laws on high-risk opioid prescribers: A comparative interrupted time series analysis

BACKGROUND Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and pill mill laws were implemented to reduce opioid-related injuries/deaths. We evaluated their effects on high-risk prescribers in Florida. METHODS We used IMS Healths LRx Lifelink database between July 2010 and September 2012 to identify opioid-prescribing prescribers in Florida (intervention state, N: 38,465) and Georgia (control state, N: 18,566). The pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention periods were: July 2010-June 2011, July 2011-September 2011, and October 2011-September 2012. High-risk prescribers were those in the top 5th percentile of opioid volume during four consecutive calendar quarters. We applied comparative interrupted time series models to evaluate policy effects on clinical practices and monthly prescribing measures for low-risk/high-risk prescribers. RESULTS We identified 1526 (4.0%) high-risk prescribers in Florida, accounting for 67% of total opioid volume and 40% of total opioid prescriptions. Relative to their lower-risk counterparts, they wrote sixteen times more monthly opioid prescriptions (79 vs. 5, p<0.01), and had more prescription-filling patients receiving opioids (47% vs. 19%, p<0.01). Following policy implementation, Floridas high-risk providers experienced large relative reductions in opioid patients and opioid prescriptions (-536 patients/month, 95% confidence intervals [CI] -829 to -243; -847 prescriptions/month, CI -1498 to -197), morphine equivalent dose (-0.88mg/month, CI -1.13 to -0.62), and total opioid volume (-3.88kg/month, CI -5.14 to -2.62). Low-risk providers did not experience statistically significantly relative reductions, nor did policy implementation affect the status of being high- vs. low- risk prescribers. CONCLUSIONS High-risk prescribers are disproportionately responsive to state policies. However, opioids-prescribing remains highly concentrated among high-risk providers.