Lee Stern

Dysfunctional Tear Syndrome A Delphi Approach to Treatment Recommendations

Purpose: To develop current treatment recommendations for dry eye disease from consensus of expert advice. Methods: Of 25 preselected international specialists on dry eye, 17 agreed to participate in a modified, 2-round Delphi panel approach. Based on available literature and standards of care, a survey was presented to each panelist. A two-thirds majority was used for consensus building from responses obtained. Treatment algorithms were created. Treatment recommendations for different types and severity levels of dry eye disease were the main outcome. Results: A new term for dry eye disease was proposed: dysfunctional tear syndrome (DTS). Treatment recommendations were based primarily on patient symptoms and signs. Available diagnostic tests were considered of secondary importance in guiding therapy. Development of algorithms was based on the presence or absence of lid margin disease and disturbances of tear distribution and clearance. Disease severity was considered the most important factor for treatment decision-making and was categorized into 4 levels. Severity was assessed on the basis of tear substitute requirements, symptoms of ocular discomfort, and visual disturbance. Clinical signs present in lids, tear film, conjunctiva, and cornea were also used for categorization of severity. Consensus was reached on treatment algorithms for DTS with and without concurrent lid disease. Conclusion: Panelist opinion relied on symptoms and signs (not tests) for selection of treatment strategies. Therapy is chosen to match disease severity and presence versus absence of lid margin disease or tear distribution and clearance disturbances.

Medication compliance and disease exacerbation in patients with asthma: a retrospective study of managed care data

BACKGROUND Compliance with asthma medications probably results in improved outcomes, but few studies have examined this relationship. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between medication compliance and exacerbation in asthmatic patients. METHODS Retrospective analysis of a managed care database. The 97,743 participants (aged 6-99 years; mean age, 32.8 years) had asthma and prescriptions for controller medications. Compliance with the index medication (the first controller medication prescribed) was measured using 2 methods: medication possession ratio (MPR), calculated for 365 days after the index date, and number of prescriptions for each index medication. Exacerbation was defined as 1 or more emergency department visits or hospitalizations within 1 year of the index date. Multivariate models were used to determine the odds of exacerbation based on relative compliance for each definition of compliance. RESULTS Based on the median MPR, more-compliant patients were less likely to experience exacerbation than less-compliant patients (odds ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.91-0.97; P < .001). Using the 75th percentile MPR, risk of exacerbation was even smaller (odds ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.86-0.92; P < .001). All the cutoff points for compliance (> or = 2 through > or = 6 prescriptions) demonstrated significantly less exacerbations in more-compliant vs less-compliant patients after adjusting for covariates. As the criteria for compliance became more stringent, more-compliant patients became increasingly less likely to have an exacerbation vs less-compliant patients. CONCLUSION More-compliant asthmatic patients were significantly less likely to experience exacerbation than less-compliant asthmatic patients. These findings demonstrate the importance of improving medication compliance among asthmatic patients to impact outcomes.

Anemia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: epidemiology and economic implications

ABSTRACT Background: Anemia in chronic illness is associated with increased healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and costs. In COPD, it occurs frequently and influences both clinical and economic outcomes. Because no data studies have been performed either in a single center or a subpopulation of COPD patients, anemias influence on the outcomes is not fully understood. Research design and methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a large healthcare database to quantify prevalence, HRU and costs of anemia in COPD. From 1997 to 2005, patients ≥ 45 years of age with an ICD-9 diagnosis code for COPD and > 3.5 years of follow-up were included. Anemia was defined by the WHO criteria. Other disease states for which anemia is a known complication were excluded. We calculated the prevalence of anemia and compared annual HRU and costs between COPD patients with and without anemia. Multiple regression analysis adjusted for the effects of age, gender, race, length of enrollment, diagnosing physician specialty, co-morbidity burden, anemia and COPD severity. Results: Of the 2404 patients with COPD, 33% (n = 788) had a diagnosis of anemia. Anemic patients were older, more likely to be male and non-Caucasian, and had a greater co-morbidity burden than non-anemic individuals. Annual costs for COPD patients with anemia were more than twice those for patients without anemia (

Anemia, transfusions and hospital outcomes among critically ill patients on prolonged acute mechanical ventilation: a retrospective cohort study

17 240 vs. 6492, p < 0.001, unadjusted). HRU was also significantly greater among anemic than non-anemic COPD patients ( p < 0.0001). In a multiple regression analysis, anemia accounted for

The impact of indirect (herd) protection on the cost-effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

7929 per patient (95% CI:

Costs and utilization of end-stage glaucoma patients receiving visual rehabilitation care: a US multisite retrospective study.

5572–10 599) of the total costs of care. Limitations: This is a retrospective cohort study and thus subject to multiple forms of bias. Although spirometric evidence of COPD was available only for a subgroup of patients, our case identification methods have been previously validated and found to be accurate in recognizing COPD. Conclusions: Anemia is a common co-morbidity in COPD. It is significantly associated with an increase in HRU and costs of care for COPD, independent of demographic and clinical patient characteristics.

Key issues in addressing the clinical and humanistic burden of short bowel syndrome in the US

IntroductionPatients requiring prolonged acute mechanical ventilation (PAMV) represent one-third of those who need mechanical ventilation, but they utilize two-thirds of hospital resources devoted to mechanical ventilation. Measures are needed to optimize the efficiency of care in this population. Both duration of intensive care unit stay and mechanical ventilation are associated with anemia and increased rates of packed red blood cell (pRBC) transfusion. We hypothesized that transfusions among patients receiving PAMV are common and associated with worsened clinical and economic outcomes.MethodsA retrospective analysis of a large integrated claims database covering a 5-year period (January 2000 to December 2005) was conducted in adult patients receiving PAMV (mechanical ventilation for ≥ 96 hours). The incidence of pRBC transfusions was examined as the main exposure variable, and hospital mortality served as the primary outome, with hospital length of stay and costs being secondary outcomes.ResultsThe study cohort included 4,344 hospitalized patients receiving PAMV (55% male, mean age 61.5 ± 16.4 years). Although hemoglobin level upon admission was above 10 g/dl in 75% of patients, 67% (n = 2,912) received at least one transfusion, with a mean of 9.1 ± 12.0 units of pRBCs transfused per patient over the course of hospitalization. In regression models adjusting for confounders, exposure to pRBCs was associated with a 21% increase in the risk for hospital death (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.00 to 1.48), and marginal increases in length of stay (6.3 days, 95% CI = 5.1 to 7.6) and cost (

Patient and physician perceptions of treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic pain with oral opioids

48,972, 95% CI =

Resource Utilization and Cost of Heart Failure associated with Reduced Ejection Fraction in Swedish Patients

45,581 to

Economic considerations in the prescribing of third-generation antidepressants.

52,478).ConclusionPatients receiving PAMV are at high likelihood of being transfused with multiple units of blood at relatively high hemoglobin levels. Transfusions independently contribute to increased risk for hospital death, length of stay, and costs. Reducing exposure of PAMV patients to blood may represent an attractive target for efforts to improve quality and efficiency of health care delivery in this population.