Low-dose prasugrel versus standard-dose ticagrelor in east Asian patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Low-dose prasugrel demonstrated a similar effectiveness profile to clopidogrel in East Asian ACS patients, but its comparison with another new-generation potent P2Y12 inhibitor, ticagrelor, remains unclear. To compare the effectiveness and safety of low-dose prasugrel against those of standard-dose ticagrelor in East Asian patients with ACS. This retrospective cohort study used Taiwan's National Health and Welfare Database. This study included ACS patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention and, at discharge between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020, were prescribed with low-dose prasugrel plus aspirin or standard-dose ticagrelor plus aspirin. Stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to balance the covariates across these two groups. The primary effectiveness outcome was a composite of acute myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and cardiovascular death; the secondary effectiveness outcome was each of the individual components of the primary outcome, transient ischemic attack, and repeat revascularization. The primary safety outcome was a composite of intracranial hemorrhage and gastrointestinal bleeding, and the two secondary safety outcomes were intracranial hemorrhage and gastrointestinal bleeding. A total of 24,807 patients were included in this study. Among them, 1,493 were low-dose prasugrel users and 23,314 were standard-dose ticagrelor users. No significant differences were found in primary effectiveness [HR: 0.97 (0.74-1.28)] or primary safety outcomes [HR: 1.22 (0.73-2.01)] between the two study groups. For East Asian patients with ACS, low-dose prasugrel provides comparable effectiveness without increasing bleeding risk compared to standard-dose ticagrelor. Low-dose prasugrel may be an appropriate alternative for East Asian populations.

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibitors and the Risk of Aortic Aneurysm and Aortic Dissection.

Importance: Vascular endothelial growth factor pathway inhibitors (VPIs) pose a concern for aortic aneurysm (AA) and aortic dissection (AD), signaling potential vascular disease development. Objective: To investigate VPI-associated AA and AD. Design, Setting, and Participants: This case-control study with a nested design used full population data from a national claims database in Taiwan between 2011 and 2019. Eligible participants were aged 20 years or older with kidney, hepatic, gastrointestinal, or pancreatic cancer diagnosed between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2019. The first cancer diagnosis date was defined as the cohort entry date. Cases were patients who received a diagnosis of AA or AD in hospitalizations or emergency visits between the cohort entry date and December 31, 2019. Controls were matched by ratio (up to 1:5) based on age, sex, cancer type, cohort entry date, and the index date (ie, the first AA or AD event date). Data analysis was performed between January 2022 and December 2023. Exposures: Use of the oral VPIs sorafenib, sunitinib, and pazopanib between cohort entry date and index date. Main Outcomes and Measures: In the primary analysis, AA and AD were evaluated compositely, while in the secondary analyses, they were evaluated separately. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were calculated using conditional logistic regression to assess the association with VPI use (sorafenib, sunitinib, and pazopanib) considering various VPI exposure windows and cumulative use. Results: A total of 1461 cases were included (mean [SD] age, 73.0 [12.3] years; 1118 male patients [76.5%]), matched to 7198 controls. AA or AD risk increased with a VPI exposure of 100 days or less before the index date (aOR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.40-3.15), mainly from VPI-associated AD (aOR, 3.09; 95% CI, 1.77-5.39). Longer VPI duration (68 days or more: aOR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.66-4.19) and higher cumulative dose (61 or more defined daily doses: aOR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.66-4.23) increased the risk. Conclusions and Relevance: The use of the 3 study VPIs (sorafenib, sunitinib, and pazopanib) was associated with an increased risk of AA and AD in patients with cancer, essentially all of the risk from VPI-associated AD. Future studies are needed to determine the risk factors of VPI-associated AA and AD, as well as to establish a class effect.

Changing or Retaining Direct Oral Anticoagulant After Ischemic Stroke Despite Direct Oral Anticoagulant Treatment.

BACKGROUND: The optimal antithrombotic strategies for patients with atrial fibrillation who experience ischemic stroke (IS) despite direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) therapy remain inconclusive. This study compared outcomes for patients with DOAC treatment failure who changed or retained their prestroke DOAC. METHODS AND RESULTS: This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Research Database from 2012 to 2020. Patients with atrial fibrillation who experienced IS during DOAC therapy were assigned to either (1) the DOAC-change group: changing prestroke DOAC or (2) the DOAC-retain group: retaining prestroke DOAC. The primary outcome was a composite of recurrent IS and transient ischemic attack. The secondary outcomes included intracranial hemorrhage, major bleeding, systemic thromboembolism, and all-cause death. Propensity score-based inverse probability of treatment weighting was applied to balance the baseline characteristics between the DOAC-change and DOAC-retain groups. The Cox proportional hazards model compared the risk of outcomes between the 2 groups. In total, 1979 patients were enrolled (609 DOAC-change patients and 1370 DOAC-retain patients). The incidence rates of recurrent IS or transient ischemic attack were 7.20 and 6.56 per 100 person-years in the DOAC-change and DOAC-retain groups, respectively (hazard ratio [HR], 1.07 [95% CI, 0.87-1.30]). A nonsignificantly higher incidence rate of intracranial hemorrhage was observed in the DOAC-change group compared with the DOAC-retain group (0.75 versus 0.53 per 100-person-years; HR, 1.49 [95% CI, 0.78-2.83]). The systemic thromboembolism, major bleeding, and death rates were comparable between the DOAC-change and DOAC-retain groups. CONCLUSIONS: Changing prestroke DOAC does not reduce the risk of recurrent cerebral ischemia in patients with atrial fibrillation who develop IS during DOAC therapy. However, future studies should continue to observe the potential trends of increased intracranial hemorrhage risk.

Comparison of different direct oral anticoagulant regimens in atrial fibrillation patients with high bleeding risk.

BACKGROUND: The optimal dose of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) to prevent ischemic stroke (IS) and systemic thromboembolism (STE) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with a predisposing bleeding risk remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness and safety of different DOAC dosage regimens in AF patients with high bleeding risk but low thrombosis risk. METHODS: This retrospective observational study was conducted with the National Health Insurance claims database in Taiwan to include AF patients aged 20 up to 75 years, under DOAC therapy, with CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1 for males and 2 for females and HAS-BLED score ≥3. Standard-dose regimen was defined as dabigatran 300 mg, rivaroxaban 20 mg, apixaban 10 mg, or edoxaban 60 mg per day. Any other lower-dose regimen were defined as the low-dose regimen. The primary outcomes were IS and major bleeding (MB). The secondary outcomes were STE, gastrointestinal bleeding, intracranial hemorrhage, and cardiovascular death. RESULTS: A total of 964 patients were included (52.1% standard-dose regimen). Median HAS-BLED score was 3 [interquartile range 3-3]. Compared with standard-dose group, patients in the low-dose group had a significantly increased risk of IS (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 5.13; 95% confidence interval 1.37-19.22) and STE (aHR 3.14 [1.05-9.37]) but similar risk of MB (aHR 0.45 [0.12-1.67]). The risks of other hemorrhage and cardiovascular death were similar between the 2 dose groups. CONCLUSION: Among patients with a predominant bleeding risk but relatively low thrombosis risk, the low-dose DOAC regimen is not a more appropriate selection than standard-dose regimen.

Impact of an integrated medication management model on the collaborative working relationship among healthcare professionals in a hospital: an explanatory mixed methods study.

An integrated medication management (IMM) model was implemented in a medical center ward to improve the delivery of clinical pharmaceutical services (CPSs). This model incorporated a ward-based clinical pharmacist who performed medication reconciliation and medication reviews. It was perceived to promote interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and non-pharmacist healthcare professionals (NPHPs, including attending physicians, nurse practitioners, and registered nurses). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the IMM on NPHPs' intentions to collaborate with pharmacists and understand the mechanism of the impact of the IMM on interprofessional collaboration. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was employed in the study. Initially, a questionnaire was administered to assess the effects of the IMM on NPHPs' intentions to collaborate with pharmacists. The NPHPs' experiences with the IMM were then documented using semi-structured interviews with inductive thematic analysis. Fifty-eight NPHPs completed the questionnaire, and NPHPs from the intervention ward reported a higher intention to discuss patient-related medication issues with pharmacists, indicating collaboration. Eleven NPHPs were interviewed, and they stated having better working relationships with pharmacists, experiencing more effective CPSs, and noting improved communication with pharmacists. The integration of quantitative and qualitative findings demonstrates that the critical mechanism of the IMM in promoting collaborative relationships is to integrate pharmacists into medical practice, which familiarizes NPHPs with pharmacists' roles, improves communication, and enables pharmacists to identify NPHPs' needs. To summarize, allowing ward-based pharmacists to engage in medical teams on a regular basis appears vital for improving interprofessional teamwork. Furthermore, stakeholders aiming to promote CPS in their institutions should consider the needs and communication channels among NPHPs.

Ticagrelor vs Clopidogrel in Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients With a History of Ischemic Stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether use of ticagrelor compared to clopidogrel is associated with different risks for thrombotic events or major bleeding among acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients with a prior history of acute ischemic stroke. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study used the Health and Welfare Database in Taiwan. Stroke patients prescribed ticagrelor plus aspirin or clopidogrel plus aspirin after a primary hospitalization for AMI between July 1, 2013, and December 31, 2018, were included. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was applied to balance covariates between treatment groups. The primary effectiveness outcome included a composite measure of AMI, acute ischemic stroke, or all-cause mortality. The primary safety outcome included a composite measure of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and major gastrointestinal bleeding. The secondary effectiveness and safety outcomes comprised each of the individual components that make up the primary effectiveness and safety outcomes, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 1691 eligible patients were included in the study, of whom 734 (43.4%) received ticagrelor plus aspirin and 957 received clopidogrel plus aspirin. There were no significant differences observed in the primary and secondary effectiveness outcomes between the two study groups. However, the use of ticagrelor was associated with a higher risk of ICH (ticagrelor: 8.68 per 1000 person-year; clopidogrel: 2.17 per 1,000 person-year; HR, 3.34; 95% CI, 1.27 to 8.81, P = .01) compared with clopidogrel. CONCLUSION: In AMI patients with a history of acute ischemic stroke, the risks of cardiovascular events were comparable between ticagrelor plus aspirin and clopidogrel plus aspirin. However, ticagrelor was associated with a higher risk of ICH. Ticagrelor should be used cautiously in AMI patients with a history of acute ischemic stroke.

Strengthening scientific credibility in the face of misinformation and disinformation: Viable solutions.

Despite numerous attempts to mitigate their spread, misinformation and disinformation are rampant on social media and other public networks, posing a substantial risk to public health and individual well-being. A concerted, multi-channel approach is required to effectively tackle this evolving problem. This paper outlines potential strategies and actionable plans to improve the response to misinformation and disinformation by stakeholders from various healthcare ecosystems.

Use of calcium channel blockers and risk of breast cancer among women aged 55 years and older: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

This retrospective cohort study was aimed to compare the incidence of breast cancer among women aged ≥55 who received calcium channel blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers. We used the 2002-2015 Health and Welfare Database in Taiwan. Women 55 years and older who initiated antihypertensive treatment were included. Breast cancer risk for patients receiving calcium channel blockers was compared to those receiving angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers. Cox proportional hazards models were used to generate adjusted hazard ratios for breast cancer. We found that the risk of breast cancer was similar between calcium channel blockers users and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] and 95% CI = 1.03 [0.80 to 1.34]). No significant risk increase was observed in the stratified analysis by dihydropyridine (aHR = 1.02 [0.78 to 1.33]) and non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (aHR = 1.23 [0.48 to 3.20]). No difference in the risk of breast cancer associated with calcium channel blockers exposure was observed in patients who used hormone replacement therapy (aHR = 1.02 [0.29 to 3.58]). The risk for breast cancer was observed to be significantly lower in patients receiving calcium channel blockers than in those receiving angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers at a treatment duration of 5 or more years (aHR = 0.57 [0.33 to 0.98]). In conclusion, the risk for breast cancer is similar for calcium channel blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blocker users in an Asian population.

Prescribing patterns for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among children and adolescents in Taiwan from 2004 to 2017.

This study documented the prescribing patterns of methylphenidate and atomoxetine among patients aged 3 to 18 in Taiwan diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between 2004 and 2017. Initial treatment for ADHD, the time between the first diagnosis and the first prescription, and medication-switching patterns were investigated. The final cohort consisted of 256,882 patients, and 147,210 (57.3%) of them received medication treatment. Most of the patients (98.2%) received methylphenidate. Atomoxetine use increased from 0.1% in 2007 to 5.5% in 2017. The median time between the ADHD diagnosis and the first prescription was 21 days (IQR: 0-212 days). In patients who initiated methylphenidate, 12,406 (8.4%) patients switched to atomoxetine; 850 (31.3%) of the children began with atomoxetine and switched to methylphenidate. In conclusion, methylphenidate was the predominant treatment for ADHD in 2004-2017. However, the prevalence of pharmacotherapy for ADHD was relatively low. Further investigation on the reasons behind this pattern is recommended.

Effectiveness of statins for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in the Asian elderly population.

BACKGROUND: Population aging is a global trend, and the elderly have a higher risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and related mortality. Statins have been observed to reduce cardiovascular events in patients with ASCVD. However, compared with secondary prevention, the benefits of statins for primary prevention are undetermined among the elderly. AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of statins in an elderly population without a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS: The study was carried out using the National Taiwan University Hospital Integrated Medical Database and the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. Patients aged 65 years and older without a history of CVD were identified between 1 February 2008 and 31 December 2015. New statin users were 1:4 matched to nonusers based on certain variables. The risks of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and all-cause mortality were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. Further, we applied marginal structural models to account for time-varying low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. RESULTS: A total of 2761 new statin users and 9503 nonusers were selected after matching; the mean age was 71.8 years, and 63% were women. At a median follow-up of 4.8 years, statin use was associated with reduced risk of MACEs (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-0.98) and mortality (HR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.55-0.93) when accounting for time-varying LDL-C. No significant differences in effect were detected between subgroups. CONCLUSION: Statin use could be beneficial for the primary prevention of CVD in elderly Asians.

Application of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Sentinel Routine Querying Tools to the Taiwan Sentinel Data Model-formatted National Health Insurance Research Database.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Sentinel System is a leading distributed data network for drug safety surveillance in the world. The National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan was converted into the Taiwan Sentinel Data Model (TSDM) based on the Sentinel Common Data Model (SCDM) version 6.0.2. The goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility of applying the same study designs, analytic choices, and analytic tools as used by the U.S. Sentinel System to examine the same drug-outcome associations in the TSDM-formatted NHIRD. Four known drug-outcome associations previously examined by the U.S. Sentinel System were selected as the use cases: (1) use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and risk of angioedema, (2) use of warfarin and risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, (3) use of oral clindamycin and risk of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), and (4) use of glyburide and risk of serious hypoglycemia. We followed the same study designs and analytic choices used by the U.S. Sentinel System and applied the Sentinel Routine Querying Tools to answer the same study questions within the TSDM-formatted NHIRD. The results showed that ACEIs were associated with a non-significant increase in risk of angioedema compared to beta-blockers (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.89-1.64); warfarin was associated with a higher risk of gastrointestinal bleeding compared to statins (HR: 1.72; 1.50-1.98); glyburide was associated with an increased risk of hypoglycemia compared to glipizide (HR: 1.61, 1.30-2.00). We were unable to evaluate the association between oral clindamycin and risk of CDI due to the low event number. Our study demonstrated that it was feasible to directly apply the publicly available Sentinel Routine Querying Tools within the TSDM-formatted NHIRD. However, sources of heterogeneity other than design and analytic differences should be carefully considered when comparing the results between the two systems.

Strengthening scientific credibility against misinformation and disinformation: Where do we stand now?

Health behaviors related to COVID-19 prevention measures, especially vaccination, are used to exemplify mechanisms whereby misinformation and disinformation can spark an "infodemic": a situation in which false information can spread more rapidly and widely than its truthful, science-based counterpart. We define key terminologies and identify potential sources that led to the pandemic infodemic, and highlight the harmful implications of such events. Issues related to scientific communication, how the public perceives information, and factors influencing individuals' decision-making are also discussed. This is the first in a series of two perspective articles on this topic.

On the Critical Heat Flux Assessment of Micro- and Nanoscale Roughened Surfaces.

The boiling crisis or critical heat flux (CHF) is a very critical constraint for any heat-flux-controlled boiling system. The existing methods (physical models and empirical correlations) offer a specific interpretation of the boiling phenomenon, as many of these correlations are considerably influenced by operational variables and surface morphologies. A generalized correlation is virtually unavailable. In this study, more physical mechanisms are incorporated to assess CHF of surfaces with micro- and nano-scale roughness subject to a wide range of operating conditions and working fluids. The CHF data is also correlated by using the Pearson, Kendal, and Spearman correlations to evaluate the association of various surface morphological features and thermophysical properties of the working fluid. Feature engineering is performed to better correlate the inputs with the desired output parameter. The random forest optimization (RF) is used to provide the optimal hyper-parameters to the proposed interpretable correlation and experimental data. Unlike the existing methods, the proposed method is able to incorporate more physical mechanisms and relevant parametric influences, thereby offering a more generalized and accurate prediction of CHF (R2 = 0.971, mean squared error = 0.0541, and mean absolute error = 0.185).

Effectiveness and Safety of Clopidogrel vs Aspirin in Elderly Patients With Ischemic Stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risks of recurrent stroke and major bleeding events with clopidogrel and aspirin use among patients aged 80 years or older. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using the Full Population Data of the Health and Welfare Database in Taiwan. Patients aged 80 years or older who received monotherapy with clopidogrel or aspirin following hospitalization for primary acute ischemic stroke between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2018, were included. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to balance measured covariates between clopidogrel and aspirin users. Measured outcomes included recurrent acute ischemic stroke, acute myocardial infarction, composite cardiovascular events (recurrent stroke or acute myocardial infarction), intracranial hemorrhage, major gastrointestinal tract bleeding, and composite major bleeding events (intracranial hemorrhage or major gastrointestinal tract bleeding). RESULTS: A total of 15,045 patients were included in the study, 1979 of whom used clopidogrel and 13,066 who used aspirin following hospitalization for primary acute ischemic stroke. Clopidogrel use was associated with significantly lower risk of recurrent acute ischemic stroke (hazard ratio [HR], 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83 to 0.96; P=.002), composite cardiovascular events (HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.82 to 0.95; P<.001), intracranial hemorrhage (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.56 to 0.90; P=.005), and composite major bleeding events (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.80 to 0.99; P=.04) compared with aspirin use. CONCLUSION: In patients aged 80 years or older with primary acute ischemic stroke, clopidogrel users had lower risks of recurrent stroke and the composite cardiovascular events compared with aspirin users. Clopidogrel users also had lower risks of intracranial hemorrhage and the composite major bleeding events compared with aspirin users.

Impact of integrated medication management program on medication errors in a medical center: an interrupted time series study.

BACKGROUND: Medication errors (MEs) are harmful to patients during hospitalization, especially elderly patients. To reduce MEs, an integrated medication management (IMM) model was developed in a 2500-bed medical center, allowing a clinical pharmacist to participate in the daily ward round and perform medication reconciliation and medication reviews. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the IMM model on MEs and medication utilization using a quasi-experimental design. METHODS: We conducted an interrupted time-series study using the aggregated data of monthly admissions from two wards of a medical center, where one ward served as the intervention and the other served as the external control. The pre- and post-intervention phases comprised of 40 and 12 monthly observational units, respectively. The primary outcome was the mean number of ME reports, which were further investigated for different ME types. The mean number of daily inpatient prescriptions, mean number of daily self-prepared medications, and median daily medication costs were measured. All outcomes were measured per admission episode. Segmented regression was used to evaluate the level and slope changes in the outcomes after IMM model implementation, and subgroup analyses were performed to examine the effects on different groups. RESULTS: After IMM model implementation, the mean number of ME reports increased (level change: 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68 to 1.35, P < 0.001). The number of reports has shown a dramatic increase in omissions or medication discrepancies, inappropriate drug choices, and inappropriate routes or formulations. Furthermore, the mean number of daily inpatient prescriptions was reduced for patients aged ≥75 years (level change: -1.78, 95% CI: -3.06 to -0.50, P = 0.009). No significant level or slope change was observed in the control ward during the post-intervention phase. CONCLUSIONS: The IMM model improved patient safety and optimized medication utilization by increasing the reporting of MEs and decreasing the number of medications used.

Profiles and persistence of initial antiretroviral therapy among HIV infected patients in taiwan: A nationwide population-based cross-sectional study from 2011 to 2017.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been applied for treating patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for decades. Our study explored initial ART use patterns and ART persistence in patients who begin HIV treatment in Taiwan. METHODS: The National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan was used in our study. The study cohort included patients who are incident ART users from 2011 to 2017. The patterns of ART-based regimens initiated were documented, mainly including non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based, protease inhibitor (PI)-based and integrase inhibitor (INI)-based regimens. Time from HIV diagnosis to ART initiation, ART persistence, and ART treatment patterns were documented. RESULTS: There were 19,726 incident ART users. While NNRTI-based regimen was the first choice of initial ART from 2011 to 2017, INI-based regimen accounted for 52.9% of total ART initiation and was the most commonly prescribed regimen in 2017. PI-based regimen decreased from 17.0% to 0.7% during the study period. We found that changes of initial ART between 2011 and 2017 were common, consist with the changes of National Imbursement Guideline for HIV therapy in Taiwan. CONCLUSIONS: We found a trend of rapidly increasing INI-based regimen and decreasing PI-based regimen during the study period. Shorten time window for initiating ART was found according to reimbursement regulation of STR as the first-line therapy and government policy of same-day HIV testing and treatment initiation. The persistence of ART was influenced by treatment guideline during the study period.

Continuity and Completeness of Electronic Health Record Data for Patients Treated With Oral Hypoglycemic Agents: Findings From Healthcare Delivery Systems in Taiwan.

Objective: To evaluate the continuity and completeness of electronic health record (EHR) data, and the concordance of select clinical outcomes and baseline comorbidities between EHR and linked claims data, from three healthcare delivery systems in Taiwan. Methods: We identified oral hypoglycemic agent (OHA) users from the Integrated Medical Database of National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH-iMD), which was linked to the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), from June 2011 to December 2016. A secondary evaluation involved two additional EHR databases. We created consecutive 90-day periods before and after the first recorded OHA prescription and defined patients as having continuous EHR data if there was at least one encounter or prescription in a 90-day interval. EHR data completeness was measured by dividing the number of encounters in the NTUH-iMD by the number of encounters in the NHIRD. We assessed the concordance between EHR and claims data on three clinical outcomes (cardiovascular events, nephropathy-related events, and heart failure admission). We used individual comorbidities that comprised the Charlson comorbidity index to examine the concordance of select baseline comorbidities between EHRs and claims. Results: We identified 39,268 OHA users in the NTUH-iMD. Thirty-one percent (n = 12,296) of these users contributed to the analysis that examined data continuity during the 6-month baseline and 24-month follow-up period; 31% (n = 3,845) of the 12,296 users had continuous data during this 30-month period and EHR data completeness was 52%. The concordance of major cardiovascular events, nephropathy-related events, and heart failure admission was moderate, with the NTU-iMD capturing 49-55% of the outcome events recorded in the NHIRD. The concordance of comorbidities was considerably different between the NTUH-iMD and NHIRD, with an absolute standardized difference >0.1 for most comorbidities examined. Across the three EHR databases studied, 29-55% of the OHA users had continuous records during the 6-month baseline and 24-month follow-up period. Conclusion: EHR data continuity and data completeness may be suboptimal. A thorough evaluation of data continuity and completeness is recommended before conducting clinical and translational research using EHR data in Taiwan.

Post-Intracranial Hemorrhage Antithrombotic Therapy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.

Background To investigate the effectiveness and safety of withholding or restarting antithrombotic agents, and different antithrombotic therapies among patients with atrial fibrillation post-intracranial hemorrhage. Methods and Results This is a nationwide retrospective cohort study involving patients with atrial fibrillation receiving antithrombotic therapies who subsequently developed intracranial hemorrhage between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2017. The risk of ischemic stroke (IS), recurrent intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and all-cause mortality were investigated between patients receiving no treatment versus patients reinitiating oral anticoagulants (OACs) or antiplatelet agents, and warfarin versus non-vitamin K antagonist OACs. We applied inverse probability of treatment weighting to balance the baseline characteristics and Cox proportional hazards model to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) of different outcomes of interest. Compared with no treatment, OACs reduced the risk of IS (HR, 0.61; 0.42-0.89), without increase in the risk of ICH (1.15, 0.66-2.02); antiplatelet agent users showed a similar risk of IS (1.13, 0.81-1.56) and increased risk of ICH (1.81, 1.07-3.04). Use of OACs or antiplatelet agents did not reduce the risk of all-cause mortality (0.85, 0.72-1.01; and 0.88, 0.75-1.03, respectively). Compared with warfarin, non-vitamin K antagonist OAC users showed a similar risk of IS (0.92, 0.50-1.70), non-significantly reduced risk of ICH (0.53, 0.22-1.30), and significantly reduced all-cause mortality (0.60, 0.43-0.84). Conclusions OACs are recommended in patients with atrial fibrillation and intracranial hemorrhage because they reduced the risk of IS with no increase in the risk of subsequent ICH. Non-vitamin K antagonist OACs are recommended over warfarin owing to their survival benefits.

Orphan drug development: The impact of regulatory and reimbursement frameworks.

The enactment of orphan drug-specific legislation pioneered by the USA was subsequently followed by many regions, including the European Union (EU), Australia, Japan, and Taiwan. Here, we discuss the associated regulations established and their impacts in the aforementioned regions, which are among the first with frameworks specific for orphan drugs. Varied scopes of rare diseases or orphan drugs, diverse incentives, and heterogeneous types of reimbursement systems imply the prioritization of the agencies concerned. The numbers of designated and approved drugs reflect the impact of the regulatory and reimbursement frameworks. A comparison of the frameworks and their impact in the respective regions could provide valuable information for developing and improving related frameworks for countries worldwide.

Comparison of risk of acute kidney injury between patients receiving the combination of teicoplanin and piperacillin/tazobactam versus vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: To compare the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) among patients receiving teicoplanin (TA) plus piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP) versus vancomycin (VAN) plus TZP. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records. Patients were included if a combination of glycopeptide and TZP or other selected ß-lactams were used during hospitalization. In the main analysis, two study groups were identified: TA + TZP and VAN + TZP. We used 1:1 propensity score matching to control for potential confounders, and hazard ratio (HR) of AKI between study groups was calculated. We further compared the risk of AKI between patients receiving VAN + TZP and VAN + ß-lactams as an auxiliary analysis to verify the validity of the study design. RESULTS: The final sample contained 211 pairs of patients receiving either TA + TZP or VAN + TZP. The median dosage of TA and VAN were 10.3 and 26.7 mg/kg/day, respectively. The median trough level of VAN was 12.3 mg/L. The AKI risk in the TA + TZP group was similar to that in the VAN + TZP group (12.3% vs. 11.4%; HR = 1.25 [0.72-2.18], p = 0.44). The auxiliary analysis showed a higher risk of AKI in the VAN + TZP group than in the VAN + ß-lactam group (13.2% vs. 9.6%; HR = 1.63 [1.04-2.55], p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Our study results showed that the risk of AKI were similar for patients receiving TA + TZP and VAN + TZP. However, low VAN and high TA dose may play a role in this finding. Further investigation on the association between AKI and TA + TZP is required.