Are breast cancer patients with suboptimal adherence to cardiovascular treatment more likely to discontinue adjuvant endocrine therapy? Competing risk survival analysis in a nationwide cohort of postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND: High rates of discontinuation undermine the effectiveness of adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) among hormone-receptive breast cancer patients. Patient prognosis also relies on the successful management of cardiovascular risk, which affects a high proportion of postmenopausal women. As with AET, adherence with cardiovascular drugs is suboptimal. We examined whether patient adherence with cardiovascular drugs was associated with the rate of AET discontinuation in a French nationwide claims database linked with hospitalisation data. METHODS: We identified postmenopausal women starting AET between 01/01/2016 and 31/12/2020 and taking at least two drugs for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (antihypertensive drugs, lipid-lowering drugs and platelet aggregation inhibitors) before AET initiation. Adherence was assessed for each drug class by computing the proportion of days covered. Women were categorised as fully adherent, partially adherent or fully non-adherent with their cardiovascular drug regimen based on whether they adhered with all, part or none of their drugs. AET discontinuation was defined as a 90-day gap in AET availability. Time to AET discontinuation according to levels of cardiovascular drug adherence was estimated using cumulative incidence curves, accounting for the competing risks of death and cancer recurrence. Multivariate cause-specific Cox regressions and Fine-and-Gray regressions were used to assess the relative hazards of AET discontinuation. RESULTS: In total, 32,075 women fit the inclusion criteria. Women who were fully adherent with their cardiovascular drugs had the lowest cumulative incidence of AET discontinuation at any point over the 5-year follow-up period. At 5 years, 40.2% of fully non-adherent women had discontinued AET compared with 33.5% of partially adherent women and 28.8% of fully adherent women. Both partial adherence and full non-adherence with cardiovascular drugs were predictors of AET discontinuation in the two models (cause-specific hazard ratios 1.16 [95% CI 1.10-1.22] and 1.49 [95% CI 1.39-1.58]; subdistribution hazard ratios 1.15 [95% CI 1.10-1.21] and 1.47 [95% CI 1.38-1.57]). CONCLUSION: Clinicians should be aware that patients who do not adhere with their entire cardiovascular drug regimen are also more likely to discontinue AET. This stresses the importance of integrated care, as suboptimal adherence with both treatment components poses a threat to achieving ideal patient outcomes.

Recurrent high grade glioma surgery with carmustine wafers implantation: a long-term nationwide retrospective study.

PURPOSE: Widespread use of carmustine wafers (CW) to treat high-grade gliomas (HGG) has been limited by uncertainties about its efficacy. To assess the outcome of patients after recurrent HGG surgery with CW implantation and, search for associated factors. METHODS: We processed the French medico-administrative national database between 2008 and 2019 to retrieve ad hoc cases. Survival methods were implemented. RESULTS: 559 patients who had CW implantation after recurrent HGG resection at 41 different institutions between 2008 and 2019 were identified. 35.6% were female and, median age at HGG resection with CW implantation was 58.1 years, IQR [50-65.4]. 520 patients (93%) had died at data collection with a median age at death of 59.7 years, IQR [51.6-67.1]. Median overall survival (OS) was 1.1 years, 95%CI[0.97-1.2], id est 13.2 months. Median age at death was 59.7 years, IQR [51.6-67.1]. OS at 1, 2 and 5 years was 52.1%, 95%CI[48.1-56.4], 24.6%, 95%CI[21.3-28.5] & 8%, 95%CI[5.9-10.7] respectively. In the adjusted regression, bevacizumab given before CW implantation, (HR = 1.98, 95%CI[1.49-2.63], p < 0.001), a longer delay between the first and the second HGG surgery (HR = 1, 95%CI[1-1], p < 0.001), RT given before and after CW implantation (HR = 0.59, 95%CI[0.39-0.87], p = 0.009) and TMZ given before and after CW implantation (HR = 0.81, 95%CI[0.66-0.98], p = 0.034) remained significantly associated with a longer survival. CONCLUSION: OS of patients with recurrent HGG that underwent surgery with CW implantation is better in case of prolonged delay between the two resections and, for the patients who had RT and TMZ before and after CW implantation.

Cross-validation of comorbidity items in two national databases in a sample of patients with end-stage kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: The use of national medico-administrative databases for epidemiological studies has increased in the last decades. In France, the Healthcare Expenditures and Conditions Mapping (HECM) algorithm has been developed to analyse and monitor the morbidity and economic burden of 58 diseases. We aimed to assess the performance of the HECM in identifying different conditions in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) using data from the REIN registry (the French National Registry for patients with ESKD). METHODS: We included all patients over 18 years of age who started renal replacement therapy in France in 2018. Five conditions with a similar definition in both databases were included (ESKD, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus [HIV], coronary insufficiency, and cancer). The performance of each SNDS algorithm was assessed using sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPVs), negative predictive values (NPVs), and Cohen's kappa coefficient. RESULTS: In total 5,971 patients were included. Among them, 81% were identified as having ESKD in both databases. Diabetes was the condition with the best performance, with a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and Kappa coefficient all over 80%. Cancer had the lowest level of agreement with a Kappa coefficient of 51% and a high specificity and high NPV (94% and 95%). The conditions for which the definition in the HECM included disease-specific medications performed better in our study. CONCLUSION: The HECM showed good to very good concordance with the REIN database information overall, with the exception of cancer. Further validation of the HECM tool in other populations should be performed.

The Economic Burden of Disease in France From the National Health Insurance Perspective: The Healthcare Expenditures and Conditions Mapping Used to Prepare the French Social Security Funding Act and the Public Health Act.

BACKGROUND: Identifying the most frequently treated and the costliest health conditions is essential for prioritizing actions to improve the resilience of health systems. OBJECTIVES: Healthcare Expenditures and Conditions Mapping describes the annual economic burden of 58 health conditions to prepare the French Social Security Funding Act and the Public Health Act. DESIGN: Annual cross-sectional study (2015-2019) based on the French national health database. SUBJECTS: National health insurance beneficiaries (97% of the French residents). MEASURES: All individual health care expenditures reimbursed by the national health insurance were attributed to 58 health conditions (treated diseases, chronic treatments, and episodes of care) identified by using algorithms based on available medical information (diagnosis coded during hospital stays, long-term diseases, and specific drugs). RESULTS: In 2019, €167.0 billion were reimbursed to 66.3 million people (52% women, median age: 42 y). The most prevalent treated diseases were diabetes (6.0%), chronic respiratory diseases (5.5%), and coronary diseases (3.2%). Coronary diseases accounted for 4.6% of expenditures, neurotic and mood disorders 3.7%, psychotic disorders 2.8%, and breast cancer 2.1%. Between 2015 and 2019, the expenditures increased primarily for diabetes (+€906 million) and neurotic and mood disorders (+€861 million) due to the growing number of patients. "Active lung cancer" (+€797 million) represented the highest relative increase (+54%) due to expenditures for the expensive drugs and medical devices delivered at hospital. CONCLUSIONS: These results have provided policy-makers, evaluators, and public health specialists with key insights into identifying health priorities and a better understanding of trends in health care expenditures in France.

Relative survival after meningioma surgery. A French nationwide population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Survival after meningioma surgery is often reported with inadequate allowance for competing causes of death. METHODS: We processed the Système National des Données de Santé, the French administrative medical database to retrieve appropriate patients' case of surgically treated meningiomas. The Pohar Perme relative survival (RS) method was implement. RESULTS: A total of 28,778 patients were identified between 2007 and 2017 of which 75% were female. Median age at surgery 59 years. Cranial convexity was the most common (24.7%) location and, benign meningioma represented 91.5% of all meningioma. Median follow-up was 3.5 years interquartile range [3.4-3.5]. At data collection, 2,232 patients were dead. The five-year survival relative to the expected survival of an age- and gender-matched French standard population was 96.2% 95% confidence interval (CI)[95.7-96.8]. Meningioma absolute excess risk of death was 973/100,000 person-years 95%CI[887-1068] (p< .001). The related standardised mortality ratio was 1.8 95%CI[1.7-1.9] (p< .001). In the adjusted model, male gender (hazard ratio [HR] =1.39, 95%CI[1.27-1.54], p< .001), age at surgery (HR=0.97, 95%CI[0.97-0.97], p < .001), type 2 neurofibromatosis (HR=2.95, 95%CI[1.95-4.46], p < .001), comorbidities HR=1.39, 95%CI[1.36-1.42], p < .001), location (HR=0.8, 95%CI[0.67-0.95], p= .0111), pre-operative embolization, (HR=1.3, 95%CI[1.08-1.56], p= .00507), cerebro-spinal fluid shunt, (HR=2.48, 95%CI[2.04-3.01], p < .001), atypical (HR=1.3, 95%CI [1.09-1.54], p= .00307) or malignant histology (HR=1.86, 95%CI[1.56-2.22], p< .001), redo surgery (HR=1.19, 95%CI[1.04-1.36], p= .0122) and radiotherapy (HR=1.43, 95%CI[1.26-1.62], p < .001) were established as independent predictors of RS. CONCLUSION: This unique study highlights the excess mortality associated with meningioma disease. Many factors such as gender, age, location, histopathological grading, redo surgery influence the RS.

Patient stratification for risk of readmission due to heart failure by using nationwide administrative data.

BACKGROUND: Identifying patients with heart failure (HF) who are most at risk of readmission permits targeting adapted interventions. The use of administrative data enables regulators to support the implementation of such interventions. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a French nationwide cohort of patients aged 65 years or older, surviving an index hospitalization for HF in 2015 (N = 70,657), we studied HF readmission predictors available in administrative data, distinguishing HF severity from overall morbidity and taking into account the competing mortality risk, over a 1-year follow-up period. We also computed cumulative incidences and daily rates of HF readmission for patient groups defined according to HF severity and overall morbidity. Of the patients, 31.8% (n = 22,475) were readmitted at least once for HF, and 17.6% (n = 12,416) died without any readmission for HF. HF severity and overall morbidity were the strongest readmission predictors were the strongest readmission predictors (subdistribution hazard ratios 2.66 [95% CI: 2.52-2.81] and 1.37 [1.30-1.45], respectively, when comparing extreme categories). Overall morbidity and age were more strongly associated with the rate of death without HF readmission (cause-specific hazard ratios). The difference in observed HF readmission between patient risk groups was approximately 40% (21.9%, n = 2144/9,786 vs 60.4%, n = 618/1023). CONCLUSIONS: Segmentation of HF patients into readmission risk groups is possible by using administrative data, and it enables the targeting of preventive interventions.

Health policy analysis of the non-implementation of HPV vaccination coverage in the pay for performance scheme in France.

Background: The French National Cancer Control Plan (NCCP) launched in 2014 set the objective to improve human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage (VC). The NCCP included a measure to integrate a VC indicator in the pay for performance (P4P) scheme for general practitioners (GPs), which was not implemented. The objective of the study was to analyse the reasons for non-implementation of this measure, using the health policy analysis framework. Methods: The policy from proposal to non-implementation of the HPV VC indicator into the P4P scheme was analysed through the actors involved, the content of the measure, the contextual factors and the processes of policy-making. Results: The actors were the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Cancer Institute as policy-makers, the public health insurance as an indirect target, and GPs as direct targets. The content of the policy was not evidence-informed and was not included into the NCCP preparation report. The context included vaccine hesitancy and ethical concerns from GPs in opposition with MOH. The process involved a diversity of stakeholders with a complex governance and no strict monitoring of the measure. Conclusions: Complex vaccination policy governance associated with a non-evidence-informed policy content and an unfavourable context may have been the reasons for the policy failure.

Late-onset pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia developing within a red ink tattoo.

The popularity of tattoos has increased dramatically worldwide particularly in the last three decades, giving rise to the frequent occurrence of a wide spectrum of secondary cutaneous and systemic complications. Pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia (PEH) is a benign irregular hyperplasia of the epidermis occurring in response to various stimuli, that clinically and histopathologically resembles cutaneous neoplasms such as squamous cell carcinoma and keratoacanthoma. In an attempt to improve the awareness of the possible occurrence of PEH in tattoos and of its diagnostic and therapeutic aspects, we present herein the case of a 30-year-old woman with histologically confirmed PEH related to a red-ink tattoo. She revealed two important features: the longest interval reported so far between tattooing and onset of PEH (two years) and the lack of the otherwise very common lichenoid tissue reaction to red ink. In view of the serious toxicological potential of tattoo inks, implementation of updated and standardized regulations worldwide regarding their use in the tattooing process is now urgently warranted and continuous efforts should be undertaken in order to enhance the awareness among tattoo artists and the public with regard to the possible serious health risks associated with the use of tattoo ink pigments.

Cervical and breast cancer screening participation for women with chronic conditions in France: results from a national health survey.

BACKGROUND: Comorbidity at the time of diagnosis is an independent prognostic factor for survival among women suffering from cervical or breast cancer. Although cancer screening practices have proven their efficacy for mortality reduction, little is known about adherence to screening recommendations for women suffering from chronic conditions. We investigated the association between eleven chronic conditions and adherence to cervical and breast cancer screening recommendations in France. METHOD: Using data from a cross-sectional national health survey conducted in 2008, we analyzed screening participation taking into account self-reported: inflammatory systemic disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, depression, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, osteoarthritis and thyroid disorders. We first computed age-standardized screening rates among women who reported each condition. We then estimated the effect of having reported each condition on adherence to screening recommendations in logistic regression models, with adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, socioeconomic position, health behaviours, healthcare access and healthcare use. Finally, we investigated the association between chronic conditions and opportunistic versus organized breast cancer screening using multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: The analyses were conducted among 4226 women for cervical cancer screening and 2056 women for breast cancer screening. Most conditions studied were not associated with screening participation. Adherence to cervical cancer screening recommendations was higher for cancer survivors (OR = 1.73 [0.98-3.05]) and lower for obese women (OR = 0.73 [0.57-0.93]), when accounting for our complete range of screening determinants. Women reporting chronic respiratory disease or diabetes participated less in cervical cancer screening, except when adjusting for socioeconomic characteristics. Adherence to breast cancer screening recommendations was lower for obese women and women reporting diabetes, even after accounting for our complete range of screening determinants (OR = 0.71 [0.52-0.96] and OR = 0.55 [0.36-0.83] respectively). The lower breast cancer screening participation for obese women was more pronounced for opportunistic than for organized screening. CONCLUSION: We identified conditions associated with participation in cervical and breast cancer screening, even when accounting for major determinants of cancer screening. Obese women participated less in cervical cancer screening. Obese women and women with diabetes participated less in mammographic screening and organized breast cancer screening seemed to insufficiently address barriers to participation.

Effect of comorbidities on healthcare expenditures for patients on kidney replacement therapy considering the treatment modality and duration in a French cohort.

End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is associated with a substantial economic burden. In France, the cost of care for such patients represents 2.5% of the total French healthcare expenditures but serves less than 1% of the population. These patients' healthcare expenditures are high because of the specialized and complex treatment needed as well as the presence of multiple comorbidities. This study aims to describe and assess the effect of comorbidities on healthcare expenditures (direct medical cost and non-medical costs including transportation and compensatory allowances) for patients with ESKD in France while considering the modality and duration of renal replacement therapy (RRT). This study included adults who started RRT for the first time between 2012 and 2014 in France and were followed for 5 years. Generalized linear models were built to predict mean monthly cost (MMC) by integrating first the time duration in the cohort, then patient characteristics and finally the duration of use of each treatment modalities. Comorbidities with the highest effect on MMC were inability to walk (+ 1435€), active cancer (+ 593€), HIV positivity (+ 507€) and diabetes (+ 396€). These effects vary according to age or treatment modalities. This study confirms the importance of considering patient characteristics, comorbidities and type of RRT when assessing healthcare expenditures for patients with ESKD.

The health state of France before COVID-19 pandemic between 1990 and 2019: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease study 2019.

Background: France faces nowadays some major challenges regarding its health care system including medically underserved areas, social health inequalities, and hospital pressures. Various indicators and sources of data allow us to describe the health status of a population and, consequently, to assess the impact of these challenges. We assessed the burden of diseases before COVID-19 in France in 2019 and its evolution from 1990 to 2019, and compared it with Western European countries. Methods: We used specific Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) metrics: socio-demographic index (SDI), life expectancy (LE), healthy life expectancy (HALE), years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) with their 95% uncertainty interval (95% UI). We compared French age-standardized metrics to those for other Western European Countries for both sexes and also between 1990 and 2019. We also described the specific causes of these different metrics. Findings: We observed for life expectancy at birth in France a trend to an improvement over time from 77.2 (95% UI: 77.2-77.3) years in 1990 to 82.9 (82.7-83.1) in 2019, which represented the seventh highest life expectancy among 23 Western European countries. HALE at birth in France increased from 67.0 (64.0-69.7) to 71.5 (68.1-74.5), which represented the fourth highest HALE among 23 Western European countries. In France, the total number of DALY per 100.000 population tended to decrease from 25,192 (22,374-28,351) in 1990 to 18,782 (16,408-21,920) in 2019. As compared to other European countries, the burden due to cardiovascular diseases was lower. Neoplasms and cardio-vascular diseases were the two leading causes of YLLs. Mental and musculoskeletal disorders were the two leading causes of YLDs. Interpretation: Overall, these results highlight a clear trend of improvement in the health status in France with certain differences between western European countries. The health policy makers need to devise interventional strategies to reduce the burden of diseases and injuries, with specific attention to causes such as cancers, cardiovascular diseases, mental health and musculoskeletal disorders. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Newly Diagnosed High-Grade Glioma Surgery with Carmustine Wafers Implantation. A Long-Term Nationwide Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Widespread use of carmustine wafers (CWs) to treat high-grade gliomas (HGG) has been limited by uncertainties about their efficacy. We sought to assess the outcome of patients after newly diagnosed HGG surgery with CW implantation and search for associated factors. METHODS: We processed the French medico-administrative national database between 2008 and 2019 to retrieve ad hoc cases. Survival methods were implemented. RESULTS: In total, 1608 patients who had CW implantation after HGG resection at 42 different institutions between 2008 and 2019 were identified; 36.7% were female and, median age at HGG resection with CW implantation was 61.5 years, interquartile range (IQR) [52.9-69.1]. A total of 1460 patients (90.8%) had died at data collection at a median age at death of 63.5 years, IQR [55.3-71.2]. Median overall survival (OS) was 1.42 years, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.35-1.49, i.e., 16.8 months. Median age at death was 63.5 years, IQR [55.3-71.2]. OS at 1, 2, and, 5 years was 67.4%, 95% CI 65.1-69.7; 33.1%, 95% CI 30.9-35.5; and 10.7%, 95% CI 9.2-12.4, respectively. In the adjusted regression, sex (hazard ratio [HR] 0.82, 95% CI 0.74-0.92, P < 0.001), age at HGG surgery with CW implantation (HR 1.02, 95% CI 1.02-1.03, P < 0.001), adjuvant radiotherapy (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.7-0.86, P < 0.001), chemotherapy by temozolomide (HR 0.7, 95% CI 0.63-0.79, P < 0.001), and redo surgery for HGG recurrence (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.69-0.94, P = 0.005) remained significantly associated with the outcome. CONCLUSIONS: OS of patients with newly diagnosed HGG who underwent surgery with CW implantation is better in young patients, those of the female sex, and for those who complete concomitant chemoradiotherapy. Redo surgery for HGG recurrence also was associated with prolonged survival.

Direct impact of COVID-19 by estimating disability-adjusted life years at national level in France in 2020.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization declared a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), on March 11, 2020. The standardized approach of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) allows for quantifying the combined impact of morbidity and mortality of diseases and injuries. The main objective of this study was to estimate the direct impact of COVID-19 in France in 2020, using DALYs to combine the population health impact of infection fatalities, acute symptomatic infections and their post-acute consequences, in 28 days (baseline) up to 140 days, following the initial infection. METHODS: National mortality, COVID-19 screening, and hospital admission data were used to calculate DALYs based on the European Burden of Disease Network consensus disease model. Scenario analyses were performed by varying the number of symptomatic cases and duration of symptoms up to a maximum of 140 days, defining COVID-19 deaths using the underlying, and associated, cause of death. RESULTS: In 2020, the estimated DALYs due to COVID-19 in France were 990 710 (1472 per 100 000), with 99% of burden due to mortality (982 531 years of life lost, YLL) and 1% due to morbidity (8179 years lived with disability, YLD), following the initial infection. The contribution of YLD reached 375%, assuming the duration of 140 days of post-acute consequences of COVID-19. Post-acute consequences contributed to 49% of the total morbidity burden. The contribution of YLD due to acute symptomatic infections among people younger than 70 years was higher (67%) than among people aged 70 years and above (33%). YLL among people aged 70 years and above, contributed to 74% of the total YLL. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 had a substantial impact on population health in France in 2020. The majority of population health loss was due to mortality. Men had higher population health loss due to COVID-19 than women. Post-acute consequences of COVID-19 had a large contribution to the YLD component of the disease burden, even when we assume the shortest duration of 28 days, long COVID burden is large. Further research is recommended to assess the impact of health inequalities associated with these estimates.

Defining a risk-adjustment formula for the introduction of population-based payments for primary care in France.

Novel risk-adjusted payment models for financing primary care are currently being experimented in France. In particular, pilot schemes including shared-savings contracts or prospectively allocated capitation payments are implemented for voluntary primary care structures. Such payment mechanisms require defining a risk-adjustment formula to accurately estimate expected expenditure while maintaining appropriate efficiency incentives. We used nationwide data from the French national health data system (SNDS) to compare the performance of different prospective models for total and outpatient expenditure prediction among more than 8 million individuals aged 65 or more and their application at an aggregate level. We focused on the characterization of morbidity status and on the contextual characteristics to include in the formula. We proposed a set of practical routinely available predictors with fair performance for patient-level expenditure prediction (explaining 32% of variance) that could be used to risk-adjust prospective payments in the French setting. Morbidity information was the strongest predictor but could lead to considerable error in predicted expenditures if introduced as independent binary variables in multiplicative models, underlining the importance of summary morbidity measures and of using the appropriate metric to assess model performance. Distribution of aggregate-level allocations was greatly modified according to the method to account for contextual characteristics. Our work informs the introduction of risk-adjusted models in France and underlines efficiency and fairness issues raised.

Underuse of primary healthcare in France during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 according to individual characteristics: a national observational study.

BACKGROUND: The organization of healthcare systems changed significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact on the use of primary care during various key periods in 2020 has been little studied. METHODS: Using individual data from the national health database, we compared the numbers of people with at least one consultation, deaths, the total number of consultations for the population of mainland France (64.3 million) and the mean number of consultations per person (differentiating between teleconsultations and consultations in person) between 2019 and 2020. We performed analyses by week, by lockdown period (March 17 to May 10, and October 30 to December 14 [less strict]), and for the entire year. Analyses were stratified for age, sex, deprivation index, epidemic level, and disease. RESULTS: During the first lockdown, 26% of the population consulted a general practitioner (GP) at least once (-34% relative to 2019), 7.4% consulted a nurse (-28%), 1.6% a physiotherapist (-80%), and 5% a dentist (-95%). For specialists, consultations were down 82% for ophthalmologists and 37% for psychiatrists. The deficit was smaller for specialties making significant use of teleconsultations. During the second lockdown, the number of consultations was close to that in 2019, except for GPs (-7%), pediatricians (-8%), and nurses (+ 39%). Nurses had already seen a smaller increase in weekly consultations during the summer, following their authorization to perform COVID-19 screening tests. The decrease in the annual number of consultations was largest for dentists (-17%), physiotherapists (-14%), and many specialists (approximately 10%). The mean number of consultations per person was slightly lower for the various specialties, particularly for nurses (15.1 vs. 18.6). The decrease in the number of consultations was largest for children and adolescents (GPs: -10%, dentists: -13%). A smaller decrease was observed for patients with chronic diseases and with increasing age. There were 9% excess deaths, mostly in individuals over 60 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: There was a marked decrease in primary care consultations in France, especially during the first lockdown, despite strong teleconsultation activity, with differences according to age and healthcare profession. The impact of this decrease in care on morbidity and mortality merits further investigation.

Cause-Specific Survival After Meningioma Surgery: A Nationwide Population-Based Competing Risk Study.

BACKGROUND: Survival after meningioma surgery often is reported with inadequate allowance for competing causes of death. METHODS: We processed the French Système National des Données de Santé database using an algorithm combining the type of surgical procedure and the International Classification of Diseases to retrieve appropriate cases of meningiomas. The cumulative incidence of meningioma-related death was the primary end point. A competing risk analysis was performed to identify factors associated with meningioma-specific death of patients who underwent meningioma surgery. RESULTS: The risk of meningioma-related death at 1, 2, and 3 years respectively was 2.4%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2-2.7; 3%, 95% CI 2.6-3.4; and 3.1%, 95% CI 2.7-3.6. In the adjusted Fine-Gray competing risk regression for meningioma cause-specific survival, age at surgery (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR] 1.07, 95% CI 1.05-1.09, P < 0.001), mortality-related morbidity index (SHR 1.68, 95% CI 1.07-2.63, P = 0.025), expenditure-related morbidity index (SHR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03-1.09, P < 0.001), spinal location (SHR 0.2, 95% CI 0.08-0.47, P < 0.001), cerebrospinal fluid shunt (SHR 3.13, 95% CI 1.9-5.16, P < 0.001), grade (SHR 1.88, 95% CI 1.13-3.14, P = 0.015) redo surgery for recurrence (SHR 1.6, 95% CI 1.01-2.51, P = 0.043), and progressing meningioma (SHR 2.87, 95% CI 1.23-6.68, P = 0.015) were established as independent prognostic factors of meningioma-related death. CONCLUSIONS: Cause-specific survival after meningioma surgery is greater in younger, low-comorbidity adults with spinal and benign meningioma. Those with an intracranial, progressing malignant tumor requiring cerebrospinal fluid shunting and having a severe global health-state have a significant increased risk of meningioma-related death. Redo surgery failed to improve the outcome. We recommend the use of competing risk model in meningioma studies in which unrelated mortality may be substantial, as this approach results in more accurate estimates of disease risk and associated predictors.

Two morbidity indices developed in a nationwide population permitted performant outcome-specific severity adjustment.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to develop and validate two outcome-specific morbidity indices in a population-based setting: the Mortality-Related Morbidity Index (MRMI) predictive of all-cause mortality and the Expenditure-Related Morbidity Index (ERMI) predictive of health care expenditure. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A cohort including all beneficiaries of the main French health insurance scheme aged 65 years or older on December 31, 2013 (N = 7,672,111), was randomly split into a development population for index elaboration and a validation population for predictive performance assessment. Age, gender, and selected lists of conditions identified through standard algorithms available in the French health insurance database (SNDS) were used as predictors for 2-year mortality and 2-year health care expenditure in separate models. Overall performance and calibration of the MRMI and ERMI were measured and compared to various versions of the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). RESULTS: The MRMI included 16 conditions, was more discriminant than the age-adjusted CCI (c-statistic: 0.825 [95% confidence interval: 0.824-0.826] vs. 0.800 [0.799-0.801]), and better calibrated. The ERMI included 19 conditions, explained more variance than the cost-adapted CCI (21.8% vs. 13.0%), and was better calibrated. CONCLUSION: The proposed MRMI and ERMI indices are performant tools to account for health-state severity according to outcomes of interest.

Effect of pay-for-performance on cervical cancer screening participation in France.

Pay-for-performance (P4P) has been increasingly used across different healthcare settings to incentivize the provision of targeted services. In this study, we investigated the effect of a nationwide P4P scheme for general practitioners implemented in 2012 in France, on cervical cancer screening practices. Using data from a nationally representative permanent sample of health insurance beneficiaries, we analyzed smear test use of eligible women for the years 2006-2014. Our longitudinal sample was an unbalanced panel comprising 180,167 women eligible from 1 to 9 years each. We took into account that during our study period some women were exposed to another incentive for screening participation: the implementation in 2010 of organized screening (OS) in a limited number of areas. To evaluate the effect of P4P, we defined three different measures of smear utilization. For each measure, we specified binary panel-data models to estimate annual probabilities and to compare each estimate to the 2011 baseline level. To explore the combined effect of P4P and OS in areas exposed to both incentives, we computed interaction terms between year dummies and area of residence. We found that P4P had a modest positive effect on recommended screening participation. This effect is likely to be transient as annual smear use, both for the whole sample and among women overdue for screening, increased only in 2013 and decreased again in 2014. The combined effect of P4P and OS on screening participation was not cumulative during the first years of coexistence.