Long-term follow-up of patients with multiple myeloma treated with total body irradiation-Melphalan conditioning.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Since a study published in 2002 showed a survival advantage of melphalan-only conditioning for stem cell transplantation (HSCT) over melphalan-total body irradiation (mel-TBI) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), most centers abandoned mel-TBI. Mel-TBI causes more early toxicity and is more complicated to administer, but we speculated it may result in longer term survival with radiation as an independent treatment modality. Therefore, we analyzed the long-term outcome of patients with MM who received mel-TBI as part of conditioning at our center. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1995 to 2013, 50 patients with MM underwent autologous HSCT at Tulane University Medical Center using mel-TBI conditioning. We used Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and compared our patients with data available from the Louisiana Tumor Registry. RESULTS: The mean survival of our patients was 70.98 months from time of transplant and 84.2 months from time of initial diagnosis. No differences were observed according to gender, ethnicity, or age at transplant. The expected median survival in a population-based registry (matched for age and year of treatment) was 27 months (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Total body irradiation in conjunction with melphalan as conditioning is feasible and can lead to long-term survival. More research is necessary to determine which patients benefit most. Mel-TBI should also be explored in conjunction with immunotherapy.

Life expectancy and survival analysis of patients with diabetes compared to the non diabetic population in Bulgaria.

AIMS: To evaluate the expected life expectancy in patients with diabetes in Bulgaria and to compare it to the expected life expectancy of the non-diabetic population in the country. METHODS: It is a retrospective observational population study on individuals diagnosed with diabetes, compared to the non-diabetic population in Bulgaria for the period 2012-2015. Data from the national diabetes register and national statistical institute were used to construct life-tables with probability of survival with t-test and Chi Square test. Confounder analysis was done by age, sex, and type of diabetes. All-cause mortality and deaths in diabetic patients were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed for each age group and a log-rank analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Average life expectancy in the non-diabetic population, patients with Type 1 DM and with Type 2 DM is 74.8; 70.96 and 75.19 years, respectively. For 2012-2015 the mortality in the non-diabetic population remained constant and lower (average-1.48%) compared to type-1 DM (5.25%) and Type-2 (4.27%). Relative risk of death in diabetics was higher overall (12%), after the age of 70 before which the relative risk was higher for the non-diabetic population. This was observed as a trend in all analyzed years. CONCLUSION: Patients with type 2 DM have a longer life-expectancy than patients with type-1 DM and overall Diabetics life expectancy equals that of the non-diabetic population, which could suggest improved disease control and its associated complications in Bulgaria. Male diabetics show slightly longer life expectancy than their counterparts in the non-diabetic population, by a marginal gain of 0.6 years for the entire observed period. Life expectancy in diabetic women increased by 1.3 years, which was not observed in the non-diabetic population. Prevalence of diabetes was higher for women. Improved diabetes control may explain this gain in life; however other studies are needed to confirm this.

Healthcare workforce development through an international workshop series: nursing care of older adults.

A critical need exists to educate the international healthcare workforce on the care of the older adult. This article describes an interdisciplinary program to address the nursing needs of older adults via a series of workshops in Russia. Strategies to bridge international healthcare and educational cultures are demonstrated. Implications for international workforce development, such as establishing collaborative partnerships, creating culturally appropriate materials, and modeling active learning strategies, are discussed.

Long-term mesalamine maintenance in ulcerative colitis: which is more important? Adherence or daily dose.

BACKGROUND: There are limited data about the long-term follow-up of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) maintained on high versus low doses of mesalamine. We evaluated the best long-term average daily dose that would keep the disease in remission. METHODS: Nationwide ulcerative colitis data were obtained from the Veterans Affairs health care system for the period 2001 to 2011. Those who started mesalamine maintenance during this period were included. Average daily dose and the level of adherence were assessed for the period between the first mesalamine dispense and the date of first flare defined as the first filling of 40 mg/day or more of oral prednisone or any dose of intravenous steroids. Patients with ulcerative colitis maintained on an average daily dose 2.4 to 2.8 g/day (low dose) were compared with 4.4 to 4.8 g/day (high dose). Adherence was assessed using continuous single interval medication availability indicator. RESULTS: We included 4452 patients with a median follow-up of 6 years. There was no significant reduction in the risk of flares when comparing high versus low average mesalamine dose among patients with high [hazard ratio = 0.96, P = 0.8)] and medium (hazard ratio = 0.74, P = 0.17) adherence. However, there was a significant reduction in the risk of flares with high dose of mesalamine among patients with low adherence (hazard ratio = 0.28, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that when starting a patient on mesalamine, there is no difference in the long-term flare risk between low versus high average daily dose as long as the patients have a high to moderate level of adherence.

Concordance of adherence measurement using self-reported adherence questionnaires and medication monitoring devices.

The primary objective of this review was to identify and examine the literature on the association between medication adherence self-reported questionnaires (SRQs) and medication monitoring devices. The primary literature search was performed for 1980-2009 using PubMed, PubMed In Process and Non-Indexed, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process, PsycINFO (EBSCO), CINAHL (EBSCO), Ovid HealthStar, EMBASE (Elsevier) and Cochrane Databases and using the following search terms: 'patient compliance', 'medication adherence', 'treatment compliance', 'drug monitoring', 'drug therapy', 'electronic', 'digital', 'computer', 'monitor', 'monitoring', 'drug', 'drugs', 'pharmaceutical preparations', 'compliance' and 'medications'. We identified studies that included SRQs and electronic monitoring devices to measure adherence and focused on the SRQs that were found to be moderately to highly correlated with the monitoring devices. Of the 1679 citations found via the primary search, 41 full-text articles were reviewed for correlation between monitoring devices and SRQs. A majority (68%) of articles reported high (27%), moderate (29%) or significant (12%) correlation between monitoring devices (37 using Medication Event Monitoring System [MEMS®] and four using other devices) and SRQs (11 identified and numerous other unnamed SRQs). The most commonly used SRQs were the Adult/Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trial Group (AACTG/PACTG; 24.4%, 10/41) followed by the 4-item Morisky (9.8%, 4/41), Brief Medication Questionnaire (9.8%, 4/41) and visual analogue scale (VAS; 7.3%, 3/41). Although study designs differed across the articles, SRQs appeared to report a higher rate of medication adherence (+14.9%) than monitoring devices. In conclusion, several medication adherence SRQs were validated using electronic monitoring devices. A majority of them showed high or moderate correlation with medication adherence measured using monitoring devices, and could be considered for measuring patient-reported adherence prospectively.