Impact of polypharmacy and comorbidity on survival and systemic parenteral treatment administration in a cohort of hospitalized lung-cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Although polypharmacy has been described among cancer patients, very few studies have focused on those with lung cancer. We aimed to assess whether polypharmacy and comorbidity have an impact on systemic parenteral treatment administration and survival among lung-cancer patients. METHODS: In this retrospective monocenter cohort study, we included patients hospitalized in thoracic oncology for the first time between 2011 and 2015. The Elixhauser score was used to assess comorbidity and polypharmacy was estimated with a threshold of at least five prescribed medications. The Fine and Gray competitive risk model was used to estimate the impact of polypharmacy and comorbidity on systemic parenteral treatment administration within the first two months of hospitalization. The effect of comorbidity and polypharmacy on overall survival was evaluated by Cox proportional hazards analysis. RESULTS: In total, 633 patients were included (71% men), with a median age of 66 years. The median Elixhauser score was 6 and median overall survival was four months. Among the patients, 24.3% were considered to be receiving polypharmacy, with a median number of medications of 3, and 49.9% received systemic parenteral treatment within two months after hospitalization. Severe comorbidity (Elixhauser score > 11), but not polypharmacy, was independently associated with a lower rate of systemic parenteral treatment prescription (SdHR = 0.4 [0.3;0.6], p < 0.01) and polypharmacy, but not a high comorbidity score, was independently associated with poorer four-month survival (HR = 1.4 [1.1;1.9], p < 0.01) CONCLUSIONS: This first study to evaluate the consequences of comorbidity and polypharmacy on the care of lung-cancer patients shows that a high comorbidity burden can delay systemic parenteral treatment administration, whereas polypharmacy has a negative impact on four-month survival.

Comparison of seven comorbidity scores on four-month survival of lung cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: The comorbidity burden has a negative impact on lung-cancer survival. Several comorbidity scores have been described and are currently used. The current challenge is to select the comorbidity score that best reflects their impact on survival. Here, we compared seven usable comorbidity scores (Charlson Comorbidity Index, Age adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index, Charlson Comorbidity Index adapted to lung cancer, National Cancer Institute combined index, National Cancer Institute combined index adapted to lung cancer, Elixhauser score, and Elixhauser adapted to lung cancer) with coded administrative data according to the tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems to select the best prognostic index for predicting four-month survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cohort included every patient with a diagnosis of lung cancer hospitalized for the first time in the thoracic oncology unit of our institution between 2011 and 2015. The seven scores were calculated and used in a Cox regression method to model their association with four-month survival. Then, parameters to compare the relative goodness-of-fit among different models (Akaike Information Criteria, Bayesian Information Criteria), and discrimination parameters (the C-statistic and Harrell's c-statistic) were calculated. A sensitivity analysis of these parameters was finally performed using a bootstrap method based on 1,000 samples. RESULTS: In total, 633 patients were included. Male sex, histological type, metastatic status, CCI, CCI-lung, Elixhauser score, and Elixhauser-lung were associated with poorer four-month survival. The Elixhauser score had the lowest AIC and BIC and the highest c-statistic and Harrell's c-statistic. These results were confirmed in the sensitivity analysis, in which these discrimination parameters for the Elixhauser score were significantly different from the other scores. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this cohort, the Elixhauser score is the best prognostic comorbidity score for predicting four-month survival for hospitalized lung cancer patients.

Development of Indirect Health Data Linkage on Health Product Use and Care Trajectories in France: Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: European national disparities in the integration of data linkage (ie, being able to match patient data between databases) into routine public health activities were recently highlighted. In France, the claims database covers almost the whole population from birth to death, offering a great research potential for data linkage. As the use of a common unique identifier to directly link personal data is often limited, linkage with a set of indirect key identifiers has been developed, which is associated with the linkage quality challenge to minimize errors in linked data. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review is to analyze the type and quality of research publications on indirect data linkage on health product use and care trajectories in France. METHODS: A comprehensive search for all papers published in PubMed/Medline and Embase databases up to December 31, 2022, involving linked French database focusing on health products use or care trajectories was realized. Only studies based on the use of indirect identifiers were included (ie, without a unique personal identifier available to easily link the databases). A descriptive analysis of data linkage with quality indicators and adherence to the Bohensky framework for evaluating data linkage studies was also realized. RESULTS: In total, 16 papers were selected. Data linkage was performed at the national level in 7 (43.8%) cases or at the local level in 9 (56.2%) studies. The number of patients included in the different databases and resulting from data linkage varied greatly, respectively, from 713 to 75,000 patients and from 210 to 31,000 linked patients. The diseases studied were mainly chronic diseases and infections. The objectives of the data linkage were multiple: to estimate the risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs; n=6, 37.5%), to reconstruct the patient's care trajectory (n=5, 31.3%), to describe therapeutic uses (n=2, 12.5%), to evaluate the benefits of treatments (n=2, 12.5%), and to evaluate treatment adherence (n=1, 6.3%). Registries are the most frequently linked databases with French claims data. No studies have looked at linking with a hospital data warehouse, a clinical trial database, or patient self-reported databases. The linkage approach was deterministic in 7 (43.8%) studies, probabilistic in 4 (25.0%) studies, and not specified in 5 (31.3%) studies. The linkage rate was mainly from 80% to 90% (reported in 11/15, 73.3%, studies). Adherence to the Bohensky framework for evaluating data linkage studies showed that the description of the source databases for the linkage was always performed but that the completion rate and accuracy of the variables to be linked were not systematically described. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights the growing interest in health data linkage in France. Nevertheless, regulatory, technical, and human constraints remain major obstacles to their deployment. The volume, variety, and validity of the data represent a real challenge, and advanced expertise and skills in statistical analysis and artificial intelligence are required to treat these big data.

Healthy diet associated with better asthma outcomes in elderly women of the French Asthma-E3N study.

PURPOSE: The impact of a healthy diet on asthma prevention and management, particularly among elderly women, remains poorly understood. We investigated whether a healthy diet would be associated with fewer asthma symptoms, and, among women with asthma, with reduced uncontrolled asthma and metabolic-related multimorbidity. METHODS: We included 12,991 elderly women (mean age = 63 years) from the Asthma-E3N study, a nested case-control study within the French E3N cohort. Negative binomial regressions were used to analyse associations between a healthy diet [evaluated by the Alternate Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010)] and a validated asthma symptom score, and logistic regressions to analyse associations between the AHEI-2010 with the asthma control test and multimorbidity profiles previously identified by clustering methods on medications used. RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounders, a linear inverse association was found between the AHEI-2010 score and the asthma symptom score [mean score ratio (95% CI) = 0.82 (0.75-0.90) for the highest versus lowest quintile; p for trend < 0.0001]. In addition, women in the highest versus lowest AHEI-2010 tertile were at a lower risk to belong to the "Predominantly metabolic multimorbidity-related medications profile" compared to the "Few multimorbidity-related medications" profile [OR 0.80 (0.63-1.00) for tertile 3; p for trend = 0.05; n = 3474]. CONCLUSION: Our results show that a healthy dietary intake could play an important role in the prevention and management of asthma over the life course.

Tablets or oral suspension for posaconazole in lung transplant recipients? Consequences for trough concentrations of tacrolimus and everolimus.

AIMS: A new formulation of posaconazole (PCZ), delayed-release tablets (PCZ-tab), increases PCZ bioavailability and plasma trough concentrations (Cmin ) over those achieved with an oral suspension (PCZ-susp). PCZ is an inhibitor of cytochrome P450 3A4 and P-glycoprotein. We therefore investigated the impact of PCZ-tab treatment on blood Cmin and doses of tacrolimus (TAC) and everolimus (EVR). METHODS: Eighteen lung transplant patients receiving TAC (n = 13) or TAC + EVR (n = 5) between June 2015 and March 2016 were retrospectively included. Ten of these patients received both PCZ-tab and PCZ-susp (i.e. switched patients); the other 8 received only PCZ-tab. Plasma Cmin of PCZ (n = 64), blood Cmin of TAC (n = 299) and EVR (n = 80) were determined during routine therapeutic drug monitoring by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS: PCZ Cmin on PCZ-tab treatment (n = 48) was 2.5 times higher than that on PCZ-susp therapy (n = 16), for both PCZ patients (P < .0001) and for switched patients (P = .003). PCZ initiation, regardless of galenic form, increased TAC and EVR Cmin adjusted for dose (D), 3-fold and 3.5-fold, respectively (P < .0001 for both). PCZ-tab treatment was associated with a higher TAC Cmin /D (PCZ-tab vs PCZ-susp: 0.004 ± 0.004 L-1 vs 0.009 ± 0.006 L-1 , P < .0001) and lower TAC daily dose than PCZ-susp (PCZ-tab vs PCZ-susp: 1.08 ± 0.92 vs 2.32 ± 1.62 mg d-1 , P < .0001). EVR Cmin /D was higher and EVR dose tended to be lower on PCZ-tab than on PCZ-susp. CONCLUSION: The greater PCZ exposure achieved during PCZ-tab treatment increased drug-drug interactions with TAC and EVR, resulting in greater exposure, potentially exposing patients to higher risks of adverse effects.

Risk factors for severe adult-onset asthma: a multi-factor approach.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to identify risk factors for severe adult-onset asthma. METHODS: We used data from a population-based sample (Adult Asthma in Finland) of 1350 patients with adult-onset asthma (age range 31-93 years) from Finnish national registers. Severe asthma was defined as self-reported severe asthma and asthma symptoms causing much harm and regular impairment and ≥ 1 oral corticosteroid course/year or regular oral corticosteroids or waking up in the night due to asthma symptoms/wheezing ≥ a few times/month. Sixteen covariates covering several domains (personal characteristics, education, lifestyle, early-life factors, asthma characteristics and multiple morbidities) were selected based on the literature and were studied in association with severe asthma using logistic regressions. RESULTS: The study population included 100 (7.4%) individuals with severe asthma. In a univariate analysis, severe asthma was associated with male sex, age, a low education level, no professional training, ever smoking, ≥ 2 siblings, ≥ 1 chronic comorbidity and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-exacerbated respiratory disease (NERD) (p < 0.05), and trends for association (p < 0.2) were observed for severe childhood infection, the presence of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, and being the 1st child. The 10 variables (being a 1st child was removed due to multicollinearity) were thus entered in a multivariate regression model, and severe asthma was significantly associated with male sex (OR [95% CI] = 1.96 [1.16-3.30]), ever smoking (1.98 [1.11-3.52]), chronic comorbidities (2.68 [1.35-5.31]), NERD (3.29 [1.75-6.19]), and ≥ 2 siblings (2.51 [1.17-5.41]). There was a dose-response effect of the total sum of these five factors on severe asthma (OR [95% CI] = 2.30 [1.81-2.93] for each one-unit increase in the score). CONCLUSIONS: Male sex, smoking, NERD, comorbidities, and ≥ 2 siblings were independent risk factors for self-reported severe asthma. The effects of these factors seem to be cumulative; each additional risk factor gradually increases the risk of severe asthma.

Clinical, economic and organizational impact of pharmacist interventions on injectable antineoplastic prescriptions: a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists play a key role in ensuring the safe use of injectable antineoplastics, which are considered as high-alert medications. Pharmaceutical analysis of injectable antineoplastic prescriptions aims to detect and prevent drug related problems by proposing pharmacist interventions (PI). The impact of this activity for patients, healthcare facilities and other health professionals is not completely known. This study aimed at describing the clinical, economic, and organizational impacts of PIs performed by pharmacists in a chemotherapy preparation unit. METHODS: A prospective 10-week study was conducted on PIs involving injectable antineoplastic prescriptions. Each PI was assessed by one of the four multidisciplinary expert committees using a multidimensional tool with three independent dimensions: clinical, economic and organizational. An ancillary quantitative evaluation of drug cost savings was conducted. RESULTS: Overall, 185 patients were included (mean age: 63.5 ± 13.7 years; 54.1% were male) and 237 PIs concerning 10.1% prescriptions were recorded. Twenty one PIs (8.9%) had major clinical impact (ie: prevented hospitalization or permanent disability), 49 PIs (20.7%) had moderate clinical impact (ie: prevented harm that would have required further monitoring/treatment), 62 PIs (26.2%) had minor clinical impact, 95 PIs (40.0%) had no clinical impact, and 9 PIs (3.8%) had a negative clinical impact. For one PI (0.4%) the clinical impact was not determined due to insufficient information. Regarding organizational impact, 67.5% PIs had a positive impact on patient management from the healthcare providers' perspective. A positive economic impact was observed for 105 PIs (44.3%), leading to a saving in direct drug costs of 15,096 €; 38 PIs (16.0%) had a negative economic impact, increasing the direct drug cost by 11,878 €. Overall cost saving was 3218€. CONCLUSIONS: PIs are associated with positive clinical, economic and organizational impacts. This study confirms the benefit of pharmacist analysis of injectable antineoplastic prescriptions for patient safety with an overall benefit to the healthcare system.

Risk of adult-onset asthma increases with the number of allergic multimorbidities and decreases with age.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to study the association between allergic multimorbidity and adult-onset asthma considering the number of allergic diseases and the age effect. METHODS: We used population-based data from Finnish national registers including 1205 adults over 30 years of age with recently diagnosed asthma (age range: 30-93), matched for gender, age, and living region with one or two controls (n = 2050). Allergic rhinitis (AR), allergic conjunctivitis (AC), and allergic dermatitis (AD) were defined from self-completed questionnaire. Conditional logistic regression adjusted on potential confounders (smoking, growing in countryside, childhood hospitalized infection/pneumonia, parental asthma/allergy, parental smoking, education level, professional training, number of siblings, and birth order) was applied to estimate the asthma risk associated with allergic multimorbidity. RESULTS: A total of 1118 cases with asthma and 1772 matched controls were included [mean (SD, min-max) 53 (11, 31-71) years, 37% men)]. AR, AC, and AD were reported by 50.2%, 39.6%, and 33.8%, respectively, among subjects with asthma and 26.1%, 20.0%, and 23.5%, respectively, among controls. Compared to nonatopics, adult-onset asthma increased with the number of allergic diseases; adjusted OR for asthma [95% CI] associated with 1, 2, and 3 allergic diseases was 1.95 [1.52-2.49], 2.87 [2.19-3.77], and 4.26 [3.07-5.90], respectively. The association between adult-onset asthma and ≥ 1 allergic multimorbidity decreased with increasing age (3.52 [2.51-4.94], 2.44 [1.74-3.42], and 1.68 [1.04-2.71]) in subjects < 50 years, 50-62 years, and > 62 years, respectively (p for age*≥1 allergic multimorbidity interaction, 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Adult-onset asthma was positively associated with the number of allergic diseases, and this association decreases with age.

Data-driven adult asthma phenotypes based on clinical characteristics are associated with asthma outcomes twenty years later.

BACKGROUND: Research based on cluster analyses led to the identification of particular phenotypes confirming phenotypic heterogeneity of asthma. The long-term clinical course of asthma phenotypes defined by clustering analysis remains unknown, although it is a key aspect to underpin their clinical relevance. We aimed to estimate risk of poor asthma events between asthma clusters identified 20 years earlier. METHODS: The study relied on two cohorts of adults with asthma with 20-year follow-up, ECRHS (European Community Respiratory Health Survey) and EGEA (Epidemiological study on Genetics and Environment of Asthma). Regression models were used to compare asthma characteristics (current asthma, asthma exacerbations, asthma control, quality of life, and FEV1 ) at follow-up and the course of FEV1  between seven cluster-based asthma phenotypes identified 20 years earlier. RESULTS: The analysis included 1325 adults with ever asthma. For each asthma characteristic assessed at follow-up, the risk for adverse outcomes differed significantly between the seven asthma clusters identified at baseline. As compared with the mildest asthma phenotype, ORs (95% CI) for asthma exacerbations varied from 0.9 (0.4 to 2.0) to 4.0 (2.0 to 7.8) and the regression estimates (95% CI) for FEV1 % predicted varied from 0.6 (-3.5 to 4.6) to -9.9 (-14.2 to -5.5) between clusters. Change in FEV1 over time did not differ significantly across clusters. CONCLUSION: Our findings show that the long-term risk for poor asthma outcomes differed between comprehensive adult asthma phenotypes identified 20 years earlier, and suggest a strong tracking of asthma activity and impaired lung function over time.

Integrating anatomo-physiological changes and pharmacogenomics in anti-infective therapy management: is it a major concern?

Success of anti-infective therapy is a major challenge in some patients given anatomo-physiological changes and genetic variations. In this case anecdote, we report the management strategy of a patient suffering from chronic pulmonary aspergillosis in a context of anorexia nervosa and genetic polymorphism.

Multimorbidity medications and poor asthma prognosis.

Multimedication related to multimorbidity is common in the elderly with asthma. We aimed at comprehensively characterising medications used by elderly women and assessing how multimedication impacts on asthma prognosis.We performed network-based analyses on drug administrative databases to visualise the prevalence of drug classes and their interconnections among 17 458 elderly women from the Asthma-E3N study, including 4328 women with asthma. Asthma groups sharing similar medication profiles were identified by a clustering method relying on all medications and were studied in association with adverse asthma events (uncontrolled asthma, attacks/exacerbations and poor asthma-related quality of life).The network-based analysis showed more multimedication in women with asthma than in those without asthma. The clustering method identified three multimedication profiles in asthma: "Few multimorbidity-related medications" (43.5%), "Predominantly allergic multimorbidity-related medications" (32.8%) and "Predominantly metabolic multimorbidity-related medications" (23.7%). Compared with women belonging to the "Few multimorbidity-related medications" profile, women belonging to the two other profiles had an increased risk of uncontrolled asthma and asthma attacks/exacerbations, and had lower asthma-related quality of life.The integrative data-driven approach on drug administrative databases identified specific multimorbidity-related medication profiles that were associated with poor asthma prognosis. These findings support the importance of multimorbidity in the unmet needs in asthma management.

Forced midexpiratory flow between 25% and 75% of forced vital capacity is associated with long-term persistence of asthma and poor asthma outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Whether small-airway obstruction contributes to the long-term evolution of asthma remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to assess whether the level of forced midexpiratory flow between 25% and 75% of forced vital capacity (FEF25-75) was associated with the persistence of current asthma over 20 years and the subsequent risk for uncontrolled asthma independently of FEV1. METHODS: We studied 337 participants (142 children and 225 adults) with current asthma (asthma attacks or treatment in the past 12 months) recruited to the Epidemiological Study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA1) and followed up at the 12- and 20-year surveys. Persistent current asthma was defined by current asthma reported at each survey. A lung function test and a methacholine challenge test were performed at EGEA1 and EGEA2. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were estimated for FEF25-75 decreased by 10% of predicted value. RESULTS: A reduced level of FEF25-75 at EGEA1 increased the risk of long-term asthma persistence (adjusted OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.00-1.29). In children the association remained significant after further adjustment for FEV1 and in participants with FEV1 of greater than 80% of predicted value. A reduced FEF25-75 level at EGEA1 was significantly associated with more severe bronchial hyperresponsiveness (P < .0001) and with current asthma a decade later, with an association that tended to be stronger in those with (adjusted OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.14-1.81) compared with those without (adjusted OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.05-1.41) asthma exacerbation. CONCLUSION: Our analysis is the first to suggest that small-airway obstruction, as assessed based on FEF25-75, might contribute to the long-term persistence of asthma and the subsequent risk for poor asthma outcomes independently from effects of the large airways.

Long-term benefits of inhaled corticosteroids in asthma: the propensity score method.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to apply a propensity score approach to assess the long-term benefits of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on respiratory health in asthma. METHODS: This analysis was conducted on adults with persistent asthma from the Epidemiological study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma, a 12-year follow-up study. ICS exposure was assessed by questionnaire. Change in lung function over the follow-up period, asthma control, and health-related quality of life (asthma quality of life questionnaire) were assessed by standardized and validated methods. RESULTS: Among 245 adults with persistent asthma, 78 (31.8%) were regularly/continuously exposed to ICS (≥6 months/year, ICS++ ) and 167 never/irregularly exposed to ICS (<6 months/year, ICS+/- ) over the follow-up period. Compared with ICS+/- subjects, a nonsignificant trend for a slower lung function decline (mL/year) was observed in ICS++ subjects (ß [95%CI] = -11.4 [-24.9; 2.0]). The ICS++ subjects did not have better controlled asthma and higher health-related quality of life as compared with ICS+/- subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Applying a propensity score method did not offer evidence of a statistical significant long-term benefit of ICS on respiratory health in adults with persistent asthma regularly or continuously exposed to ICS over a long period.