Relationship Between Pharyngeal Residues Assessed by Bolus Residue Scale or Normalized Residue Ratio SCALE and Risk of Aspiration in Head and Neck Cancer Who Underwent Videofluoroscopy.

Dysphagia affects 60-75% of patients treated for head and neck cancer (HNC). We aimed to evaluate the association between residue severity and airway invasion severity using a videofluoroscopic swallowing study and identify risk factors for poor penetration-aspiration outcomes in patients with dysphagia treated for HNC. Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) was used to assess airway invasion severity, while residue severity was assessed using both the Bolus Residue Scale (BRS) for residue location and the Normalized Residue Ratio Scale (NRRS) for residue amount. Relevant covariates were adjusted in the logistic regression models to account for potential confounding. Significantly higher abnormal PAS was reported for increased piriform sinus NRRS (NRRSp) [odds ratio (OR), 4.81; p = 0.042] with liquid swallowing and increased BRS value (OR, 1.52; p = 0.014) for semi-liquid swallowing in multivariate analysis. Tumor location, older age, and poorer Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) were significant factors for abnormal PAS in both texture swallowings. After adjusting for confounding factors (sex, age, and FOIS score), NRRS model in liquid swallowing (area under the curve [AUC], 0.83; standard error = 0.04, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.75, 0.91) and BRS in semi-liquid swallowing (AUC, 0.83; SE = 0.04; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.91) predicted abnormal PAS. The results indicate that while assessing residue and swallowing aspiration in patients with HNC, it is important to consider age, tumor location, and functional swallowing status. The good predictability of abnormal PAS with BRS and NRRS indicated that residue location and amount were both related to the aspiration event in patients with HNC.

Trends in coagulation factor replacement therapy and medical costs in patients with haemophilia in Taiwan: A population-based, 15-year analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Taiwan's National Health Insurance Program approved reimbursement of prophylactic coagulation factor replacement therapy (CFRT) for patients with haemophilia (PWH) in 2014. AIM: To examine 15-year trends and the impact of reimbursement for prophylactic CFRT on its utilization and related medical costs for PWH. METHODS: We analysed Taiwan's National Health Insurance Database from 2003 to 2017. We included patients with haemophilia A (PWHA) or B (PWHB) receiving coagulating factor. Female patients were excluded because of small sample size. We analysed annual consumption of CFRT units and medical costs. High proportion of days covered (PDC) with CFRT served as an indicator for prophylactic treatment since it reflects routine use of CFRT. We applied interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) to evaluate the impact of reimbursement for prophylactic CFRT on usage patterns and medical costs. RESULTS: We included 896 male PWHA and 181 male PWHB, with 38.1% and 37.0% aged under 18 years, respectively. By ITSA, we found the trends in coagulation factor consumption and PDC significantly increased after reimbursement for prophylactic CFRT in both PWHA and PWHB (p values for trend change <0.05). The overall medical costs per patient increased with increasing consumption of coagulation factor; however, ITSA revealed non-CFRT cost decreased after reimbursement of prophylactic CFRT for both PWHA and PWHB (p values <.05). CONCLUSION: Reimbursement for prophylactic CFRT facilitated growth in rates of prophylactic CFRT and increased related costs, but curbed rising non-CFRT costs. These findings provide strong grounds for future cost-effectiveness studies to leverage prophylactic CFRT for its therapeutic benefits.

Maternal diabetes and risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in offspring in a multinational cohort of 3.6 million mother-child pairs.

Previous studies report an association between maternal diabetes mellitus (MDM) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), often overlooking unmeasured confounders such as shared genetics and environmental factors. We therefore conducted a multinational cohort study with linked mother-child pairs data in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Taiwan, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden to evaluate associations between different MDM (any MDM, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and pregestational diabetes mellitus (PGDM)) and ADHD using Cox proportional hazards regression. We included over 3.6 million mother-child pairs between 2001 and 2014 with follow-up until 2020. Children who were born to mothers with any type of diabetes during pregnancy had a higher risk of ADHD than unexposed children (pooled hazard ratio (HR) = 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08-1.24). Higher risks of ADHD were also observed for both GDM (pooled HR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.04-1.17) and PGDM (pooled HR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.25-1.55). However, siblings with discordant exposure to GDM in pregnancy had similar risks of ADHD (pooled HR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.94-1.17), suggesting potential confounding by unmeasured, shared familial factors. Our findings indicate that there is a small-to-moderate association between MDM and ADHD, whereas the association between GDM and ADHD is unlikely to be causal. This finding contrast with previous studies, which reported substantially higher risk estimates, and underscores the need to reevaluate the precise roles of hyperglycemia and genetic factors in the relationship between MDM and ADHD.

A New Drug Safety Signal Detection and Triage System Integrating Sequence Symmetry Analysis and Tree-Based Scan Statistics with Longitudinal Data.

Purpose: Development and evaluation of a drug-safety signal detection system integrating data-mining tools in longitudinal data is essential. This study aimed to construct a new triage system using longitudinal data for drug-safety signal detection, integrating data-mining tools, and evaluate adaptability of such system. Patients and Methods: Based on relevant guidelines and structural frameworks in Taiwan's pharmacovigilance system, we constructed a triage system integrating sequence symmetry analysis (SSA) and tree-based scan statistics (TreeScan) as data-mining tools for detecting safety signals. We conducted an exploratory analysis utilizing Taiwan's National Health Insurance Database and selecting two drug classes (sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and non-fluorinated quinolones (NFQ)) as chronic and episodic treatment respectively, as examples to test feasibility of the system. Results: Under the proposed system, either cohort-based or self-controlled mining with SSA and TreeScan was selected, based on whether the screened drug had an appropriate comparator. All detected alerts were further classified as known adverse drug reactions (ADRs), events related to other causes or potential signals from the triage algorithm, building on existing drug labels and clinical judgement. Exploratory analysis revealed greater numbers of signals for NFQ with a relatively low proportion of known ADRs; most were related to indication, patient characteristics or bias. No safety signals were found. By contrast, most SGLT2i signals were known ADRs or events related to patient characteristics. Four were potential signals warranting further investigation. Conclusion: The proposed system facilitated active and systematic screening to detect and classify potential safety signals. Countries with real-world longitudinal data could adopt it to streamline drug-safety surveillance.

Effectiveness of Prophylactic Coagulation Factor Replacement Therapy in Patients with Severe Hemophilia A in Taiwan - A Population-Based Study.

Purpose: Taiwan launched reimbursement of prophylactic coagulation factor replacement therapy (CFRT) for patients with severe hemophilia type A (severe PWHA) in 2014. However, since then, the effectiveness of prophylactic CFRT in real-world practice has not been evaluated thoroughly. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of prophylactic CFRT in severe PWHA cases on the outcome of bleeding risks. Patients and Methods: We included male, severe PWHA cases from a nationwide, population-based database in Taiwan. Given that the database lacked details of the dosing regimen for prophylactic CFRT, we applied group-based trajectory modeling using the proportion of days covered (PDC) by CFRT from 2014 to 2015 in order to classify patients. A high PDC level corresponded to a greater proportion of time under CFRT, thus implying that the patient was probably receiving prophylactic therapy. We followed up patients from January 01, 2016 until occurrence of any bleeding events, death or December 31st 2017. Results: We identified a total of 420 severe PWHA and classified them into high- (n = 88), medium- (n = 181) and low- (n = 151) PDC groups. The mean (±SD) PDC values of the three groups were 0.78 (±0.1), 0.40 (±0.1) and 0.12 (±0.1), respectively. Using Cox regression models with propensity score adjustment, we found patients with medium- (hazard ratio: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.56-0.89) or high-PDC (0.45; 0.36-0.68) under CFRT had reduced risks of any bleeding, compared to the low PDC group. Conclusion: The findings demonstrated the effectiveness of prophylactic CFRT in the prevention of bleeding events in real-life severe PWHA.

Evaluation of Objective and Subjective Swallowing Outcomes in Patients with Dysphagia Treated for Head and Neck Cancer.

We evaluated objective and subjective swallowing function outcomes in patients with dysphagia treated for head and neck cancer (HNC) and identified risk factors for poor swallowing outcomes. Patients undergoing videofluoroscopic swallowing studies (VFSS) between January 2016 and March 2021 were divided into four groups according to primary tumor sites; post-treatment dysphagia was assessed. The penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) and bolus residue scale (BRS) were used to objectively assess swallowing function through VFSS. The Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) was used for subjective analyses of swallowing statuses. To account for potential confounding, important covariates were adjusted for in logistic regression models. Oropharyngeal tumors were significantly more likely to have poor PAS and BRS scores than oral cavity tumors, and the patients with nasopharyngeal tumors were significantly less likely to have poor FOIS scores. Old age, having multiple HNCs, and a history of radiotherapy were associated with an increased odds of poor PAS scores (for all types of swallows), poor BRS scores (for semiliquid and solid swallows), and poor FOIS scores, respectively. This indicates using only subjective assessments may not allow for accurate evaluations of swallowing function in patients treated for HNC. Using both objective and subjective assessments may allow for comprehensive evaluations.

The Additive Effectiveness of Inspiratory Muscle Training on Glottic Closure and Subjective Voice Outcomes of Patients With Benign Lesion After Hyaluronic Acid Laryngoplasty.

OBJECTIVES: For patients with glottic insufficiency disease, injection laryngoplasty is a rapid and efficient management option that complements voice therapy. Some studies have indicated that respiratory muscle training may also show promise in patients with voice disorders. However, the effect of respiratory muscle training in patients with glottic insufficiency was reported to be limited, and whether it provides additional benefit after standard management requires further evaluation. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of inspiratory muscle training on glottis closure and patient-reported voice quality in glottic insufficiency patients who had been treated with hyaluronic acid injection. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. METHODS: We included 46 patients with glottic insufficiency who had undergone hyaluronic acid injection. Twenty of them had undergone inspiratory muscle training during three months. We measured patients' changes in glottic status according to the normalized glottal gap area and bowing index, as well as voice quality of life according to the voice handicap index 10 and the voice outcome survey, before and after training. RESULTS: Patients who underwent inspiratory muscle training had higher odds of experiencing better improvement in all scores. The range of odds ratios ranged from 2.5 to 6.3 for changes in scores, and from 3.8 to 22.2 for changes in score percentages. Of note, the effect of training on percentage changes in the normalized glottal gap area score was significant (P= 0.0127) after adjustment for the duration of vocal disease, body mass index and BMI, and history of gastroesophageal reflux disease. CONCLUSIONS: Inspiratory muscle training can improve the glottal gap after injection laryngoplasty, and may be applied in clinical practice.