The epidemiology, treatment patterns, healthcare utilizations and costs of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) in Taiwan.

BACKGROUNDS: An increasing incidence of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) has been reported in several Western countries. However, the epidemiology of AML in Asia is very limited. According to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guideline of AML, a range of conventional therapy options is available to AML patients. Nevertheless, different treatment strategies may result in diverse healthcare utilization and costs. Understanding the treatment patterns, healthcare utilization and costs of AML would thus be essential for clinicians and policymakers to optimize the treatment strategies of AML. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence, treatment patterns, healthcare utilization and costs of AML in Taiwan using a nationwide population database. METHODS: We retrospectively identified AML patients diagnosed from 2006 to 2015 from the Taiwan Cancer Registry Database (TCRD) and estimated the epidemiology of AML in Taiwan. The TCRD was linked to National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) to collect the treatment patterns and health care utilization. Patients diagnosed with AML from 2011 to 2015 were further identified to analyze treatment patterns, healthcare utilization and costs. RESULTS: The crude annual incidence of AML increased from 2.78 to 3.21 cases per 100,000 individuals from 2006 to 2015. However, the age-standardized rate (ASRs) of AML slightly declined from 2.47 to 2.41 cases per 100,000 individuals in the same period. Among 2,179 AML patients who received induction therapy (median age: 56 years), most of them (n = 1744; 80.04%) received standard-dose cytarabine (SDAC) regimen. The remaining 162 patients received high dose cytarabine (HDAC) and 273 patients received non-standard dose cytarabine (N-SDAC) regimen as the induction therapy. The median medical costs in our study for patients treated with chemotherapy alone was $42,271 for HDAC, $36,199 for SDAC and $36,250 for N-SDAC. For those who received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) after induction therapy, their median medical costs were $78,876 for HDAC, $78,593 for SDAC and $79,776 for N-SDAC. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first population-based study conducted in Asia to provide updated and comprehensive information on epidemiology, treatment patterns and healthcare resource utilization and costs of AML.

Increasing age- and gender-specific burden and complexity of multimorbidity in Taiwan, 2003-2013: a cross-sectional study based on nationwide claims data.

OBJECTIVE: Although there is accumulating evidence regarding multimorbidity in Western countries, this information is very limited in Asian countries. This study aimed to estimate population-based, age-specific and gender-specific prevalence and trends of multimorbidity in the Taiwanese population. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study based on claims data (National Health Insurance Research Database, Taiwan). PARTICIPANTS: The participants included a subset of the National Health Insurance Research Database, which contains claims data for two million randomly selected beneficiaries (~10% of the total population) under Taiwan's mandatory National Health Insurance system. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: The prevalence of multimorbidity in different age groups and in both sexes in 2003 and 2013 was reported. We analysed data on the prevalence of 20 common diseases in each age group and for both sexes. To investigate the clustering effect, we used graphical displays to analyse the likelihood of co-occurrence with one, two, three, and four or more other diseases for each selected disease in 2003 and 2013. RESULTS: The prevalence of multimorbidity (two or more diseases) was 20.07% in 2003 and 30.44% in 2013. In 2013, the prevalence varied between 5.21% in patients aged 20-29 years and 80.96% in those aged 80-89 years. In patients aged 50-79 years, the prevalence of multimorbidity was higher in women than in men. In men, the prevalence of chronic pulmonary disease and cardiovascular-related diseases was predominant, while in women the prevalence of osteoporosis, arthritis, cancer and psychosomatic disorders was predominant. Co-occurring diseases varied across different age and gender groups. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of multimorbidity is increasing and becoming more complex in Taiwan, and it was found to vary across different age and gender groups. Fulfilling the needs of individuals with multimorbidity requires collaborative work between healthcare providers and needs to take the age and gender disparities of multimorbidity into account.

Comparative risks for cancer associated with use of calcitonin, bisphosphonates or selective estrogen receptor modulators among osteoporosis patients: a population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: This population-based cohort study was to compare the risks of incident cancer in osteoporosis patients who used bisphosphonates, calcitonin or selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). METHODS: We identified 9995 patients who were diagnosed with osteoporosis and prescribed osteoporosis drugs (bisphosphonate (n = 4675), calcitonin (n = 3993) and SERMs (n = 1327)) between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2006 in Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Date of first prescription of osteoporosis drugs was assigned as the index date. The outcome measurement was incident cancer, defined by a first-ever inpatient visit with a primary diagnosis of cancer. All patients were followed until the occurrence of cancer. For those who did not develop cancer, we censored them at 1 year after their last prescription of osteoporosis drugs. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association between risk of cancer and use of calcitonin, bisphosphonates or SERMs. RESULTS: The incidence rate of cancer was 68.8, 34.0 and 29.6 per 1000 person years in the calcitonin, SERMs and bisphosphonate cohorts, respectively. Compared with bisphosphonate users, calcitonin users were associated with an increased risk of cancer (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 2.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.01-2.21, P < 0.001). SERM users were associated with an increased risk of cancer (adjusted HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.13-1.28, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that calcitonin is associated with an increased risk of cancer than bisphosphonate, supporting the recent warning issued by the European Medicines Agency and US Food and Drug Administration. SERMs is found to be associated with an increased risk of cancer than bisphosphonate.

Cost-effectiveness of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor prophylaxis in chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia among breast cancer and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients under Taiwan's national health insurance system.

RATIONALE, AIM AND OBJECTIVE: The beneficial effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) prophylaxis on reducing the risk of chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia (CIFN) were well documented throughout the literature. However, existing data regarding its cost-effectiveness were conflicting. We estimated the cost-effectiveness of G-CSF prophylaxis in CIFN under Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) system. METHODS: Data on clinical outcomes and direct medical costs were derived for 5179 newly diagnosed breast cancer and 629 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients from the NHI claims database. Patients were further categorized into three subgroups as "primary-", "secondary-" and "no -" prophylaxis based on their patterns of G-CSF use. Generalized estimating equations were applied to estimate the impact of G-CSF use on the incidence of CIFN. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of primary and secondary prophylactic G-CSF use were calculated and sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS: Primary prophylaxis of G-CSF decreased the incidence of CIFN by 27% and 83%, while secondary prophylaxis by 34% and 22% in breast cancer and NHL patients, respectively. Compared with those with no prophylaxis, the incremental cost per CIFN reduced in primary prophylaxis is $931 and $52 among patients with breast cancer and NHL, respectively. In contrast, secondary prophylaxis is dominated by no prophylaxis and primary prophylaxis in both cancer patients. CONCLUSION: Primary but not secondary prophylactic use of G-CSF was cost-effective in CIFN in breast cancer and NHL patients under Taiwan's NHI system.

Changes in prevalence of diabetic complications and associated healthcare costs during a 10-year follow-up period among a nationwide diabetic cohort.

OBJECTIVE: Long-term health and economic consequences of diabetes mellitus are of significant importance to health policy makers to identify the most efficient interventions for disease managements. However, existing data are mainly from simulation models instead of "real-world" data. The objective of this study was to longitudinally evaluate the changes of prevalence of diabetic complications and associated healthcare costs in a nationally-representative diabetic cohort. METHODS: We used the 2000-2011 Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) to conduct a population-based cohort study of 136,372 patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetic complications of each patient were calculated annually after the cohort entry by the adapted Diabetes Complications Severity Index (aDCSI) score (sum of diabetic complication with severity levels, range 0-13) using diagnostic codes recorded in the LHID. Study subjects were further categorized into six subgroups according to their aDCSI score (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5+) at cohort entry. Healthcare utilizations (including outpatient and inpatient visits) as well as direct medical costs for the six subgroups were estimated annually using patient-level data from the LHID. RESULTS: We found the severity of diabetic complications increased over time, especially for patients with aDCSI score of 2 and above at cohort entry (at 10years of follow-up: aDCSI=0 (cohort entry), 2.37; aDCSI=1, 3.59; aDCSI=2, 4.60; aDCSI=3, 5.14; aDCSI=4, 5.96). There were significant differences in healthcare utilizations and associated medical costs among patients stratified by aDCSI score (e.g. at 1year after cohort entry, mean counts of inpatient visits: 0.14 vs. 1.81 for aDCSI=0 vs.5+). Relatively high healthcare utilizations and associated medical costs in the first year of cohort entry were observed for patients with aDCSI score of 4 and above at cohort entry. CONCLUSIONS: We provided the important empirical data for patient-level longitudinal changes in diabetic complications and associated healthcare utilization and medical costs among patients with diabetes.

Duration of dual antiplatelet therapy following percutaneous coronary intervention on re-hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains uncertain. The objective of this study was to examine the association between duration of dual antiplatelet therapy and re-hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in ACS patients who underwent PCI. METHODS: We identified 975 newly diagnosed ACS patients who underwent PCI between July, 2007 and June, 2009, at a medical center in Taiwan. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association between duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (9 months, 12 months and 15 months) and risks of re-hospitalization for ACS. RESULTS: At a mean follow-up of 2.3 years, we found that use of clopidogrel for ≥ 12 months was associated with a decreased risk of re-hospitalization for ACS (adjusted HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.36-0.95; p = 0.03). However, use of clopidogrel for ≥ 15 months was not associated with a decreased risk of re-hospitalization for ACS (adjusted HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.29-1.13; p = 0.11). Similar results were found in patients who implanted drug-eluting stents (DES), for whom at least 12 months of clopidogrel therapy is especially critical. CONCLUSION: The benefit of ≥ 12 months of clopidogrel use in reducing the risk of re-hospitalization for ACS was significant among ACS patients who underwent PCI and was especially critical for those who implanted DES.