Applying UK real world primary care data to predict asthma attacks in 3776 well-characterised children : a retrospective cohort study

FUNDING This analysis was funded by Respiratory Effectiveness Group DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Data are available from Clinical Practice Research Datalink (https://www.cprd.com/home/) and Optimum Patient Care (http://optimumpatientcare.org/about-us/).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Risk of pneumonia in obstructive lung disease : A real-life study comparing extra-fine and fine-particle inhaled corticosteroids

The study received institutional support from Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe B.V. Teva did not contribute either in part or in whole, to the collection, analysis, or interpretation of study data, manuscript writing, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effect of Inhaled Corticosteroid Therapy Step-Down and Dosing Regimen on Measures of Asthma Control

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Performance of database-derived severe exacerbations and asthma control measures in asthma : responsiveness and predictive utility in a UK primary care database with linked questionnaire data

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Predicting asthma-related crisis events using routine electronic healthcare data

Background There is no published algorithm predicting asthma crisis events (accident and emergency [A&E] attendance, hospitalisation, or death) using routinely available electronic health record (EHR) data. Aim To develop an algorithm to identify individuals at high risk of an asthma crisis event. Design and setting Database analysis from primary care EHRs of people with asthma across England and Scotland. Method Multivariable logistic regression was applied to a dataset of 61 861 people with asthma from England and Scotland using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. External validation was performed using the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank of 174 240 patients from Wales. Outcomes were ≥1 hospitalisation (development dataset) and asthma-related hospitalisation, A&E attendance, or death (validation dataset) within a 12-month period. Results Risk factors for asthma-related crisis events included previous hospitalisation, older age, underweight, smoking, and blood eosinophilia. The prediction algorithm had acceptable predictive ability with a receiver operating characteristic of 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.70 to 0.72) in the validation dataset. Using a cut-point based on the 7% of the population at greatest risk results in a positive predictive value of 5.7% (95% CI = 5.3% to 6.1%) and a negative predictive value of 98.9% (95% CI = 98.9% to 99.0%), with sensitivity of 28.5% (95% CI = 26.7% to 30.3%) and specificity of 93.3% (95% CI = 93.2% to 93.4%); those individuals had an event risk of 6.0% compared with 1.1% for the remaining population. In total, 18 people would need to be followed to identify one admission. Conclusion This externally validated algorithm has acceptable predictive ability for identifying patients at high risk of asthma-related crisis events and excluding those not at high risk

OCS Reduction According to the Presence of Nasal Polyps or Atopic Status in the PONENTE Study

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Adrenal Insufficiency is Not a Barrier to OCS Elimination in the PONENTE Study

Peer reviewedPostprin

Severe Asthma Standard-of-Care Background Medication Reduction With Benralizumab: ANDHI in Practice Substudy

Background: The phase IIIb, randomized, parallel-group, placebo-controlled ANDHI double-blind (DB) study extended understanding of the efficacy of benralizumab for patients with severe eosinophilic asthma. Patients from ANDHI DB could join the 56-week ANDHI in Practice (IP) single-arm, open-label extension substudy. Objective: Assess potential for standard-of-care background medication reductions while maintaining asthma control with benralizumab. Methods: Following ANDHI DB completion, eligible adults were enrolled in ANDHI IP. After an 8-week run-in with benralizumab, there were 5 visits to potentially reduce background asthma medications for patients achieving and maintaining protocol-defined asthma control with benralizumab. Main outcome measures for non-oral corticosteroid (OCS)-dependent patients were the proportions with at least 1 background medication reduction (ie, lower inhaled corticosteroid dose, background medication discontinuation) and the number of adapted Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) step reductions at end of treatment (EOT). Main outcomes for OCS-dependent patients were reductions in daily OCS dosage and proportion achieving OCS dosage of 5 mg or lower at EOT. Results: For non-OCS-dependent patients, 53.3% (n = 208 of 390) achieved at least 1 background medication reduction, increasing to 72.6% (n = 130 of 179) for patients who maintained protocol-defined asthma control at EOT. A total of 41.9% (n = 163 of 389) achieved at least 1 adapted GINA step reduction, increasing to 61.8% (n = 110 of 178) for patients with protocol-defined EOT asthma control. At ANDHI IP baseline, OCS dosages were 5 mg or lower for 40.4% (n = 40 of 99) of OCS-dependent patients. Of OCS-dependent patients, 50.5% (n = 50 of 99) eliminated OCS and 74.7% (n = 74 of 99) achieved dosages of 5 mg or lower at EOT. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate benralizumab's ability to improve asthma control, thereby allowing background medication reduction

The Eleventh and Twelfth Data Releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final Data from SDSS-III

The third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) took data from 2008 to 2014 using the original SDSS wide-field imager, the original and an upgraded multi-object fiber-fed optical spectrograph, a new near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, and a novel optical interferometer. All of the data from SDSS-III are now made public. In particular, this paper describes Data Release 11 (DR11) including all data acquired through 2013 July, and Data Release 12 (DR12) adding data acquired through 2014 July (including all data included in previous data releases), marking the end of SDSS-III observing. Relative to our previous public release (DR10), DR12 adds one million new spectra of galaxies and quasars from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) over an additional 3000 deg2 of sky, more than triples the number of H-band spectra of stars as part of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and includes repeated accurate radial velocity measurements of 5500 stars from the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS). The APOGEE outputs now include the measured abundances of 15 different elements for each star. In total, SDSS-III added 5200 deg2 of ugriz imaging; 155,520 spectra of 138,099 stars as part of the Sloan Exploration of Galactic Understanding and Evolution 2 (SEGUE-2) survey; 2,497,484 BOSS spectra of 1,372,737 galaxies, 294,512 quasars, and 247,216 stars over 9376 deg2; 618,080 APOGEE spectra of 156,593 stars; and 197,040 MARVELS spectra of 5513 stars. Since its first light in 1998, SDSS has imaged over 1/3 of the Celestial sphere in five bands and obtained over five million astronomical spectra. \ua9 2015. The American Astronomical Society