Health service use among children with and without eczema, asthma, and hay fever

Lene Hammer-Helmich,1,2 Allan Linneberg,1,3,4 Simon Francis Thomsen,5,6 Line Tang,1 Charlotte Glümer1,7 1Research Center for Prevention and Health, The Capital Region of Denmark, Copenhagen, 2Department of Real World Evidence and Epidemiology, H. Lundbeck A/S, Valby, 3Department of Clinical Experimental Research, Rigshospitalet, 4Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 5Department of Dermatology, Bispebjerg Hospital, 6Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 7Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark Background: Atopic diseases, for example, eczema, asthma, and hay fever, are among the most common chronic diseases of childhood. Knowledge on health service use among children with atopic disease is limited. This study aimed to investigate the total use and costs of health services for children with and without eczema, asthma, and hay fever in a Danish general population. Methods: We conducted a health survey with four complete birth cohorts from the City of Copenhagen. Individual questionnaire data on eczema, asthma, and hay fever for children aged 3, 6, 11, and 15 years were linked to register information on use and costs of health services and prescribed medication and parental education. In total 9,720 children participated (50.5%). Results: We found increased health service use (number of additional consultations per year [95% confidence interval]) among children with current eczema symptoms (1.77 [1.29–2.26]), current asthma symptoms (2.53 [2.08–2.98]), and current hay fever symptoms (1.21 [0.74–1.67]), compared with children without these symptoms. We also found increased use of prescribed medication and most subtypes of health services. Current asthma symptoms and current eczema symptoms, but not current hay fever symptoms, increased the health service costs with at least €300 per year per child. Conclusion: Children with eczema, asthma, and hay fever used health services and prescribed medication more than children without these diseases. Keywords: asthma, atopic dermatitis, costs, hay fever, health service

Long-term follow-up on health-related quality of life in major depressive disorder: a 2-year European cohort study

Delphine Saragoussi,1 Michael Cronquist Christensen,2 Lene Hammer-Helmich,3 Benoît Rive,4 Maëlys Touya,5 Josep Maria Haro6 1Real-World Evidence and Epidemiology, Lundbeck SAS, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France; 2Medical Affairs Vortioxetine, H. Lundbeck A/S, Valby, Denmark; 3Real-World Evidence and Epidemiology, H. Lundbeck A/S, Valby, Denmark; 4Global Analytics, Lundbeck SAS, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France; 5Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Lundbeck, Deerfield, IL, USA; 6Research and Teaching Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu, CIBERSAM, University of Barcelona, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with significant impairments in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and everyday functioning. This cohort study investigated the long-term development of HRQoL in patients with MDD and its association with patient characteristics, including depressive symptom severity and cognitive symptoms.Methods: The Prospective Epidemiological Research on Functioning Outcomes Related to Major depressive disorder (PERFORM) study was a longitudinal cohort study conducted in 1,159 outpatients aged 18–65 years with MDD in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. The patients were either initiating antidepressant monotherapy or undergoing their first switch of antidepressant. HRQoL was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 12-item Health Survey (SF-12) up to month 12 and the EuroQol Five Dimensions questionnaire up to month 24 (UK only). Depressive symptom severity was assessed up to month 24 by the patient-reported Patient Health Questionnaire and cognitive symptoms by the Perceived Deficit Questionnaire. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify patient characteristics associated with HRQoL.Results: Mental HRQoL was severely impaired at baseline versus normative data (mean [SD] SF-12 mental component summary [MCS], 26.5 [9.2]); mean (SD) physical component summary (PCS) total score was 45.2 (12.1). SF-12 MCS improved over 12 months of follow-up (38.7 [11.6] at month 12), while SF-12 PCS remained stable (45.3 [11.1]). At each assessment time point, there was a clear pattern of lower SF-12 MCS and PCS total score in patients experiencing greater cognitive problems. The mean EuroQol Five Dimensions questionnaire utility index score generally decreased (i.e., worsened) with increasing severity of cognitive and depressive symptoms at all time points up to 24 months. Multivariate analyses identified both depression severity and cognitive symptoms as strongly and significantly associated with poor HRQoL.Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of recognizing and managing residual symptoms in patients with MDD, including the cognitive symptoms, to restore long-term psychosocial functioning. Keywords: major depressive disorder, health-related quality of life, depression, cognitive symptoms&nbsp

Functional impairment in patients with major depressive disorder: the 2-year PERFORM study

Lene Hammer-Helmich,1 Josep Maria Haro,2 Bengt Jönsson,3 Audrey Tanguy Melac,4 Sylvie Di Nicola,5 Julien Chollet,6 Dominique Milea,7 Benoît Rive,8 Delphine Saragoussi4 1Real World Evidence and Epidemiology, H Lundbeck A/S, Valby, Denmark; 2Research and Teaching Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu, CIBERSAM, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; 3Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden; 4Real-World Evidence and Epidemiology, Lundbeck SAS, Issy-les-Moulineaux, 5Biostatistics, Inferential, Paris, 6Clinical Operations, Lundbeck SAS, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France; 7Health Economics and Epidemiology, Lundbeck Singapore Pte. Ltd, Singapore, Singapore; 8Global Analytics, Lundbeck SAS, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France Background: The Prospective Epidemiological Research on Functioning Outcomes Related to Major depressive disorder (PERFORM) study describes the course of depressive symptoms, perceived cognitive symptoms, and functional impairment over 2 years in outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and investigates the patient-related factors associated with functional impairment.Methods: This was a 2-year observational study in 1,159 outpatients with MDD aged 18–65 years who were either initiating antidepressant monotherapy or undergoing their first switch of antidepressant. Functional impairment was assessed by the Sheehan Disability Scale and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire. Patients assessed depression severity using the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire and severity of perceived cognitive symptoms using the five-item Perceived Deficit Questionnaire. To investigate which patient-related factors were associated with functional impairment, univariate analyses of variance were performed to identify relevant factors that were then included in multivariate analyses of covariance at baseline, month 2, months 6 and 12 combined, and months 18 and 24 combined.Results: The greatest improvement in depressive symptoms, perceived cognitive symptoms, and functional impairment was seen immediately (within 2 months) following initiation or switch of antidepressant therapy, followed by more gradual improvement and long-term stabilization. Improvement in perceived cognitive symptoms was less marked than improvement in depressive symptoms during the acute treatment phase. Functional impairment in patients with MDD was not only associated with severity of depressive symptoms but also independently associated with severity of perceived cognitive symptoms when adjusted for depression severity throughout the 2 years of follow-up.Conclusion: These findings highlight the burden of functional impairment in MDD and the importance of recognizing and managing cognitive symptoms in daily practice. Keywords: major depressive disorder, functioning, functional impairment, depression, cognitio