The frequency of asthma exacerbations and healthcare utilization in patients with asthma from the UK and USA

Asthma exacerbations are frequent in patients with severe disease. This report describes results from two retrospective cohort studies describing exacerbation frequency and risk, emergency department (ED)/hospital re-admissions, and asthma-related costs by asthma severity in the US and UK

Genotyping Analyses of Tuberculosis Cases in U.S.- and Foreign-Born Massachusetts Residents

We used molecular genotyping to further understand the epidemiology and transmission patterns of tuberculosis (TB) in Massachusetts. The study population included 983 TB patients whose cases were verified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health between July 1, 1996, and December 31, 2000, and for whom genotyping results and information on country of origin were available. Two hundred seventy-two (28%) of TB patients were in genetic clusters, and isolates from U.S-born were twice as likely to cluster as those of foreign-born (odds ratio [OR] 2.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.69, 3.12). Our results suggest that restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis has limited capacity to differentiate TB strains when the isolate contains six or fewer copies of IS6110, even with spoligotyping. Clusters of TB patients with more than six copies of IS6110 were more likely to have epidemiologic connections than were clusters of TB patients with isolates with few copies of IS6110 (OR 8.01, 95%; CI 3.45,18.93)

Obstructive airway disease and edentulism in the atherosclerosis risk in communities (ARIC) study

ObjectivesWe examined the potential association between prior chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and edentulism, and whether the association varied by COPD severity using data from the Dental Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.DesignCross-sectional.SettingCommunity dwelling subjects from four US communities.Participants and measurementsCases were identified as edentulous (without teeth) and subjects with one or more natural teeth were identified as dentate. COPD cases were defined by spirometry measurements that showed the ratio of forced expiratory volume (1 s) to vital capacity to be less than 0.7. The severity of COPD cases was also determined using a modified Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease classification criteria (GOLD stage I–IV). Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the association between COPD and edentulism, while adjusting for age, gender, centre/race, ethnicity, education level, income, diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease and congestive heart failure, body mass index, smoking, smokeless tobacco use and alcohol consumption.Results13 465 participants were included in this analysis (2087 edentulous; 11 378 dentate). Approximately 28.3% of edentulous participants had prior COPD compared with 19.6% among dentate participants (p<0.0001). After adjustment for potential confounders, we observed a 1.3 (1.08 to 1.62) and 2.5 (1.68 to 3.63) fold increased risk of edentulism among GOLD II and GOLD III/IV COPD, respectively, as compared with the non-COPD/dentate referent. Given the short period of time between the measurements of COPD (visit 2) and dentate status (visit 4) relative to the natural history of both diseases, neither temporality nor insight as to the directionality of the association can be ascertained.ConclusionsWe found a statistically significant association between prior COPD and edentulism, with evidence of a positive incremental effect seen with increasing GOLD classification

Genotyping Analyses of Tuberculosis Cases in U.S.- and Foreign-Born Massachusetts Residents

We used molecular genotyping to further understand the epidemiology and transmission patterns of tuberculosis (TB) in Massachusetts. The study population included 983 TB patients whose cases were verified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health between July 1, 1996, and December 31, 2000, and for whom genotyping results and information on country of origin were available. Two hundred seventy-two (28%) of TB patients were in genetic clusters, and isolates from U.S-born were twice as likely to cluster as those of foreign-born (odds ratio [OR] 2.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.69, 3.12). Our results suggest that restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis has limited capacity to differentiate TB strains when the isolate contains six or fewer copies of IS6110, even with spoligotyping. Clusters of TB patients with more than six copies of IS6110 were more likely to have epidemiologic connections than were clusters of TB patients with isolates with few copies of IS6110 (OR 8.01, 95%; CI 3.45,18.93)

Impact of Genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis on Public Health Practice in Massachusetts

Massachusetts was one of seven sentinel surveillance sites in the National Tuberculosis Genotyping and Surveillance Network. From 1996 through 2000, isolates from new patients with tuberculosis (TB) underwent genotyping. We describe the impact that genotyping had on public health practice in Massachusetts and some limitations of the technique. Through genotyping, we explored the dynamics of TB outbreaks, investigated laboratory cross-contamination, and identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, transmission sites, and accurate epidemiologic links. Genotyping should be used with epidemiologic follow-up to identify how resources can best be allocated to investigate genotypic findings

Incidence, risk factors and re-exacerbation rate of severe asthma exacerbations in a multinational, multidatabase pediatric cohort study

Background: There are sparse real-world data on severe asthma exacerbations (SAE) in children. This multinational cohort study assessed the incidence of and risk factors for SAE and the incidence of asthma-related rehospitalization in children with asthma. Methods: Asthma patients 5-17 years old with ≥1 year of follow-up were identified in six European electronic databases from the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, Denmark and Spain in 2008-2013. Asthma was defined as ≥1 asthma-specific disease code within 3 months of prescriptions/dispensing of asthma medication. Severe asthma was defined as high-dosed inhaled corticosteroids plus a second controller. SAE was defined by systemic corticosteroids, emergency department visit and/or hospitalization all for reason of asthma. Risk factors for SAE were estimated by Poisson regression analyses. Results: The cohort consisted of 212 060 paediatric asthma patients contributing to 678 625 patient-years (PY). SAE rates ranged between 17 and 198/1000 PY and were higher in severe asthma and highest in severe asthma patients with a history of exacerbations. Prior SAE (incidence rate ratio 3-45) and younger age increased the SAE risk in all countries, whereas obesity, atopy and GERD were a risk factor in some but not all countries. Rehospitalization rates were up to 79% within 1 year. Conclusions: In a real-world setting, SAE rates were highest in children with severe asthma with a history of exacerbations. Many severe asthma patients were rehospitalized within 1 year. Asthma management focusing on prevention of SAE is important to reduce the burden of asthma

Retrospective cohort analysis of healthcare claims in the United States characterising asthma exacerbations in paediatric patients

Background Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood and places a significant burden on public and private health systems. This retrospective cohort analysis utilised administrative healthcare claims data (US Clinformatics™ Multiplan database; compliant with the US Department of Health & Human Services Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) to characterise asthma exacerbations requiring intervention in a US paediatric patient population.Methods Patients aged > 1–17 years with a recorded asthma diagnosis and receiving treatment were identified in the US Clinformatics™ Multiplan database over a 9-year period (2004–2012). Both incident and prevalent cases of asthma were included, with the most recently recorded asthma diagnosis designated as the index date. The 12-month period following the index date was analysed for asthma exacerbations, defined as an event requiring treatment with systemic corticosteroid or resulting in an asthma-related hospitalisation or emergency department visit.Results Data from 734,114 children with asthma (41.5 % females, 58.5 % males) were analysed, of this cohort 34.4 % experienced ≥ 1 exacerbation during the follow-up period. The proportion who experienced ≥ 1 exacerbation increased from 28.9 % in 2004 to 36.3 % in 2012, based on the reported index date. Their mean annual exacerbation frequency was 1.4; 85.8 % of exacerbations were defined by systemic corticosteroids use. A consistent trend of increased exacerbation incidence in the fall and early winter was observed, in particular exacerbations defined by systemic corticosteroid use. A greater proportion of asthma-related hospitalisations were associated with younger age.Conclusions Approximately one-third of children experienced ≥ 1 exacerbation in real-world clinical practice. A targeted treatment approach with a focus on those with a history of recurrent exacerbations is recommended to improve asthma control. This targeted approach could also minimise the frequent systemic corticosteroid exposure particularly at an early age when side effects of systemic corticosteroids are more pronounced. Keywords: Asthma, Exacerbations, Paediatric, Systemic corticosteroid

The frequency of asthma exacerbations and healthcare utilization in patients with asthma from the UK and USA

Abstract Background Asthma exacerbations are frequent in patients with severe disease. This report describes results from two retrospective cohort studies describing exacerbation frequency and risk, emergency department (ED)/hospital re-admissions, and asthma-related costs by asthma severity in the US and UK. Methods Patients with asthma in the US-based Clinformatics™ DataMart Multiplan IMPACT (2010–2011; WEUSKOP7048) and the UK-based Clinical Practice Research Datalink (2009–2011; WEUSKOP7092) databases were categorized by disease severity (Global Initiative for Asthma [GINA]; Step and exacerbation history) during the 12 months pre-asthma medical code (index date). Outcomes included: frequency of exacerbations (asthma-related ED visit, hospitalization, or oral corticosteroid use with an asthma medical code recorded within ±2 weeks) 12 months post-index, asthma-related ED visits/hospitalization, and asthma-related costs 30 days post-index. Risk of a subsequent exacerbation was determined by proportional hazard model. Results Of the 222,817 and 211,807 patients with asthma included from the US and UK databases, respectively, 12.5 and 8.4% experienced ≥1 exacerbation during the follow-up period. Exacerbation frequency increased with disease severity. Among the 5,167 and 2,904 patients with an asthma-related ED visit/hospitalization in the US and UK databases, respectively, 9.2 and 4.7% had asthma-related re-admissions within 30 days. Asthma-related re-admission rates and costs increased with disease severity, approximately doubling between GINA Step 1 and 5 and in patients with ≥2 versus <2 exacerbations in the previous year. Risk of a subsequent exacerbation increased 32–35% for an exacerbation requiring ED visit/hospitalization versus oral corticosteroids. Conclusion Increased disease severity was associated with higher exacerbation frequency, ED/hospitalization re-admission, costs and risk of subsequent exacerbation, indicating that these patients require high-intensity post-exacerbation management