Is OpenSDE an alternative for dedicated medical research databases? An example in coronary surgery

Background. When using a conventional relational database approach to collect and query data in the context of specific clinical studies, a study with a new data set usually requires the design of a new database and entry forms. OpenSDE (SDE = Structured Data Entry) is intended to provide a flexible and intuitive way to create databases and entry forms for the collection of data in a structured format. This study illustrates the use of OpenSDE as a potential alternative to a conventional approach with respect to data modelling, database creation, data entry, and data extraction. Methods. A database and entry forms are created using OpenSDE and MSAccess to support collection of coronary surgery data, based on the Adult Cardiac Surgery Data Set of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Data of 52 cases are entered and nine different queries are designed, and executed on

Epidemiology of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy in The Netherlands

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) is a rare but disabling disorder that often requires long‐term immunomodulatory treatment. Background incidence rates and prevalence and risk factors for developing CIDP are still poorly defined. In the current study, we used a longitudinal population‐based cohort study in The Netherlands to assess these rates and demographic factors and comorbidity associated with CIDP. We determined the incidence rate and prevalence of CIDP between 2008 and 2017 and the occurrence of potential risk factors in a retrospective Dutch cohort study using the Integrated Primary Care Information (IPCI) database. Cases were defined as CIDP if the diagnosis of CIDP was described in the electronic medical file. In a source population of 928 030 persons with a contributing follow‐up of 3 525 686 person‐years, we identified 65 patients diagnosed with CIDP. The overall incidence rate was 0.68 per 100 000 person‐years (95% CI 0.45‐0.99). The overall prevalence was 7.00 per 100 000 individuals (95% CI 5.41‐8.93). The overall incidence rate was higher in men compared to woman (IRR 3.00, 95% CI 1.27‐7.11), and higher in elderly of 50 years or older compared with people <50 years of age (IRR 17 95% CI 4‐73). Twenty percent of CIDP cases had DM and 9% a co‐existing other auto‐immune disease. These background rates are important to monitor changes in the frequency of CIDP following infectious disease outbreaks, identify potential risk factors, and to estimate the social and economic burden of CIDP

Antidepressant and anticonvulsant prescription rates in patients with osteoarthritis:A population-based cohort study

Objectives: There are signs that antidepressants and anticonvulsants are being prescribed more often for OA patients, despite limited evidence. Our objectives were to examine prescription rates and time trends for antidepressants and anticonvulsants in OA patients, to assess the percentage of long-term prescriptions, and to determine patient characteristics associated with antidepressant or anticonvulsant prescription. Methods: A population-based cohort study was conducted using the Integrated Primary Care Information database. First, episodic and prevalent prescription rates for antidepressants (amitriptyline, nortriptyline and duloxetine) and anticonvulsants (gabapentinoids) in OA patients were calculated for the period 2008-17. Logistic regression was used to assess which patient characteristics were associated with prescriptions.  Results: In total, 164 292 OA patients were included. The prescription rates of amitriptyline, gabapentin and pregabalin increased over time. The increase in prescription rates for pregabalin was most pronounced. Episodic prescription rate increased from 7.1 to 13.9 per 1000 person-years between 2008 and 2017. Amitriptyline was prescribed most (15.1 episodic prescriptions per 1000 person-years in 2017). Prescription rates of nortriptyline and duloxetine remained stable at 3.0 and 2.0 episodic prescriptions per 1000 person-years, respectively. For ≤3% of patients with incident OA, medication was prescribed long-term (≥3 months). In general, all medication was prescribed more frequently for older patients (except duloxetine), women, patients with OA in ≥2 joints, patients with spinal OA and patients with musculoskeletal disorders.  Conclusion: Prescription rates of amitriptyline, gabapentin and pregabalin increased over time. Since there is little evidence to support prescription in OA, caution is necessary when prescribing. </p

Alarming signs and symptoms in febrile children in primary care: An observational cohort study in The Netherlands

__Abstract__ Context: Febrile children in primary care have a low risk for serious infection. Although several alarming signs and symptoms are proposed to have predictive value for serious infections, most are based on research in secondary care. The frequency of alarming signs/symptoms has not been established in primary care; however, in this setting differences in occurrence may influence their predictive value for serious infections. Objective: To determine the frequency of alarming signs/symptoms in febrile children in primary care. Design: Observational cohort study. Clinical information was registered in a semi-structured way and manually recoded. Setting: General practitioners' out-of-hours service. Subjects: Face-to-face patient contacts concerning children (aged ≤16 years) with fever were eligible for inclusion. Main outcome measures: Frequency of 18 alarming signs and symptoms as reported in the literature. Results: A total of 10,476 patient contacts were included. The frequency of alarming signs/symptoms ranged from n = 1 (ABC instability; 40°C as reported by the parents; 12.9%) to 8,647 contacts (parental concern; 82.5%). Conclusion: Although the prevalence of specific alarming signs/symptoms is low in primary care, ≥50% of children have one or more alarming signs/symptoms. There is a need to determine the predictive value of alarming signs/symptoms not only for serious infections in primary care, but as well for increased risk of a complicated course of the illness

Opioid prescriptions in patients with osteoarthritis: a population-based cohort study

OBJECTIVES: To examine the incidence, prevalence and trends for opioid prescriptions in patients with OA. Furthermore, types of opioids prescribed and long-term prescription rates were examined. Finally, the patient characteristics associated with the prescription of opioids wer

Descriptive analysis on disproportionate medication errors and associated patient characteristics in the Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System

BackgroundMedication errors (MEs) are a major public health concern which can cause harm and financial burden within the healthcare system. Characterizing MEs is crucial to develop strategies to mitigate MEs in the future.ObjectivesTo characterize ME-associated reports, and investigate signals of disproportionate reporting (SDRs) on MEs in the Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).MethodsFAERS data from 2004 to 2020 was used. ME reports were identified with the narrow Standardised Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities® (MedDRA®) Query (SMQ) for MEs. Drug names were converted to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification. SDRs were investigated using the reporting odds ratio (ROR).ResultsIn total 488 470 ME reports were identified, mostly (59%) submitted by consumers and mainly (55%) associated with females. Median age at time of ME was 57 years (interquartile range: 37–70 years). Approximately 1 out of 3 reports stated a serious health outcome. The most prevalent reported drug class was “antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents” (25%). The most common ME type was “incorrect dose administered” (9%). Of the 1659 SDRs obtained, adalimumab was the most common drug associated with MEs, noting a ROR of 1.22 (95% confidence interval: 1.21–1.24).ConclusionThis study offers a first of its kind characterization of MEs as reported to FAERS. Reported MEs are frequent and may be associated with serious health outcomes. This FAERS data provides insights on ME prevention and offers possibilities for additional in-depth analyses

Descriptive analysis on disproportionate medication errors and associated patient characteristics in the Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System

BackgroundMedication errors (MEs) are a major public health concern which can cause harm and financial burden within the healthcare system. Characterizing MEs is crucial to develop strategies to mitigate MEs in the future.ObjectivesTo characterize ME-associated reports, and investigate signals of disproportionate reporting (SDRs) on MEs in the Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).MethodsFAERS data from 2004 to 2020 was used. ME reports were identified with the narrow Standardised Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities® (MedDRA®) Query (SMQ) for MEs. Drug names were converted to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification. SDRs were investigated using the reporting odds ratio (ROR).ResultsIn total 488 470 ME reports were identified, mostly (59%) submitted by consumers and mainly (55%) associated with females. Median age at time of ME was 57 years (interquartile range: 37–70 years). Approximately 1 out of 3 reports stated a serious health outcome. The most prevalent reported drug class was “antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents” (25%). The most common ME type was “incorrect dose administered” (9%). Of the 1659 SDRs obtained, adalimumab was the most common drug associated with MEs, noting a ROR of 1.22 (95% confidence interval: 1.21–1.24).ConclusionThis study offers a first of its kind characterization of MEs as reported to FAERS. Reported MEs are frequent and may be associated with serious health outcomes. This FAERS data provides insights on ME prevention and offers possibilities for additional in-depth analyses

Comorbidity in incident osteoarthritis cases and matched controls using electronic health record data

Background: Comorbidities are common in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). This study aimed to determine the association of a wide range of previously diagnosed comorbidities in adults with newly diagnosed OA compared with matched controls without OA. Methods: A case–control study was conducted. The data were derived from an electronic health record database that contains the medical records of patients from general practices throughout the Netherlands. Incident OA cases were defined as patients with one or more diagnostic codes recorded in their medical records that correspond to knee, hip, or other/peripheral OA. Additionally, the first OA code had to be recorded between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2019. The date of cases’ first OA diagnosis was defined as the index date. Cases were matched (by age, sex, and general practice) to up to 4 controls without a recorded OA diagnosis. Odds ratios were derived for each 58 comorbidities separately by dividing the comorbidity prevalence of cases by that of their matched controls at the index date. Results: 80,099 incident OA patients were identified of whom 79,937 (99.8%) were successfully matched with 318,206 controls. OA cases had higher odds for 42 of the 58 studied comorbidities compared with matched controls. Musculoskeletal diseases and obesity showed large associations with incident OA. Conclusions: Most of the comorbidities under study had higher odds in patients with incident OA at the index date. While previously known associations were confirmed in this study, some associations were not described earlier

Occurrence of comorbidity following osteoarthritis diagnosis: a cohort study in the Netherlands

Objective To determine the risk of comorbidity following diagnosis of knee or hip osteoarthritis (OA). Design A cohort study was conducted using the Integrated Primary Care Information database, containing electronic health records of 2.5 million patients from the Netherlands. Adults at risk for OA were included. Diagnosis of knee or hip OA (=exposure) and 58 long-term comorbidities (=outcome) were defined by diagnostic codes following the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) coding system. Time between the start of follow-up and incident diagnosis of OA was defined as unexposed, and between diagnosis of OA and the end of follow-up as exposed. Age and sex adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) comparing comorbidity rates in exposed and unexposed patient time were estimated with 99.9% confidence intervals (CI). Results The study population consisted of 1,890,712 patients. For 30 of the 58 studied comorbidities, exposure to knee OA showed a HR larger than 1. Largest positive associations (HR with (99.9% CIs)) were found for obesity 2.55 (2.29-2.84) and fibromyalgia 2.06 (1.53-2.77). For two conditions a HR<1 was found, other comorbidities showed no association with exposure to knee OA. For 26 comorbidities, exposure to hip OA showed a HR larger than 1. The largest were found for polymyalgia rheumatica 1.81 (1.41-2.32) and fibromyalgia 1.70 (1.10-2.63). All other comorbidities showed no associations with hip OA. Conclusion This study showed that many comorbidities were diagnosed more often in patients with knee or hip OA. This suggests that the management of OA should consider the risk of other long-term-conditions