Current medical research and opinion
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To investigate whether statin adherence (defined as proportion days covered, PDC) is associated with LDL-c response in statin initiators on standard and low starting doses of statins, and to detect a possible interaction with sex. ⋯ Adherence is significantly associated with LDL-c response to statins at follow-up. Sex appears to significantly modify this association. At a similar adherence level, women seem to experience a better LDL-c response to standard-dose statins compared to men in a real-world setting.
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Polypharmacy, or use of multiple medications, is associated with patient factors. Less is known regarding variation in polypharmacy by individual physicians. The objective of this study was to assess patient and physician factors associated with polypharmacy among older patients. ⋯ Individual physicians varied in their prescribing practices, even after adjusting for patient demographic and clinical characteristics. Interventions to reduce polypharmacy in older adults should target high prescribing physicians, as physician behavior is more actionable than patient factors.
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To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of tapentadol immediate-release (IR) versus oxycodone IR for post-operative pain after a major hip surgery. ⋯ Tapentadol IR may be more cost-effective than oxycodone IR for the treatment of acute postoperative pain after major hip surgeries.
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Hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients, either with or without diabetes, is a common, serious, and costly healthcare problem. Evidence accumulated over 20 years has associated hyperglycemia with a significant increase in morbidity and mortality, both in surgical and medical patients. Based on this documented link between hyperglycemia and poor outcomes, clinical guidelines from professional organizations recommend the treatment of hospital hyperglycemia with a therapeutic goal of maintaining blood glucose (BG) levels less than 180 mg/dL. ⋯ However, information about the use of incretin-based therapy in inpatients has increased in the past 15 years. This review aims to summarize the different treatment strategies for hyperglycemia in hospitalized noncritical patients that are supported by observational studies or clinical trials with insulin and non-insulin drugs. In addition, we propose a protocol to help with the management of this important clinical problem.
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Multicenter Study
Symptomatic dermographism in Chinese population: an epidemiological study of hospital-based multicenter questionnaire survey.
There are few epidemiological studies on SD in China. This study aims to clarify the epidemic distribution characteristics of SD in China and provide ideas and clues for the prevention and treatment of the disease. ⋯ Environmental factors may affect the occurrence of SD, which may have a similar etiology to other types of urticaria and the cause of SD can be explored from more perspectives.