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Biomedical subjects

Patricia A Caetano

Publications and source records attributed to Patricia A Caetano.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Antidepressant utilization in British Columbia from 1996 to 2004: increasing prevalence but not incidence.

OBJECTIVES: Expenditures on antidepressants in Canada are rapidly increasing; yet few studies have analyzed the characteristics of antidepressant users. This study investigated the prevalence and incidence of antidepressant use in British Columbia over eight years. METHODS: Antidepressant utilization and demographic data were assessed for the population of British Columbia from 1996 to 2004. Prescription claims were identified within the PharmaNet database for serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), tricyclics, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, bupropion (categorized separately for smoking cessation), and "novel" antidepressants, such as venlafaxine. Incident utilization (dispensed "first" antidepressant after two years without an antidepressant claim) and prevalent utilization were analyzed. All cohort members were required to have continuous registration with British Columbia medical services for at least two years before the first antidepressant claim. RESULTS: Prevalence of antidepressant use doubled, from 34 to 72 users per 1,000 population, between 1996 and 2004. The prevalence of particular classes of antidepressants also changed over time. Prevalence of novel antidepressants and SSRIs increased, although incidence of SSRIs decreased. Prevalent and incident use of bupropion for smoking cessation peaked in 1999 but then declined. Quarterly incident antidepressant use increased in 1998 and 1999 (6.5 and 11.3 users per 1,000) but decreased through 2004 (4.2 users per 1,000). Those aged 20 to 44 years and those aged 45 to 64 years showed the greatest peak in incident antidepressant use. A socioeconomic gradient in prescribing was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalent antidepressant use has increased dramatically since 1996. By contrast, incident use increased from 1998 to 1999 but then decreased through 2004. Many complex factors likely contribute to antidepressant prescribing patterns.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2007

Number of osteoporotic sites and fracture risk assessment: a cohort study from the Manitoba Bone Density Program.

UNLABELLED: Site-discordance in BMD assessment is common and significantly affects patient categorization. Greater number of osteoporotic sites correlates with lower T scores at each index site. This largely explains the positive association between number of osteoporotic sites and fracture risk. INTRODUCTION: Site-discordance in BMD is common when used to classify patients based on a cut-off T score of -2.5. It is unclear whether fracture risk assessment is improved by considering BMD information from multiple sites. Our objective was to assess the contribution of number of osteoporotic sites to overall fracture risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population was drawn from the regionally based clinical database of the Manitoba Bone Density Program that includes all clinical DXA test results for the Province of Manitoba, Canada. Analyses were limited to 16,505 women>or=50 years of age at the time of baseline DXA of the spine (L1-L4) and hip (three sites). During follow-up (3.2+/-1.5 years), longitudinal health service records showed 765 women with at least one osteoporotic fracture code (hip, forearm, spine, or humerus). RESULTS: Of 5012 women classified as osteoporotic by at least one site (T score -2.5 or lower), almost one half (2370; 47%) were abnormal at only a single site. Among the 1856 women with an osteoporotic total hip measurement, mean total hip T scores decreased as the number of additional osteoporotic sites increased (-2.58, no other osteoporotic sites; -2.69, one other site; -2.87, two other sites; -3.17, three other sites; Spearman r=-0.44, p<0.0001). Age-adjusted fracture risk from a Cox proportional hazards model increased as the number of osteoporotic sites increased (p<0.0001), but number of osteoporotic sites was no longer an independent predictor after total hip BMD was included as a covariate (p=0.19). Covariate adjustment for other sites of BMD measurement attenuated, but did not eliminate, the effect of number of osteoporotic sites. CONCLUSIONS: Site-discordance is common and significantly affects patient categorization when different skeletal sites are used for diagnosis. Greater number of osteoporotic sites correlates with lower T scores at each index site. This largely explains the positive association between number of osteoporotic sites and fracture risk.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed2006

Effectiveness of bone density measurement for predicting osteoporotic fractures in clinical practice.

CONTEXT: Bone density measurement with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry is widely used for fracture risk assessment. It has not been established that published gradients of fracture risk from study populations can be directly applied to clinical populations. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to assess osteoporotic fracture prediction with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in a large clinical cohort. DESIGN: This was a historical cohort study (mean observation period 3.2 +/- 1.5 yr). PATIENTS: The study population was drawn from the population-based database of the Manitoba Bone Density Program. Analyses were limited to women aged 50 yr or older at baseline (n = 16,505). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Each subject's longitudinal health service record was assessed for the presence of nontrauma fracture codes (hip, spine, wrist, and humerus) after bone density testing. Age-adjusted hazard ratios for fracture were derived from Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Site-specific and overall fracture rates were significantly associated with each site of bone density measurement (all P < 0.00001). The 95% confidence intervals overlapped those from a widely cited metaanalysis of fracture prediction from different sites. Although fracture prediction was not significantly different between the three hip measurement sites, each hip site was better than the lumbar spine for predicting overall fractures (nonoverlapping 95% confidence intervals). The manufacturer sd (equivalent to a unit change in T-score) resulted in a significantly smaller gradient of risk for the spine than when the population sd was used. CONCLUSIONS: Bone density measurements are effective for predicting fractures in clinical practice. However, hip measurements were superior to the spine in overall osteoporotic fracture prediction.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed2006

Toward a standard definition and measurement of persistence with drug therapy: Examples from research on statin and antihypertensive utilization.

BACKGROUND: Long-term utilization of prescription drugs for chronic conditions such as hypertension and/or hypercholesterolemia is a reality for millions of individuals, yet therapies may be discontinued before they can exert their beneficial effect. Several studies have measured the mean duration of therapy (ie, persistence) using administrative health databases. However, the terminology and methodology used for measuring persistence varied across studies, making it difficult to compare persistence rates. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to identify currently used measures of persistence and to propose a standard operational definition for use in administrative database analyses of drug utilization. METHODS: MEDLINE was searched for English-language articles published between January 1997 and June 2005 that quantified the concepts of persistence, adherence, compliance, or continuity with statin or antihypertensive therapy using administrative prescription claims databases. The conceptual and operational definitions of persistence used in the identified studies were categorized and applied to prescription-refill data for a hypothetical patient to compare the durations of persistence resulting from each method. RESULTS: Thirty-one articles were identified and reviewed. Few of the studies explicitly stated the conceptual definition of persistence used. Five methods of measuring persistence were identified: anniversary models, minimum-refills models, refill-sequence models, proportion-of-days-covered models, and hybrid models. When these models were applied to data for the hypothetical patient, total persistence with drug therapy ranged from 7 days to >1 year. CONCLUSIONS: There continue to be inconsistencies in the definition of persistence and the methods by which it is measured. A standard operational definition of persistence should be 2-dimensional, quantifying not only the total duration of therapy, but also the intensity of medication-taking within this interval.

Antihypertensive Agents↗
PubMed2005

The impact of hip subregion reference data on osteoporosis diagnosis.

Manufacturers of bone densitometry devices have been moving from manufacturer-specific reference values to data derived from larger population-based cohorts such as the National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey (NHANES) III. One bone densitometer manufacturer has released software that provides hip subregion T-score calculations based upon four slightly different versions of hip reference data. Our aim was to determine how changes in hip reference data affect diagnostic classification based on minimum T-scores in older women. We extracted results for lumbar spine and hip bone density measurements from the Manitoba Bone Density database for women aged 50 years or older who had baseline scans on the manufacturer's equipment (n=17,053). T-scores were calculated using manufacturer-specific non-NHANES data and three software implementations of NHANES reference data. One software version gave results at subregions of the hip that were significantly lower than with the three other sets of reference data from the same manufacturer (mean femoral neck T-score absolute difference 0.23-0.48, P<0.00001; mean trochanter T-score absolute difference 0.49-0.70, P<0.00001). As a result the proportion of measurements with a T-score of -2.5 or lower almost doubled at the femoral neck (14.3 versus 27.7%, P<0.00001) and approximately tripled at the trochanter (8.1 versus 24.0%, P<0.00001). The final patient classification of osteoporosis based on a minimum T-score of -2.5 or lower from all four measured sites differed significantly between the four versions (absolute difference 7.9 to 10.4%, P<0.00001). Small changes in the reference data used in T-score calculations had large effects on patient categorization and the calculated prevalence of osteoporosis. The impact of changes in reference data need to be carefully evaluated by users and manufacturers before widespread clinical dissemination.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed2005

Construction and validation of a population-based bone densitometry database.

Utilization of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for the initial diagnostic assessment of osteoporosis and in monitoring treatment has risen dramatically in recent years. Population-based studies of the impact of DXA and osteoporosis remain challenging because of incomplete and fragmented test data that exist in most regions. Our aim was to create and assess completeness of a database of all clinical DXA services and test results for the province of Manitoba, Canada and to present descriptive data resulting from testing. A regionally based bone density program for the province of Manitoba, Canada was established in 1997. Subsequent DXA services were prospectively captured in a program database. This database was retrospectively populated with earlier DXA results dating back to 1990 (the year that the first DXA scanner was installed) by integrating multiple data sources. A random chart audit was performed to assess completeness and accuracy of this dataset. For comparison, testing rates determined from the DXA database were compared with physician administrative claims data. There was a high level of completeness of this database (>99%) and accurate personal identifier information sufficient for linkage with other health care administrative data (>99%). This contrasted with physician billing data that were found to be markedly incomplete. Descriptive data provide a profile of individuals receiving DXA and their test results. In conclusion, the Manitoba bone density database has great potential as a resource for clinical and health policy research because it is population based with a high level of completeness and accuracy.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗