Publications
scientifiques

Using a primary care database, we identified a major increase in impetigo in the United Kingdom during 1995-2010. Despite a doubled rate of primary care consultations, this increase was not identified by routine surveillance. Primary care databases are a valuable and underused source of surveillance data on infectious diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk of chronic kidney disease in patients with psoriasis. DESIGN: Population based cohort study and nested cross sectional study. SETTING: Electronic medical records database based in United Kingdom. PARTICIPANTS: Cohort study: patients with psoriasis aged 18-90 each matched to up to five patients without psoriasis based on age, practice, and time of visit. Nested study: patients with psoriasis aged 25-64 with confirmed data on psoriasis severity, each matched to up to 10 patients without psoriasis based on age and practice. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cohort study: incident moderate to advanced (stage 3 through 5) chronic kidney disease. Nested study: baseline prevalence of chronic kidney disease. RESULTS: 136,529 patients with mild psoriasis and 7354 patients with severe psoriasis based on treatment patterns were matched to 689,702 unaffected patients. The adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for incident chronic kidney disease were 1.05 (1.02 to 1.07), 0.99 (0.97 to 1.02), and 1.93 (1.79 to 2.08) in the overall, mild, and severe psoriasis groups, respectively. Age was a significant effect modifier in the severe psoriasis group, with age specific adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 3.82 (3.15 to 4.64) and 2.00 (1.86 to 2.17) for patients aged 30 and 60, respectively. In the nested analysis of 8731 patients with psoriasis with measurements of affected body surface area matched to 87,310 patients without psoriasis, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for chronic kidney disease were 0.89 (0.72 to 1.10), 1.36 (1.06 to 1.74), and 1.58 (1.07 to 2.34) in the mild, moderate, and severe psoriasis groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate to severe psoriasis is associated with an increased risk of chronic kidney disease independent of traditional risk factors.

IMPORTANCE: Despite the growing literature on comorbidity risks in psoriasis, there remains a critical knowledge gap on the degree to which objectively measured psoriasis severity may affect the prevalence of major medical comorbidity. OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of major medical comorbidity in patients with mild, moderate, or severe psoriasis, classified objectively based on body surface area involvement, compared with that in patients without psoriasis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Population-based cross-sectional study of patient data from United Kingdom-based electronic medical records; analysis included 9035 patients aged 25 to 64 years with psoriasis and 90,350 age- and practice-matched patients without psoriasis. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Prevalence of major medical comorbidity included in the Charlson comorbidity index. RESULTS: Among patients with psoriasis, 51.8%, 35.8%, and 12.4%, respectively, had mild, moderate, or severe disease based on body surface area criteria. The mean Charlson comorbidity index was increasingly higher in patients with mild (0.375 vs 0.347), moderate (0.398 vs 0.342), or severe psoriasis (0.450 vs 0.348) (each P < .05). Psoriasis overall was associated with higher prevalence of chronic pulmonary disease (adjusted odds ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.02-1.15), diabetes mellitus (1.22; 1.11-1.35), diabetes with systemic complications (1.34; 1.11-1.62), mild liver disease (1.41; 1.12-1.76), myocardial infarction (1.34; 1.07-1.69), peptic ulcer disease (1.27; 1.03-1.58), peripheral vascular disease (1.38; 1.07-1.77), renal disease (1.28; 1.11-1.48), and rheumatologic disease (2.04; 1.71-2.42). Trend analysis revealed significant associations between psoriasis severity and each of the above comorbid diseases (each P < .05). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The burdens of overall medical comorbidity and of specific comorbid diseases increase with increasing disease severity among patients with psoriasis. Physicians should be aware of these associations in providing comprehensive care to patients with psoriasis, especially those presenting with more severe disease.

OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to determine the effect of metformin exposure on survival in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using The Health Improvement Network, a primary care electronic medical record database from the United Kingdom (2003-2010). The study cohort included all subjects with a diagnostic code for incident PAC and a preexisting diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Subjects were classified as exposed if they were prescribed metformin around the time of PAC diagnosis (between 6 months prior and 1 month after). A secondary analysis was performed only on exposed subjects without prior (ie, 6 months before PAC diagnosis) exposure to metformin. The primary outcome was overall survival. The analysis was performed using univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: The study included 516 subjects with preexisting type 2 diabetes mellitus and PAC, 247 of which were exposed to metformin. In univariate and multivariable analysis, there was no difference in survival between those exposed and those unexposed to metformin in the primary analysis (hazards ratio, 1.11 [0.89-1.38], P = 0.367) or the secondary analysis (hazards ratio, 1.09 [0.80-1.47], P = 0.585). CONCLUSIONS: Metformin use is not associated with improved survival in subjects with advanced PAC.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Gilbert's syndrome is a common familial hyperbilirubinemia that may reduce the risk of various age-related diseases because of the antioxidant properties of bilirubin. We conducted a large cohort study using The Health Improvement Network primary care database and compared all-cause mortality rates in those with and without Gilbert's syndrome. METHODS: Mortality rates in patients with a diagnosis of Gilbert's syndrome and raised bilirubin level (n = 4266) were compared with those of patients with similar characteristics but with normal bilirubin levels (n = 21 968). Multivariate Poisson regression was also used to estimate adjusted mortality rate ratios. RESULTS: During the 350 000 PYs of follow up across the Gilbert's and comparison cohorts, there were 1174 deaths. Mortality rates were 24/10 000 PYs in the Gilbert's cohort versus 50/10 000 PYs in the comparison cohort. Mortality rates were around half in patients with Gilbert's syndrome after accounting for sociodemographics and general health indicators (adjusted mortality rate ratio: 0.5 [95% confidence interval; 0.4-0.7; P < 0.001]). CONCLUSIONS: Mortality rates observed for people with Gilbert's syndrome in the general population are almost half those of people without evidence of Gilbert's syndrome.

For patients at high cardiovascular and high gastrointestinal (GI) risk, coprescription of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) with low-dose aspirin is recommended. We aimed to quantify the extent to which low-dose aspirin discontinuation in patients at high cardiovascular risk is affected by PPI use and baseline GI risk. Patients aged 50 to 84 years who had evidence of ischemic heart disease or cardiovascular disease and who were new users of low-dose aspirin in 2000 to 2007 were identified using The Health Improvement Network (n = 35,604). Aspirin discontinuation was defined as a period of at least 90 days after completion of the last prescribed course during which no repeat prescription was issued. The incidence of low-dose aspirin discontinuation was 26.8 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI] 26.2 to 27.4). The age-, gender-, and indication-adjusted risk of aspirin discontinuation was 15% less among continuous PPI users than among PPI nonusers (hazard ratio [HR] 0.85, 95% CI 0.78 to 0.92); after further adjusting for number of coprescribed medications, the HR was 0.95 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.03). Continuous PPI use was associated with a reduced risk of aspirin discontinuation among patients at high GI risk (HR 0.83; 95% CI 0.74 to 0.93) but not among those at low GI risk (HR 1.08; 95% CI 0.96 to 1.21). In conclusion, among patients at high GI risk, concomitant users of aspirin and PPI showed a greater aspirin adherence than aspirin users not on PPI. Further studies need to confirm factors with the potential to increase adherence to long-term aspirin.

To compile an inventory of European healthcare databases with potential to study long-term effects of methylphenidate (MPH) in patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Potential databases were identified through expert opinion, the website of the European Network of Centres for Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance, and literature search. An online survey was conducted among database providers/coordinators to ascertain the databases' appropriateness for inclusion into the inventory. It included questions about database characteristics, sample size, availability of information on drug exposure, clinical data and accessibility. Forty-two databases from 11 countries were identified and their coordinators invited to participate; responses were obtained for 22 (52.4 %) databases of which 15 record ADHD diagnoses. Eleven had sufficient data on ADHD diagnosis, drug exposure, and at least one type of outcome information (symptoms/clinical events, weight, height, blood pressure, heart rate) to assess MPH safety. These were Aarhus University Prescription Database, Danish National Birth Cohort (Denmark); German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents; Health Search Database Thales, Italian ADHD Register, Lombardy Region ADHD Database (Italy); Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, General Practice Research Database, The Health Improvement Network, QResearch (UK) and IMS Disease Analyzer (UK, Germany, France). Of the 20 databases with no responses, information on seven from publications and/or websites was obtained; Pedianet and the Integrated Primary Care Information database were considered suitable. Many European healthcare databases can be used for multinational long-term safety studies of MPH. Methodological research is underway to investigate the feasibility of their pooling and analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although screening and brief intervention is effective at reducing alcohol consumption in primary care and is recommended by guidelines, there are numerous barriers to its delivery. Screening newly-registered patients for alcohol-use disorders provides an opportunity for systematic collection of alcohol consumption data. AIM: To examine how alcohol screening data are recorded in primary care, the extent to which they are recorded, and whether reported levels of consumption differ from general population data. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional analysis, with data collected from patients in the year after registration. METHOD: Data on alcohol consumption were collected from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) primary care database from patients aged ≥18 years, newly registered with a general practice in 2007 to 2009, and compared with the Office for National Statistics Opinions (ONS Omnibus) survey. RESULTS: A total of 292 376 (76%) of the 382 609 newly-registered patients had entries for alcohol consumption (units a week, Read Codes for level of consumption, and/or screening test). Only 25 975 (9%) were recorded as completing a validated screening test, most commonly AUDIT/AUDIT-C (16 004, 5%) or FAST (9419, 3%). Alcohol-use disorders are underreported in primary care (for example, higher risk drinking 1% males, 0.5% females) in comparison with the Opinions survey (8% males, 7% females). conclusion: Alcohol screening data are collected from most patients within 1 year of registration with a GP practice; however, use of a validated screening test is rarely documented and alcohol-use disorders are underreported. Further efforts are needed to encourage or incentivise the use of validated tests to improve the quality of data collected.