Ariel Berger

..Little is known concerning the degree to which initiation of sildenafil for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) impacts patterns of healthcare utilization and costs...

..While benzodiazepines typically provide rapid symptomatic relief, long-term use is not recommended due to risks of dependency, sedation, falls, and accidents...

..While patients who are hospitalized for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder often receive these agents at discharge, comparatively little information exists on subsequent patterns of pharmacotherapy...

..Previous studies of the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in patients with anemia concomitant with chemotherapy may thus not reflect current clinical practice...

..The purpose of this study was to compare pre- and post-surgical healthcare costs in commercially insured total joint arthroplasty (TJA) patients with osteoarthritis (OA) in the United States (U.S.)...

..To estimate direct and indirect economic costs among private-sector employees with osteoarthritis (OA)...

..Patterns of healthcare utilization and costs in patients beginning pharmacotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have not been well characterized...

..The actual extent of use of these agents in clinical practice is unknown, however...

..To examine patterns of pharmacotherapy and health care utilization and costs prior to total knee replacement (TKR) or total hip replacement (THR) in patients with osteoarthritis (OA)...

..To compare healthcare utilization and costs in the year preceding and following initial diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FM)...

..Although older adults with painful neuropathic disorders (PNDs) would appear to be at elevated risk for receiving potentially inappropriate pain-related medications, the extent of such drug use in this population is unknown...

..Clinical characteristics and patterns of healthcare utilization in patients with painful neuropathic disorders (PNDs) who are under the care of general practitioners (GPs) in the UK are not well understood...

..The pain-related medications that these patients receive raise concerns that PNDs may not be optimally treated in these settings...

..DA and EA differ, however, with respect to their assumed duration of effect and thus their approved frequency of dosing, complicating direct comparison of their doses and costs...

..1 million NOK (approx. US $11.9 million). A partial shift in the locus of care of painful neuropathies from specialists to GPs may result in substantial cost savings to the Norwegian health-care system...

..Patients receiving TF started LAO therapy closer to their date of death, and had significantly higher hospitalization charges than did patients receiving CRO and CRM...

..To examine characteristics and patterns of healthcare utilization of patients with fibromyalgia (FM) under the care of general practitioners (GPs) in Germany...

..Initial antibiotic therapy in hospitalized adults with complicated intra-abdominal infection (cIAI) usually is empiric. We explored the economic consequences of failure of such therapy in this patient population...

..To examine the use of pregabalin in patients with painful neuropathic disorders under the care of general practitioners (GPs) in the U.K...

..To compare healthcare utilization and costs in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) beginning peritoneal dialysis (PD) or hemodialysis (HD)...

..To describe patterns of use of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) (eg, amitriptyline, nortriptyline) among older patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN)...

..Our study raises questions about the optimality of PND treatment in clinical practice...

..CONCLUSIONS: Patients without cancer who receive CR oxycodone or transdermal fentanyl are less likely to switch therapy than those receiving CR morphine sulfate. Total healthcare charges are higher for patients who switch therapy...

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..CONCLUSIONS: Many patients with RA beginning treatment with infliximab have their frequency of infusions and/or medication dose increased within the first 12 months...

..Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a frequent and potentially costly complication of major orthopedic surgery...

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..The aim of this analysis was to assess alternative methods of identification of patients treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD) in health care claims databases for possible use in future analyses of costs of this treatment modality...

..Tacrolimus 0.1% and pimecrolimus 1.0% are used for short-term and noncontinuous treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) in patients unresponsive to conventional therapies...

..To estimate the consequences of failure of initial antibiotic therapy for patients with complicated skin and skin-structure infections...

..To characterize adherence with antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs, and beta blockers as prophylaxis against migraine in typical clinical practice...

..CONCLUSION: In this study, initiation of gabapentin therapy in patients with PHN was associated with a reduction in the use of opioid analgesics...

..8% and 31.3%, and 28.7% and 13.1%. These relatively low rates of opioid use among patients with metastatic cancer in their final year of life suggest that pain in many cases may be suboptimally treated...