Gerry Oster

..Hospitalization accounted for the largest component of total medical care charges. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality and economic costs are high in patients with severe sepsis, during the period of acute illness as well as subsequently...

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

..The objective of this study was to examine adherence and persistency in HIV patients initiating first-line combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) with a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based regimen...

..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 the clinical and economic burden of obesity in a managed care setting...

..Our study highlights the need for improved management of this disease...

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

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

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..This study estimated the lifetime health and economic benefits of sustained modest weight loss among obese persons...

..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...

..Whether, and to what extent, this risk may vary across subgroups defined on the basis of important clinical characteristics has not been well characterized...

..To describe the real-world effectiveness of amlodipine add-on therapy for hypertensive patients receiving valsartan...

..To describe the real-world effectiveness of amlodipine add-on therapy for hypertensive patients receiving valsartan...

..To characterize healthcare resource utilization and costs in patients with metastatic lung cancer receiving chemotherapy in the US...

..This approach may underestimate costs if SREs indirectly increase use of other services...

..However, there is limited information on the comparative effectiveness of these agents in clinical practice...

..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...

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..OM is associated with worse clinical and economic outcomes in multiple myeloma patients undergoing autologous HSCT following high-dose melphalan conditioning...

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

..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...

..CONCLUSIONS: Adding amlodipine to valsartan for treatment of hypertension results in clinically meaningful reductions in blood pressure, on an overall basis and in high-risk subgroups who may benefit the most from blood pressure control...

..Treatments that reduce the incidence of SREs, such as intravenous bisphosphonates, should reduce these costs...

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

..Patients with hypertension often have other major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Little is known, however, about the extent of risk-factor clustering in these patients and its importance in CVD risk and medical-care costs...

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

..To assess cost-effectiveness of abatacept in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with inadequate response to tumor necrosis factor-alpha antagonists (anti-TNF)...

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

..To estimate the cost-effectiveness of pregabalin as add-on therapy in patients with refractory partial epilepsy...

..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...

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

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..We conclude that, using a new microsimulation model of the treatment of GAD, pregabalin appears to be cost-effective vs venlafaxine XR in a Spanish healthcare setting...

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

..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...

..Similar reductions were estimated to occur in influenza-related mortality and economic costs...

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

..CONCLUSIONS: When combined with data on health-state utilities and treatment costs, this new analytical tool can provide a foundation for formal cost-effectiveness evaluations of interventions for painful peripheral neuropathies...

..The 90-day risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) among medically ill patients admitted to a hospital was estimated and is discussed...

..While the clinical utility of atypical antipsychotics has been established in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who are refractory to antidepressant therapy, their cost-effectiveness is unknown...

..In this study, we characterize healthcare utilization and costs in the US among women with metastatic breast cancer receiving chemotherapy as their principal treatment modality...

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

..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)...

..The aim of this study was to estimate the cost effectiveness of breast cancer screening with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with and without adjunctive x-ray mammography (XM), compared with XM alone in high-risk women...

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

..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...

..These complications result in impaired mobility and reduced quality of life and have a significant negative impact on survival. The economic consequences of SREs in patients with lung cancer have not been examined...

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

..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...

..The efficacy and safety of memantine in patients with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) receiving stable doses of donepezil were recently demonstrated in a phase III trial. The cost-effectiveness of such therapy is unknown...

..In clinical practice, however, many patients receive shorter courses of therapy, even though the effectiveness of this regimen is unknown...

..To compare the incidence of heart failure in individuals with type 2 diabetes receiving thiazolidinediones (TZDs) versus other oral antihyperglycemic agents...

..38 (0.91 to 2.14) for inpatient care, and 1.10 (0.91 to 1.35) and 1.36 (1.11 to 1.68) for all medical care. DISCUSSION: Future healthcare costs are higher for persons who are overweight, especially those with BMIs > or = 30 kg/m(2)...

..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...

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

..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...

..While the clinical and economic consequences of S. aureus pneumonia in healthcare settings have been well documented, much less is known about community-acquired S. aureus pneumonia (CAP)...

..01) following successful first percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with stable or unstable angina or silent ischemia. The cost-effectiveness of such therapy is unknown...

..metoprolol tartrate in patients with heart failure. The benefits of carvedilol in typical clinical practice in the United States are unknown...

..18,076 dollars). CONCLUSION: Bleeding following major orthopedic surgery may increase length of stay and total hospital charges and should be an important consideration in choice of VTE prophylaxis...

..Although information concerning the attainment of goal blood pressure for patients commencing antihypertensive therapy is available from controlled trials, no studies have examined this issue in the context of typical clinical practice...

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

..The cost of inpatient care at 10.5 months was $2716 higher among 5-FU patients. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalization for toxicity of Medicare patients with metastatic colorectal cancer receiving 5-FU is frequent and costly...

..The aim of this work was to retrospectively examine the costs of therapy with etanercept and infliximab, among patients aged > or = 65 years with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), from a health-care system perspective...

..Patients with OM are at a higher risk of unplanned breaks in radiation therapy and hospitalization...

..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...

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..Minimally, clinical trials for OM should assess oral pain, opioid use, oral intake, and include objective assessment of OM...

..To assess the relationship between oral mucositis (OM) and adverse clinical and economic outcomes in patients with hematologic malignancies receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT)...

..Several systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of drugs to treat neuropathic pain have reported summary estimates of efficacy - specifically, the number needed to treat (NNT)...

..On an overall basis, Rotarix would reduce costs by $77.2 million (95% CI $71.5-$86.5). Similar reductions with Rotarix were estimated to occur under an assumption of incomplete immunization of children...

..Characteristics of patients receiving antidepressant therapy were examined to identify factors that may be associated with a medical-offset effect...

..We undertook this study to characterize medical and surgical management of otitis media...

..Obesity is an established risk factor for several chronic diseases. The lifetime health and economic consequences of obesity for individual patients have not been documented...

..Studies to date therefore suggest that therapy with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (i.e. lovastatin and simvastatin) is substantially more cost-effective than treatment with bile-acid sequestrants...

..79, 95% CI 0.68-0.92). Our study thus corroborates the finding from VALUE that diabetes risk is lower for patients who receive valsartan versus amlodipine, and extends this finding to a 'real-world' setting...

..Cost of neutropenic complications of myelosuppressive chemotherapy has been reported to be substantial. Prior research, however, has focused on initial hospitalization only and has failed to account for follow-on care...

..Patient compliance with osteoporosis drug therapy is often poor in clinical practice and may be associated with higher risk of fracture...

..Patient compliance with pharmacotherapy for osteoporosis is typically poor in clinical practice; less frequent dosing with bisphosphonates may improve compliance...

..To assess cost-effectiveness of abatacept in patients with moderately to severely active RA and inadequate response to MTX...

..CONCLUSIONS: Compared with risperidone, treatment with olanzapine may result in greater increases in body weight, higher rates of therapy discontinuation, and higher costs of medical-care services...

..We review the rationale for this type of trial and discuss the potential value of such trials in setting policy and in clinical practice...

..These results are consistent with recent reported increases in community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections...

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..Further research is needed to better understand reasons for this finding, as well as its potential implications for pain management in this patient population...

..To examine the characteristics and healthcare costs of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) patients in clinical practice...

..These data provide insight into the risk-benefit concerns of patients at equipoise when addressing the efficacy and AEs of AEDs...

..While strategies to prevent the occurrence of VAP may not reduce mortality, they may yield other important benefits to patients, their families, and hospital systems...

..To determine the cost effectiveness of fondaparinux sodium compared with enoxaparin sodium for prophylaxis against venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing major orthopaedic surgery...

..Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic interstitial lung disease of unknown etiology; its epidemiology in the United States has not been well characterized...

..Patients who develop in-hospital clinical VTE following major orthopedic surgery have significantly longer stays in the 'hospital and approximately twofold higher costs of inpatient care...