these studies, 26 used proportion of days covered, 23 used medication possession ratio, and 72 used self-reported questionnaires (e.g., the Morisky Scale) to assess MMA. About 50% of the studies included more than one method for measuring MMA, and different variations of medication possession ratio and proportion of days covered were used for measuring MMA. Conclusions: There appears to be no standardized method to measure MMA. With an increasing prevalence of polypharmacy, more efforts should be directed toward constructing robust measures suitable to evaluate adherence to complex regimens. Future research to understand the validity and reliability of MMA measures and their effects on objective clinical outcomes is also needed.

IntroductionLittle is known about how combinations of chronic conditions in adults affect total health care expenditures. Our objective was to estimate the annual average total expenditures and out-of-pocket spending burden among US adults by combinations of conditions.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study using 2009 and 2011 data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The sample consisted of 9,296 adults aged 21 years or older with at least 2 of the following 4 highly prevalent chronic conditions: arthritis, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, and hypertension. Unadjusted and adjusted regression techniques were used to examine the association between chronic condition combinations and log-transformed total expenditures. Logistic regressions were used to analyze the relationship between chronic condition combinations and high out-of-pocket spending burden.ResultsAmong adults with chronic conditions, adults with all 4 conditions had the highest average total expenditures ($20,016), whereas adults with diabetes/hypertension had the lowest annual total expenditures ($7,116). In adjusted models, adults with diabetes/hypertension and hypertension/arthritis had lower health care expenditures than adults with diabetes/heart disease (P < .001). In adjusted models, adults with all 4 conditions had higher expenditures compared with those with diabetes and heart disease. However, the difference was only marginally significant (P = .04).ConclusionAmong adults with arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, total health care expenditures differed by type of chronic condition combinations. For individuals with multiple chronic conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes, new models of care management are needed to reduce the cost burden on the payers.

Our systematic review found that statin significantly reduced the all-cause and prostate cancer-specific mortality and improved the BCR in certain subgroup of men with prostate cancer. In future, randomized controlled trials should be conducted to establish efficacy of statins among men with prostate cancer.

This study retrospectively assessed rates and risk factors for all-cause hospital readmission among elderly Medicare beneficiaries with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) aged ‡ 65 years. Associations between 30-day readmission and patients' demographic, insurance, index hospital, and clinical characteristics; patient complexities specific to the elderly; and health care utilization were examined using multivariable logistic regressions. Of 202,496 elderly Medicare beneficiaries, 52% were female, 76% were white, the mean age was 75.8 years, and 13.2% had all-cause 30-day readmissions. Elderly patients with cognitive impairment (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-1.12), falls and falls risk (aOR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.08-1.22), polypharmacy (aOR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.14-1.27), and urinary incontinence (aOR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.01-1.15) were at higher risk for all-cause 30-day readmission than their counterparts without these complexities. As elderly-specific complexities are associated with greater risk for readmission, intervention programs to reduce readmission risk among elderly patients with T2DM should be tailored to suit the needs of elderly patients with