No abstract

Patients with stoma evaluated their life quality only with 42.33 points from the overall 80. ConClusions: Patients with intestinal diseases are defatigable, and have abdominal problems frequently. In case of ulcerative colitis the burden of disease is higher, life quality is less favourable. Stoma negatively affects life quality. The residence is significantly affected by the disease burden and quality of life.

to be statistically significant (odds ratio: 1.056; 95% CI: 0.669-1.665) between atypical and typical antipsychotic users. Similar results were obtained in sensitivity analysis (odds ratio: 1.089; 95% CI: 0.775-1.530). CONCLUSIONS: Typical and atypical antipsychotic drug use in an elderly Medicare population has similar risks of hip fracture. OBJECTIVES:The study evaluated the risk of falls and fractures associated with use of risperidone, olanzapine and quetiapine among community-dwelling older adults in the US. METHODS: The study involved a multiple propensity score-adjusted retrospective cohort design and included older adults aged 50 years and above, who initiated prescriptions of risperidone, olanzapine or quetiapine between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2008 using IMS LifeLink Health Plans Claims database. Patients were followed until hospitalization/emergency room (ER) visit for accidental fall/hip fracture, or the end of the study period, whichever occurred earlier. Propensity score-adjusted Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to evaluate the relative risk of falls or fractures. The covariates in the final model included maximum dose of antipsychotic therapy, and exposure to other psychotropic medications that increase the risk of falls or fractures. RESULTS: There were 12,145 (5,083 risperidone, 4,377 olanzapine and 2,685 quetiapine) new users of atypical agents. A total of 380 cases of falls or fractures with at least one hospitalization/ ER visit following the use of antipsychotic agents were identified. The number of falls or fractures for risperidone, olanzapine and quetiapine were 165 (3.65%), 109 (2.81%) and 106 (4.47%) respectively. After adjusting for propensity scores and other covariates, the Cox proportional hazard model showed that there was no statistically significant difference with use of risperidone (hazard ratio, HR-1.11; 95% CI-0.85-1.45) or quetiapine (HR-1.16; CI-0.87-1.53) compared to olanzapine in the risk of falls or fractures. CONCLUSIONS: The study found no significant difference across the individual atypical agents in the risk of falls or fractures in a large cohort of older adults. Future studies are required to evaluate the overall safety profiles of atypical antipsychotics in the above population.

who did not, and (2) between smokers who succeeded in their smoking cessation attempts and those who did not. RESULTS: Among smokers, 60.8% made smoking cessation attempts and 17.9% succeeded. Being younger, married, having health insurance, BMI (Body Mass Index) > 25kg/m 2 , and having a health care provider were independent and significant predictors of both quitting attempts and quitting success. African American race and having children in the household were positively and significantly associated with quitting attempts but had an inverse relationship with quitting success. Additional significant predictors of quitting attempts were Hispanic ethnicity and the presence of smoking-related diseases. Social support was an additional predictor of quitting success. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that some predictors related to smoking cessation attempts and successful smoking cessation were different. Sub-groups of patients (e.g. ethnic minorities, patients with smoking-related disorders, patients with children) might be motivated to initiate smoking cessation but might particularly benefit from additional support such as pharmacological interventions.

all branded and generic monotherapy formulations of lisinopril, hydrochlorothiazide, metformin, and levothyroxine. Claims were considered GDDP-filled if the following criteria were met: the only recorded price paid was patient out-of-pocket, and the quantity dispensed and out-of-pocket pricepaid matched published GDDP pharmacy lists, including Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid, and Kroger. Results: In 2006, the percentage of GDDP-filled prescriptions was low: 8.1% (N= 4,472,797) of hydrochlorothiazide, 4.0% (N= 3,880,992) of levothyroxine, 0.01% (N= 4,008) of metformin, and 0.0% of lisinopril. This increased in 2008, to 2.4% (N= 1,676,928) for metformin, 8.0% (N= 7,107,840) for lisinopril, 16.8% (N= 9,024,532) for hydrochlorothiazide, and 18.9% (N= 13,035,972) for levothyroxine. In 2009, all medications had a GDDP-filled rate around 20% or greater. The highest percentages were seen in 2010: 22.5% (N= 12,033,009) of hydrochlorothiazide, 25.1% (N= 27,033,234) of levothyroxine, 25.5% (N= 17,593,051) of metformin, and 29.6% (N= 30,115,329) of lisinopril. By 2012 this decreased, and 19.6% (N= 9,715,614) of hydrochlorothiazide, 20.3% (N= 20,813,050) of lisinopril, 22.1% (N= 21,425,226) of levothyroxine, and 23.2% (N= 17,842,540) of metformin prescriptions were GDDPfilled. ConClusions: By 2012, approximately 1 in 5 prescriptions for lisinopril, hydrochlorothiazide, metformin, and levothyroxine were filled using a GDDP. As they are cash-only, these prescriptions may not be processed via a pharmacy benefit manager, and therefore may be missing from insurance claims data.