Current Medical Research and Opinion

OBJECTIVE: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is typically asymptomatic in healthy individuals; however, certain populations are vulnerable to infection and may develop serious sequelae. CMV infection may also have a broad impact on humanistic outcomes, including patient health status and quality of life (QoL). We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to describe the global humanistic burden of CMV and congenital CMV (cCMV) infections across all age groups. METHODS: Medline, Embase, and LILACS were searched to identify studies on humanistic outcomes following CMV infection, including health status/QoL and any outcomes in domains such as auditory, cognitive ability, developmental status, intelligence, language, memory, mental health, motor performance, social communication, speech, and vocabulary...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the clinical efficacy of different treatment regimens for idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). METHODS: Patients with IMN were retrospectively analyzed by dividing into two groups: glucocorticoids combined with cyclophosphamide group (GC + CYC) and glucocorticoids combined with calcineurin inhibitor group (GC + CNIs). After 1 year of treatment, those who found that the initial treatment was not effective were switched to another regimen...

OBJECTIVE: Time To Discontinuation (TTD) is defined as the time from the start of treatment to the end of treatment, usually occurring due to loss of efficacy or occurrence of adverse events. It has become an important surrogate efficacy endpoint especially in real-world studies due to its correlation with endpoints such as Progression Free Survival (PFS). The aim of the study is to conduct a literature review of all studies reporting TTD in first-line therapy of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)...

OBJECTIVES: Sleep quality is associated with many diseases and conditions that affect individuals' health in various ways. We aimed to investigate the association between sleep quality and common geriatric conditions in older adults. METHODS: The study included 237 older adults admitted to the geriatric outpatient clinic of a university hospital. All patients underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), European Quality of Life (EQ-5D), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Lawton and Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) questionnaires, Tinetti Balance and Gait Assessment (TBGA) and Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) were performed on the participants...

OBJECTIVE: The treatment landscape for the prevention of migraine has rapidly evolved in recent years with the advent of calcitonin gene-related peptide therapy, including erenumab. The objective of this study was to assess patient-reported treatment satisfaction among erenumab users. METHODS: This retrospective, cross-sectional study used data from the 2019 US National Health and Wellness Survey collected during March-July 2019. Respondents self-reporting physician-diagnosed migraine and currently using erenumab were analyzed...

OBJECTIVE: Scarce data examined the associations of circulating calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) with high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in humans. We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study to evaluate the associations of serum Ca, Mg and Ca/Mg ratio with hsCRP and examine the mediating roles of body mass index (BMI). METHODS: A total of 7203 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) (average age: 61.0 years) were included. Serum concentrations of Ca, Mg and hsCRP were measured...

OBJECTIVE: To measure the incidence of neuropsychiatric adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in individuals living with HIV who initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) with first-line regimens containing dolutegravir (DTG) or efavirenz (EFV) and associated factors. METHODS: Prospective cohort study with individuals living with HIV who started ART with DTG or EFV associated with tenofovir disoproxil and lamivudine in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected from September/2015 to October/2018 in three specialized HIV care services through interviews, clinical records, and computerized systems...

BACKGROUND: Oral medications for chronic conditions often involve a variety of instructions, including time of day/dosing, drug interactions, and food intake restrictions. However, the extent to which patients are differentially aware of and able to follow these instructions is unclear. METHODS: We surveyed patients from the US and Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain) who were prescribed sulfonylureas (SU) for diabetes or levothyroxine for hypothyroidism. SUs included glimepiride (US/Europe), glipizide (US) or gliclazide (Europe)...

The pathophysiology of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is a complex process in which a number of neurohormonal systems are involved. Targeting only some of these systems, but not all, translates into a partial benefit of HF treatment. The nitric oxide-soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC)-cGMP pathway is impaired in HF, leading to cardiac, vascular and renal disturbances. Vericiguat is a once-daily oral stimulator of sGC that restores this system. No other disease-modifying HF drugs act on this system...

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of vortioxetine in the management of major depressive disorder (MDD) in two open-label one-year studies, including a post-hoc analysis of its effects on symptoms related to anhedonia. METHODS: Both studies were 52-week, open-label, flexible-dose extension studies to evaluate the safety and efficacy of vortioxetine in adult patients with MDD following prior double-blind studies. Patients in the first study (NCT00761306) were flexibly treated with vortioxetine 5 or 10 mg/day ( N  = 74), and patients in the second study (NCT01323478) received vortioxetine 15 or 20 mg/day ( N  = 71)...

OBJECTIVE: To provide real-word evidence of patients with SCD initiating crizanlizumab, their use of other SCD treatments, and crizanlizumab treatment patterns. METHODS: Using IQVIA's US-based, Longitudinal Patient-Centric Pharmacy and Medical Claims Databases patients with a diagnosis of SCD between November 1, 2018, and April 30, 2021, and ≥1 claim for crizanlizumab (date of first claim = index date) between November 1, 2019, and January 31, 2021 who were ≥16 years of age, and had ≥12 months of pre-index data were selected for analysis...

OBJECTIVE: Polypharmacy is associated with negative clinical consequences. The efficacy of deprescribing interventions within medical specialist outpatient clinics remains unclear. Here, we reviewed the research on the effectiveness of deprescribing interventions implemented within specialist outpatient clinics for patients ≥ 60 years. METHODS: Systematic searches of key databases were undertaken for studies published between January 1990 and October 2021...

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) in a community population. METHODS: Baseline data from a prospective cohort study, the Predictive Value of Combining Inflammatory Biomarkers and Rapid Decline of FEV1 for COPD (PIFCOPD), were used for cross-sectional analysis. Participants aged 40-75 years were recruited from the community and their demographic information and medical history were collected...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the early outcomes, associated factors and predictive values of clinical outcomes of different tandospirone doses in patients with a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). METHODS: This was a posthoc analysis of "a randomized, controlled multicenter clinical trial of the efficacy and safety of different doses of tandospirone on GAD". A total of 274 patients with GAD were included and randomized into the high-dose (tandospirone 60 mg/d) and low-dose (tandospirone 30 mg/d) groups for a 6-week treatment...

OBJECTIVE: Providing evidence on donepezil and memantine administration as extemporaneous combination (DM-EXT) to treat Alzheimer Disease (AD) in Italy, and describing demographic and clinical features of AD patients prescribed DM-EXT. METHODS: Retrospective observational study using IQVIA Italian LifeLink Treatment Dynamics (LRx) and Longitudinal Patient Database (LPD). Prevalent users of DM-EXT were identified on the databases (cohorts DMpLRx and DMpLPD ) including patients with donepezil and memantine overlapping prescriptions during the selection period (DMpLRx : July 2018-June 2021'; DMpLPD : 'July 2012-June 2021')...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate real-world outcomes of patients receiving ACTISTM ,1 a medial collared, triple-tapered (MCTT) hip system vs. other implants, for primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: Patients with THA between 2016-2021 from Mercy Healthcare Systems-Orthopedics Database were evaluated. The primary outcome was the 2-year revision. Secondary outcomes included operating room (OR) time, length of stay (LOS), and discharge disposition. Fine Stratification and Weighting (FSW) controlled for baseline characteristic differences between ACTIS and other implant groups...

BACKGROUND: Home delivery is responsible for a high number of maternal and newborn deaths due to the occurrence of obstetric complications during labour and delivery. Little is known about the incidence and predictors of women's place of delivery after utilizing antenatal care services in Ethiopia and the study area. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to fill those gaps in the studies mentioned above by determining the incidence and predictors of women's place of delivery. METHODS: An institutional-based prospective cohort study was conducted among pregnant women in public hospitals of Gedeo zone, Southern Ethiopia between May 1 and October 30, 2021...

INTRODUCTION: Misdiagnosis of bipolar I disorder (BP-I) as major depressive disorder (MDD) leads to increased healthcare resource utilization and costs. The cost-effectiveness of the Rapid Mood Screener (RMS), a tool to identify BP-I in patients with depressive symptoms, was assessed in patients diagnosed with MDD presenting with depressive episodes. METHODS: A decision-tree model of a hypothetical cohort of 1000 patients in a US health plan was used to estimate the number of correct diagnoses and overall total, direct healthcare costs over a 3-year timeframe for RMS-screened versus unscreened patients...

OBJECTIVES: The term "mixed pain" has been established when a mixture of different pain components (e.g. nociceptive, neuropathic, and nociplastic) are present. It has gained more and more acceptance amongst pain experts worldwide, but many questions around the concept of mixed pain are still unsolved. The sensation of pain is very personal. Cultural, social, personal experiences, idiomatic, and taxonomic differences should be taken into account during pain assessment. Therefore, a Latin American consensus committee was formed to further elaborate the essentials of mixed pain, focusing on the specific characteristics of the Latin American population...

OBJECTIVE: Original brand extended-release (ER) oxycodone tablets (OC) for oral use were reformulated (ORF) with abuse-deterrent properties (ADP) against inhalation and injection routes in August 2010. This product transition provided an opportunity to compare "before and after" reformulation abuse trends. Our goal was to assess the change in abuse of brand oxycodone ER from before and after introduction of ORF. METHODS: Change in self-reported non-oral "OxyContin® " abuse in the previous 30 days during 2 years pre- and 4 years post-reformulation was assessed among adults evaluated for substance use and treatment planning using the Addiction Severity Index-Multimedia Version (ASI-MV® )...