scholarly journals Glucocorticoid management of adrenal insufficiency in the United Kingdom: assessment using real-world data

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamran Iqbal ◽  
Kate Halsby ◽  
Robert D Murray ◽  
Paul V Carroll ◽  
Robert Petermann

Background and objectives Glucocorticoids are used to manage adrenal insufficiency (AI). We describe treatments used in the United Kingdom and real-world clinical outcomes for each treatment. Methods We used 2010–2016 primary care data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN). Descriptive analyses were conducted, and differences in variables between patients prescribed immediate-release hydrocortisone (IR HC), prednisolone or modified-release hydrocortisone (MR HC) were assessed using Fisher’s exact test. Results Overall, 2648 patients were included: 1912 on IR HC (72%), 691 on prednisolone (26%) and 45 (2%) on MR HC. A total of 1174 (44.3%) had primary and 1150 (43.4%) had secondary AI. Patients on prednisolone were older (P < 0.001) and had a greater history of smoking (292/691, P < 0.001) and CVD (275/691, P < 0.001). Patients on MR HC had more PCOS (3/45, P = 0.001) and diabetes (27/45, P = 0.004). The number of GP visits/patient/year was 6.50 in IR HC, 9.54 in prednisolone and 9.11 in MR HC cohorts. The mean number of A&E visits and inpatient and outpatient hospital admissions ranged from 0.42 to 0.93 visits/patient/year. The mean number of adrenal crises/patient/year was between 0.02 and 0.03 for all cohorts. Conclusion IR HC is most commonly used for the management of AI in the United Kingdom, followed by prednisolone. Few patients receive MR HC. The prednisolone and MR HC cohorts displayed a greater prevalence of vascular risk factors compared with IR HC. The occurrence of AC and primary and secondary resource use were similar between treatment cohorts, and they indicate significant resource utilisation. Improved treatment and management of patients with AI is needed.

BMC Medicine ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura McDonald ◽  
Dimitra Lambrelli ◽  
Radek Wasiak ◽  
Sreeram V. Ramagopalan

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. A387
Author(s):  
M Danese ◽  
M Gleeson ◽  
L Kutikova ◽  
R Griffiths ◽  
A Azough ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Ali ◽  
Georgiana Cornea ◽  
Michele Intorcia ◽  
Philip A Kalra

Abstract Background and Aims The first phase of the published OPAL-HK study showed that Patiromer, an oral potassium binder, was effective at reducing serum potassium levels in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3 to 4. This phase was a 4-week, single-group treatment phase. Given the lack of a control arm, the aim of our study was to use real-world data from a large CKD cohort to provide a control comparison to evaluate the efficacy of Patiromer in normalising serum potassium. Method The initial phase of OPAL-HK comprised 243 patients with CKD G3-4 with a baseline serum potassium of 5.1 to &lt;6.5mmol/L. To acquire a comparative matched cohort, patients were selected from the Salford Kidney Study (SKS), a prospective observational cohort study in the United Kingdom that has been recruiting patients aged ≥18 years old with CKD G3-5 since 2002. A 3-step process was applied to generate a propensity matched cohort. First, patients were chosen if they had an outpatient potassium level at any point after recruitment into SKS between 5.1mmol/L to &lt;6.5mmol/L and whose next outpatient potassium level was checked 24 to 42 days (3.5 to 6 weeks) later (n=755). Second, all key OPAL-HK inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. This left 162 patients who were then accurately matched in a 1:1 fashion to the 243 OPAL-HK patients using propensity score matching based on 6 baseline variables: age, gender, eGFR, diabetes mellitus, heart failure and potassium level. This produced a cohort of 87 SKS patients matched to their 87 OPAL-HK partner patients. We compared the two patient groups for the following OPAL-HK study endpoints: the mean change in serum potassium from baseline to follow-up at week 4, and the proportion of patients with a serum potassium of 3.8 to &lt;5.1mmol/L at week 4. Results The groups were extremely well matched: between SKS vs. OPAL-HK, the mean (±SD) age was 63.9±13.3 vs. 63.7±9.5years (p=0.93); mean eGFR was 30.9±11.6 vs. 31.2±11.7ml/min/1.73m2 (p=0.85); 45 vs. 46 patients were diabetics (p=0.88); 29 vs. 24 had heart failure (p=0.41) and the mean potassium was 5.5±0.3mmol/L in both groups (p=0.68). The follow-up in the SKS cohort was 31±5 days. At the end of follow-up, the mean potassium level remained 5.5±0.3mmol/L in SKS patients but had reduced to 4.5±0.5mmol/L in the OPAL-HK group (p&lt;0.001), a mean (±SE) change of -1.00±0.06mmol/L. For the secondary endpoint, 74% of patients in OPAL-HK reached the target potassium range of 3.8 to &lt;5.1mmol/L at week 4 compared with 0% from the comparator SKS cohort (see Figure). Conclusion Using real-world data as a tightly-matched control arm for the first phase of the OPAL-HK study, Patiromer is shown to be effective at reducing potassium levels in patients with CKD G3-4.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 796.3-797
Author(s):  
P. G. Conaghan ◽  
L. Abraham ◽  
P. Graham-Clarke ◽  
L. Viktrup ◽  
J. C. Cappelleri ◽  
...  

Background:Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic joint disease associated with pain and impaired activity. With increasing obesity trends and an ageing population, the prevalence of OA is expected to rise in the future. This represents an increasing societal problem which will lead to an increased burden on healthcare services.Objectives:To understand the pattern of healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU) across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, as OA disease severity increases.Methods:Data were drawn from the Adelphi OA Disease Specific Programme (2017-18), a point-in-time study of physicians and their OA patients. OA disease severity was reported by physicians, who categorised patients’ OA severity as mild, moderate or severe. Patients were excluded from the analyses if they suffered from back and neck OA only, and shoulder OA that had not been diagnosed by X-ray. Physicians provided information, on a patient record form, about OA-related visits to healthcare professionals (HCPs), tests/scans conducted, emergency room (ER) visits and surgeries. Statistical comparisons among disease severity groups were made by analysis of variance and chi-squared tests.Results:The study included 489 physicians (primary care physicians, rheumatologists, orthopaedists) reporting on 3596 of their patients with OA: 24% mild (n=874), 53% moderate (n=1904) and 23% severe (n=818). Over the last 12 months, the mean number of consultations with HCPs increased with disease severity (3.7 mild, 4.2 moderate and 5.7 severe [<0.001]). This pattern was also observed in relation to the mean number of tests/scans conducted in the last 12 months (6.9 mild, 7.9 moderate and 9.3 severe [<0.001]). More than a quarter of severe patients visited the ER in the last 12 months (26% vs. 4% mild; 9% moderate [<0.001]) and visits to hospital increased with disease severity (Table 1). The proportion of patients that have had a surgery due to their OA rose with worsening disease severity (11%, 13% and 27% for mild, moderate and severe, respectively [<0.001]).Table 1.Physician-reported healthcare burden by OA disease severityMild(n=874)Moderate(n=1904)Severe(n=818)Number of patient visits to ER in the last 12 months, mean (SD)0.1 (0.4)0.1 (0.6)0.5 (1.0)Patients with ≥1 emergency visit in the last 12 months, n (%)13 (1.5)43 (2.3)79 (9.7)Patients with ≥1 hospitalisation in the last 12 months, n (%)11 (0.1)9 (0.5)26 (3.2)Number of patient outpatient hospital visits in the last 12 months, mean (SD)0.5 (1.4)0.6 (1.1)1.2 (1.4)Conclusion:This real-world data demonstrated an increase in visits to HCPs, monitoring tests and scans, hospitalisations, ER visits and surgery as OA disease severity worsened.Disclosure of Interests:Philip G Conaghan Consultant of: AbbVie, BMS, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Flexion Therapeutics, Galapagos, GSK, Novartis, Pfizer, Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Lucy Abraham Shareholder of: Pfizer, Employee of: Pfizer, Peita Graham-Clarke Shareholder of: Eli Lilly and Co, Employee of: Eli Lilly and Co, Lars Viktrup Shareholder of: Eli Lilly and Company, Employee of: Eli Lilly and Company, Joseph C Cappelleri Shareholder of: Pfizer Inc, Employee of: Pfizer Inc, Craig Beck Shareholder of: Pfizer, Employee of: Pfizer, Andrew G Bushmakin Shareholder of: Pfizer Inc, Employee of: Pfizer Inc, Niall Hatchell: None declared, Emily Clayton: None declared, James Jackson: None declared


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilia Majsiak ◽  
Magdalena Choina ◽  
Dominik Golicki ◽  
Alastair M. Gray ◽  
Bożena Cukrowska

Abstract Background Coeliac disease (CD) is characterised by diverse clinical symptoms, which may cause diagnostic problems and reduce the patients’ quality of life. A study conducted in the United Kingdom (UK) revealed that the mean time between the onset of coeliac symptoms and being diagnosed was above 13 years. This study aimed to analyse the diagnostic process of CD in Poland and evaluate the quality of life of patients before and after CD diagnosis. In addition, results were compared to the results of the original study conducted in the UK. Methods The study included 2500 members of the Polish Coeliac Society. The patients were asked to complete a questionnaire containing questions on socio-demographic factors, clinical aspects and quality of life, using the EQ-5D questionnaire. Questionnaires received from 796 respondents were included in the final analysis. Results The most common symptoms reported by respondents were bloating (75%), abdominal pain (72%), chronic fatigue (63%) and anaemia (58%). Anaemia was the most persistent symptom, with mean duration prior to CD diagnosis of 9.2 years, whereas diarrhoea was observed for the shortest period (4.7 years). The mean duration of any symptom before CD diagnosis was 7.3 years, compared to 13.2 years in the UK. CD diagnosis and the introduction of a gluten-free diet substantially improved the quality of life in each of the five EQ-5D-5L health dimensions: pain and discomfort, anxiety and depression, usual activities, self-care and mobility (p < 0.001), the EQ-Index by 0.149 (SD 0.23) and the EQ-VAS by 30.4 (SD 28.3) points. Conclusions Duration of symptoms prior to the diagnosis of CD in Poland, although shorter than in the UK, was long with an average of 7.3 years from first CD symptoms. Faster CD diagnosis after the onset of symptoms in Polish respondents may be related to a higher percentage of children in the Polish sample. Introduction of a gluten-free diet improves coeliac patients’ quality of life. These results suggest that doctors should be made more aware of CD and its symptoms across all age groups.


ORL ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Sunil Dutt Sharma ◽  
Ahmad Hariri ◽  
Ravi Kumar Lingam ◽  
Arvind Singh

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Non-echoplanar diffusion-weighted MRI (DWMRI) has a role in the surgical planning for cholesteatoma. <b><i>Aims/Objectives:</i></b> The aim of the study was to assess the use of DWMRI in the management of cholesteatoma across the UK, and measure clinicians’ confidence in the use of DWMRI. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> Telephone survey in 139 Otolaryngology Departments in the United Kingdom between March 2017 and July 2017, and asking radiology delegates at the British Society of Head and Neck Imaging 2017 meeting. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The response rate was 101 out of 139 Trusts (73%). Of those respondents who did have DWMRI available, 68/88 respondents (77%) use it for cholesteatoma. The mean confidence (±standard deviation) of the respondents with DWMRI in identifying cholesteatoma presence was 7.3 ± 2.1, in identifying volume of cholesteatoma was 6.8 ± 1.8, and in identifying subsites of cholesteatoma was 4.6 ± 2.1. <b><i>Conclusions and Significance:</i></b> DWMRI has a well-defined role in the follow-up of patients after cholesteatoma surgery, and those primary cases of cholesteatoma where the diagnosis is in question. The use of DWMRI for cholesteatoma is variable across the UK, but there are certain clinical scenarios where there is not enough awareness regarding the benefits of imaging (such as petrous apex cases of cholesteatoma).


Author(s):  
Prithwish Banerjee

Sacubitril/Valsartan in now being prescribed by heart failure/cardiology teams across the United Kingdom following the publication of the NICE technology appraisal guidance but is everyone ready for it? This article discusses the practical aspects of what to do and not to do in relation to the drug  based on real world experience from our centre. 


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