Real-world treatment of gout and asymptomatic hyperuricemia: A cross-sectional study of Japanese health insurance claims data

Abstract. Background: Endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) has emerged as standard of care for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Real-world evidence is limited to compare this technology to open repair (OAR). Major gaps exist related to short-term and long-term outcomes, particularly in respect of gender differences. Materials and methods: Health insurance claims data from Germany’s third largest insurance provider, DAK-Gesundheit, was used to investigate invasive in-hospital treatment of intact (iAAA) and ruptured AAA (rAAA). Patients operated between October 2008 and April 2015 were included in the study. Results: A total of 5,509 patients (4,966 iAAA and 543 rAAA) underwent EVAR or OAR with a median follow-up of 2.44 years. Baseline demographics, comorbidities, and clinical characteristics of DAK-G patients were assessed. In total, 84.6 % of the iAAA and 79.9 % of the rAAA were male. Concerning iAAA repair, the median age (74 vs. 73 years, p < .001) compared to men was higher in females, but their EVAR-rate (66.8 % vs. 71.1 %, p = .018) was lower. Besides higher age of female patients (80 vs. 75 years, p < .001), no further statistically significant differences were seen following rAAA repair. In-hospital mortality was slightly lower in males compared to females following iAAA (2.3 % vs. 3.1 %, p = .159) and rAAA (37.3 % vs. 43.1 %, p = .273) repair. Concerning iAAA repair, a higher rate of female patients was transferred to another hospital (3.7 % vs. 2.0 %, p = 0.008) or discharged to rehabilitation (6.0 % vs. 2.7 %, p < .001) compared to male patients. Conclusions: In this large German claims data cohort, women are generally older and more often transferred to another hospital or discharged to rehab following iAAA repair. Nonetheless, no significantly increased risk of in-hospital or late death appeared for women in multivariate analyses. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the impact of recent gender-specific treatment strategies on overall outcome under real-world settings.

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Prevalence of gout and asymptomatic hyperuricemia in the pediatric population: a cross-sectional study of a Japanese health insurance database

BMC Pediatrics ◽

10.1186/s12887-020-02379-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Shuichi Ito ◽

Tomoko Torii ◽

Akihiro Nakajima ◽

Takeshi Iijima ◽

Hiroshi Murano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Uric Acid ◽

Health Insurance ◽

Pediatric Population ◽

Gouty Arthritis ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Insurance Claims ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Total Prevalence ◽

Health Insurance Claims

Abstract Background Although gout is rare in children, chronic sustained hyperuricemia can lead to monosodium urate deposits progressing to gout, just as in adults. This study assessed prevalence and characteristics of gout and asymptomatic hyperuricemia, and incidence of gouty arthritis in the pediatric population, using data from Japanese health insurance claims. The diagnosis and treatment of pediatric gout and hyperuricemia were analyzed, and specific characteristics of those patients were assessed. Since Japanese guidelines recommend treatment with uric acid lowering drugs for asymptomatic hyperuricemia as well as for gout, these data were also used to investigate the real-world use of uric acid lowering drugs in a pediatric population. Methods This cross-sectional study was based on a 2016–2017 Japanese health insurance claims database, one of the largest epidemiology claims databases available in Japan, which included 356,790 males and 339,487 females 0–18 years of age. Outcomes were measured for prevalence, patient characteristics, treatment with uric acid lowering drugs for gout and asymptomatic hyperuricemia, and prevalence and incidence of gouty arthritis. Because uric acid can be elevated by some forms of chemotherapy, data from patients under treatment for malignancies were excluded from consideration. Results Total prevalence of gout and asymptomatic hyperuricemia in 0–18 year-olds was 0.040% (276/696,277 patients), with gout prevalence at 0.007% (48/696,277) and asymptomatic hyperuricemia at 0.033% (228/696,277). Prevalence of gout and asymptomatic hyperuricemia was highest in adolescent males, at 0.135% (176/130,823). The most common comorbidities for gout and asymptomatic hyperuricemia were metabolic syndrome at 42.8% (118/276) and kidney disease at 34.8% (96/276). Of the patients diagnosed with gout or asymptomatic hyperuricemia, 35.1% (97/276) were treated with uric acid lowering drugs. Gouty arthritis developed in 43.8% (21/48) of gout patients during the study, at an incidence of 0.65 flares/person-year. Conclusions Even the pediatric population could be affected by asymptomatic hyperuricemia, gout, and gouty arthritis, and uric acid lowering drugs are being used in this population even though those drugs have not been approved for pediatric indications. Such off-label use may indicate a potential need for therapeutic agents in this population. Trial registration UMIN000036029.

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The effect of Asian dust on asthma by socioeconomic status using national health insurance claims data in Korea

Inhalation Toxicology ◽

10.3109/08958378.2015.1123331 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Yoon-Sung Park ◽

Jeong-Hee Kim ◽

Hae-Ji Jang ◽

Yoon-Hee Tae ◽

Dae Hyun Lim

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Health Insurance ◽

National Health Insurance ◽

National Health ◽

Claims Data ◽

Asian Dust ◽

Insurance Claims ◽

Insurance Claims Data ◽

Health Insurance Claims Data ◽

Health Insurance Claims

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Decomposition of outpatient health care spending by disease - a novel approach using insurance claims data

BMC Health Services Research ◽

10.1186/s12913-021-07262-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Michael Stucki ◽

Janina Nemitz ◽

Maria Trottmann ◽

Simon Wieser

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Insurance ◽

Claims Data ◽

Health Care Spending ◽

Insurance Claims ◽

Diagnostic Coding ◽

Insurance Claims Data ◽

Health Insurance Claims Data ◽

Health Insurance Claims ◽

Disease Specific

Abstract Background Decomposing health care spending by disease, type of care, age, and sex can lead to a better understanding of the drivers of health care spending. But the lack of diagnostic coding in outpatient care often precludes a decomposition by disease. Yet, health insurance claims data hold a variety of diagnostic clues that may be used to identify diseases. Methods In this study, we decompose total outpatient care spending in Switzerland by age, sex, service type, and 42 exhaustive and mutually exclusive diseases according to the Global Burden of Disease classification. Using data of a large health insurance provider, we identify diseases based on diagnostic clues. These clues include type of medication, inpatient treatment, physician specialization, and disease specific outpatient treatments and examinations. We determine disease-specific spending by direct (clues-based) and indirect (regression-based) spending assignment. Results Our results suggest a high precision of disease identification for many diseases. Overall, 81% of outpatient spending can be assigned to diseases, mostly based on indirect assignment using regression. Outpatient spending is highest for musculoskeletal disorders (19.2%), followed by mental and substance use disorders (12.0%), sense organ diseases (8.7%) and cardiovascular diseases (8.6%). Neoplasms account for 7.3% of outpatient spending. Conclusions Our study shows the potential of health insurance claims data in identifying diseases when no diagnostic coding is available. These disease-specific spending estimates may inform Swiss health policies in cost containment and priority setting.

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