Variations in care: a retrospective database analysis of healthcare utilization patterns for patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Impact of early anti-TNF use on clinical outcomes in Crohn's disease: a nationwide population-based study

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The optimal timing for initiation of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy in Crohn's disease (CD) is still debated. Little is known about the clinical outcomes of early versus late administration of anti-TNF agents, especially in Asian CD patients. We aimed to evaluate the impact of early anti-TNF therapy on clinical outcomes in Korean CD patients.

METHODS

Using the Korean National Health Insurance Claims database, we collected data on patients diagnosed with CD who received anti-TNF therapy for more than 6 months between 2010 and 2016. Early initiation of anti-TNF therapy was defined as those starting infliximab or adalimumab therapy within 1 year of diagnosis. The following outcomes were assessed using a Cox proportional hazard model: abdominal surgery, CD-related emergency room (ER) visit, CD-related hospitalization, and new corticosteroid use.

RESULTS

Among 1,207 patients, 609 were early initiators of anti-TNF. Late anti-TNF initiation (> 1 year after diagnosis) was associated with increased risk of surgery (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 2.55) and tended to be associated with increased risk of ER visit (aHR, 1.38; 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.94). However, there were no significant differences in the risk of hospitalization and corticosteroid use between early and late initiators.

CONCLUSION

Early anti-TNF therapy among Korean CD patients within 1 year of diagnosis was associated with better clinical outcomes than late therapy, such as lower surgery and ER visit rates. Our results suggest that aggressive medical intervention in the early stages of CD may potentially change the course of this disease.

Clinical Characteristics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Requiring Long-Term Parenteral Support in the Present Era of Highly Effective Biologic Therapy

BACKGROUND

Despite advances in the medical management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a subset of patients may require extensive surgery, leading to short-bowel syndrome/intestinal failure requiring long-term home parenteral nutrition (PN) or customized intravenous fluid (IVF) support. Our aim was to further define the characteristics of IBD patients requiring home PN/IVF.

METHODS

This is an observational study from a prospective IBD research registry. Patients receiving long-term home PN/IVF support during 2009-2015 were identified and compared with remaining IBD patients. Demographics, surgical history, smoking, narcotic use, IBD treatment, healthcare charges, and presence of biomarkers were reviewed. The IBD-PN group was stratified into 3 groups based on median healthcare charges.

RESULTS

Of 2359 IBD patients, there were 25 (1%, 24 with Crohn's disease) who required home PN/IVF, and 250 randomly selected IBD patients matched for disease type formed the control population. Median duration of PN use was 27 months (interquartile range, 11-66). PN use was significantly associated with smoking, narcotic use, IBD-related operations, and lower quality-of-life scores. Among IBD-PN patients, 7 of 25 (28%, 3 after use of teduglutide) were able to successfully discontinue this modality. Median healthcare charges in the IBD-PN group were $51,456 annually. Median charges in the controls were $3427. Period prevalence mortality was 11.5% in IBD-PN and 3.8% in controls.

CONCLUSIONS

IBD patients requiring long-term home PN/IVF support are a small minority in the present era of immunomodulator/biologic therapy. These refractory patients have a 15-fold increase in annual median healthcare charges compared with control IBD patients.

Geographic and Temporal Variation in Cardiac Implanted Electric Devices to Treat Heart Failure

BACKGROUND

Cardiac implantable electric devices are commonly used to treat heart failure. Little is known about temporal and geographic variation in use of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices in usual care settings.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We identified new CRT with pacemaker (CRT-P) or defibrillator generators (CRT-D) implanted between 2008 and 2013 in the United States from a commercial claims database. For each implant, we characterized prior medication use, comorbidities, and geography. Among 17 780 patients with CRT devices (median age 69, 31% women), CRT-Ps were a small and increasing share of CRT devices, growing from 12% to 20% in this study period. Compared to CRT-D recipients, CRT-P recipients were older (median age 76 versus 67), and more likely to be female (40% versus 30%). Pre-implant use of β-blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers was low in both CRT-D (46%) and CRT-P (31%) patients. The fraction of CRT-P devices among all new implants varied widely across states. Compared to the increasing national trend, the share of CRT-P implants was relatively increasing in Kansas and relatively decreasing in Minnesota and Oregon.

CONCLUSIONS

In this large, contemporary heart failure population, CRT-D use dwarfed CRT-P, though the latter nearly doubled over 6 years. Practice patterns vary substantially across states and over time. Medical therapy appears suboptimal in real-world practice.

Quality of care in inflammatory bowel disease in Asia: the results of a multinational web-based survey in the 2(nd) Asian Organization of Crohn's and Colitis (AOCC) meeting in Seoul

Background/Aims

The quality of care in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has not been systematically estimated. The aim of this study was to investigate the current status of quality of IBD care in Asian countries.

Methods

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted between March 2014 and May 2014. The questionnaire was adopted from "An adult inflammatory bowel disease physician performance measure set" developed by the American Gastroenterological Association. If the respondent executed the performance measure in more than 70% of patients, the measure was regarded as well performed.

Results

A total of 353 medical doctors from Asia completed the survey (116 from Korea, 114 from China, 88 from Japan, 17 from Taiwan, 8 from Hong-Kong, 4 from India, 3 from Singapore, and 1 each from the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia). The delivery of performance measures, however, varied among countries. The documentation of IBD and tuberculosis screening before anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy were consistently performed well, while pneumococcal immunization and prophylaxis of venous thromboembolisms in hospitalized patients were performed less frequently in all countries. Physician awareness was positively associated with the delivery of performance measures. Variations were also noted in reasons for non-performance or low performance of quality measures, and the two primary reasons cited were consideration of the measure to be unimportant and lack of time.

Conclusions

The delivery of performance measures varies among physicians in Asian countries, and reflects variations in the quality of care among the countries. This variation should be recognized to improve the quality of care in Asian countries.