Comparative Risk of Major Bleeding With Concomitant Use of Oral Anticoagulants and Corticosteroid Bursts.

The choice of oral anticoagulants and oral corticosteroid (OCS) burst cotherapy may influence the risk of major bleeding; however, this risk remains poorly characterized. We aimed to quantify the comparative safety of non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) versus warfarin on major bleeding while receiving OCS burst cotherapy among patients with atrial fibrillation. A nationwide population-based cohort study was conducted using the National Health Insurance Research Database.

Statistical Inference for Tensor-Based Covariates in Cox Regression Modeling in Integrated Genome Studies.

In the form of multidimensional arrays, modeling considering tensor covariates is capable of capturing important feature interactions or encompassing a broader range of data structures. In the study, we proposed a statistical inference based on tensor-based covariates for the Cox regression model in the integrated genome study. The proposed method stands out for reducing the parameter dimension within the partial likelihood function through the application of rank-R decomposition.

Effectiveness of Treating Obstructive Sleep Apnea by Surgeries and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure: Evaluation Using Objective Sleep Parameters and Patient-Reported Outcomes.

: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), palatal plus nasal surgery (PNS), and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) are widely implemented treatments for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This study aims to explore the long-term effects on objective sleep parameters and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) following different therapeutic interventions for OSA. : Data from patients with moderate-to-severe OSA were retrospectively collected from a medical center and a regional hospital, spanning from December 2011 to August 2018.

Modeling multiple-criterion diagnoses by heterogeneous-instance logistic regression.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that causes a significant burden in caregiving and medical costs. Clinically, the diagnosis of MCI is determined by the impairment statuses of five cognitive domains. If one of these cognitive domains is impaired, the patient is diagnosed with MCI, and if two out of the five domains are impaired, the patient is diagnosed with AD.

Association between antenatal corticosteroid treatment and severe adverse events in pregnant women.

Background: Antenatal corticosteroids are considered the standard of care for pregnant women at risk for preterm birth, but studies examining their potential risks are scarce. We aimed to estimate the associations of antenatal corticosteroids with three severe adverse events: sepsis, heart failure, and gastrointestinal bleeding, in pregnant women.

Methods: Of 2,157,321 pregnant women, 52,119 at 24 weeks 0/7 days to 36 weeks 6/7 days of gestation were included in this self-controlled case series study during the study period of 2009-2018.

Association between antenatal corticosteroids and risk of serious infection in children: nationwide cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the associations between exposure to antenatal corticosteroids and serious infection in children during the first three, six, and 12 months of life.

Design: Nationwide cohort study.

Setting: National Health Insurance Research Database, Birth Reporting Database, and Maternal and Child Health Database, 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2019, to identify all pregnant individuals and their offspring in Taiwan.

Age and gender differences in misperceptions of body shape in a Taiwanese population.

Objectives: Most studies of body size perception have been performed in adolescents, and most focus on gender differences in accurate perception of body size. This study investigated misperceptions of body sizes among males and females at different stages of adulthood in Taiwan.

Designs: In-person home interviews were used to proportionally and randomly select 2095 adult men and women to answer the East Asian Social Survey.

Mapping algorithms for predicting EuroQol-5D-3L utilities from the assessment test of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

To predict 3-Level version of European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D-3L) questionnaire utility from the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) assessment test (CAT), the study attempts to collect EQ-5D-3L and CAT data from COPD patients. Response mapping under a backward elimination procedure was used for EQ-5D score predictions from CAT. A multinomial logistic regression (MLR) model was used to identify the association between the score and the covariates.

Approaching person-centered long-term care: The trajectories of intrinsic capacity and functional decline in Taiwan.

Aim: To examine the longitudinal trajectory of intrinsic capacity over a 3-year period among long-term care recipients in Taiwan, its association with functional decline and the onset of severe dependency.

Methods: A total of 9448 individuals aged ≥50 years utilizing home and community-based long-term care services with complete data from three separate evaluations in Taiwan were included in the study. We carried out a latent class linear mixed model to identify heterogeneous patterns of intrinsic capacity over time, a mixed-effects model to investigate their impact on activities of daily living and a Kaplan-Meier analysis to examine the onset year of severe dependency among different intrinsic capacity classes.

Cost-effectiveness evaluation of mammography screening program in Taiwan: Adjusting different distributions of age and calendar year for real world data.

Background/purpose: We estimated loss-of-life expectancy (LE) and lifetime medical expenditures (LME) stratified by stages to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of breast cancer (BC) screening in Taiwan.

Methods: We interlinked four national databases- Cancer Registry, Mortality Registry, National Health Insurance Claim, and Mammography Screening. A cohort of 123,221 BC was identified during 2002-2015 and followed until December 31, 2017.

Association of Oral Corticosteroid Bursts With Severe Adverse Events in Children.

Importance: The adverse effects from the long-term use of oral corticosteroids are known, but, to our knowledge, few studies have reported the risk of corticosteroid bursts, particularly among children.

Objective: To quantify the associations of corticosteroid bursts with severe adverse events, including gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, sepsis, pneumonia, and glaucoma, in children.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This study used data derived from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2017, on children younger than 18 years of age and used a self-controlled case series design.

Gene-set integrative analysis of multi-omics data using tensor-based association test.

Motivation: Facilitated by technological advances and the decrease in costs, it is feasible to gather subject data from several omics platforms. Each platform assesses different molecular events, and the challenge lies in efficiently analyzing these data to discover novel disease genes or mechanisms. A common strategy is to regress the outcomes on all omics variables in a gene set.

Dynamic Changes of Generic Quality of Life after Different Treatments for Localized Prostate Cancer.

Generic quality of life (QoL) is an important issue in decision making related to the primary treatment of localized prostate cancer (PC). This study assessed the dynamic changes of QoL in patients with localized PC under different treatment modalities. From 2013 to 2018, we prospectively assessed QoL scores in patients with localized PC under unitary treatment using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) BREF version.

Association Between Oral Corticosteroid Bursts and Severe Adverse Events : A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.

Background: Long-term use of oral corticosteroids has known adverse effects, but the risk from brief oral steroid bursts (≤14 days) is largely unknown.

Objective: To examine the associations between steroid bursts and severe adverse events, specifically gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, sepsis, and heart failure.

Design: Self-controlled case series.

Health inequality: a longitudinal study on geographic variations in lung cancer incidence and mortality in Taiwan.

Background: This study is aimed toward an analysis of the variations in lung cancer incidence and mortality, adjusted by population factors (age, gender, and year), between administrative areas.

Methods: This is a retrospective study, using 2005-2014 data in each administrative area from the Taiwan Cancer Registry database organized by the Health Promotion Administration. The yearly age-standardized (overall) and crude (stratified by gender and age) incidence/mortality (and their growth rates) for each administrative area were collected and calculated.

Reference equations for spirometry in healthy Asian children aged 5 to 18 years in Taiwan.

Background And Objective: This study aimed to establish reference equations for spirometry in healthy Taiwanese children and assess the applicability of the Global Lung Function Initiative (GLI)-2012 equations to Taiwanese children.

Methods: Spirometric data collected from 757 healthy Taiwanese children aged 5 to 18 years in a population-based cohort study. Prediction equations derived using linear regression and the generalized additive models for location, scale and shape (GAMLSS) method, respectively.

Dynamic Changes of Health Utility in Lung Cancer Patients Receiving Different Treatments: A 7-Year Follow-up.

Introduction: This study aimed to estimate the utility values of all subtypes of lung cancer. The trajectories after different kinds of treatments and their major determinants were explored on the basis of real-world data and repeated measurements.

Methods: From 2011 to 2017, all patients with lung cancer who visited a medical center were invited to fill out the EuroQol Five-Dimension and WHO Quality of Life-Brief questionnaires at each visit.

Identifying individual risk rare variants using protein structure guided local tests (POINT).

Rare variants are of increasing interest to genetic association studies because of their etiological contributions to human complex diseases. Due to the rarity of the mutant events, rare variants are routinely analyzed on an aggregate level. While aggregation analyses improve the detection of global-level signal, they are not able to pinpoint causal variants within a variant set.

Predictors of caregiver burden and care costs for older persons with dementia in Taiwan.

Unlabelled: ABSTRACTObjectives:As a degenerative disease, the progression of dementia needs continued care provision and poses both psychological and financial burden for family caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD). This study seeks to compare predictors of care costs and caregiver burden, and to identify modifiable factors that could alleviate the burden faced by dementia caregivers.

Methods: This study interviewed 231 PWD-caregiver dyads in a dementia clinic at a teaching hospital in southern Taiwan in 2013.

Dynamic changes in quality of life after three first-line therapies for EGFR mutation-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Three different tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been approved as first-line therapies for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with similar overall survival. This study determined dynamic changes in quality of life (QoL) for patients using these therapies after controlling for potential confounders.

Methods: From 2011 to 2016, we prospectively assessed the utility values and QoL scores of patients using the EuroQol five-dimension and World Health Organization Quality-of-Life - Brief questionnaires.

Geographic Variations and Time Trends in Cancer Treatments in Taiwan.

Background: Targeted therapies have become important treatment options for cancer care in many countries. This study aimed to examine recent trends in utilization of antineoplastic drugs, particularly the use of targeted therapies for treatment of cancer, by geographic region in Taiwan (northern, midwestern, southern, and eastern regions and the outer islands).

Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of antineoplastic agents using 2009-2012 quarterly claims data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database.

Exploring the relationship between nursing hours per patient day and mortality rate of hospitalised patients in Taiwan.

Aim: To investigate the relationship between nursing hours per patient day and the inpatient mortality rate in Taiwan.

Background: Nursing hours per patient day has been associated with better patient outcomes. The literature is inconclusive on the relationship between nursing hours per patient day and the inpatient mortality rate, and no studies have yet examined this issue in Taiwan.

Confidence intervals for the ratio of two median residual lifetimes with left-truncated and right-censored data.

The confidence intervals for the ratio of two median residual lifetimes are developed for left-truncated and right-censored data. The approach of Su and Wei (1993) is first extended by replacing the Kaplan-Meier survival estimator with the estimator of the conditional survival function (Lynden-Bell, 1971). This procedure does not involve a nonparametric estimation of the probability density function of the failure time.

The profile and familiality of personality traits in mood disorder families.

Objective: Personality traits have impacts on individuals' response to stress and mood expression. The current study aimed to investigate the profile of personality traits in patients with bipolar disorders and major depressive disorder (MDD). Familial aggregation of personality traits in mood disorder families was also evaluated.