OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence and prevalence of thromboangiitis obliterans in Taiwan in the period spanning from 2002 to 2011. METHODS: We identified all incident and prevalent cases with a diagnosis of thromboangiitis obliterans (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code 443.1) in the period spanning from 2002 to 2011 using Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. We calculated the age- and sex-specific incidence and prevalence rates of thromboangiitis obliterans during the study period. RESULTS: From 2002 to 2011, 158 patients were diagnosed with thromboangiitis obliterans; of these, 76% were men. Most (63%) of the patients were <50 years old when they were first diagnosed. After reaching 20 years of age, the incidence rate increased with age and peaked among those aged ≥60 years. The average incidence rate of thromboangiitis obliterans during the 2002–2011 period was 0.068 per 105 years. The incidence of thromboangiitis obliterans decreased with time, from 0.10 per 105 years in 2002 to 0.04 per 105 years in 2011. The prevalence increased from 0.26 × 10−5 in 2002 to 0.65 × 10−5 in 2011. CONCLUSION: This is the first epidemiologic study of thromboangiitis obliterans using claims data from a general population in Taiwan. This nationwide, population-based study found that the incidence and prevalence of thromboangiitis obliterans in Taiwan in the 2002–2011 period were lower than those in other countries before 2000. This study also revealed a trend of decreasing incidence with simultaneous increasing prevalence of thromboangiitis obliterans in Taiwan from 2002 to 2011.

Objetivo:Examinar se uma história de periodontite (PD) antes do tratamento antidiabético está associada a risco de ocorrência de artrite reumatoide (AR) em pacientes com diabetes melittus (DM) tratados de novo.Métodos:Fizemos um estudo retrospectivo populacional com os dados de reivindicações do National Health Insurance (NHI) de 1997-2009 referentes a um milhão de indivíduos representativos da totalidade de matriculados. Adultos com DM (≥ 20 anos) que iniciaram o tratamento antidiabético durante 2001-2009 foram classificados como pacientes DM tratados de novo. Identificamos 7.097 indivíduos DM com história de PD em um intervalo de um ano antes do tratamento antidiabético (data-índice). Na equiparação desses 7.097 indivíduos para idade por ocasião da data-índice, gênero e ano da data-índice, extraímos aleatoriamente 14.194 pacientes DM sem história de PD em um intervalo de um ano antes do tratamento antidiabético. As razões de risco ajustadas (aRR) com um intervalo de confiança (IC) de 95% foram calculadas mediante a aplicação do modelo de riscos proporcionais de Cox com o objetivo de quantificar a associação entre história de PD e risco de AR.Resultados:Em comparação com pacientes DM sem exposição à PD no intervalo de um ano antes do tratamento antidiabético, RR bruta e RR ajustada para AR entre pacientes DM e com exposição à PD no intervalo de um ano antes do tratamento antidiabético foram, respectivamente, 4,51 (IC 95%, 1,39-14,64) e 3,77 (IC 95%, 1,48-9,60).Conclusão:A exposição à PD no intervalo de um ano antes do tratamento antidiabético foi associada a maior risco de AR em pacientes DM tratados de novo. A ausência do status de tabagismo em nível individual é importante limitação desse estudo.

Objective:To examine whether a history of periodontitis (PD) before anti-diabetic treatment is associated with risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) development in newly-treated diabetes mellitus (DM) patients.Methods:We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study using the 1997-2009 National Health Insurance (NHI) claims data of one million representative individuals from all NHI enrollees. Adults with DM (aged ≥20 years) starting anti-diabetic treatment during 2001-2009 were classified as newly-treated DM patients. We identified 7097 DM subjects with PD history within one year before initiating anti-diabetes treatment (index date). By matching these 7097 subjects for age on the index date, sex, and year of the index date, we randomly extracted 14,194 DM subjects without PD history within one year before antidiabetic treatment. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by applying Cox proportional hazards models to quantify the association between PD history and RA risk.Results: Compared with DM patients without PD exposure within one year before anti-diabetic treatment, crude HR and adjusted HR of RA among DM patients with PD exposure within one year before anti-diabetic treatment were 4.51 (95% CI, 1.39-14.64) and 3.77 (95% CI, 1.48-9.60).Conclusion: PD exposure within one year before anti-diabetic treatment was associated with increased RA risk in newly treated DM patients. The lack of knowledge about individual smoking status is a major limitation of this study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association of body cell mass loss with disease activity and disability in rheumatoid arthritis patients. INTRODUCTION: Rheumatoid cachexia, defined as the loss of body cell mass, is important but under-recognized and contributes to morbidity and mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS: One hundred forty-nine rheumatoid arthritis patients and 53 healthy, non-rheumatoid arthritis control subjects underwent anthropometric measurements of body mass index and waist and hip circumferences. Bioelectrical impedance analysis was used to determine the subjects' body compositions, including fat mass, skeletal lean mass, and body cell mass. The disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis was assessed using C-reactive protein serum, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and the 28-joint disease activity score, while disability was evaluated using a health assessment questionnaire. RESULTS: Rheumatoid arthritis patients had lower waist-to-hip ratio (0.86 ± 0.07 vs. 0.95 ± 0.06; p<0.001) and lower skeletal lean mass indexes (14.44 ±1.52 vs. 15.18 ± 1.35; p = 0.002) than those in the healthy control group. Compared with rheumatoid arthritis patients with higher body cell masses, those with body cell masses lower than median had higher erythrocyte sedimentation rates (40.10 ± 27.33 vs. 25.09 ± 14.85; p<0.001), higher disease activity scores (5.36 ± 3.79 vs. 4.23 ± 1.21; p = 0.022) and greater disability as measured by health assessment questionnaire scores (1.26 ± 0.79 vs. 0.87 ± 0.79; p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: The loss of body cell mass is associated with higher disease activity and greater disability in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Body composition determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis can provide valuable information for a rheumatologist to more rapidly recognize rheumatoid cachexia in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to estimate the risk ratio of herpes zoster among systemic lupus erythematosus patients after disease onset compared with a cohort of patients without systemic lupus erythematosus over a three-year period. METHODS: A nationwide population-based cohort study using the National Health Insurance Research Database identified 10,337 new cases of systemic lupus erythematosus as the study cohort. In addition, 62,022 patients without systemic lupus erythematosus, who were matched for age, gender, and date of systemic lupus erythematosus diagnosis, were used as the comparison cohort. These cohorts were followed-up for three years. A Cox proportional hazard regression was performed to estimate the risk ratio of herpes zoster, with adjustments for age, gender, level of insurance, urbanization level, geographic region, comorbid medical conditions, average daily dosage of corticosteroids, and the use of immune-modulation agents. RESULTS: Compared to patients without systemic lupus erythematosus, the crude risk ratio and adjusted risk ratio of herpes zoster among systemic lupus erythematosus patients were 7.37 (95% confidence interval 6.75-8.04) and 2.45 (95% confidence interval 1.77-3.40), respectively. Stratified by gender, the adjusted risk ratio of herpes zoster was 2.10 (95% confidence interval 1.45-2.99) in women and 7.51 (95% confidence interval 2.89-19.52) in men. Stratified by age, the adjusted risk ratio peaked in systemic lupus erythematosus patients who were aged 18 to 24 years (risk ratio 8.78, 95% confidence interval 3.08-24.97). CONCLUSION: Based on nationwide population-based data, there is an increased risk of herpes zoster in systemic lupus erythematosus patients compared with non-systemic lupus erythematosus patients, particularly among males and patients aged 18 to 24 years. Further research on the associated risk factors for herpes zoster in systemic lupus erythematosus patients is needed.

BACKGROUND: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is one of the most common rheumatic diseases with gender differences in prevalence and clinical presentation. This study aimed to examine whether such gender differences are correlated with cumulative healthcare utilization in Taiwan. METHODS: The National Health Insurance Research Database supplied claim records of one million individuals from 1996 to 2007. Selected cases included patients aged >16 years. Certified rheumatologists diagnosed the patients in three or more visits and gave prescriptions for AS. Multivariate adjusted logistic regression analyses were used to calculate the influence of gender on cumulative healthcare utilization associated with AS. RESULTS: The study included 228 women and 636 men. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, men had more cumulative outpatient visits associated with AS (odds ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.13 -2.23; p = 0.008). Men also exhibited a trend for higher frequency of AS-related hospitalization (p = 0.054). CONCLUSION: Men are more likely to have high cumulative AS-associated healthcare utilization than women. Further investigation of the causal factors is warranted.