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The incidence rates of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and colorectal polyps have been increasing over the last decades. However, direct associations between T2DM and colorectal polyps have not been extensively reported. We will explore the relationship between T2DM and colorectal polyps. In the retrospective study, we classified DM and NonDM groups (control) from 993,516 people in Taiwan nationwide population insurance database from the period of 2000 to 2013. We collected data on income and comorbidities through the international classification of diseases, ninth revision—clinical modification (ICD-9-CM) codes. The T2DM group had a higher incidence rate of colorectal polyps (31.97%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 30.97–33.28) than the control group (25.9%, 95% CI = 25.1–26.72), and the crude incidence ratio was 1.235 (95% CI = 1.174–1.300). In 13 years of follow-up (2000–2013), T2DM was linked to a significantly higher cumulative probability of colorectal polyps (log-rank test: P = .0001). Patients with T2DM had a 1.23-fold higher risk of new colorectal polyps than control patients in 13 years of follow-up. We explain the T2DM increases incidence for colorectal polyps in long term follow-up.

Breast cancer has the highest incidence of cancer among women in Taiwan, and air pollutants have been documented to have multiple adverse effects on human health. There is no relevant data, there has been no research in Taiwan to discuss the relevance of air pollutants to breast cancer, and evidence is sparse and inconclusive. Air quality data used in this study was collected from the 78 air quality monitoring stations situated in 74 municipalities in Taiwan during 2000 to 2011. The daily measurements taken at each monitoring station represented the level of exposure for each participant residing in that zone. The air pollution concentration is partitioned based on the concentration level in Quartile. We calculate the annual average air pollutants concentration (CO, NO, NO2, PM2.5, THC, and CH4) and the long-term average exposure levels of these pollutants until diagnosis of breast cancer, ending the study period for each individual. Patients who were living in areas with the highest air pollutants concentration (Quartile 4) had the most people diagnosed with breast cancer (CO:1.47%, NO:1.41%, NO2:1.63%, PM2.5:0.91%, THC:1.53%, CH4:2.33%). The patients who were exposed to Quartile 1 level of CO, NO, and NO2 concentration were the oldest, and other patients who were exposed to Quartile 4 level of CO, NO, and NO2 concentration were living in the areas of highest urbanization. Participants exposed to Quartile 4 level concentrations of air pollutants were associated with highest hazards ratios for breast cancer incidences. Most participants who were exposed to the high concentration of air pollutants (CO, THC and CH4) had a significantly higher risk of breast cancer. If we can improve air pollution in the environment, we can reduce the incidence of breast cancer and save precious medical resources.

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between myasthenia gravis (MG) and the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) in an Asian population. The risk was analyzed in a cohort of 5528 patients with history of MG and 5528 individuals without MG using a hospitalization claim dataset. Both groups were matched by age, sex, index year and baseline comorbidities as an original analysis. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval of AF after adjusting for demographic and relevant clinical covariates. The adjusted hazard ratio of the MG group compared with that of the non-MG group was 1.03 (95% confidence interval, 0.76-1.38) for AF. A stratified analysis showed that compared with the propensity score matched non-MG group, there was no increased risk of developing AF based on age categories, gender, or comorbidities. Different time follow-up periods results showed no increased risk of AF compared with the non-MG group. Overall, in the Taiwanese cohort, MG is not associated with an increased risk of AF.

Background: In the current literature, studies assessing the role of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection in psoriasis have reported conflicting data. Therefore, we investigated the association between HP infection and psoriasis using a nationwide population-based longitudinal cohort study. Methods: We identified 41,539 patients with HP infection and 83,078 matched controls between 2000 and 2013 from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Research Database of the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. Propensity score analysis was used to match age, sex, comorbidities, and medical visits at a ratio of 1:2. Multiple Cox regression analysis was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio of psoriasis. Furthermore, sensitivity tests and a stratified analysis were conducted. Results: The incidence rates of psoriasis did not differ significantly between the HP and control cohorts (4.58 vs 4.20 per 100,000 person-months, crude relative risk: 1.092, 95% confidence interval: 0.917–1.302). After multivariate adjustment, no significant difference in psoriasis risk was observed in patients with HP infection (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.081, 95% confidence interval: 0.907–1.288). Risk of psoriasis was significantly higher in men and the elderly, and in those with diabetes, hyperlipidemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or tuberculosis. Stratified analysis also confirmed that HP infection was not correlated with an increased risk of psoriasis based on follow-up duration, sex, and age. Conclusion: This retrospective population-based longitudinal cohort study, conducted in Taiwan, found no association between HP infection and risk of psoriasis. Further research may be warranted.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Mycoplasma pneumonia (MP) infection and new development of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Using data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, we included a total of 116,084 patients with newly diagnosed MP between 2000 and 2012. The control cohort consisted of patients who did not have MP, matched 1:4 by age, sex, and index year. The follow-up period was defined as the time from the initial diagnosis of MP to the date of diagnosis of AS, censoring, or 31 December 2013. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to analyze the risk of autoimmune diseases by sex, age, and comorbidities, with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The eligible study participants included 116,084 patients in the MP group and 464,336 patients in the comparison group. The incidence rates of AS in the MP group and comparison groups were 1.49 and 0.74 per 1,000,000-person years, respectively. The adjusted HR of AS for the MP group was 2.45 (95% CI = 1.02−5.90) compared to the control group after adjustment for age, sex, and all covariates. MP remained an independent risk factor for developing AS in terms of sex, age, and comorbidities.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a progressive disease. After metformin failure, the addition of insulin or sulfonylureas might increase the risk of hypoglycemia and cardiovascular (CV) morbidity. Here, the risk of all-cause mortality was compared between early insulin treatment and glimepiride use in T2DM patients with background metformin therapy.We conducted a 9-year retrospective cohort study from the population-based National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. A total of 2054 patients with T2DM under insulin or glimepiride treatment were enrolled during 2004 to 2012. Overall event rates of all-cause mortality were compared between 1027 insulin users and 1027 matched glimepiride users.After the propensity score matching, the mortality rates were 72.5 and 4.42 per 1000 person-years for insulin users and glimepiride users. The adjusted hazard ratio of mortality was 14.47 (95% CI: 8.64-24.24; P value

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease involing spine and enthesis. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the autonomic nervous system (ANS) function and the association between ANS and the functional status or disease activity in AS. The study included 42 AS patients, all fulfilling the modified New York criteria. All the patients are totally symptom free for ANS involvement and had normal neurological findings. These AS patients and 230 healthy volunteers receive analysis of 5 minutes heart rate variability (HRV) in lying posture. In addition, disease activity and functional status of these AS patients are assessed by Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Global Score (BAS-G). Both groups were age and sex-matched. Although the HRV analysis indicates that the peaks of total power (TP, 0–0.5 Hz) and high-frequency power (HF, 0.15–0.40 Hz) are similar in both groups, the activities of low-frequency power (LF, 0.04–0.15 Hz), LF in normalized units (LF%), and the ratio of LF to HF (LF/HF) in AS patients are obviously lower than healthy controls. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein revealed negative relationship with HF. The AS patients without peripheral joint disease have higher LF, TP, variance, LF%, and HF than the patients with peripheral joint disease. The AS patients without uvetis have higher HF than the patients with uvetis. The total scores of BASDI, BASFI, and BAS-G do not show any association to HRV parameters. AS patients have significantly abnormal cardiac autonomic regulation. This is closely related with some inflammatory activities. Reduced autonomic function may be one of the factors of high cardiovascular risk in AS patients.

Th2 and Th17 cells are both associated with developing ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and asthma. Th2 cells are also associated with allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis (AD). The prevalence of such allergic diseases in AS patients is unknown. In this study, we intended to study the risk of allergic diseases in a 10-year follow-up population of newly diagnosed patients with AS. We used a nationwide 10-year population-based database retrieved from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005 (LHID2005) in Taiwan. The study cohort comprised 857 patients with AS who had at least 1 claim of inpatient admission or at least 2 claims of ambulatory visit. The comparison cohort consisted of 4285 randomly selected subjects matched with AS group at a ratio of 5:1. We used Cox proportional-hazards regression to determine the 10-year disease-free survival rates after adjusting for potentially confounding factors. The AS patients had a 1.31 times greater risk of developing asthma within 10 years of diagnosis when compared with non-AS age- and sex-matched subjects, after adjusting for other risk factors (95% confidence interval = 1.00-1.75). But the difference was not significantly different. The AS patients also had a 1.46 times and a 1.22 times greater risk of developing allergic rhinitis and AD significantly. AS patients also had a lower allergic disease-free survival rate compared to non-AS group. Our results showed that patients with AS had a higher risk of developing allergic diseases later in life.

The aim of the study is to assess the effects of celecoxib and sulfasalazine on the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Using the claims data of Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) database, a nationally representative data that contain the medical records of 23 million Taiwan residents, we randomly selected 1 million cohort from the database, and then we enrolled only patients who were newly diagnosed with AS (n = 4829) between year 2001 and 2010, excluding patients who had CAD (ICD-9- CM codes: 410–414) before the diagnosis of AS (n = 4112). According to propensity score matched 1:2 on age, gender, AS duration, Charlson comorbidity index, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, 236 and 472 patients were included in the case (AS with CAD) and control (AS without CAD) groups, respectively. We used the WHO defined daily dose (DDD) as a tool to assess the dosage of sulfasalazine and celecoxib exposure. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the risk of CAD associated with use of sulfasalazine and celecoxib. Among 4112 AS patients, 8.4% (346/4112) developed CAD. CAD in AS patients were positively associated with age of 35 to 65, Charlson comorbidities index (CCI), hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. There was no gender difference between case and control groups. After adjustment for age, gender, CCI, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, sulfasalazine users with an average daily dose ≥ 0.5 DDD (0.5 gm/day) had negative association with CAD events as compared to sulfasalazine nonusers (OR 0.63; 95% CI, 0.40–0.99, P 1.5 DDD, were negatively associated with CAD events, compared to celecoxib nonusers (OR 0.34; 95% CI, 0.13–0.89; P

There are limited studies describing the association between ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients over 40 years old. We aimed to focus on the incident AS patients in those aged 40 years or older and to investigate whether events of CVD occurred more than the general population.We conducted a nationwide cohort study between 2000 and 2005 using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The risk of newly diagnosed CVD was compared between incident AS patients and matched age- and sex-matched subjects without AS. Events of CVDs were classified into 1 of 5 subcategories: hypertensive heart disease, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, or "other" CVD according to the ICD-9-CM codes. Cumulative incidences and hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated after adjusting for demographic and comorbid medical disorders. Multivariate analyses were performed using Cox proportional hazards model.We compared 537 AS and 2685 non-AS patients and found that the cumulative incidence rate of CVD during follow-up period was higher in the AS cohort than the non-AS cohort. The crude HR of CVD for the AS group was 1.24 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.05-1.46; P = 0.01] and the adjusted HR was 1.20 with 95% CI 1.02 to 1.42 (P = 0.03). When stratified by age, AS cohort at age 60 to 69 years exhibited a significantly higher HR for all CVD than the general population cohort (adjusted HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.06-2.08, P < 0.05). When stratified by gender, male AS group had a significantly higher HR for all CVD than the general population cohort with the adjusted HR 1.28 (95% CI 1.01-1.63, P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference for females.Patients with AS, especially age 60 to 69 years male patients, had a higher risk of CVDs than non-AS controls.