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This study assesses the impact of changes in hospitals' financial conditions on changes in hospitals' staffing decisions. The sample consisted of community hospitals operating between 1995 and 2000. The analysis employed a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator for its dynamic panel data. Cash flow and patient margin were used to measure financial condition. We estimated the effect of changing financial condition on the number of full-time equivalent personnel (FTEs), registered nurses (RNs), and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) per 1,000 adjusted patient days. Our results suggest that declining financial performance led to cutbacks in LPN FTEs per adjusted patient day, but the effects on total hospital FTEs and RN FTEs were mixed.

Background: Inappropriate use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) for asthma impairs control and may cause exacerbation, including asthma-related hospitalization (ARH). In prospective studies, ICS use peaked around ARH, but information on routine care use is limited. Since ARH is a major outcome, controller therapy use in routine care before and after ARH should be documented., Objective: This study aimed to distinguish ICS use typologies (trajectories) before and after ARH, and assess their relationships with sociodemographic, disease, and health care characteristics., Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed using a 1% random sample of the French claims database. All patients hospitalized for asthma between January 01, 2013, and December 31, 2015, were classified as either children (aged 1-10 years) or teens/adults (aged ≥11 years). Health care resource use was assessed between 24 and 12 months before ARH. ICS use was computed with the Continuous Measures of Medication Acquisition-7 (CMA7) for the 4 quarters before and after ARH. Initially, the overall impact of hospitalization on the CMA7 value was studied using a segmented regression analysis in both children and teens/adults. Then, group-based trajectory modeling differentiated the groups with similar ICS use. We tested different models having 2 to 5 distinct trajectory groups before selecting the most appropriate trajectory form. We finally selected the model with the lowest Bayesian Information Criterion, the highest proportion of patients in each group, and the maximum estimated probability of assignment to a specific group., Results: Overall, 863 patients were included in the final study cohort, of which 447 (51.8%) were children and 416 (48.2%) were teens/adults. In children, the average CMA7 value was 12.6% at the start of the observation period, and there was no significant quarter-to-quarter change in the value (P=.14) before hospitalization. Immediately after hospitalization, the average CMA7 value rose by 34.9% (P=.001), before a significant decrease (P=.01) of 7.0% per quarter. In teens/adults, the average CMA7 value was 31.0% at the start, and there was no significant quarter-to-quarter change in the value (P=.08) before hospitalization. Immediately after hospitalization, the average CMA7 value rose by 26.9% (P=.002), before a significant decrease (P=.01) of 7.0% per quarter. We identified 3 and 5 trajectories before ARH in children and adults, respectively, and 5 after ARH for both groups. Trajectories were related to sociodemographic characteristics (particularly, markers of social deprivation) and to potentially inappropriate health care, such as medical management and choice of therapy., Conclusions: Although ARH had an overall positive impact on ICS use trajectories, the effect was often transient, and patient behaviors were heterogeneous. Along with overall trends, distinct trajectories were identified, which were related to specific patients and health care characteristics. Our data reinforce the evidence that inappropriate use of ICS paves the way for ARH., (©Manon Belhassen, Maeva Nolin, Flore Jacoud, Claire Marant Micallef, Eric Van Ganse. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (https://publichealth.jmir.org), 26.09.2023.)

Background: Real-world data regarding health-care resource use (HCRU) and costs of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are scarce. In France, at the time of the study, pirfenidone and nintedanib were reimbursed for documented IPF only, with similar reimbursement criteria with regard to disease characteristics, prescription through a dedicated form, and IPF diagnosis established in a multidisciplinary setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate costs related to HCRU in patients newly treated with pirfenidone or nintedanib in 2015-2016, in France, using the exhaustive claims data of the French National Health System., Methods: Patients aged <50 years or who had pulmonary fibrosis secondary to an identified cause were excluded. HCRU-related costs up to 31 December 2017 were compared using generalized linear models adjusted for age, sex, year of treatment initiation, time to treatment initiation and proxies of disease severity identified during a pre-treatment period., Results: During the study period, a treatment with pirfenidone or nintedanib was newly initiated in 804 and 509 patients, respectively. No difference was found between groups for age, sex, time to treatment initiation, Charlson comorbidity score, and number of hospitalisations or medical visits prior to treatment initiation. As compared to pirfenidone, nintedanib was associated with higher costs for medications (1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.3) and medical visits (1.3; 95% CI, 1.2-1.4), as well as a higher global cost (1.1; 95% CI, 1.0-1.2). The costs of medical procedures, hospitalizations and indirect HCRU did not statistically differ between the two cohorts., Conclusions: This observational study identified potential differences in HCRU-related costs under newly prescribed antifibrotic drugs, deserving further explorations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest F. Dalon, M. Nolin and M. Belhassen are full-time employees of PELyon. E. Van Ganse is the scientific advisor of PELyon. K.-U. Kirchgässler is an employee and shareholder of F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd. V. Cottin reports personal fees and non-financial support from Actelion, Bayer/MSD and Roche; grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Boehringer Ingelheim; personal fees from Novartis, Sanofi, Promedior, Celgene, Galapagos and Galecto, outside the submitted work. P. Spagnolo reports institutional grants, consulting fees and non-financial support from PPM Services; institutional grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Roche and Boehringer Ingelheim; personal fees from Chiesi, Galapagos, Lupin, Pieris and REDX Pharma, outside the submitted work. P. Bonniaud reports personal fees and non-financial support from Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Sanofi, Chiesi, AstraZeneca, Stallergenes and GSK, outside the submitted work., (Copyright © 2022 SPLF and Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) were developed as an alternative to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) and are commonly used for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Unlike VKAs, DOACs do not require Internal Normalized Ratio (INR) monitoring, but regular intake is as important for effective anticoagulation., Objectives: This study examined treatment persistence among patients receiving oral anticoagulants (OACs) for NVAF., Methods: Within the French healthcare claims database (SNDS), we assessed and compared the rates of non-persistence (≥ 30-day treatment gap) among patients with NVAF initiating an OAC between January 2014 and December 2016. The time-to-event of non-persistence was computed and plotted using a cumulative incidence function accounting for the competing risk of mortality. After adjusting on confounding factors, the risk for non-persistence was compared between apixaban and each other OACs using a Cox proportional hazard model, or Fine and Gray models., Results: In a cohort of 321,501 OAC-naive patients with NVAF, the cumulative incidence of non-persistence at 12 months considering competing risk was 44.3%, 31.0%, 41.3% and 46.8% for VKAs, apixaban, rivaroxaban and dabigatran, respectively. Median therapy duration before non-persistence ranged between 70 and 121 days. Non-persistence was lower with apixaban compared with VKAs (HR=0.63, 95%CI=[0.62-0.64]), rivaroxaban (HR=0.71, 95%CI=[0.70-0.73]), and dabigatran (HR=0.60, 95%CI=[0.59-0.62])., Conclusions: In this nationwide observational study, non-persistence rates of oral anticoagulant treatment were high in patients treated for NVAF. Apixaban-treated patients seem to experience lowest discontinuation rates 12 months after treatment initiation compared to patients treated with any other OAC., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of mortality in Europe; however, it is important to understand how clinical practice patterns differ between countries and how this might relate to disease outcomes, to identify ways of improving local disease management. We aimed to describe and compare the management of patients with COPD in the UK and France between 2008 and 2017., Methods: We used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD and Hospital Episode Statistics in the UK and the Echantillon Généraliste des Bénéficiaire in France to identify patients with COPD each year between 2008 and 2017. We compared patient characteristics, all-cause mortality and COPD exacerbations each year between 2008 and 2017 for patients in the UK and France separately. Health care utilisation and COPD exacerbations in 2017 were compared between France and the UK using t-tests and χ 2 tests., Results: Patients with COPD were similar in gender and comorbidities in both countries. Incidence of COPD exacerbations remained stable in the UK and France between 2007 and 2017. In 2017, the proportion of all-cause and COPD-related hospitalisations was greater in the UK than in France (43.9% vs 32.8% and 8.3% vs 4.9%, respectively; p<0.001) as was the proportion of patients visiting accident and emergency (A&E) (39.8% vs 16.2%, respectively; p<0.001). In addition, the mean length of stay in hospital for COPD-related causes was shorter in the UK than in France (6.2 days (SD 8.4) vs 10.5 days (SD 9.1), respectively; p<0.001)., Discussion: Overall, UK patients were more likely to go to A&E, be hospitalised for COPD-related causes and stay in hospital for fewer days after being admitted for COPD-related reasons compared with patients in France, illustrating a difference in health-seeking behaviours and access to healthcare., Competing Interests: Competing interests: HW reports grants from GSK, AZ and BI, outside the submitted work. JKQ reports grants and personal fees from British Lung Foundation, AZ, Asthma UK, BI, Bayer, GSK, MRC and Chiesi, outside the submitted work. MN, CM-M, MB and FD are employees of PELyon. EVG is the scientific advisor of PELyon. CP received support from AZ, BI, GSK, Chiesi and Novartis to attend medical meetings and fees for conferences., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Real-world data regarding outcomes of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are scarce, outside of registries. The claims data from the French National Health System (SNDS) were used to describe outcomes in patients diagnosed with IPF in 2015-2016 but who did not receive antifibrotic therapies. Method: Patients aged <50 years were excluded, as were patients with pulmonary fibrosis other than IPF, patients who had previously received a lung transplant, and those who had received antifibrotic therapies at any time between 2010 and 2016. Patients were followed-up until their last health record, lung transplantation, initiation of antifibrotic therapies, death, or the end of the study period (31 December 2017), whichever occurred first. Results: A total of 5,360 patients (43.2%) not treated with antifibrotic therapies were included. The mean age was 75.5 years, and 57.9% were males. In the year before inclusion, 47.3% of patients had a Charlson score ≥5. During follow-up, 41.2% of patients died. The unadjusted incidence rate was 29.9 per 100 person-years (95%CI = [28.7-31.2]), and the cumulative incidence of death at 3 years was 50.2% (95% CI = [48.3-52.1%]). In the study population, 35.3% of patients experienced an acute respiratory-related hospitalization. The unadjusted incidence rate was 32.1 per 100 person-years (95%CI = [30.6-33.5]) and the cumulative incidence of the event at 3 years was 41.5% (95% CI = [39.7-43.2%]). Interpretation: This observational study showed that, if untreated with antifibrotics, IPF is associated with a 50% all-cause mortality at 3 years. These figures can serve as a historical control of the natural course of the disease., Competing Interests: FD, MN, and MB are full-time employees of PELyon. EVG is the scientific advisor of PELyon. VC reports personal fees and non-financial support from Actelion, Bayer/MSD, and Roche; grants, personal fees, and non-financial support from Boehringer Ingelheim; personal fees from Novartis, Sanofi, Promedior, Celgene, Galapagos, and Galecto, outside the submitted work. PS reports institutional grants, consulting fees, and non-financial support from PPM Services; institutional grants, personal fees, and non-financial support from Roche and Boehringer Ingelheim; personal fees from Chiesi, Galapagos, Lupin, Pieris, and REDX Pharma, outside the submitted work. K-UK is an employee and shareholder of F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd. PB reports personal fees and non-financial support from Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Sanofi, Chiesi, AstraZeneca, Stallergenes, and GSK, outside the submitted work. TK is a full-time employee at Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The reviewer NB declared a shared affiliation with one of the author PS, to the handling editor at time of review., (Copyright © 2021 Cottin, Spagnolo, Bonniaud, Nolin, Dalon, Kirchgässler, Kamath, Van Ganse and Belhassen.)

Objectives This article aims to synthesize the critical stages in the development of early detection and intervention services (EIS) for psychosis over the past 30 years, and to review key literature on the essential components and effectiveness of these programs. Method We conducted a narrative review of the literature on the international development of EIS leading to its endorsement as a service delivery model for young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP). We also reviewed various international and Canadian guidelines to identify consensus about the essential components of EIS for psychosis and their effectiveness. Challenges to the implementation of these different essential components are presented, along with practical solutions to addressing them. A particular emphasis is placed on implementing EIS in the Quebec context. Results Based on a model developed in the early 1990s, EIS for psychosis have now been disseminated worldwide and are deployed on a large scale in some regions, such as the United Kingdom and Quebec. The model's gradual expansion has been facilitated by efforts to identify its main objectives and the components essential to achieve them, and by several studies demonstrating its effectiveness. Along with an important philosophical shift to optimism and hope, EIS have typically focused on the twin aims of reducing treatment delay (or the duration of untreated psychosis) and enhancing engagement in specialized, phase-specific, developmentally appropriate treatment. A meta-analysis (published in 2018) demonstrated the superiority of EIS for psychosis compared to standard treatment on several outcomes including hospitalizations, relapse of symptoms, treatment discontinuation, and vocational and social functioning. Based on these studies and expert consensus, many jurisdictions around the world have developed guidelines to ensure compliance with essential components that are associated with the effectiveness of EIS, while accounting for their contextual realities. The components that have been prioritized include outreach to enable early identification and referral; rapid access to care and youth-friendly services; a range of biopsychosocial interventions (pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoeducation, family interventions, integrated substance use interventions, employment and educational support); a shared-decision making approach; and the intensive case management approach adapted to FEP, which are all delivered by an interdisciplinary team. There is also increasing acknowledgement of the value of continuous evaluation that informs treatment decision-making and quality improvement. Conclusion EIS for psychosis have developed gradually and research has demonstrated its effectiveness. Disseminating the model in ways that ensure fidelity to its core values and the implementation of its essential components is needed to ensure effectiveness; and instill hope for recovery and improve the quality of lives of young people with psychosis and their families.

Background: Real-world data regarding outcomes of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are scarce, outside of registries. In France, pirfenidone and nintedanib are only reimbursed for documented IPF, with similar reimbursement criteria with respect to disease characteristics, prescription through a dedicated form, and IPF diagnosis established in multidisciplinary discussion., Research Question: The data of the comprehensive French National Health System were used to evaluate outcomes in patients newly treated with pirfenidone or nintedanib in 2015-2016., Study Design and Methods: Patients aged < 50 years or who had pulmonary fibrosis secondary to an identified cause were excluded. All-cause mortality, acute respiratory-related hospitalisations and treatment discontinuations up to 31 December 2017 were compared using a Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for age, sex, year of treatment initiation, time to treatment initiation and proxies of disease severity identified during a pre-treatment period., Results: During the study period, a treatment with pirfenidone or nintedanib was newly initiated in 804 and 509 patients, respectively. No difference was found between groups for age, sex, time to treatment initiation, Charlson comorbidity score, and number of hospitalisations or medical contacts prior to treatment initiation. As compared to pirfenidone, nintedanib was associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3-2.6), a greater risk of acute respiratory-related hospitalisations (HR 1.3; 95% CI 1.0-1.7) and a lower risk of treatment discontinuation at 12 months (HR 0.7; 95% CI 0.6-0.9)., Interpretation: This observational study identified potential differences in outcome under newly prescribed antifibrotic drugs, deserving further explorations.

Context: The relative incidence of acute pancreatitis, ischemic cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in hyperchylomicronemic patients exhibiting familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) or multifactorial chylomicronemia syndrome (MCS) is unknown., Objective: The objective was to study the occurrence of these events in FCS and MCS patients compared with the general population., Methods: Twenty-nine FCS and 124 MCS patients, with genetic diagnosis, in 4 lipid clinics were matched with 413 controls. Individual hospital data linked to the national claims database were collected between 2006 and 2016. The occurrence of complications was retrospectively assessed before follow-up and during a median follow-up time of 9.8 years, for 1500 patient years of follow-up., Results: Patients with FCS were younger than those with MCS (34.3 ± 13.6 vs 45.2 ± 12.6 years, P < 0.01). During the study period, 58.6% of the FCS patients versus 19.4% of the MCS patients had at least 1 episode of acute hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis (AHP) (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.6; P < 0.01). Conversely, the ischemic risk was lower in FCS than in MCS (HR = 0.3; P = 0.05). The risk of venous thrombosis was similar in both groups. The incidence of diabetes was high in both groups compared with matched controls (odds ratio [OR] = 22.8; P < 0.01 in FCS and OR = 30.3; P < 0.01 in MCS)., Conclusion: The incidence of AHP was much higher in FCS than in MCS patients, whereas the incidence of ischemic cardiovascular events was found to be increased in MCS versus FCS patients and a representative matched control group. Differences in both triglyceride-rich lipoproteins metabolism and comorbidities in MCS versus FCS drive the occurrence of different patterns of complications., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Introduction: The American Urological Association Quality Registry (AQUA) is an approved Qualified Clinical Data Repository that was created in 2013 to serve as a platform of quality assessment and improvement. Little is known about how such specialty specific platforms are adopted and used. We describe AQUA participants and report early impact on quality metrics., Methods: We compared characteristics of practices and urologists participating in AQUA from 2014-2017 to those of the broader urologist workforce as reported in the 2017 American Urological Association Census, and examined pass rates of 4 measures reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after participation in AQUA., Results: Participation increased during the first 4 years and included >125 practices and 1,148 urologists (9.2% of practicing U.S. urologists). Of AQUA participants 97.6% were in private practice, 1.9% were in academic practice and the rest (0.5%) were employed by private or public hospitals, compared to 59.1%, 25.5% and 11.2%, respectively, of urologists nationally. Among AQUA participants 95.9% lived in metropolitan areas, compared to 89.9% of urologists nationally. A total of 17 quality measures were reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through AQUA, of which 4 were urology specific and 13 were crosscutting. The average pass rate across the 4 select urological measures was 31.1% prior to AQUA dashboard access and 48.8% after access was gained, a 56.9% improvement (17.1% absolute difference)., Conclusions: Early participants in AQUA were mostly community practitioners. Participation in AQUA seemed to facilitate quality score improvements, although whether this was due to improved measurement vs clinical care is unknown at this time.

Introduction: Over the last 30 years, early intervention services (EIS) for first-episode psychosis (FEP) were gradually implemented in the province of Quebec. Such implementation occurred without provincial standards/guidelines and policy commitment to EIS until 2017. Although the literature highlights essential elements for EIS, studies conducted elsewhere reveal that important EIS components are often missing. No thorough review of Quebec EIS practices has ever been conducted, a gap we sought to address., Methods: Adopting a cross-sectional descriptive study design, an online survey was distributed to 18 EIS that existed in Quebec in 2016 to collect data on clinical, administrative, training, and research variables. Survey responses were compared with existing EIS service delivery recommendations., Results: Half of Quebec's population had access to EIS, with some regions having no programs. Most programs adhered to essential components of EIS. However, divergence from expert recommendations occurred with respect to variables such as open referral processes and patient-clinician ratio. Nonurban EIS encountered additional challenges related to their geography and lower population densities, which impacted their team size/composition and intensity of follow-up., Conclusions: Most Quebec EIS offer adequate services but lack resources and organizational support to adhere to some core components. Recently, the provincial government has created EIS guidelines, invested in the development of new programs and offered implementation support from the National Centre of Excellence in Mental Health. These changes, along with continued mentoring and networking of clinicians and researchers, can help all Quebec EIS to attain and maintain recommended quality standards.

Background and Purpose: The effects of direct oral anticoagulants in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation should be assessed in actual conditions of use. France has near-universal healthcare coverage with a unified healthcare information system, allowing large population-based analyses. NAXOS (Evaluation of Apixaban in Stroke and Systemic Embolism Prevention in Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation) aimed to compare the safety, effectiveness, and mortality of apixaban with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), rivaroxaban, and dabigatran, in oral anticoagulant-naive patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation., Methods: This was an observational study using French National Health System claims data and including all adults with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation who initiated oral anticoagulant between 2014 and 2016. Outcomes of interest were major bleeding events leading to hospitalization (safety), stroke and systemic thromboembolic events (effectiveness), and all-cause mortality. Four approaches were used for comparative analyses: matching on propensity score (PS; 1:n); as a sensitivity analysis, matching on high-dimensional PS; adjustment on PS; and adjustment on known confounders. For each outcome, cumulative incidence rates accounting for competing risks of death were estimated., Results: Overall, 321 501 patients were analyzed, of whom 35.0%, 27.2%, 31.1%, and 6.6% initiated VKAs, apixaban, rivaroxaban, and dabigatran, respectively. Apixaban was associated with a lower PS-matched risk of major bleeding compared with VKAs (hazard ratio [HR], 0.43 [95% CI, 0.40-0.46]) and rivaroxaban (HR, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.63-0.72]), but not dabigatran (HR, 0.93 [95% CI, 0.81-1.08]). Apixaban was associated with a lower risk of stroke and systemic thromboembolic event compared with VKAs (HR, 0.60 [95% CI, 0.56-0.65]), but not rivaroxaban (HR, 1.05 [95% CI, 0.97-1.15]) or dabigatran (HR, 0.93 [95% CI, 0.78-1.11]). All-cause mortality was lower with apixaban than with VKAs, but not lower than with rivaroxaban or dabigatran., Conclusions: Apixaban was associated with superior safety, effectiveness, and lower mortality than VKAs; with superior safety than rivaroxaban and similar safety to dabigatran; and with similar effectiveness when compared with rivaroxaban or dabigatran. These observational data suggest potentially important differences in outcomes between direct oral anticoagulants, which should be explored in randomized trials.

Objective: Few data are available on the epidemiology and management of GCA in real life. We aimed to address this situation by using health insurance claims data for France., Methods: This retrospective study used the Echantillon Généraliste de Bénéficiaires (EGB) database, a 1% representative sample of the French national health insurance system. The EGB contains anonymous data on long-term disease status, hospitalizations and reimbursement claims for 752 717 people. Data were collected between 2007 and 2015. The index date was defined as the date of the first occurrence of a GCA code. Demographics, comorbidities, diagnostic tests and therapies were analysed. Annual incidence rates were calculated, and incident and overall GCA cases were studied., Results: We identified 241 patients with GCA. The annual incidence was 7-10/100 000 people ⩾50 years old. Among the 117 patients with incident GCA, 74.4% were females, with mean age 77.6 years and mean follow-up 2.2 years. After the index date, 51.3% underwent temporal artery biopsy and 29.1% high-resolution Doppler ultrasonography. Among the whole cohort, 84.3% used only glucocorticoids. The most-prescribed glucocorticoid-sparing agent was methotrexate (12.0%)., Conclusion: The incidence of GCA in France is 7-10/100 000 people ⩾ 50 years old. Adjunct agents, mainly methotrexate, are given to only a few patients. The use of temporal artery biopsy in only half of the patients might reflect a shift toward the use of imaging techniques to diagnose GCA., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: There is a dearth of updated epidemiological data on the prevalence and annual incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and lower extremity artery disease (LEAD) in Western countries., Aims: To describe the incidence and prevalence of CAD and LEAD, associated medication patterns and long-term outcomes in France., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study using French claims data from a representative sample of the French general population. Any hospitalization or long-term disease status for CAD or LEAD between January 2010 and December 2016 was collected to identify incident cases., Results: Of the 763,338patients screened in the study period, 8559 incident cases of CAD and 4399 of LEAD were identified, with an overall mean follow-up of 2.9±2.0years. The incidence of CAD, LEAD and CAD or LEAD remained stable over the years, and in 2016 were at 33.5 per 10,000person-years, 15.1per 10,000person-years and 42.5 per 10,000person-years, respectively. The prevalence of CAD increased from 3.1% in 2010 to 4.2% in 2016, and LEAD from 1.6% to 2.4%. Most patients received guideline-recommended medication with antithrombotic drugs and lipid-lowering drugs following the index event. However, most of the medications initiated were subsequently discontinued during follow-up. Incident CAD or LEAD was associated with considerable morbidity-particularly an incidence of all-cause hospitalization of 7976.9 per 10,000person-years-and all-cause mortality, with an incidence of 542.8 per 10,000person-years., Conclusion: In recent years, the prevalence of CAD or LEAD has increased progressively, resulting in considerable morbidity and mortality., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Purposes: Following a hospitalization for COPD, dual and triple therapies were compared in terms of persistence and relations with outcomes (exacerbations, health care resource use and costs)., Methods: This was a historical observational database study. All patients aged ≥45 hospitalized for COPD between 2007 and 2015 were identified in a 1/97 th random sample of French claims data. Patients receiving dual therapy within 60 days after hospitalization were compared to patients receiving triple therapy, after propensity score matching on disease severity., Results: Of the 3,089 patients hospitalized for COPD, 1,538 (49.8%) received either dual or triple therapy in the 2 months following inclusion, and 1,500 (48.6%) had at least 30 days of follow-up available; 846 (27.4%) received dual therapy, and 654 (21.2%) received triple therapy. After matching, the number of exacerbations was 2.4 per year in the dual vs 2.3 in the triple group ( p =0.45). Among newly treated patients (n=206), persistence at 12 months was similar in the dual and triple groups (48% vs 41%, respectively, p =0.37). As compared to patients on dual therapy, more patients on triple therapy received oral corticosteroids (49.1 vs 40.4%, p =0.003) or were hospitalized for any reason (67% vs 55.8%, p =0.0001) or for COPD (35.3 vs 25.1%, p =0.0002) during follow-up. Cost of care was higher for patients on triple than for those on dual therapy (€11,877.1 vs €9,825.1, p =0.01)., Conclusion: Following hospitalizations for COPD, patients on dual and triple therapy experienced recurrent exacerbations, limited adherence to therapies and high cost of care. Patients on triple therapy appeared more severe than those on dual therapy, as reflected by exacerbations and health care resource use., Competing Interests: EVG is Scientific Advisor of PELyon, he reports personal fees from PELyon, during the conduct of the study; personal fees from PELyon, outside the submitted work. MN, FD and MB (employees of PELyon) conducted the study through sponsorship by Chiesi SAS, and were not paid for manuscript development. NR reports grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Pfizer and personal fees from Teva, GSK, AstraZeneca, Mundipharma, Cipla, Sanofi, Sandoz, 3M, Zambon and Chiesi. PD has received consulting fees, honoraria for lectures and/or research funding from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, and Novartis during the last 3 years. He reports personal fees from Chiesi, during the conduct of the study; personal fees from Astra Zeneca, personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, personal fees from Chiesi, personal fees from GlaxoSmithKline, personal fees from Novartis, personal fees from Sanofi, outside the submitted work. BH received honorarium from Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, Novartis, Teva, GSK, AstraZeneca and Chiesi for his participation in scientific committees or conferences. He reports personal fees from Chiesi, during the conduct of the study; personal fees from GSK, personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, personal fees from Novartis, outside the submitted work. HP received honorarium from Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Teva, GSK, AstraZeneca and Chiesi for his participation in scientific committees or conferences, is on the board for Chiesi and Novartis, and received an invitation to 2019 American Thoracic Society International Conference in Arizona, USA.  GD received research funding from BTG/PneumRx and received honorarium from Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, Chiesi, Novartis, BTG/PneumRx for his participation in scientific committees or conferences. He reports personal fees from Chiesi, during the conduct of the study; personal fees from AstraZeneca, personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, personal fees from BTG/PneumRx, and personal fees from Nuvaira, outside the submitted work. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2019 Dalon et al.)

Background: Changes in asthma care need to be documented at arrival of biotherapies., Objectives: To characterize changes in asthma care and outcomes in patients with persistent asthma., Methods: Repeated transversal analyses were conducted on a historical cohort using the French national claims data over 10 years. Patients aged 18 to 40 years with either 1 or more (any-use population) or 4 or more (high-use population) yearly dispensings of controller therapy were selected. Clinical and demographic features were characterized, and comparisons were made between 2006 and 2016 to assess temporal changes in asthma therapy, health care resource utilization, and outcomes., Results: In 2016, prevalent use of controller therapy was 5.2% (any-use population) and 0.8% (high-use population) of the population aged 18 to 40 years. In the any-use population, the use of long-acting β 2 -agonists in monotherapy, and inhaled corticosteroids decreased (1.7% and 40.3% in 2016, respectively), whereas the use of fixed-dose combinations increased (56.4%). In both populations, visits to respiratory or hospital physicians and pulmonary function testing increased with time, in parallel to a decreasing number of general practitioner visits; in addition, oral corticosteroid use and incidence of emergency room visits increased. However, asthma hospitalizations and mortality remained low in both populations., Conclusions: Changes in persistent asthma care included replacement of inhaled corticosteroids by fixed-dose combinations, decreased use of long-acting β 2 -agonists as a monotherapy, and increased involvement of secondary care physicians. In parallel, despite low figures for hospital admissions and mortality, overall use of oral corticosteroids and incidence of emergency room visits have increased over the last decade., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

ABSTRACTAmong healthy volunteers in psychiatric brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research studies, the prevalence of incidentalomas can be as high as 34%, of which 10% show clinical significance. An incidentaloma is a lesion found by coincidence without clinical symptoms or suspicion. Like lesions and other types of accidental findings, it is found in healthy individuals recruited to take part in psychiatric studies. The prevalence of these accidental findings among specific psychiatric populations remains unknown. However, a precise understanding of cerebral neuroanatomy, neuroradiological expertise, and an appropriate choice of fMRI exploration sequences will increase the sensitivity of identifying these accidental findings and enable researchers to address their clinical relevance and nature. We present recommendations on how to appropriately inform patients or participants of the accidental findings. Additionally, we propose specific suggestions pertaining to the clinical research setting aimed for investigators and psychiatrists. Unlike current articles pertaining to incidentaloma, the current report provides a distinct focus on psychiatric issues and specific recommendations for studies involving psychiatric patients.

Introduction: Adults disadvantaged by poor socio-economic status (SES) are more severely affected by asthma compared to those with better SES. We aimed to determine whether the frequency of asthma exacerbations (AEx), as well as aspects related to AEx management, differed based on SES in patients treated with daily treatments., Methods: This study, part of the prospective observational cohort ASTRO-LAB, included French adult patients with persistent asthma. Patients were considered as low SES if they benefited from publicly funded special health insurance and/or were perceived as low SES by their general practitioner. AEx was defined as at least one of the following: asthma-related oral corticosteroid course, medical contact, hospitalization, and death. We examined associations between SES and AEx frequency, perceived triggering factors and type of medical contact after AEx., Results: In our sample of 255 patients, 11.40% were considered as low SES. Patients with low SES did not report significantly more AEx than medium/high SES patients during one-year follow-up (0.79 versus 0.55, p = 0.38). The type of medical contact during AEx differed significantly between the two groups (p = 0.03): patients with medium/high SES consulted their general practitioner more frequently (OR = 2.23, 95% CI = 0.91-5.50, p = 0.08) and were less likely to visit an emergency department or be hospitalized (OR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.09-0.84, p = 0.02)., Conclusions: AEx frequency did not differ significantly between low and medium/high SES patients, but differences were found in the management of AEx. Studies are needed to better understand the relation between precariousness and management of asthma.

Recently, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) was validated as a reliable marker of testicular damage caused by various chemotherapy drugs in humans and in mice. In horses, the reference values of AMH concentrations in normal stallions, during different seasons of a year, have been recently reported. However, this hormone was not evaluated in subfertile or infertile stallions with testicular damage. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of experimentally induced testicular degeneration on the concentration of AMH in stallions. Severe but transient testicular degeneration was induced in six Miniature horse stallions, in two, separate experiments (three stallions in each experiment), by the administration of a single dose of the contraceptive compound RTI-4587-073(l). Six different stallions served as controls (three stallions in each experiment). Treated and control stallions were switched between the experiments. Concentrations of AMH were determined in 78 samples of blood plasma collected during the first experiment and in 24 samples collected during the second experiment. Furthermore, the expression of AMH in 30 samples of testicular parenchyma, collected from these stallions during the second experiment, was also evaluated, using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and objectively analyzed using computerized methods. During the first experiment, the concentrations of AMH in blood increased significantly in treated stallions (P < 0.05), reaching a 62-151% change from the baseline by day 10 after treatment, before gradually decreasing to the pretreatment levels. There was no change in blood AMH concentration in control stallions. Only a trend to increase AMH concentration was observed in treated stallions during the second experiment (P = 0.055). The labeling for immunoreactive AMH in the Sertoli cells gradually increased after treatment, which was confirmed by the significantly increased IHC optic density score value (P < 0.05) and significantly decreased percentage contribution of negative pixels at fourth week after treatment (P < 0.05). We concluded that AMH is a promising candidate as a biomarker of testicular damage in stallions caused by toxic insults that lead to testicular degeneration., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Collagen cross-linking is an attractive therapeutic route aimed at supplementing natural collagen stabilisation. In this study the toxicity of the cross-linker genipin (GP) was examined in avascular (tendon) and vascular (dermis) tissue., Methods: High doses of GP were injected intratendinously into three yearling horses and evaluated at various time points up to 30 days. A second group of three yearlings were injected into the dermis and evaluated at various time points up to 1 year. Metrics used included lameness, circumferential swelling, ultrasound evaluation, microscopic morphology, collagen production and systemic effect on blood parameters., Results: The tendon injection sites exhibited mild lameness and swelling with no apparent systemic toxicity or stabilisation defects. Treated tendons exhibited increased linear collagen microscopically. Dermal injections showed similar results, with mild swelling at the injection site. Microscopic morphology resulted in a decrease in dermal collagen at 30 days post-injection. Dermis injected at the high dose of 355 mmol/L examined 1 year post-treatment appeared similar to the untreated biopsies; however, there was an increase in mature collagen., Conclusion: GP injection appeared to be well tolerated, with transient lameness and mild circumferential swelling when injected into the tendon and local tissue swelling when injected into the dermis. No systemic hypersensitivities or toxicities were observed. Microscopically, GP resulted in increased linear collagen in tendons at 30 days post-injection and overall increased collagen in dermal tissue when evaluated 1 year post-injection., (© 2017 Australian Veterinary Association.)

Objective: Early intervention services (EIS) for psychosis have been developed in several countries, including Canada. There is some agreement about the program elements considered essential for improving the long-term outcomes for patients in the early phase of psychotic disorders. In the absence of national standards, the current state of EIS for psychosis in Canada needs to be examined in relation to expert recommendations currently available., Method: A detailed online benchmark survey was developed and administered to 11 Canadian academic EIS programs covering administrative, clinical, education, and research domains. In addition, an electronic database and Internet search was conducted to find existing guidelines for EIS. Survey results were then compared with the existing expert recommendations., Results: Most of the surveyed programs offer similar services, in line with published expert recommendations (i.e., easy and rapid access, intensive follow-up through case management with emphasis on patient engagement and continuity of care, and a range of integrated evidence-based psychosocial interventions). However, differences are observed among programs in admission and discharge criteria, services for patients at ultra high risk (UHR) for psychosis, patient to clinician ratios, accessibility of services, and existence of specific inpatient units. These seem to diverge from expert recommendations., Conclusions: Although Canadian programs are following most expert recommendations on clinical components of care, some programs lack administrative and organizational elements considered essential. Continued mentoring and networking of clinicians through organizations such as the Canadian Consortium for Early Intervention in Psychosis (CCEIP), as well as the development of a fidelity scale through further research, could possibly help programs attain and maintain the best standards of early intervention. However, simply making clinical guidelines available to care providers is not sufficient for changing practices; this will need to be accompanied by adequate funding and support from organizations and policy makers., (© The Author(s) 2016.)