METHODS: This study involved a retrospective analysis of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment (HIRA) database. Patients (≥18 years) who had a new prescription for an overactive bladder (OAB) target medication (mirabegron/antimuscarinic) within an 8-month index period (July 1, 2015-February 29, 2016) were included. The date when the target (index) medication was dispensed was the index date. The 6-month period before the index date was used to assess patient eligibility. A 12-month post-index period was used to assess medication persistence, which was defined as the time to discontinuation. Overall data were analyzed and the results were also stratified by age group (≤65, >65 years), sex, or prior OAB medication experience. Persistence rates were calculated after the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th months.
RESULTS: A data set of 52 722 cases was obtained (mirabegron: 11 424, antimuscarinics: 41 298). The mean age was 60.9 ± 16.1 years and the majority of the patients were female (30 862 [58.5%] patients). Median persistence was longer with mirabegron (51 days) versus antimuscarinics (25 days). The persistence rate with mirabegron was higher throughout the study compared with all the antimuscarinics (12-month data: 13.5% and 4.9%, respectively). Longer treatment persistence was noted in older, male, and treatment-experienced patients.
CONCLUSION: The results from the HIRA database showed that persistence was longer with mirabegron than with antimuscarinics in South Korea. This finding may help inform clinical decision-making within the South Korean healthcare system.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 22,210 adult men and women who underwent a comprehensive health screening examination between 2011 and 2013 (median age 40 years). Sugar-sweetened carbonated beverage consumption was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and CAC was measured by cardiac computed tomography. Multivariable-adjusted CAC score ratios and 95% CIs were estimated from robust Tobit regression models for the natural logarithm (CAC score +1).
RESULTS: The prevalence of detectable CAC (CAC score >0) was 11.7% (n = 2,604). After adjustment for age; sex; center; year of screening examination; education level; physical activity; smoking; alcohol intake; family history of cardiovascular disease; history of hypertension; history of hypercholesterolemia; and intake of total energy, fruits, vegetables, and red and processed meats, only the highest category of sugar-sweetened carbonated beverage consumption was associated with an increased CAC score compared with the lowest consumption category. The multivariable-adjusted CAC ratio comparing participants who consumed ≥5 sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages per week with nondrinkers was 1.70 (95% CI, 1.03-2.81). This association did not differ by clinical subgroup, including participants at low cardiovascular risk.
CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that high levels of sugar-sweetened carbonated beverage consumption are associated with a higher prevalence and degree of CAC in asymptomatic adults without a history of cardiovascular disease, cancer, or diabetes.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of change in body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and percent fat mass with change in intraocular pressure (IOP) in a large sample of Korean adults.
DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Cohort study of 274,064 young and middle age Korean adults with normal fundoscopic findings who attended annual or biennial health exams from January 1, 2002 to Feb 28, 2010 (577,981 screening visits).
EXPOSURES: BMI, waist circumference, and percent fat mass.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): At each visit, IOP was measured in both eyes with automated noncontact tonometers.
RESULTS: In multivariable-adjusted models, the average increase in IOP (95% confidence intervals) over time per interquartile increase in BMI (1.26 kg/m2), waist circumference (6.20 cm), and percent fat mass (3.40%) were 0.18 mmHg (0.17 to 0.19), 0.27 mmHg (0.26 to 0.29), and 0.10 mmHg (0.09 to 0.11), respectively (all P < 0.001). The association was stronger in men compared to women (P < 0.001) and it was only slightly attenuated after including diabetes and hypertension as potential mediators in the model.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Increases in adiposity were significantly associated with an increase in IOP in a large cohort of Korean adults attending health screening visits, an association that was stronger for central obesity. Further research is needed to understand better the underlying mechanisms of this association, and to establish the role of weight gain in increasing IOP and the risk of glaucoma and its complications.
BACKGROUND: No study has directly compared the risk factors associated with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis and CRA.
STUDY: This was a cross-sectional study using multinomial logistic regression analysis of 4859 adults who participated in a health screening examination (2010 to 2011; analysis 2014 to 2015). CAC scores were categorized as 0, 1 to 100, or >100. Colonoscopy results were categorized as absent, low-risk, or high-risk CRA.
RESULTS: The prevalence of CAC>0, CAC 1 to 100 and >100 was 13.0%, 11.0%, and 2.0%, respectively. The prevalence of any CRA, low-risk CRA, and high-risk CRA was 15.1%, 13.0%, and 2.1%, respectively. The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for CAC>0 comparing participants with low-risk and high-risk CRA with those without any CRA were 1.35 (1.06-1.71) and 2.09 (1.29-3.39), respectively. Similarly, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for any CRA comparing participants with CAC 1 to 100 and CAC>100 with those with no CAC were 1.26 (1.00-1.6) and 2.07 (1.31-3.26), respectively. Age, smoking, diabetes, and family history of CRC were significantly associated with both conditions.
CONCLUSIONS: We observed a graded association between CAC and CRA in apparently healthy individuals. The coexistence of both conditions further emphasizes the need for more evidence of comprehensive approaches to screening and the need to consider the impact of the high risk of coexisting disease in individuals with CAC or CRA, instead of piecemeal approaches restricted to the detection of each disease independently.