Clinical therapeutics
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Clinical therapeutics · Feb 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyValidity, reliability, and responsiveness of the work productivity and activity impairment questionnaire in Crohn's disease.
Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease usually diagnosed in early adult life and characterized by unpredictable flares and debilitating symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever, which can interfere with a patient's ability to work and perform daily activities. ⋯ The discriminative validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the WPAI:CD were demonstrated. The WPAI:CD may be useful for evaluating drug impact on CD.
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Clinical therapeutics · Feb 2008
ReviewManagement of mixed dyslipidemia in patients with or at risk for cardiovascular disease: a role for combination fibrate therapy.
Lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is the primary focus of the management of dyslipidemia in patients with or at risk for cardiovascular disease. However, use of a statin alone may be insufficient for the treatment of mixed dyslipidemia, which is characterized by low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and elevated levels of triglycerides, with or without elevated levels of LDL-C. ⋯ The addition of fenofibrate to statin therapy may be a useful strategy for the management of mixed dyslipidemia in patients with or at risk for cardiovascular disease.
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Clinical therapeutics · Feb 2008
Comparative StudyTreatment failure rates and health care utilization and costs among patients with community-acquired pneumonia treated with levofloxacin or macrolides in an outpatient setting: a retrospective claims database analysis.
Macrolide antibiotics and fluoroquinolones are extensively used in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). ⋯ Multivariate-adjusted rates of treatment failure in outpatients with CAP were significantly lower in those treated with levofloxacin relative to those treated with a macrolide. The lower rates of treatment failure with levofloxacin were consistently observed across all patients and in the subgroups aged > or =50 and > or =65 years. Rates of emergency department visits were also significantly lower among levofloxacin-treated patients, whereas overall CAP-related hospitali-zations and costs did not differ significantly between the 2 treatment groups.
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Clinical therapeutics · Feb 2008
Comparative StudyEconomic evaluation of sunitinib malate in second-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma in Finland.
Cytokine therapy is currently used as first-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Until recently, treatments with proven efficacy after the failure of first-line cytokine therapy were not available. In recent clinical trials, sunitinib has been associated with good response rates in patients with mRCC. ⋯ Based on the results of this cost-effectiveness analysis, sunitinib is potentially cost-effective as a second-line treatment of mRCC compared with the treatment currently practiced in Finnish hospitals. The ICER (euro/QALY gained) obtained in the present study was less than the value considered suitable for novel oncology treatments.