Current medical research and opinion
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Longer analgesic effect with naproxen sodium than ibuprofen in post-surgical dental pain: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose trial.
Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are recommended as first-line medications in mild-to-moderate acute pain. However, comparative data regarding the duration of analgesia for commonly-used NSAIDs at non-prescription doses is lacking. This study evaluated the time to rescue medication following a single dose of naproxen sodium (NAPSO) vs ibuprofen (IBU) and placebo in subjects with moderate-to-severe post-surgical dental pain. ⋯ Fewer NAPSO subjects required rescue medication (58/166, 34.9%) compared with IBU (137/165, 83.0%) and placebo (44/54, 81.5%). SPID 0-24 h and TOTPAR 0-24 h were both greater with NAPSO than IBU or placebo. Conclusions: The duration of pain relief after a single dose of NAPSO was significantly longer than after IBU, and significantly fewer NAPSO-treated subjects required rescue medication over a 24-h period.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Treatment preference for weekly versus daily DPP-4 inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: outcomes from the TRINITY trial.
Objective: To examine patient preference for treatment with the oral once-weekly dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP-4i), trelagliptin, and oral once-daily DPP-4i, alogliptin, administered for 8 weeks each in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus prescribed a daily DPP-4i. Methods: In this randomized, open-label, two-way crossover study, patients received trelagliptin followed by alogliptin (T-A group) or alogliptin followed by trelagliptin (A-T group), for 8 weeks each (NCT03231709, JapicCTI-173662). Treatment preference was assessed using a standardized questionnaire in the overall population and by baseline characteristics. ⋯ Both treatments demonstrated favorable safety and tolerability profiles. Conclusions: Patients expressed a significantly greater treatment preference for once-daily alogliptin than once-weekly trelagliptin, although patient satisfaction and HbA1c levels were similar across treatments. The decision to administer a once-weekly or once-daily DPP-4i is likely to depend on patient preference, patient-physician discussions, and treatment practices of the prescribing physician.
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Objective: To compare safety, effectiveness, and healthcare costs of major bleeding (MB), clinically relevant non-major (CRNM) bleeding, recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), and all-cause hospitalization among elderly Medicare VTE patients prescribed warfarin vs apixaban. Methods: Using 100% Medicare data, elderly patients prescribed apixaban or warfarin within 30 days after a VTE encounter were identified. Patients had continuous health plan enrollment and no parenteral or oral anticoagulant use ≤6 months preceding the VTE encounter. ⋯ Warfarin patients had higher MB-related ($147 vs $75; p = .003) and all-cause costs PPPM ($3,267 vs $3,033; p < .001), but similar recurrent VTE-related medical costs PPPM ($30 vs $36; p = .516) vs apixaban patients. Conclusions: Warfarin was associated with significantly higher risk of MB and CRNM bleeding as well as higher MB-related and all-cause costs vs apixaban patients. Recurrent VTE risk and costs were similar among warfarin and apixaban patients.
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Background and objective: Scientific publication is a way to disseminate knowledge to the scientific community. However, an article usually has very little information on how and why ethical approval (EA) and informed consent (IC) was obtained, which can make it very difficult for a reader to evaluate the ethical validity of the study. While many internationally recognized journals and publishers have already adopted a high EA/IC reporting standard, many journals still fail to do so. ⋯ Journals with better EA and IC instruction scores had a higher percentage of articles that adequately reported EA/IC. There were significant relationships between EA/IC statement scores and journals' instructions scores (EA: p = .002; IC: p = .019). Conclusions: There may be a need for journals to play key roles in advocating the importance of reporting EA and IC by strictly enforcing high EA/IC reporting standards and refusing the publication of articles that fail to comply.
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Introduction: Reactivation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a major threat and it causes significant morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). There remains, however, a paucity of evidence regarding the economic burden of current CMV management in Japan. The aim of this study is to characterize the healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and cost incurred for CMV management post allo-HSCT, using a Japanese hospital claims database. ⋯ The mean (±SD) total medical cost within 180 days post allo-HSCT was US$122,328 (±56,977) in the CMV (+) group, while the mean total medical cost was US$75,344 (±43,821) in the CMV (-) group. Moreover, transfusion and antimicrobial use was observed as the major medication cost component, which is suggestive of the indirect effect of CMV episodes. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that CMV episodes post allo-HSCT were associated with increased HCRU and cost.