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Objective: This study aims to explore regional health disparities in hypertension-related hospitalizations and confirm this difference according to the states of continuity of care (COC). Methods: We used the National Health Insurance Service National Sample Cohort data from 2002 to 2019. The dependent variable, hypertension-related hospitalization, included hospitalization for hypertensive diseases (I10-I13, I15), ischemic heart disease (I20-I25), and cerebrovascular disease (I60-I69). Nested case-control matching was performed according to age, sex, and income level. We compared hypertension-related hospitalization fractions in urban and rural areas by classifying them according to the state of COC and analyzed them using conditional logistic regression suitable for matched data. Results: The odds of hypertension-related hospitalization of hypertensive patients were higher in the rural areas than in the urban areas; however, as the COC increased, the difference decreased. There was no change in the results according to the COC observation period. Conclusion: To reduce regional health disparities, both the promotion of COC and the improvement of the quality of primary care must be achieved.

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Objectives: The present study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between acupuncture therapy and surgery rate. Design: Matched, retrospective cohort study. Materials and Methods: From nationwide health insurance data (2002-2013 cohort data published by the National Health Insurance Service of Korea), patients with new cases of knee osteoarthritis that occurred between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2010 were analyzed. Patients were divided into an acupuncture group (AG) and a control group (CG), based on records of acupuncture therapy. Propensity scores were calculated by using gender, age, income level, and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), with the groups matched at a ratio of 1:3 (AG:CG). The final analysis period was 2 years after the first acupuncture therapy for AG and 2 years after initial diagnosis for CG; surgery rates were compared between the two groups. Stratified analyses were performed based on age, gender, and income level; sensitivity analyses were performed based on the frequency and duration of acupuncture therapy. Results: Propensity score-matched AG and CG included 8,605 and 25,815 subjects, respectively. Post-matching surgery rates were 0.26 and 0.93% in AG and CG, respectively. For all age groups, AG showed a lower surgery rate than CG. In the analysis based on gender, the female group showed a significantly lower hazard ratio of 0.225. In analysis based on income level, the results of the entire group were significant, with the lower income group showing the lowest hazard ratio. In sensitivity analyses, AG tended to show a lower surgery rate than CG. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that acupuncture therapy is associated with a low rate of surgery for knee osteoarthritis. Additional studies are needed to support this conclusion.

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OBJECTIVE: Cerebral aneurysms represent the most common cause of spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage. Statins are lipid-lowering agents that may expert multiple pleiotropic vascular protective effects. The authors hypothesized that statin therapy after coil embolization or surgical clipping of cerebral aneurysms might improve clinical outcomes. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study using the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort Database in Korea. Patients who underwent coil embolization or surgical clipping for cerebral aneurysm between 2002 and 2013 were included. Based on prescription claims, the authors calculated the proportion of days covered (PDC) by statins during follow-up as a marker of statin therapy. The primary outcome was a composite of the development of stroke, myocardial infarction, and all-cause death. Multivariate time-dependent Cox regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: A total of 1381 patients who underwent coil embolization (n = 542) or surgical clipping (n = 839) of cerebral aneurysms were included in this study. During the mean (± SD) follow-up period of 3.83 ± 3.35 years, 335 (24.3%) patients experienced the primary outcome. Adjustments were performed for sex, age (as a continuous variable), treatment modality, aneurysm rupture status (ruptured or unruptured aneurysm), hypertension, diabetes mellitus, household income level, and prior history of ischemic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage as time-independent variables and statin therapy during follow-up as a time-dependent variable. Consistent statin therapy (PDC > 80%) was significantly associated with a lower risk of the primary outcome (adjusted hazard ratio 0.34, 95% CI 0.14-0.85). CONCLUSIONS: Consistent statin therapy was significantly associated with better prognosis after coil embolization or surgical clipping of cerebral aneurysms.

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PURPOSE: To evaluate the risk of open-angle glaucoma among patients with diabetes. METHODS: This retrospective propensity score-matched cohort study included patients with diabetes and a matched comparison group from the Korean National Health Insurance Service National Health Screening Cohort, which includes approximately 500 000 adults aged ≥40 years. Nondiabetes group was matched to diabetes group in a 1:1 ratio using a propensity score based on age, sex, comorbidities, antihypertensive medication use and medical care visits. Each group was followed from January 1, 2004 to either the date of developing open-angle glaucoma or the date of last follow-up in 2013. RESULTS: Incidence of open-angle glaucoma was 20.0/10 000 person-years in diabetes group (n = 58 358) and 17.0/10 000 person-years in nondiabetes group (n = 58 358). Age- and sex- adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 1.19 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.30). In the subgroup analyses, diabetes was associated with an increased risk of open-angle glaucoma in both younger and older age groups (HR = 1.20 for those aged 40-59 years and HR = 1.18 for those aged 60-79 years) and in both sexes (men, HR = 1.13; women, HR = 1.27). CONCLUSION: Patients diagnosed with diabetes were more likely to develop open-angle glaucoma compared with patients without diabetes.

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OBJECTIVEBrain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM) is a rare cerebrovascular disease that causes intracranial hemorrhage. Although several reports have demonstrated the epidemiological features of BAVM in Western countries, no epidemiological investigations regarding BAVM have been reported in Korea. The authors aimed to investigate the national epidemiology of ruptured BAVM in a Korean population.METHODSThe authors used data from the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort (NHIS-NSC). The original cohort included approximately 1 million individuals (2% of the Korean population) with 12-year claim data (2002-2013). To construct an initial cohort for investigation, the authors selected 1,016,820 registered individuals in 2005. Subjects with a history of cerebrovascular disease (code I6xx) and BAVM (Q282) between 2002 and 2004 were washed-out to identify incident cases. During the 9-year follow-up (2005-2013), the incidence of BAVM was calculated using the earliest date of diagnosis of ruptured or unruptured BAVM. Direct standardization was applied to the crude incidence. Mortality and disability were evaluated using registration data. Related diagnostic procedures were also analyzed.RESULTSA total of 8,802,696 person-years of observation were noted. During observation, 308 patients were diagnosed with a ruptured BAVM. The crude incidence of ruptured BAVM was 3.5 per 100,000 person-years. There was no sex difference in incidence. The mortality rate for patients with a ruptured BAVM 1 month after diagnosis was 12.7%. At 1-year and 5-year follow-up examinations, mortality rates were 17.2% and 22.1%, respectively. Severe disability-free survival rates of patients with ruptured AVMs were 75.3% and 69.8% at 1-year and 5-year follow-up, respectively.CONCLUSIONSThe standardized incidence of ruptured BAVMs was 3.6 per 100,000 person-years in Korea. Ruptured BAVMs resulted in high mortality and disability rates.

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BACKGROUND: Although several studies showed the association between stroke and open-angle glaucoma (OAG), there is still lack of longitudinal studies based on large populations. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the risk of stroke after OAG diagnosis over a 10-year follow-up period. METHODS: We performed a retrospective nationwide propensity score-matched cohort study. OAG and comparison groups were selected from a large database from the Korean National Health Insurance Service, comprising 1 025 340 random subjects. The OAG group comprised patients with an initial diagnosis of OAG between January 2004 and December 2007 (n=1520), and the comparison group comprised randomly selected patients (five per glaucoma patient; n=7570). Each cohort was tracked until 2013 for stroke development. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to determine possible association RESULTS: OAG was associated with increased stroke incidence (HR=1.20, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.40). Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, atrial fibrillation, hyperlipidaemia, increasing age and male gender also increased the incidences of stroke. Risk of stroke for patients with OAG was greater in the older age group (≥65 years, HR=1.23, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.47) than in the younger age group (<65 years, HR=1.12, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.46), and greater in males (HR=1.31, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.60) than in females (HR=1.10, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.38). CONCLUSIONS: Patients who were diagnosed with OAG were more likely to experience subsequent stroke than comparison group without OAG, and the risk was greater for older adults and males.

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IMPORTANCE: Blepharitis is one of the most common conditions. However, no study has yet evaluated the epidemiology by evaluating a large population-based sample. BACKGROUND: To evaluate the incidence and prevalence of clinically diagnosed blepharitis in South Korea. DESIGN: Nationwide population-based study. PARTICIPANTS: We investigated the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort, a representative one million-sample of the Korean population, for patients diagnosed with blepharitis according to the Korean Classification of Diseases. METHODS: Annual and overall incidence and prevalence of blepharitis during the study period (2004-2013) were estimated after excluding chronic blepharitis patients, diagnosed during 2002-2003. Sociodemographic factors and comorbidities associated with blepharitis were evaluated using Cox proportional hazard regression. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The first occurrence of blepharitis. RESULTS: A total of 1 116 363 individuals over 9 698 118 person-years were evaluated (mean follow up: 8.7 years) from 2004 to 2013. The overall incidence was 1.1 (95% confidence interval, 1.1-1.1) per 100 person-years. The incidence increased with time (0.9 vs. 1.3 per 100 person-years, in 2004 and 2013, respectively) and was higher in female patients (1.3 vs. 0.9 per 100 person-years, respectively). The overall prevalence was 8.1% (95% confidence interval: 8.0-8.1) among subjects aged 40 years or older. Chalazion, gastritis, Sjögren's syndrome, pterygium, rosacea, prostatic hypertrophy, atopy, irritable bowel disease and peptic ulcer were associated with an increased incidence of blepharitis in the multivariable Cox model. CONCLUSIONS: We found that blepharitis was a relatively common disease and is associated with various ocular and systemic conditions.

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