Risk of Developing Depressive Disorders following Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Background & Aims

To evaluate the risk of depressive disorders among patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of a newly diagnosed HCC cohort of 55,973 participants who were selected from the NHIRD. Patients were observed for a maximum of 6 years to determine the rates of newly onset depressive disorders, and Cox regression was used to identify the risk factors associated with depressive disorders in HCC patients.

Results

Of the total 55,973 HCC patients, 1,041 patients (1.86%) were diagnosed with depressive disorders during a mean (SD) follow-up period of 1.1 (1.2) years. The Cox multivariate proportional hazards analysis showed that age of 40–59 (HR 1.376, 95% CI 1.049–1.805, p = 0.021), age of 60–79 (HR 1.341, 95% CI 1.025–1.753, p = 0.032), women (HR 1.474 95% CI 1.301–1.669, p < 0.001), metastasis (HR 1.916, 95% CI 1.243–2.953, p = 0.003), and HCV (HR 1.445, 95% CI 1.231–1.697, p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for developing depressive disorders.

Conclusions

Our study indicated a subsequent risk of depressive disorders in patients with HCC, and the risk increased for those with female gender, aged 40 to 59, aged 60 to 79, with metastasis, or with HCV. Psychological evaluation and support are two critical issues in these HCC patients with the risk factors.     

Rheumatoid Arthritis and the Risk of Bipolar Disorder: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Background

Studies have suggested that chronic inflammation plays an essential role in the pathophysiology of both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and bipolar disorder. The most common clinical features associated with RA are anxiety and depression. The risk of bipolar disorder among patients with RA has not been characterized adequately.

Objective

To determine the association between RA and the subsequent development of bipolar disorder and examine the risk factors for bipolar disorder among patients with RA.

Methods

We identified patients who were diagnosed with RA in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. A comparison cohort was created by matching patients without RA with those with RA according to age, sex, and comorbidities. The occurrence of bipolar disorder was evaluated in both cohorts.

Results

The RA cohort consisted of 2,570 patients, and the comparison cohort consisted of 2,570 matched control patients without RA. The incidence of bipolar disorder (incidence rate ratio  = 2.13, 95% confidence interval [CI]  = 1.12–4.24, P =  .013) was higher among patients with RA than among control patients. Multivariate, matched regression models revealed that asthma (hazard ratio [HR]  = 2.76, 95% CI 1.27–5.96, P =  .010), liver cirrhosis (HR  = 3.81, 95% CI  = 1.04–14.02, P =  .044), and alcohol use disorders (HR  = 5.29, 95% CI  = 1.71–16.37, P =  .004) were independent risk factors for the development of bipolar disorder among patients with RA.

Conclusion

RA might increase the incidence of bipolar disorder development. Based on our data, we suggest that, following RA diagnosis, greater attention be focused on women with asthma, liver cirrhosis, and alcohol use disorder. Prospective clinical studies of the relationship between RA and bipolar disorder are warranted.     

Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk Associated with Periodontitis Exposure: A Nationwide,Population-Based Cohort Study

Background

The risk of periodontitis (PD) is increased in the patient group of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA and PD also shared some pathological mechanism. The aim of this study is to investigate the risk of RA associated with PD exposure.

Methods and Findings

This study identified 3 mutually exclusive cohorts using the 1999–2010 Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) to investigate the association between PD and the risk of incident RA. All patients with PD in 2000 were identified from the database of all enrollees as the PD cohort. From the representative database of 1,000,000 enrollees randomly selected in 2010 (LHID2010), individuals without any periodontal disease (PO) during 1999–2010 were selected as the non-PO cohort. Individuals who were not included in the non-PO cohort and received dental scaling (DS) no more than two times per year during 1999–2010 were selected as the DS cohort from LHID2010. Using cox proportional regression analysis, hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (Cis) were calculated to quantify the association between PD exposure and RA development. In the three-group comparison using the non-PO cohort as reference, we found that the risk of RA was higher in the PD and DS cohorts (HRs, 1.89 and 1.43; 95% CIs, 1.56–2.29 and 1.09–1.87, respectively). For comparisons between two cohorts, the PD cohort had a higher risk of RA than the non-PO and DS cohorts (HRs, 1.91 and 1.35; 95% CIs, 1.57–2.30 and 1.09–1.67, respectively).

Conclusion

PD was associated with an increased risk of RA development.     

Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Nationwide Population-Based Case-Control Study

Objective

Type 2 diabetes is associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation and could potentially trigger the progression of other, more prominent inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Therefore, we aimed to investigate the risk of incident RA in Taiwanese patients with type 2 diabetes using a population-based health claims database.

Methods

This nationwide, population-based, case-control study used administrative data to identify 1,416 patients with RA (age ≥20 years) as cases and 7,080 controls that were frequency-matched for sex, 10-year age group, and year of catastrophic illness certificate application date (index year). All subjects were retrospectively traced back, up to 13 years prior to the index year, for their first diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to quantify the association between incident RA and type 2 diabetes.

Results

The odds of developing RA were significantly higher in female (odds ratio [OR] 1.46, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.24–1.72) but not in male (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.72–1.37) patients who had previously diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Subgroup analysis indicated that the odds of developing RA were more prominent in younger females (20 to 44 years of age) with type 2 diabetes. In addition, the odds of developing RA in female patients with type 2 diabetes were higher in those with a shorter time interval between the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and RA.

Conclusions

This large nationwide, population-based, case-control study showed an elevated risk of RA in female Taiwanese patients with type 2 diabetes. Our findings were consistent with the hypothesis that chronic low-grade inflammation in type 2 diabetes may elicit the development of RA in genetically susceptible individuals.     

Risk of Psychiatric Disorders following Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Background

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders among women of reproductive age. A higher prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities, including depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and bipolar disorder has been proved in patients with PCOS. However, a clear temporal causal relationship between PCOS and psychiatric disorders has not been well established.

Objective

We explored the relationship between PCOS and the subsequent development of psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and sleep disorder.

Methods

We identified patients who were diagnosed with PCOS by an obstetrician-gynecologist in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. A comparison cohort was constructed of patients without PCOS who were matched according to age and sex. The occurrence of subsequent new-onset psychiatric disorders was evaluated in both cohorts based on diagnoses made by psychiatrists.

Results

The PCOS cohort consisted of 5431 patients, and the comparison cohort consisted of 21,724 matched control patients without PCOS. The incidence of depressive disorder (hazard ratio [HR] 1.296, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.084–.550), anxiety disorder (HR 1.392, 95% CI 1.121–1.729), and sleep disorder (HR 1.495, 95% CI 1.176–1.899) were higher among the PCOS patients than among the patients in the comparison cohort. In addition, a higher incidence of newly diagnosed depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and sleep disorder remained significantly increased in all of the stratified follow-up durations (0–1, 1–5, ≥5 y).

Conclusions

PCOS might increase the risk of subsequent newly diagnosed depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and sleep disorder. The risk of newly diagnosed bipolar disorder, which has often been reported in the literature to be comorbid with PCOS, was not significantly elevated.     

Hyperthyroidism and Risk for Bipolar Disorders: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Background

Thyroid disorders have long been associated with psychiatric illness, often with symptoms suggestive of mood disorders. The most common clinical features associated with hyperthyroidism are anxiety and depression. The risk of bipolar disorders, especially bipolar mania, among patients with thyroid disorders has not been well characterized.

Objective

We explored the relationship of hyperthyroidism and the subsequent development of bipolar disorders, and examined the risk factors for bipolar disorders in patients with hyperthyroidism.

Methods

We identified patients who were diagnosed with hyperthyroidism between 2000 and 2010 in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. A comparison cohort without hyperthyroidism was matched based on age, sex, and comorbidities. The occurrence of bipolar disorders was evaluated in both cohorts based on diagnosis and the use of mood stabilizer drugs.

Results

The hyperthyroidism cohort consisted of 21, 574 patients, and the comparison cohort consisted of 21, 574 matched control patients without hyperthyroidism. The incidence of bipolar disorders (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 2.31, 95% CI 1.80–2.99, P<.001) was higher for the hyperthyroidism patients than the control patients. Multivariate, matched regression models showed that women (HR 2.02, 95% CI 1.34–3.05, P = .001), patients with alcohol use disorders (HR 3.03, 95% CI 1.58–5.79, P = .001), and those with asthma (HR 1.70, 95% CI 1.18–2.43, P = .004) were independent risk factors for the development of bipolar disorders in hyperthyroidism patients.

Conclusions

Although a possibility that the diagnosis of bipolar disorders in this study actually includes "bipolar disorders due to hyperthyroidism" cannot be excluded, this study suggests that hyperthyroidism may increase the risk of developing bipolar disorders.     

Increased Risk of Acute Pancreatitis in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Population-Based Cohort Study

The study was conducted to determine whether patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk of acute pancreatitis compared with those without RA and to determine if the risk of acute pancreatitis varied by anti-RA drug use. We used the large population-based dataset from the National Health Insurance (NHI) program in Taiwan to conduct a retrospective cohort study. Patients newly diagnosed with RA between 2000 and 2011 were referred to as the RA group. The comparator non-RA group was matched with propensity score, using age and sex, in the same time period. We presented the incidence density by 100,000 person-years. The propensity score and all variables were analyzed in fully adjusted Cox proportional hazard regression. The cumulative incidence of acute pancreatitis was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis, with significance based on the log-rank test. From claims data of one million enrollees randomly sampled from the Taiwan NHI database, 29,755 adults with RA were identified and 119,020 non- RA persons were matched as a comparison group. The RA cohort had higher incidence density of acute pancreatitis (185.7 versus 119.0 per 100,000 person-years) than the non-RA cohort. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 1.62 (95% CI [confidence interval] 1.43–1.83) for patients with RA to develop acute pancreatitis. Oral corticosteroid use decreased the risk of acute pancreatitis (adjusted HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.73–0.94) but without a dose-dependent effect. Current use of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs or tumor necrosis factor blockers did not decrease the risk of acute pancreatitis. In conclusion, patients with RA are at an elevated risk of acute pancreatitis. Use of oral corticosteroids may reduce the risk of acute pancreatitis.     

Risk of Tuberculosis in Children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan

Objective

We aimed to determine the risk of tuberculosis in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in Taiwan.

Methods

We used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) to conduct a nested case-control study. We identified a JIA cohort and matched each JIA child with non-JIA children for comparison. Methotrexate (MTX), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor administration, and new tuberculosis cases were determined during our study period. To compare tuberculosis (TB) risk among our study groups, Cox proportional regression models were used to determine adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs).

Results

We identified 1495 children with JIA and 11592 non-JIA children. Majority (68.7%) children with JIA had not received MTX or TNF inhibitors; 23.9% used MTX without TNF inhibitors, and 7.4% received TNF inhibitors, irrespective of MTX administration. In total, 43 children developed tuberculosis. The overall tuberculosis infection rate for children with JIA was two times higher than that for non-JIA children. Compared with non-JIA children, children with JIA who used MTX without TNF inhibitors revealed a significantly increased of tuberculosis infection rate (aHR = 4.67; 95% CI: 1.65–13.17; P = 0.004). Children with JIA who either received TNF inhibitors or never used MTX and TNF inhibitors revealed a tuberculosis infection rate comparable to that of non-JIA children.

Conclusions

Analysis of nationwide data of Taiwan suggested that children with JIA were at higher risk of tuberculosis compared with those without JIA.     

Increased Risk of Active Tuberculosis following Acute Kidney Injury: A Nationwide,Population-Based Study

Background

Profound alterations in immune responses associated with uremia and exacerbated by dialysis increase the risk of active tuberculosis (TB). Evidence of the long-term risk and outcome of active TB after acute kidney injury (AKI) is limited.

Methods

This population-based-cohort study used claim records retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance database. We retrieved records of all hospitalized patients, more than 18 years, who underwent dialysis for acute kidney injury (AKI) during 1999–2008 and validated using the NSARF data. Time-dependent Cox proportional hazards model to adjust for the ongoing effect of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) was conducted to predict long-term de novo active TB after discharge from index hospitalization.

Results

Out of 2,909 AKI dialysis patients surviving 90 days after index discharge, 686 did not require dialysis after hospital discharge. The control group included 11,636 hospital patients without AKI, dialysis, or history of TB. The relative risk of active TB in AKI dialysis patients, relative to the general population, after a mean follow-up period of 3.6 years was 7.71. Patients who did (hazard ratio [HR], 3.84; p<0.001) and did not (HR, 6.39; p<0.001) recover from AKI requiring dialysis had significantly higher incidence of TB than patients without AKI. The external validated data also showed nonrecovery subgroup (HR = 4.37; p = 0.049) had high risk of developing active TB compared with non-AKI. Additionally, active TB was associated with long-term all-cause mortality after AKI requiring dialysis (HR, 1.34; p = 0.032).

Conclusions

AKI requiring dialysis seems to independently increase the long-term risk of active TB, even among those who weaned from dialysis at discharge. These results raise concerns that the increasing global burden of AKI will in turn increase the incidence of active TB.     

Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Is Associated with the Development of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan

ObjectiveThe association between chronic hepatitis virus infection and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains debatable. This nationwide population-based cohort study assessed the risk of RA among patients with a chronic infection of hepatitis B and/or C virus.ResultsAfter adjusting for covariates, chronic HCV infection alone was significantly associated with an increased risk for RA (hazard ratio (HR)  = 2.03, 95% confidence interval (CI)  = 1.27–3.22). The increased risk for RA among participants with chronic HCV infection remained significant after restricting the analysis to those who were prescribed disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. The corresponding HR for the overall sample was 1.89 (95% CI  = 1.15–3.11). However, HBV carriers did not appear to be at a significantly higher risk for RA.ConclusionOur data imply that chronic HCV infection is associated with RA development.     

Persistence with Statins and Onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Background

The beneficial effects of statins in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been suggested previously, but it is unclear whether statins may prevent its development. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to explore whether persistent use of statins is associated with onset of RA.

Methods and Findings

The computerized medical databases of a large health organization in Israel were used to identify diagnosed RA cases among adults who began statin therapy between 1998 and 2007. Persistence with statins was assessed by calculating the mean proportion of follow-up days covered (PDC) with statins for every study participant. To assess the possible effects of healthy user bias, we also examined the risk of osteoarthritis (OA), a common degenerative joint disease that is unlikely to be affected by use of statins.A total of 211,627 and 193,770 individuals were eligible for the RA and OA cohort analyses, respectively. During the study follow-up period, there were 2,578 incident RA cases (3.07 per 1,000 person-years) and 17,878 incident OA cases (24.34 per 1,000 person-years). The crude incidence density rate of RA among nonpersistent patients (PDC level of <20%) was 51% higher (3.89 per 1,000 person-years) compared to highly persistent patients who were covered with statins for at least 80% of the follow-up period. After adjustment for potential confounders, highly persistent patients had a hazard ratio of 0.58 (95% confidence interval 0.52–0.65) for RA compared with nonpersistent patients. Larger differences were observed in younger patients and in patients initiating treatment with high efficacy statins. In the OA cohort analysis, high persistence with statins was associated only with a modest decrement in risk ratio (hazard ratio = 0.85; 0.81–0.88) compared to nonadherent patients.

Conclusions

The present study demonstrates an association between persistence with statin therapy and reduced risk of developing RA. The relationship between continuation of statin use and OA onset was weak and limited to patients with short-term follow-up. Please see later in the article for the Editors'' Summary     

Risk of Cancer in Patients with Iron Deficiency Anemia: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

ObjectiveThis study evaluated the risk of cancer among patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) by using a nationwide population-based data set.MethodPatients newly diagnosed with IDA and without antecedent cancer between 2000 and 2010 were recruited from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of cancer types among patients with IDA were calculated.ResultsPatients with IDA exhibited an increased overall cancer risk (SIR: 2.15). Subgroup analysis showed that patients of both sexes and in all age groups had an increased SIR. After we excluded patients diagnosed with cancer within the first and first 5 years of IDA diagnosis, the SIRs remained significantly elevated at 1.43 and 1.30, respectively. In addition, the risks of pancreatic (SIR: 2.31), kidney (SIR: 2.23), liver (SIR: 1.94), and bladder cancers (SIR: 1.74) remained significantly increased after exclusion of patients diagnosed with cancer within 5 years after IDA diagnosis.ConclusionThe overall cancer risk was significantly elevated among patients with IDA. After we excluded patients diagnosed with IDA and cancer within 1 and 5 years, the SIRs remained significantly elevated compared with those of the general population. The increased risk of cancer was not confined to gastrointestinal cancer when the SIRs of pancreatic, kidney, liver, and bladder cancers significantly increased after exclusion of patients diagnosed with IDA and cancer within the first 5 years. This finding may be caused by immune activities altered by IDA. Further study is necessary to determine the association between IDA and cancer risk.     

Type 2 Diabetes : An Independent Risk Factor for Tuberculosis: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Objective

Tuberculosis continues to be a major global health problem. We wanted to investigate whether Type 2 diabetes was a risk factor for tuberculosis in an Asian population.

Methods

From Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database, we collected data from 31,237 female patients with type 2 diabetes and 92,642 female controls and 32,493 male patients with type 2 diabetes and 96,977 male controls. Cox proportional hazard regression was performed to evaluate independent risk factors for tuberculosis in all patients and to identify risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Results

During the study period, both female (standardized incidence ratio (SIR): 1.40, p<0.01) and male (SIR: 1.48, p<0.01) patients with type 2 diabetes were found to have a significantly higher rate of incident tuberculosis than the control group. Type 2 diabetes (HR:1.31, 1.23–1.39, p<0.001) was significantly associated with tuberculosis after adjusting sex, age, bronchiectasis, asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease.

Conclusions

Patients with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of tuberculosis compared to control subjects after adjusting for confounding factors. The current diabetes epidemic may lead to a resurgence of tuberculosis in endemic regions. Therefore, preventive measures, including addressing the possibility that type 2 diabetes increase the individual’s susceptibility for incident TB, should be taken to further reduce the incidence of tuberculosis.     

Mining Disease Risk Patterns from Nationwide Clinical Databases for the Assessment of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune rheumatic disease that can cause painful swelling in the joint lining, morning stiffness, and joint deformation/destruction. These symptoms decrease both quality of life and life expectancy. However, if RA can be diagnosed in the early stages, it can be controlled with pharmacotherapy. Although many studies have examined the possibility of early assessment and diagnosis, few have considered the relationship between significant risk factors and the early assessment of RA. In this paper, we present a novel framework for early RA assessment that utilizes data preprocessing, risk pattern mining, validation, and analysis. Under our proposed framework, two risk patterns can be discovered. Type I refers to well-known risk patterns that have been identified by existing studies, whereas Type II denotes unknown relationship risk patterns that have rarely or never been reported in the literature. These Type II patterns are very valuable in supporting novel hypotheses in clinical trials of RA, and constitute the main contribution of this work. To ensure the robustness of our experimental evaluation, we use a nationwide clinical database containing information on 1,314 RA-diagnosed patients over a 12-year follow-up period (1997–2008) and 965,279 non-RA patients. Our proposed framework is employed on this large-scale population-based dataset, and is shown to effectively discover rich RA risk patterns. These patterns may assist physicians in patient assessment, and enhance opportunities for early detection of RA. The proposed framework is broadly applicable to the mining of risk patterns for major disease assessments. This enables the identification of early risk patterns that are significantly associated with a target disease.     

Retinitis Pigmentosa Reduces the Risk of Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Purpose

To study the association between retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and the progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Methods

Using the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000 of Taiwan, we identified individuals with an initial diagnosis for RP during the period of 1997–2008. A non-RP comparison group, 10-fold frequency matched by sex, age, index year and the year of diabetes diagnosed, were randomly selected from the same database. The occurrence of DR was observed for all subjects until the end of 2009. The Kaplan-Meier curves were used to illustrate the cumulative probability of developing DR for the RP group and comparison groups. The hazard ratio (HR) of DR for the RP group relative to the comparison group was estimated using Cox proportional hazards model after adjusting for potential confounders.

Results

The Kaplan-Meier curves were not statistically significant different between the RP group and the comparison group. However, the RP group had a higher cumulative probability of developing DR during the first six to seven years. The cumulative probability kept increasing and became higher in the comparison group but remained unchanged in the RP group. The HR for the RP patients comparing with the comparison group was 0.96 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.43–2.14). Stratified by severity, RP was associated with a non-statistically significant reduced risk of proliferative DR (PDR) (HR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.16–3.14). The HR for non-proliferative DR (NPDR) was 1.08 (95% CI = 0.40–2.86).

Conclusion

In this study, RP was not statistically significant associated with the incidence of DR.     

Risk of End-Stage Renal Disease after Cancer Nephrectomy in Taiwan: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

BackgroundThe conclusions of population-based studies examining the risk of developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD) after nephrectomy among patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remain inconclusive. In this study, we sought to examine whether patients with RCC undergoing radical nephrectomy (RN) have higher risk of ESRD compared to those undergoing partial nephrectomy (PN).MethodsNationwide population-based retrospective cohort of 7670 patients with RCC who underwent RN or PN between 2000 and 2011 as recorded in the Taiwan National Health Insurance in-patient claims data were analyzed. The primary outcome of interest was the occurrence of ESRD requiring regular renal hemodialysis. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression model was performed to assess the risk.FindingsThe median follow-up for the post-propensity matched cohort (1212 PN and 2424 RN) was 48 months. Seventy patients (2.9%) developed ESRD among those who underwent RN, for an incidence rate of 6.9 cases per 1000 person-years. In contrast, only 23 patients (1.9%) developed ESRD among patients who underwent PN, for an incidence rate of 5.5 cases per 1000 person-years. Despite the higher incidence rate of ESRD among RN, the aIRR (RN/PN) was 1.26 (95% CI 0.78-2.01), which was not statistically significant.ConclusionsThis Taiwan nationwide population-based study suggests that patients with RCC undergoing RN do not have significantly higher risk of developing ESRD compared to those undergoing PN.     

Comparisons of Musculoskeletal Disorders among Ten Different Medical Professions in Taiwan: A Nationwide,Population-Based Study

Objective

Medical personnel are at risk of musculoskeletal disorders but little is known whether the risk of musculoskeletal disorders were different among various medical professions. Therefore, this study compared the risk of musculoskeletal disorders among personnel of 10 different medical professions in Taiwan using a nationwide health claims database.

Methods

Data from the 2000–2010 Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database were used to identify personnel of 10 different medical professions. Diagnoses based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) were used to identify eight different musculoskeletal disorders that occurred after the license issuance date. Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare the risk of eight musculoskeletal disorders among the 10 different medical professions using dentists as the reference category.

Results

A total of 7,820 medical personnel were included in the analysis. Using dentists as the reference category, physical therapists showed a significantly higher risk of all eight musculoskeletal disorders (ranging from 1.59 [p = 0.032] in sprains and strains of other and unspecified parts of back to 2.93 [p < 0.001] in spondylosis and allied disorders).

Conclusions

Compared with dentists, a profession that already known to suffer from high rates of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, physical therapists, registered nurses, and doctors of Chinese medicine showed an even higher risk of musculoskeletal disorders.