BACKGROUND To assess the relationship between any systemic antibiotic prescription within the first year of life and the presence of an ICD-9-CM diagnosis code for food allergy (FA). METHODS This was a matched case-control study conducted using South Carolina Medicaid administrative data. FA cases born between 2007 and 2009 were matched to controls without FA on birth month/year, sex, race/et...

BACKGROUND Aspirin is effective for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events, but it remains unclear for which subgroups of individuals aspirin is beneficial. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of aspirin separately for men and women of different ages with various levels of cardiovascular disease risk. METHODS AND RESULTS A Markov model was developed to predict the number of cardiovasc...

BACKGROUND The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends that women who carry gene variants that confer substantial risk for breast cancer consider risk-reduction strategies, that is, enhanced surveillance (breast magnetic resonance imaging and mammography) or prophylactic surgery. Pathogenic variants can be detected in women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer syndromes by...

BACKGROUND Although increases in obesity over the past 30 years have adversely affected the health of the U.S. population, there have been concomitant improvements in health because of reductions in smoking. Having a better understanding of the joint effects of these trends on longevity and quality of life will facilitate more efficient targeting of health care resources. METHODS For each yea...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by hepatitis C virus. Its main complications are cirrhosis and liver cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 185 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C virus and, of these, 350,000 die every year. Due to the high disease prevalence and the existence of effective (and expensive) medical treatments able...

INTRODUCTION We assessed the cost-effectiveness of a community-based, modified Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) designed to reduce risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS We developed a Markov decision model to compare costs and effectiveness of a modified DPP intervention with usual care during a 3-year period. Input parameters included costs and outcomes from 2...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to evaluate the economic and humanistic implications of using ostomy components to prevent subsequent peristomal skin complications (PSCs) in individuals who experience an initial, leakage-related PSC event. DESIGN Cost-utility analysis. METHODS We developed a simple decision model to consider, from a payer's perspective, PSCs managed with and without the u...