Although doses of long-term corticosteroids have fallen over the past several decades in response to AEs, dose reduction may not be a sufficient solution. Numerous AEs, some very costly, persist among long-term corticosteroid users, suggesting a need for further research to fill current data gaps, as well as a potential need for alternative treatment options.

Summary Purpose:  To estimate the prevalence of neuropsychiatric and pain disorders in adults with epilepsy in the United States. Methods:  In 2008, an 11‐item survey including validated questions to screen for a lifetime history of epilepsy was mailed to 340,000 households from two national panels selected to be generally representative of the noninstitutionalized U.S. population. Information on epilepsy and other disorders was collected from 172,959 respondents aged 18 or older. Propensity scoring was used to match respondents with and without epilepsy on baseline characteristics and risk factors for epilepsy. Prevalence ratios (PRs) of comorbidities in respondents with epilepsy were calculated using log‐binomial generalized linear models. Comorbidities were categorized as neuropsychiatric (anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, sleep disorder/apnea, and movement disorder/tremor), pain (migraine headache, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain), and other (asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure). Key Findings:  Two percent (3,488) of respondents reported ever having been told they had epilepsy or a seizure disorder. Respondents with self‐reported epilepsy were more likely (p < 0.001) than those without epilepsy to report all six neuropsychiatric disorders (PR from 1.27–2.39), all four pain disorders (PR 1.36–1.96), and asthma (PR 1.25). Significance:  Neuropsychiatric conditions and pain disorder comorbidities were reported more often in individuals with self‐reported epilepsy than in those without epilepsy. Identification of these conditions is an important consideration in the clinical management of epilepsy.

Opioid-related adverse drug events were common among patients undergoing hospital-based invasive procedures and were associated with significantly worse clinical and cost outcomes. Hospital-acquired harm from ORADEs in the surgical patient population is an important opportunity for health systems to improve patient safety and reduce cost.

Extended-release MPH formulations were associated with greater continuity of MPH treatment than IR formulations in the study population. Initial selection of an ER formulation may help to prolong continuity of MPH therapy among youth Medicaid beneficiaries with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

IntroductionRecovery from orthopedic surgery is oriented towards restoring functional health outcomes while reducing hospital length of stay (LOS) and medical expenditures. Optimal pain management is a key to reaching these objectives. We sought to compare orthopedic surgery patients who received combination intravenous (IV) acetaminophen and IV opioid analgesia to those who received IV opioids alone and compared the two groups on LOS and hospitalization costs.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of the Premier Database (Premier, Inc.; between January 2009 and June 2015) comparing orthopedic surgery patients who received post-operative pain management with combination IV acetaminophen and IV opioids to those who received only IV opioids starting on the day of surgery and continuing up to the second post-operative day. The quarterly rate of IV acetaminophen use for all hospitalizations by hospital served as the instrumental variable in two-stage least squares regressions controlling for patient and hospital covariates to compare the LOS and hospitalization costs of IV acetaminophen recipients to opioid monotherapy patients.ResultsWe identified 4,85,895 orthopedic surgery patients with 1,74,805 (36%) who had received IV acetaminophen. Study subjects averaged 64 years of age and were predominantly non-Hispanic Caucasians (78%) and female (58%). The mean unadjusted LOS for IV acetaminophen patients was 3.2 days [standard deviation (SD) 2.6] compared to 3.9 days (SD 3.9) with only IV opioids (P < 0.0001). Average unadjusted hospitalization costs were $19,024.9 (SD $13,113.7) for IV acetaminophen patients and $19,927.6 (SD $19,578.8) for IV opioid patients (P < 0.0001). These differences remained statistically significant in our instrumental variable models, with IV acetaminophen associated with 0.51 days shorter hospitalization [95% confidence interval (CI) −0.58 to −0.44, P < 0.0001] and $634.8 lower hospitalization costs (95% CI −$1032.5 to −$237.1, P = 0.0018).ConclusionCompared to opioids alone, managing post-orthopedic surgery pain with the addition of IV acetaminophen is associated with shorter LOS and decreased hospitalization costs.FundingMallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.