Purpose Statins, metformin, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) have been suggested for treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD) due to their pleiotropic effects. Therefore, we investigated whether these drugs prevent AMD. Materials and Methods We conducted a nested case-control study using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. Using risk-set sampling of age, sex, cohort entry date, and follow-up duration, we identified incident patients with AMD and 10 matching controls in cohorts with diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular diseases. Exposure was assessed within one year before the index date using patient prescription records. We conducted conditional logistic regression to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the association between cardiovascular medications and AMD. Results Our study included 2330 cases and 23278 controls from a cohort of 231274 patients. The ORs (95% CI) for AMD occurrence in users prescribed with statins, metformin, ACE inhibitors, and ARBs were 1.12 (0.94–1.32), 1.15 (0.91–1.45), 0.90 (0.61–1.34), and 1.21 (1.05–1.39), respectively. A duration-response was not observed. Conclusion Statins, metformin, ACE inhibitors, and ARBs did not inhibit AMD in elderly patients. The absence of a duration-response supports the lack of a causal relationship.

BACKGROUND Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may exacerbate COVID-19 and worsen associated outcomes by upregulating the enzyme that SARS-CoV-2 binds to enter cells. To our knowledge, no study has examined the association between NSAID use and the risk of COVID-19-related outcomes. METHODS We conducted a cohort study using South Korea’s nationwide healthcare database, which contains data of all subjects who received a test for COVID-19 (n=69,793) as of April 8, 2020. We identified adults hospitalized with COVID-19, where cohort entry was the date of hospitalization. NSAIDs users were those prescribed NSAIDs in the 7 days before and including cohort entry and non-users were those not prescribed NSAIDs during this period. Our primary outcome was a composite of in-hospital death, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation use, and sepsis; our secondary outcomes were cardiovascular complications and acute renal failure. We conducted logistic regression analysis to estimate odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using inverse probability of treatment weighting to minimize confounding. RESULTS Of 1,824 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 (mean age 49.0 years; female 59%), 354 were NSAIDs users and 1,470 were non-users. Compared with non-use, NSAIDs use was associated with increased risks of the primary composite outcome (OR 1.54 [95% CI 1.13-2.11]) but insignificantly associated with cardiovascular complications (1.54 [0.96-2.48]) or acute renal failure (1.45 [0.49-4.14]). CONCLUSION While awaiting the results of confirmatory studies, we suggest NSAIDs be used with caution among patients with COVID-19 as the harms associated with their use may outweigh their benefits in this population.

Purpose It is important for restaurants’ social networking sites (SNSs) to provide a flow experience because it encourages positive brand responses and attracts consumers. However, there is a paucity of research on SNS flow experience in the restaurant industry, and more importantly, most of the research is focused only on online behavior. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how SNS flow antecedents (skill, challenge, telepresence and time distortion) influence overall flow, SNS satisfaction and offline restaurant purchase intentions. In addition, this study examined the mediating role of SNS satisfaction between flow and offline purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was carried out to examine the patron’s flow experiences. 517 valid responses were analyzed to test hypotheses using structural equation model. Findings The results indicated that four antecedents of SNS flow positively influenced overall flow. Specifically, time distortion was the most influential antecedent. Overall flow positively influenced SNS satisfaction and offline purchase intentions. Furthermore, SNS satisfaction acted as a mediator between overall flow and offline purchase intentions. Practical implications The findings provide not only new insights for restaurant managers to implement SNS marketing but also several strategies to encourage consumer’s flow on restaurant SNS. Originality/value This study investigated the theoretical framework of flow experience more in depth than previous research as dealing with four dimensions of SNS flow antecedents: skill, challenge, telepresence and time distortion.

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A comprehensive method to prepare a one-dimensional (1D) metal−organic framework (MOF) has attracted research interest because the 1D MOFs are useful as precursor materials for the preparation of highly porous carbon nanorods with outstanding electrical conductivity and mechanical strength, making them particularly suitable for electrochemical applications. Herein, the synthesis of 1D zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanorods is reported using the metal-induced self-assembly templates of imidazole-functionalized perylenetetracarboxylic diimide (PDI-Hm). The size of PDI-Hm self-assemblies is finely tuned on the nanoscale by the method of metal-induced self-assembly whose surface-exposed metal ions were further exploited as nucleation sites for the growth of ZIF-8. Versatility of the metal-induced self-assembly template for the growth of other 1D MOFs was demonstrated using various transition-metal ions on demands. The size-controlled ZIF-8 nanorods were applied further as a precursor material to produce porous, nitrogen-doped carbon nanorods through the carbonization. The carbon nanorods show decent supercapacitor electrode material performance, with enhanced specific capacitance of 292.2 F g −1 , because of their unique 1D feature with reduced charge transfer resistance and large specific surface area derived from a downscaled template size under 100 nm.

ObjectivesWe investigated the risk of dementia associated with the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) as compared with the use of histamine‐2 receptor antagonist (H2RA).MethodsWe conducted retrospective propensity score‐matched cohort study using the National Health Insurance Service‐National Sample Cohort. Subjects were defined as the patients newly prescribed with PPI or H2RA between 2003 and 2013 without prior prescriptions of PPI/H2RA or diagnosis of dementia from their history within the past 1 year. We followed up participants until dementia occurrence, death, or the end of the study, whichever occurred first, with an intention‐to‐treat approach. A 1‐year lag time between exposure and outcome measure was used to reduce protopathic bias. The incidence rate per 1000 person‐years was estimated. The incidence rate of PPI was compared with that of H2RA, defined as incidence rate ratio (IRR), calculated with a 95% confidence interval. To control for potential confounds, propensity score matching at a 1:1 ratio was conducted, and the crude IRR was adjusted by risk factors.ResultsOur propensity score‐matched cohort included 87 562 patients on PPIs and 87 562 patients on H2RAs. The IRR was 1.01 (95% confidence interval 0.96–1.06) with 1‐year lag time. IRR showed the decreased trend as the longer lag time. Also, no treatment duration or dose–response relationship was observed.ConclusionsOur finding demonstrated that PPIs did not associate with dementia more strongly than did H2RA. On this basis, we suggest that the previously reported risk for dementia associated with PPI may have been overestimated.

Background: Adherence to tuberculosis (TB) drugs is one of the key aspects of global TB control, yet there is a lack of epidemiological evidence on the factors influencing adherence to TB drugs. Thus, this study aimed to explore the adherence and factors associated with adherence among TB patients in South Korea.Methods: We conducted a cohort study using a sampled national healthcare database from 2017 to 2018. Our study population included incident TB patients initiating quadruple or triple regimen who were available for follow-up for 180-days. Adherence was evaluated using the proportion of days covered (PDC): 1) adherent group: patients with PDC ≥80%; 2) non-adherent group: patients with PDC <80%. Kaplan-Meier analysis was conducted to calculate the median time-to-discontinuation in the study population. We calculated the adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) to assess factors associated with adherence to TB drugs using logistic regression.Results: Of 987 patients, 558 (56.5%) were adherent and 429 (43.5%) were non-adherent, with the overall mean PDC of 68.87% (standard deviation, 33.37%). The median time-to-discontinuation was 113 days (interquartile range 96–136) in the study population. Patients initiating quadruple regimen were more likely to adhere in comparison to the triple regimen (aOR 4.14; 95% CI 2.78–6.17), while those aged ≥65 years (aOR 0.53; 95% CI 0.35–0.81), with a history of dementia (aOR 0.53; 95% CI 0.34–0.85), and with history of diabetes mellitus (aOR 0.70; 95% CI 0.52–0.96) were less likely to adhere to the drug.Conclusion: Approximately 45% of TB patients were non-adherent to the drug, which is a major concern for the treatment outcome. We call for intensified attention from the authorities and healthcare providers to reinforce patients’ adherence to the prescribed TB drugs.

Purpose To investigate the association between use of methylphenidate and risk of myocardial infarction among Asians. Methods We conducted a multinational self‐controlled case series study using nationwide healthcare databases of South Korea (2002–2018), Taiwan (2004–2015), and Hong Kong (2001–2016). Of patients with myocardial infarction who were also prescribed methylphenidate within the observation period, methylphenidate use was classified into four mutually exclusive periods by each person‐day: exposed (exposed to methylphenidate), pre‐exposure (prior to the first methylphenidate prescription), washout (after the end of methylphenidate treatment), and baseline (unexposed to methylphenidate). Risk of myocardial infarction among the three periods of methylphenidate use was compared to the baseline period using conditional Poisson regression analysis to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results We identified 2104, 484, and 30 patients from South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, respectively. Risk of myocardial infarction was the highest during the pre‐exposure period in all three populations: South Korea, pre‐exposure (IRR 3.17, 95% CI 3.04–3.32), exposed (1.05, 1.00–1.11), washout (1.92, 1.80–2.04); Taiwan, pre‐exposure (1.97, 1.78–2.17), exposed (0.72, 0.65–0.80), washout (0.56, 0.46–0.68); Hong Kong, pre‐exposure (18.09, 8.19–39.96), exposed (9.32, 3.44–25.28), washout (7.69, 1.72–34.41). Following stratification for age and sex, the trends remained analogous to the main findings across all three populations. Conclusions Although a positive association between initiating methylphenidate and the onset of myocardial infarction was observed, the risk was the highest in the period before its initiation. Thus, this multinational study suggests there was no causal relationship between methylphenidate and myocardial infarction among Asians.