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Quantifying the incidence and burden of herpes zoster in New Zealand general practice: a retrospective cohort study using a natural language processing software inference algorithm.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To investigate the incidence of primary care presentations for herpes zoster (zoster) in a representative New Zealand population and to evaluate the utilisation of primary healthcare services following zoster diagnosis. DESIGN:A cross-sectional retrospective cohort study used a natural language processing software inference algorithm to identify general practice consultations for zoster by interrogating 22?million electronic medical record (EMR) transactions routinely recorded from January 2005 to December 2015. Data linking enabled analysis of the demographics of each case. The frequency of doctor visits was assessed prior to and after the first consultation diagnosing zoster to determine health service utilisation. SETTING:General practice, using EMRs from two primary health organisations located in the lower North Island, New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS:Thirty-nine general practices consented interrogation of their EMRs to access deidentified records for all enrolled patients. Out-of-hours and practice nurse consultations were excluded. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The incidence of first and repeated zoster-related visits to the doctor across all age groups and associated patient demographics. To determine whether zoster affects workload in general practice. RESULTS:Overall, for 6 189 019 doctor consultations, the incidence of zoster was 48.6 per 10?000 patient-years (95%?CI 47.6 to 49.6). Incidence increased from the age of 50 years to a peak rate of 128 per 10?000 in the age group of 80-90 years and was significantly higher in females than males (p<0.001). Over this 11-year period, incidence increased gradually, notably in those aged 80-85 years. Only 19% of patients had one or more follow-up zoster consultations within 12 months of a zoster index consultation. The frequency of consultations, for any reason, did not change between periods before and after the diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS:Zoster consultations in general practice are rare, and the burden of these cases on overall general practice caseload is low.

SUBMITTER: Turner NM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5988112 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Quantifying the incidence and burden of herpes zoster in New Zealand general practice: a retrospective cohort study using a natural language processing software inference algorithm.

Turner Nikki M NM MacRae Jayden J Nowlan Mary L ML McBain Lynn L Stubbe Maria H MH Dowell Anthony A

BMJ open 20180531 5

<h4>Objective</h4>To investigate the incidence of primary care presentations for herpes zoster (zoster) in a representative New Zealand population and to evaluate the utilisation of primary healthcare services following zoster diagnosis.<h4>Design</h4>A cross-sectional retrospective cohort study used a natural language processing software inference algorithm to identify general practice consultations for zoster by interrogating 22 million electronic medical record (EMR) transactions routinely re ...[more]

PMID: 29858420

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Project description:Herpes zoster (HZ) is caused by a reactivation of the varicella-zoster-virus (VZV) and mainly affects individuals aged?50 years. Vaccines have been licensed or are under development that can protect against HZ and its main complication postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). In Germany, the burden of disease caused by HZ is not well known. To support the decision making process related to a potential vaccination recommendation, we estimated annual HZ disease burden in people aged?50 years in Germany by utilizing various data sources.We assessed for 2007 and 2008 HZ-outpatient incidence (number of cases per 1,000 person-years, PY) by utilizing the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (ASHIP) database, which contains nationwide routine outpatient data. For the same time period annual number of HZ-inpatients and HZ-associated deaths were identified by using the Federal Health Monitoring System (FHM). PHN-incidence and loss of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) caused by HZ were calculated by multiplying number of identified HZ-patients with upper and lower limit estimates for proportion of HZ-cases developing PHN and HZ-related QALY, respectively.For the study period we identified an annual average of 306,511 HZ-outpatients aged 50+, resulting in a HZ-incidence of 9.6/1,000 PY. A total 14,249 HZ-associated inpatients and 66 deaths were reported in both years on average. HZ-incidence increased by age from 6.21 in people 50-54 years to 13.19 per 1,000 PY in people aged?90 years. Females were significantly more frequently affected than males in terms of outpatient HZ-incidence (11.12 vs. 7.8 per 1,000 PY), inpatient HZ-incidence (0.51 vs. 0.38 per 1,000 PY) and mortality (0.29 vs. 0.10 per 100,000 PY). PHN-incidence was estimated to range between 0.43 and 1.33 per 1,000 PY. Based on these figures, there were between 3,065 to 24,094 QALYs lost due to HZ in persons aged?50 years in Germany per annum.Our study provides important baseline estimates for HZ-related disease burden in Germany. HZ poses a considerable burden on the health care system in Germany both in terms of outpatient and inpatient services. Follow-up assessments of HZ disease burden are needed to monitor the impact of VZV-vaccinations in Germany.

Project description:BackgroundHerpes zoster (HZ) and associated complications cause significant burden to older people. A HZ vaccination programme was introduced in Aotearoa New Zealand in April 2018 with a single dose vaccine for those aged 65 years and a four-year catch up for 66-80 year-olds. This study aimed to assess the 'real-world' effectiveness of the zoster vaccine live (ZVL) against HZ and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN).MethodsWe conducted a nationwide retrospective matched cohort study from 1 April 2018 to 1 April 2021 using a linked de-identified patient level Ministry of Health data platform. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate ZVL vaccine effectiveness (VE) against HZ and PHN adjusting for covariates. Multiple outcomes were assessed in the primary (hospitalised HZ and PHN - primary diagnosis) and secondary (hospitalised HZ and PHN: primary and secondary diagnosis, community HZ) analyses. A sub-group analysis was carried out in, adults ≥ 65 years old, immunocompromised adults, Māori, and Pacific populations.FindingsA total of 824,142 (274,272 vaccinated with ZVL matched with 549,870 unvaccinated) New Zealand residents were included in the study. The matched population was 93.4% immunocompetent, 52.2% female, 80.2% European (level 1 ethnic codes), and 64.5% were 65-74 years old (mean age = 71.1±5.0). Vaccinated versus unvaccinated incidence of hospitalised HZ was 0.16 vs. 0.31/1,000 person-years and 0.03 vs. 0.08/1000 person-years for PHN. In the primary analysis, the adjusted overall VE against hospitalised HZ and hospitalised PHN was 57.8% (95% CI: 41.1-69.8) and 73.7% (95% CI:14.0-92.0) respectively. In adults ≥ 65 years old, the VE against hospitalised HZ was 54.4% (95% CI: 36.0-67.5) and VE against hospitalised PHN was 75·5% (95% CI: 19.9-92.5). In the secondary analysis, the VE against community HZ was 30.0% (95% CI: 25.6-34.5). The ZVL VE against hospitalised HZ for immunocompromised adults was 51.1% (95% CI: 23.1-69.5), and PHN hospitalisation was 67.6% (95% CI: 9.3-88.4). The VE against HZ hospitalisation for Māori was 45.2% (95% CI: -23.2-75.6) and for Pacific Peoples was 52.2% (95% CI: -40.6 -83·7).InterpretationZVL was associated with a reduction in risk of hospitalisation from HZ and PHN in the New Zealand population.FundingWellington Doctoral Scholarship awarded to JFM.

Dataset Information

Quantifying the incidence and burden of herpes zoster in New Zealand general practice: a retrospective cohort study using a natural language processing software inference algorithm.

Publications

Quantifying the incidence and burden of herpes zoster in New Zealand general practice: a retrospective cohort study using a natural language processing software inference algorithm.

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