Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan.
Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2011;66(2):251-4. doi: 10.1590/s1807-59322011000200012.
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is one of the most common rheumatic diseases with gender differences in prevalence and clinical presentation. This study aimed to examine whether such gender differences are correlated with cumulative healthcare utilization in Taiwan.
The National Health Insurance Research Database supplied claim records of one million individuals from 1996 to 2007. Selected cases included patients aged >16 years. Certified rheumatologists diagnosed the patients in three or more visits and gave prescriptions for AS. Multivariate adjusted logistic regression analyses were used to calculate the influence of gender on cumulative healthcare utilization associated with AS.
The study included 228 women and 636 men. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, men had more cumulative outpatient visits associated with AS (odds ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.13 -2.23; p = 0.008). Men also exhibited a trend for higher frequency of AS-related hospitalization (p = 0.054).
Men are more likely to have high cumulative AS-associated healthcare utilization than women. Further investigation of the causal factors is warranted.
强直性脊柱炎（AS）是最常见的风湿性疾病之一，其患病率和临床表现存在性别差异。本研究旨在探讨这种性别差异是否与台湾累积医疗保健利用度相关。
国家健康保险研究数据库提供了 1996 年至 2007 年期间一百万人的理赔记录。选择的病例包括年龄> 16 岁的患者。经过三次或以上就诊并开具 AS 处方的认证风湿病专家对患者进行诊断。采用多变量调整逻辑回归分析来计算性别对与 AS 相关的累积医疗保健利用度的影响。
本研究纳入了 228 名女性和 636 名男性。在调整了潜在混杂因素后，男性与 AS 相关的累积门诊就诊次数更多（比值比，1.59；95%置信区间，1.13-2.23；p = 0.008）。男性也表现出与 AS 相关住院治疗频率更高的趋势（p = 0.054）。
男性比女性更有可能有高累积的 AS 相关医疗保健利用度。有必要进一步调查因果因素。
