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Allopurinol and the risk of ventricular arrhythmias in the elderly: a study using US Medicare data

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Medicine, March 2017
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Title
Allopurinol and the risk of ventricular arrhythmias in the elderly: a study using US Medicare data
Published in
BMC Medicine, March 2017
DOI 10.1186/s12916-017-0816-6
Pubmed ID
Authors

Jasvinder A. Singh, John Cleveland

Abstract

There are no published human studies investigating whether the use of allopurinol, the most commonly used medication for the treatment of hyperuricemia in gout, the most common type of inflammatory arthritis in adults, has any beneficial effects on ventricular electrophysiology. The objective of our study was to assess whether allopurinol use is associated with a reduction in the risk of ventricular arrhythmias (VA). We used the 5% random sample of Medicare beneficiaries from 2006-2012 to examine new allopurinol use and the risk of incident VA. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were adjusted for demographics (age, race, sex), comorbidity, cardiac medications, and conditions associated with VA. We calculated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Of the 28,755 episodes of new allopurinol use, 2538 were associated with incident VA (8.8%). Among patients with incident VA, 54% were male, 78% were White, 75% had gout as the underlying diagnosis, and the mean Charlson-Romano comorbidity score was 4.8. The crude incidence of VA per 1,000,000 person-days declined as the duration of allopurinol use increased: 1-180 days, 151; 181 days to 2 years, 105; and > 2 years, 85. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, compared to non-use, allopurinol use was associated with lower HR of VA of 0.82 (95% CI, 0.76-0.90). Compared to allopurinol non-use, longer allopurinol use durations were significantly associated with lower multivariable-adjusted HR for VA: 1-180 days, 0.96 (95% CI, 0.85-1.08); 181 days to 2 years, 0.76 (95% CI, 0.68-0.85); and > 2 years, 0.72 (95% CI, 0.60-0.87). Multiple sensitivity analyses adjusting for cardiac conditions, anti-arrhythmic drugs and alternate definitions confirmed our findings with minimal/no attenuation of estimates. Allopurinol use and use duration of more than 6 months were independently associated with a lower risk of VA. Future studies need to assess the pathophysiology of this potential benefit.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 37 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 37 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 6 16%
Student > Ph. D. Student 4 11%
Student > Bachelor 3 8%
Other 3 8%
Lecturer 2 5%
Other 8 22%
Unknown 11 30%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 15 41%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 4 11%
Engineering 2 5%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 1 3%
Social Sciences 1 3%
Other 1 3%
Unknown 13 35%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 06 December 2018.
All research outputs
#18,810,584
of 23,312,088 outputs
Outputs from BMC Medicine
#3,270
of 3,508 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#236,384
of 310,120 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Medicine
#63
of 66 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,312,088 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,508 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 43.7. This one is in the 3rd percentile – i.e., 3% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 66 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 3rd percentile – i.e., 3% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.