Kuo-Cherh Huang

Taipei Medical University | TMU

Depression increases an individual's risk of work disability, sick leave, unemployment, and early retirement. This population-based study identified 3673 depressive patients utilizing national claim data from Taiwan and aimed to investigate changes in employment status among depressive patients, compared to matched controls, with the longest observ...

Objectives This study assessed risk adjustment performance of six comorbidity indices in two categories of comorbidity measures: diagnosis-based comorbidity indices and medication-based ones in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods This was a population–based retrospective cohort study. Data used in this study were so...

Background: Types of general anesthesia may affect the quality of recovery, but few studies have investigated the quality of postoperative recovery, and none has focused on patients undergoing breast augmentation. Methods: This prospective, parallel, randomized controlled study enrolled 104 patients undergoing transaxillary endoscopic breast aug...

This study aimed to assess the associations between the use of different types of antidepressants and health service utilization and costs among depressed patients. Data used in this study were retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. We identified 447 411 new antidepressant users during the study period (2011-2015) an...

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the association between various classes of antidepressants and the risk of medication noncompliance as well as suicidal behavior among depressed patients. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted utilizing two nationwide population-based datasets in Taiwan from 2010 to 2016. The outcome mea...

Objectives This nationwide population-based study aimed at evaluating healthcare resource utilization and direct medical costs among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving biologic therapies in Taiwan. Design and setting A retrospective cohort of 2,425 RA patients who had received first-line tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α antagonist treatment...

Background: There is still significant uncertainty as to whether market competition raises or lowers clinical quality in publicly funded healthcare systems. We attempted to assess the effects of market competition on inpatient care quality of stroke patients in a retrospective study of the universal single-payer health insurance system in Taiwan....

The aim of the nationwide retrospective matched cohort study was to evaluate health service utilization and medical costs between patients with schizophrenia who received long-acting injectable (LAI) risperidone and those who took risperidone orally. Data were sourced from the 2008 to 2013 Psychiatric Inpatient Medical Claim Dataset in Taiwan. The...

Objective: To assess change in employment status in patients with bipolar disorder in comparison with non– mentally ill controls from 1 year before bipolar incidence to 10 years after. Sociodemographic factors of change in employment status were also examined for patients with bipolar disorder.

Objective: To evaluate the financial penalty effect of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) on 30-day inpatient readmissions for pneumonia (PN), acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF) among hospitals identified as having excess readmissions. Setting: Short-term, acute care hospitals in the USA. Design: Secondary...

This study estimated the fracture-related mortality and direct medical costs among postmenopausal women in Taiwan by fracture types and age groups by utilizing a nationwide population-based database. Results demonstrated that hip fractures constituted the most severe and expensive complication of osteoporosis across fracture sites. Introduction The...

Background: Health care resource allocation is key towards attaining equity in the health system. However, health professionals' perceived impact and attitude towards health care resource allocation in Sub-Saharan Africa is unknown; furthermore, they occupy a position which makes them notice the impact of different policies in their health system....

Purpose As the hospital industry continues to undergo significant change and becomes an increasingly competitive environment, the concept of competitive advantage has received a considerable degree of attention in the healthcare literature. Using a multilevel modeling approach, this study evaluated the contributions of hospital characteristics and...

The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence the frequency of hospital clinic visits for hepatitis C patients in Taiwan and identify data related to healthcare-seeking behaviors of patients by using a developed questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model. Consistent clinic visits for follow-up and treatment are required of t...

To determine the effect of an oral dose of sitagliptin on the secretion of ghrelin and gastrin hormones. Ten healthy volunteers were recruited in this study. A baseline blood sample was drawn before oral dosing with a 100-mg tablet of sitagliptin. Two blood samples were obtained 0.5 and 1 h after dosing. Three additional postprandial blood samples...

Although teachers are the key participants in health-promoting schools (HPS) programme delivery, it is still unknown whether teachers are appropriate health information resources and role models for students with respect to healthy diets. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of implementing HPS programmes on teachers' nutrition knowle...

The primary goals of this study are to profile the strategic behaviours of Taiwan’s hospitals under the National Health Insurance programme, identify the related factors for such behaviours, and assess the influences of hospitals’ strategic behaviours on their performance. Findings indicate that the most prevalent strategy adopted by hospitals is s...

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current management of tuberculosis patients in Taiwan's hospitals and to analyze the impact of hospital characteristics on the inclusion of various components of the model for tuberculosis case management. Methods: Using the 2001-2004 hospital accreditation data, the study population comp...

Perinatal depression is common, and treatment remains challenging. Depression has been reported to be associated with the abnormality of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). A profound decrease of omega-3 PUFAs in the mother during pregnancy is associated with the higher demand of fetal development and might precipitate the occurrence of de...

Background: Perinatal depression is common, and treatment remains challenging. Depression has been reported to be associated with the abnormality of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). A pro- found decrease of omega-3 PUFAs in the mother during pregnancy is associated with the higher demand of fetal development and might precipitate the oc...

Objectives: The current study aimed to explore adaptation strategies utilized by Taiwan' s hospitals under the global budget system and examine the factors which influence the types of adaptation strategies among the various hospitals. Methods: The study population included all 462 district (and higher level) hospitals in Taiwan using 2004 data. St...

Objective: Hospital physicians do not have incentives to decrease the intensity of services because many hospitals have implemented physician fee policies and compensate physicians based on their guantity of services. This study analyzes how hospital doctors respond to a different physician fee policy that gives them incentives to control health ca...

The purpose of this research was to assess the effectiveness of a hospital-based care management model on disabled elderly people. A before-and-after quasi- experimental design was adopted. A total of 331 disabled elderly people, residing in the Da-An District of Taipei City, participated in the study. Among them, 166 received care management, whil...

Compensation is widely acknowledged as an important job element in the eyes of employees. Health care is a special industry in which compensation received by employees differs greatly. This study examines empirically the relationships between hospital employees' perceptions of compensation fairness and their work attitudes, taking into account the...

Objectives: Due to the continuous revolutions in the national health insurance payment system, the management of hospitals have been seeking a better strategy to cope with these changes. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors associated with strategic choices of hospitals in response to the global budget payment system. Methods: This...

Objectives: Compensation is widely acknowledged as an important feature of a job in the eyes of employees. Health care is a special industry in which compensation among employees differs greatly. The difference in compensation has an impact on employees' perception of job equity which may influence their work attitude and the quality of care provid...

The purposes of this study were to examine the relationship between dietary behavior and self-perceived health status and to demonstrate the relative significance of people's socioeconomic characteristics in relation to their dietary behavior. Data came from the 1994 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System of South Carolina. Descriptive statisti...

Includes bibliographical references. Graduate School of Public Health. Thesis (D.P.H.)--University of Pittsburgh, 1998.