Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29554872›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2018

Epidemiology and long-term disease burden of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in Taiwan: a population-based, propensity score-matched cohort study.

Wan-Hsuan Lu, Chih-Wan Lin, Chen-Yu Wang, Liang-Kung Chen, Fei-Yuan Hsiao

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
29citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

29 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.

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  14. Immune Dysregulation in Acute Herpes Zoster: Predictive Factors for Postherpetic Neuralgia.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Wan-Hsuan LuGraduate Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Room 220, 33, Linsen S. Rd, Taipei, 10050, Taiwan.
Chih-Wan LinGraduate Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Room 220, 33, Linsen S. Rd, Taipei, 10050, Taiwan.
Chen-Yu WangGraduate Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Room 220, 33, Linsen S. Rd, Taipei, 10050, Taiwan.
Liang-Kung ChenAging and Health Research Center, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Fei-Yuan HsiaoGraduate Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Room 220, 33, Linsen S. Rd, Taipei, 10050, Taiwan. fyshsiao@ntu.edu.tw.
National Taiwan University · TWNational Taiwan University Hospital · TWNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung University · TW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe objectives of this study were to characterize the burden of herpes zoster, as well as the longitudinal and incremental changes of healthcare service utilization among individuals with herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) compared to those without.

methodsUsing the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), we established a herpes zoster cohort of people diagnosed with herpes zoster between 2004 and 2008 as study cases. Another subset of the NHIRD, which was randomly selected from all elderly beneficiaries between 2004 and 2008 served as a non-herpes-zoster elderly control pool. Each case was then assigned one matched control according to age, gender, index date and propensity score. PHN cases were defined as those with persisting pain for more than 90 days after the onset of herpes zoster.

resultsBetween 2004 and 2008, about 0.6 million patients were newly diagnosed with herpes zoster. The incidence increased with age, and most cases were identified during the summer period. Herpes zoster cases were found to have higher consumption of all types of healthcare services in the first year after the index date. Such increases were particularly obvious for patients with PHN, who showed incremental increases on average of 16.3 outpatient visits, 0.4 emergency room visits and 0.24 inpatient admissions per year.

conclusionsThe incidence of herpes zoster increased with age and changed according to the seasons. Patients with herpes zoster were associated with higher healthcare utilization and this increase in healthcare utilization was most obvious for herpes zoster patients with PHN.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAge DistributionChildChild, PreschoolCohort StudiesDatabases, FactualFemaleHerpes ZosterHumansIncidenceInfantInfant, NewbornMaleDisease burdenEpidemiologyHerpes zosterPostherpetic neuralgia

Identifiers

PMID29554872
PMCPMC5859733
OpenAlexW2803446600

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.