The economic burden of depression among adults with rheumatoid arthritis in the United States

Aims: Depression is the most frequent comorbidity reported among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Comorbid depression negatively impacts RA patients’ health-related quality-of-life, physical function, mental function, mortality, and experience of pain and symptom severity. The objective of this study was to assess healthcare utilization, expenditures, and work productivity among patients with RA with or without depression.

Materials and methods: Data from adult patients who had at least two visits each related to RA and depression over a 1-year period were extracted from the Truven Health MarketScan research databases. Outcomes comprised healthcare resource utilization, work productivity loss, and direct healthcare costs comparing patients with RA with depression (n?=?3,478) vs patients with RA without depression (n?=?43,222).

Results: Patients with RA and depression had a significantly greater relative risk of hospitalization and number of all-cause and RA-related hospitalizations, utilization of emergency services, days spent in the hospital, physician visits, and RA-related surgeries compared with RA patients without depression. Patients with RA and depression had a higher risk of and experienced more events and days of short-term disability compared with patients without depression. The incremental adjusted annual all-cause and RA-related direct costs were $8,488 (95% CI = $6,793–$10,223) and $578 (95% CI = –$98–$1,243), respectively, when comparing patients with RA and depression vs RA only.

Limitations: The current analysis is subject to the known limitations of retrospective studies based on administrative claims data.

Conclusions: This study suggested increased healthcare utilization, work productivity loss, and economic burden among RA patients due to comorbid depression. These findings emphasize the importance of managing depression and including depression as a factor when devising treatment algorithms for patients with RA.     

Relative risk aversion, relative prudence and comparative statics under uncertainty: The case of (μ, σ)‐preferences

From the expected‐utility approach, relative risk aversion being smaller than one and relative prudence being smaller than two emerge as preference restrictions that fully determine the optimal responses of decisions under uncertainty to certain shifts in probability distributions. We characterize the magnitudes of relative risk aversion and relative prudence in terms of the two‐parameter, mean‐standard deviation approach. We demonstrate that this characterization is instrumental in obtaining comparative static results in the two‐parameter setting. We further relate our findings to the results in the expected‐utility framework.     

考虑供给与需求波动性的安全库存定量研究

本文以商业企业和MTS模式下生产企业的安全库存为研究对象,将供给与需求的变动程度作为两个动态指标研究四种不同战略与运营环境下的安全库存模型,并进一步分析了降低安全库存所需的管理杠杆.     

《技术制图》新旧标准对照

以对照方法介绍了《技术制图》与《机械制图》中三个基础标准的适用范围、采标情况及基本内容。     

高速移动数据传输新标准IEEE 802.20

介绍了未来高速移动通信新标准IEEE802．20的总体概况，具体分析了IEEE802．20的技术特性、系统参考结构以及系统的组成模型，并对IEEE802．20标准前景分析与展望进行了详细描述。     

油井水泥产品质量现状分析

结合2000～2005年对各油田油井水泥的质量监督工作，对我国油井水泥使用的标准、产品工艺、产品质量现状进行了分析。     

抽油机V带执行标准现状及有关问题探讨

阐述了国内外V带现行标准状况，指出通用V带标准应用于抽油机V带存在的问题。针对抽油机用V带寿命不足5000h的问题，提出制定符合中国油田实际的《抽油机用V带》新标准，并从五个方面提出了编写新标准的建议。     

对我国上市银行非经常性损益披露的分析和建议

本文通过分析2001至2004年上市银行年报非经常性损益的披露状况,对照监管部门法规,发现存在披露不充分的现象,对非经常性损益的确认也有理解偏颇,由此造成很多重大的可疑事项未计入非经常性损益。本文认为这对银行利润的真实性产生一定的影响,故建议政策制定者制定更详细的法规来规范披露行为,并就一些特殊事项做出释疑。     

会计基本准则中会计信息质量要求逻辑的思考

财政部于2006年2月15日正式发布了企业会计准则体系，并规定自2007年1月1日起在上市公司范围内施行。本次会计准则体系制定的主要思路之一是参照国际财务报告准则，并充分考虑中国现阶段的国情，以使按企业会计准则体系编制的财务报表能够更加真实、公允地反映企业的价值。基于这一出发点，企业会计准则体系在规范会计信息质量要求上实现了诸多突破。本文拟从基本会计准则的理论指导层面。分析这些突破的东龙去脉。并提出了封基本准则会计信息质量要求的不足和改进意见。