Peripheral nerve, nerve that lies outside your brain and spinal cord, injury (PNI) is a global health issue that often results in significant disability and socio-economic burden. Common causes include motor vehicle accidents, injuries, birth complications, diabetes, and cancer treatments. PNI predominantly affects working-age men between 18 to 35 years. Currently, PNI is primarily treated through surgery, with the U.S. spending billions annually on management, but there's no regular medication to aid nerve regeneration.
Our research aims to better understand PNI and its treatment. Using anonymous medical records from the UK, we'll examine the demographic profile of PNI patients and the medications prescribed to them. We'll also evaluate the effectiveness of these medications.
This study will provide insights into the population affected by PNI and current drug treatment strategies. By comparing treatment outcomes, we can inform evidence-based decisions on PNI treatment, aiding the development of improved therapeutic strategies. This research could potentially help reduce the significant economic and healthcare burden of PNI.
We will use data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) linked to Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) to conduct a longitudinal observational population-based study including patients aged under 60 years old, and diagnosed with one or more peripheral nerve injury (PNI) in the upper and/or lower extremities between 2000 to 2023.
Our objective is to evaluate the annual incidence of PNI, and the number of PNI patients hospitalized per year during the study period. We also aim to describe the clinical characteristics of individuals with PNI. Medications prescribed to PNI patients after the PNI event will be identified and summarised. A comparison of the healthcare resources utilization of different prescribed medications for PNI patients will also be evaluated based on the hospital /GP visits and medication usage by patients.
In our analysis, we will use the Poisson regression to compare the PNI incidence and hospitalization rates of PNI over the study period. To analyse the clinical characteristics of individuals with PNI, the chi-square test will be used for categorical variables such as gender and type of PNI, while continuous variables such as age, t-test will be applied. Poisson regression will also be applied to compare the average number of hospital/GP visits among PNI patients prescribed different medications.
1) Annual incidence of PNI.
2) Annual hospitalisation rate of PNI patients.
3) Descriptives of patients with PNI: demographic patient data including gender and age.
4) Incidence and prevalence of prescribed medication.
5) Healthcare resources utilization by calculating the number of hospital /GP visits
Kenneth Man - Chief Investigator - University College London ( UCL )
Alaa Alhamdi - Corresponding Applicant - University College London ( UCL )
James Phillips - Collaborator - UCL School Of Pharmacy
Melissa Rayner - Collaborator - University College London ( UCL )
HES Accident and Emergency;HES Admitted Patient Care;HES Outpatient;ONS Death Registration Data;Patient Level Index of Multiple Deprivation;Practice Level Index of Multiple Deprivation