title: Increased Incidence of Herpes Zoster and Postherpetic Neuralgia in Adult Patients following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan.
abstract: The aims of this study were to estimate the incidences of herpes zoster (HZ) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) in patients after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Furthermore, we aimed to explore the risk factors of the development of HZ and PHN in patients after TBI. This population-based, longitudinal analysis was conducted using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (consisting of 1,000,000 beneficiaries) from 1996 to 2010. Using the longitudinal National Health Insurance Research Database, we conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study to evaluate the incidence of HZ and PHN in adult TBI patients and controls. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression were used to compare differences in the development of HZ and PHN. The effects of gender, comorbidity and surgery on the risk of HZ and PHN development were assessed by subgroup analyses. Over a 15-year follow-up, the cumulative incidence of HZ in 28,234 TBI patients (604.00/100,000 person-years) was significantly higher than 34,085 controls (322.21/100,000 person-years) (P<0.0001, by log-rank test). Females showed a significantly higher incidence of HZ than males (p for interaction = 0.0010). The time to HZ development in the follow-up period was 5.9 years in TBI patients compared to 9.9 years in the control set (p <0.0001). TBI patients were 2.93 and 2.11 times likely to develop HZ and PHN, respectively, than the general population. The incidences of HZ and PHN in TBI patients were also significantly greater than for controls in the CCI = 0 subgroup. To our knowledge, this is the first population-based cohort study to reveal that TBI is an independent risk factor for HZ and PHN in TBI patients, especially in females. Physician should pay attention to the possibility of HZ and PHN in TBI patients and be aware that HZ vaccination early after brain trauma may lower the incidence of HZ and PHN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: Yi-Ching
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Tung
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: Hung-Pin
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: Wen-Chan
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: Cheng-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: Chen-Hsiang
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Healthcare Administration and Medical Informatics, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: Hon-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: Chih-Lung
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D051474:Neuralgia, Postherpetic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult