Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Case–control study examining the association between herpes zoster and oral corticosteroids use in older adults

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
European Geriatric Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

Little research focuses on the association between herpes zoster and oral corticosteroids use in older adults. The aim of the study was to explore this issue.

Methods

We performed a case–control study using the database of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program. There were 10,912 participants aged 65 years and older with newly diagnosed herpes zoster in 2000–2013 as the cases. We randomly selected 42,676 sex-matched and age-matched participants without herpes zoster as the controls. Ever use of oral corticosteroids was defined as participants who at least had a prescription for oral corticosteroids before the index date. Never use was defined as participants who did not have a prescription for oral corticosteroids before the index date. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for herpes zoster associated with oral corticosteroids use were estimated using the logistic regression model.

Results

The adjusted OR of herpes zoster was 3.13 for participants with ever use of oral corticosteroids (95% CI 2.84–3.46), compared with never use. In a further analysis, the adjusted ORs of herpes zoster were 3.10 for cumulative duration of oral corticosteroids use < 12 months (95% CI 2.81–3.42) and 3.65 for cumulative duration ≥ 12 months (95% CI 3.20–4.18).

Conclusions

Older adults with oral corticosteroids use are associated with a threefold increase in odds of herpes zoster in Taiwan. There is a duration-related effect of oral corticosteroids use on the risk of herpes zoster.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Johnson RW (2010) Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia. Expert Rev Vaccines 9:21–26

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Sampathkumar P, Drage LA, Martin DP (2009) Herpes zoster (shingles) and postherpetic neuralgia. Mayo Clin Proc 84:274–280

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Tyring SK (1992) Natural history of varicella zoster virus. Semin Dermatol 11:211–217

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. O’Connor KM, Paauw DS (2013) Herpes zoster. Med Clin N Am 97:503–522

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Kawai K, Yawn BP (2017) Risk factors for herpes zoster: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Mayo Clin Proc 92:1806–1821

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Schmidt SA, Mor A, Schonheyder HC, Sorensen HT, Dekkers OM, Cronin-Fenton D (2017) Herpes zoster as a marker of occult cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Infect 74:215–235

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Wollina U (2017) Variations in herpes zoster manifestation. Indian J Med Res 145:294–298

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Schmader K (2007) Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in older adults. Clin Geriatr Med 23:615–632

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Satyaprakash AK, Tremaine AM, Stelter AA, Creed R, Ravanfar P, Mendoza N et al (2009) Viremia in acute herpes zoster. J Infect Dis 200:26–32

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Shen ML, Liao KF, Tsai SM, Lin CL, Lai SW (2016) Herpes zoster correlates with pyogenic liver abscesses in Taiwan. Biomed Taiwan 6:24–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lai SW, Lin CH, Lin HF, Lin CL, Lin CC, Liao KF (2017) Herpes zoster correlates with increased risk of Parkinson’s disease in older people: a population-based cohort study in Taiwan. Medicine 96:e6075

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Lai SW, Lin CL, Liao KF, Chen WC (2016) Herpes zoster could be an early manifestation of undiagnosed human immunodeficiency virus infection. J Formos Med Assoc 115:372–376

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Wu PY, Lin CL, Sung FC, Chou TC, Lee YT (2014) Increased risk of cardiovascular events in patients with herpes zoster: a population-based study. J Med Virol 86:772–777

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Staikov I, Neykov N, Marinovic B, Lipozencic J, Tsankov N (2014) Herpes zoster as a systemic disease. Clin Dermatol 32:424–429

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Household registration statistics data analysis. Department of Household Registration, Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan. https://www.moi.gov.tw. Accessed 1 Mar 2018 (English version)

  16. Lin YH, Huang LM, Chang IS, Tsai FY, Lu CY, Shao PL et al (2010) Disease burden and epidemiology of herpes zoster in pre-vaccine Taiwan. Vaccine 28:1217–1220

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Jih JS, Chen YJ, Lin MW, Chen YC, Chen TJ, Huang YL et al (2009) Epidemiological features and costs of herpes zoster in Taiwan: a national study 2000 to 2006. Acta Derm Venereol 89:612–616

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Lai SW, Lin CL, Liao KF (2017) Use of oral corticosteroids and risk of hip fracture in the elderly in a case-control study. Front Pharmacol 8:625

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Coutinho AE, Chapman KE (2011) The anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects of glucocorticoids, recent developments and mechanistic insights. Mol Cell Endocrinol 335:2–13

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Leclere M (2017) Corticosteroids and immune suppressive therapies in horses. Vet Clin N Am Equine Pract 33:17–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hung SC, Lin CH, Hung HC, Lin CL, Lai SW (2017) Use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and risk of hip fracture in the elderly: a case-control study in Taiwan. J Am Med Dir Assoc 18:350–354

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Liao KF, Huang PT, Lin CC, Lin CL, Lai SW (2017) Fluvastatin use and risk of acute pancreatitis:a population-based case-control study in Taiwan. Biomed Taiwan 7:24–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Liao KF, Cheng KC, Lin CL, Lai SW (2017) Etodolac and the risk of acute pancreatitis. Biomed Taiwan 7:25–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Lin H-F, Liao K-F, Chang C-M, Lin C-L, Lai S-W (2017) Statin use correlates with reduced risk of chronic osteomyelitis: a nationwide case–control study in Taiwan. Curr Med Res Opin 33:2235–2240

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Ministry of Health and Welfare Taiwan. 2016 Taiwan Health and Welfare Report. http://www.mohw.gov.tw. Accessed 1 Aug 2018 (English version)

  26. Lai SW, Lin CL, Liao KF (2018) Population-based cohort study examining the association between weight loss and pulmonary tuberculosis in adults. Biomed Taiwan 8:41–46

    Google Scholar 

  27. Lai SW, Lin CL, Liao KF (2017) Nation-based case-control study investigating the relationship between oral corticosteroids use and pulmonary tuberculosis. Eur J Intern Med 43:53–57

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Hung SC, Liao KF, Hung HC, Lin CL, Lai SW, Lee PC et al (2018) Using proton pump inhibitors correlates with an increased risk of chronic kidney disease: a nationwide database-derived case-controlled study. Fam Pract 35:166–171

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Cheng KC, Liao KF, Lin CL, Lai SW (2017) Correlation of proton pump inhibitors with pulmonary tuberculosis: a case-control study in Taiwan. Front Pharmacol 8:481

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Lai S-W, Lin C-L, Liao K-F (2018) Association between oral corticosteroid use and pyogenic liver abscesses in a case-control study. Biomed Taiwan 8:33–39

    Google Scholar 

  31. Marra F, Lo E, Kalashnikov V, Richardson K (2016) Risk of herpes zoster in individuals on biologics, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, and/or corticosteroids for autoimmune diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Open Forum Infect Dis 3:205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Ernst ME, Santee JA, Klepser TB (1998) Oral corticosteroids for pain associated with herpes zoster. Ann Pharmacother 32:1099–1103

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Santee JA (2002) Corticosteroids for herpes zoster: what do they accomplish? Am J Clin Dermatol 3:517–524

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Yao CA, Chen LK, Huang KC (2015) The immunogenicity and safety of zoster vaccine in Taiwanese adults. Vaccine 33:1515–1517

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan (MOHW107-TDU-B-212-123004), and China Medical University Hospital, Taiwan (DMR-107-192). These funding agencies did not influence the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Shih-Wei Lai & Cheng-Li Lin

  2. Department of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

    Shih-Wei Lai

  3. Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

    Cheng-Li Lin

  4. College of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan

    Kuan-Fu Liao

  5. Division of Hepatogastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Tzu Chi General Hospital, No.66, Sec. 1, Fongsing Road, Tanzi District, Taichung, 427, Taiwan

    Kuan-Fu Liao

Authors
  1. Shih-Wei Lai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cheng-Li Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kuan-Fu Liao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

SWL contributed to the conception of the article, initiated the draft of the article, and revised the article. CLL and KFL conducted the data analysis and participated in data interpretation.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kuan-Fu Liao.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors disclose no conflicts of interest.

Ethical statement

The insurance reimbursement claims data used in this study were available for public access. Patient identification numbers were scrambled to ensure confidentiality. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of China Medical University and Hospital in Taiwan (CMUH-104-REC2-115).

Informed consent

Patient informed consent was not required.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lai, SW., Lin, CL. & Liao, KF. Case–control study examining the association between herpes zoster and oral corticosteroids use in older adults. Eur Geriatr Med 9, 707–712 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-018-0096-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-018-0096-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation