Browsing by Author "Pildava, Santa"

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    Consumption of thyroid medications as an indicator of increase of thyroid morbidity in Latvia from 2011 to 2014
    (2019-08-01) Kalere, Ieva; Strele, Ieva; Miglinieks, Martiņš; Repša, Ilze; Pildava, Santa; Romanovs, Mihails; Pirags, Valdis; Konrade, Ilze; Rīga Stradiņš University
    The most common autoimmune disorders with clinically opposite manifestations are hypothyroidism in Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hyperthyroidism in Graves' disease. The healthcare burden of thyroid disease is substantial, resulting in substantial health care costs. The aim of the present analysis is to assess the use of thyroid medications in Latvia from 2011 to 2014 by age and gender. Our study used reimbursed medication prescriptions data, collected by the National Health Service of Latvia. The main indicator was the number of prevalent users of thyroid medications each year from 2011 to 2014, stratified by age and gender. From 2011 to 2014, the number of thyroxine users per 100 000 revealed a statistically significant increase in all age and gender groups, except in 0- to 9-year-old girls. The number of Thiamazole users among men increased in the age group from 40 to 89 years and in women age groups above 49 years. Increasing sales of both thyroid hormones and antithyroid medications are also observed in Estonia and Lithuania, indicating that growing thyroid morbidity is an issue in the whole region. The substantial increase in number of patients highlights the necessity for national guidelines on the use of thyroid function tests and standards of medical care.
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    Excess mortality associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia : a population-level analysis of all-cause and noncommunicable disease deaths in 2020
    (2022-06-03) Gobiņa, Inese; Avotiņš, Andris; Kojalo, Una; Strēle, Ieva; Pildava, Santa; Villeruša, Anita; Briģis, Ģirts; Institute of Public Health; Department of Public Health and Epidemiology
    BACKGROUND: Age-standardised noncommunicable disease (NCD) mortality and the proportion of the elderly population in Latvia are high, while public health and health care systems are underresourced. The emerging COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns about its detrimental impact on all-cause and noncommunicable disease mortality in Latvia. We estimated the timing and number of excess all-cause and cause-specific deaths in 2020 in Latvia due to COVID-19 and selected noncommunicable diseases. METHODS: A time series analysis of all-cause and cause-specific weekly mortality from COVID-19, circulatory diseases, malignant neoplasms, diabetes mellitus, and chronic lower respiratory diseases from the National Causes of Death Database from 2015 to 2020 was used by applying generalised additive modelling (GAM) and joinpoint regression analysis. RESULTS: Between weeks 14 and 52 (from 1 April to 29 December) of 2020, a total of 3111 excess deaths (95% PI 1339 - 4832) were estimated in Latvia, resulting in 163.77 excess deaths per 100 000. Since September 30, with the outbreak of the second COVID-19 wave, 55% of all excess deaths have occurred. Altogether, COVID-19-related deaths accounted for only 28% of the estimated all-cause excess deaths. A significant increase in excess mortality was estimated for circulatory diseases (68.91 excess deaths per 100 000). Ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease were listed as the underlying cause in almost 60% of COVID-19-contributing deaths. CONCLUSIONS: All-cause mortality and mortality from circulatory diseases significantly increased in Latvia during the first pandemic year. All-cause excess mortality substantially exceeded reported COVID-19-related deaths, implying COVID-19-related mortality during was significantly underestimated. Increasing mortality from circulatory diseases suggests a negative cumulative effect of COVID-19 exposure and reduced access to healthcare services for NCD patients.
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    The mortality of patients with diabetes mellitus in Latvia 2000-2012
    (2014) Pildava, Santa; Strele, Ieva; Brigis, Girts; Department of Public Health and Epidemiology
    Background and objective: In Latvia, like in other European countries, the incidence of diabetes mellitus is increasing and so it is important to find out what the trends in the mortality of diabetes mellitus in Latvia are. The aim of this study was to calculate the mortality indicators of diabetes patients in Latvia from 2000 to 2012 and compare mortality among diabetes mellitus patients with mortality among the population of Latvia. Materials and methods: The study was carried out with a quantitative statistical analysis approach. In the study, all the registered patients with diabetes mellitus from 2000 to 2012 were included. Results: Mortality in a population with diabetes decreased statistically significantly from 57.76 per 1000 py in 2000 to 45.33 per 1000 py in 2012. In the general population of Latvia, there were no statistically significant changes; the mortality in 2000 was 13.56 per 1000 py, in 2012 - 14.24 per 1000 py. The age-standardised mortality ratio of the population with diabetes and the population of Latvia decreased from 1.71 (95% CI = 1.62-1.81) in 2000 to 1.23 (95% CI = 1.19-1.27) in 2012. Conclusions: In Latvia the mortality of patients with diabetes exceeds mortality in the general population. Mortality rates are higher for men and older patients, however, compared to mortality in the general population, diabetes increases the risk of death; especially for women and for younger patients. There is a tendency that the mortality indicators of patients with diabetes and mortality indicators in the general population are becoming closer.