Cohort definition and data sources
The study population represented the Medicare health plan (elderly
population > 65 years and individuals with
disability including those below 65 years) financed by the US government
and managed by an independent healthcare organization. The Medicare
health plan consists of Medicare Advantage and Medicare/Medicaid Plan
participants, and were drawn from different geographical areas across
the US continent. The study cohort was gathered from medical claims
databases during the April 1 2018 – Nov 30 2020 time window based on
primary and secondary ICD10 codes. Each participant had to contribute at
least 32 months of medical and pharmacy coverage during the study and
records in the medical database. IRB approval was not required for the
extraction of data from the claim databases; however compliance with US
privacy laws and Company governance is required for use of data.