Drug treatment and support service utilization amidst the COVID-19 pandemic among people who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland: An interrupted time-series analysis, 2015-2022.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted many structural and social changes including adaptations to drug treatment policies and provision (e.g., take-home methadone flexibilities and telehealth services), but their collective impact on drug treatment use among people who inject drugs in the US remains unclear.

A Latent Trait-based Measure as a Data Harmonization and Missing Data Solution Applied to the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort.

Background: Collaborative research consortia provide an efficient method to increase sample size, enabling evaluation of subgroup heterogeneity and rare outcomes. In addition to missing data challenges faced by all cohort studies like nonresponse and attrition, collaborative studies have missing data due to differences in study design and measurement of the contributing studies.

Methods: We extend ROSETTA, a latent variable method that creates common measures across datasets collecting the same latent constructs with only partial overlap in measures, to define a common measure of socioeconomic status (SES) across cohorts with varying indicators in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort, a consortium of pregnancy and pediatric cohorts.

A precision randomized trial to evaluate the impact of tailored hepatitis C treatment adherence support on HCV treatment outcomes among people who inject drugs in India: Design and Baseline Characteristics of the STOP-C Trial.

Efforts to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a public health problem must include people who inject drugs (PWID). We describe the design and baseline characteristics of the Supporting Treatment Outcomes among PWID (STOP-C) trial which evaluates whether HCV treatment outcomes in PWID can be optimized by tailoring treatment support in 7 PWID-focused integrated HIV/HCV prevention/treatment centers. The design is a 3-arm, individual-level precision-randomized trial.

Adjusting mobile phone data to account for children's travel and the impact on measles dynamics in Zambia.

Models of measles transmission can be used to identify areas of high risk to tailor immunization strategies. Estimates of spatial connectivity can be derived from data such as mobile phone records, however it is not clear how this maps to the movement of children who are more likely to be infected. Using travel surveys across two districts in Zambia and national mobile phone data, we compared estimates of out-of-district travel for the population captured in the mobile phone data and child-specific travel from travel surveys.

Incidence of prostate cancer in Medicaid beneficiaries with and without HIV in 2001-2015 in 14 states.

Prostate cancer (PCa) incidence is reportedly lower in men with HIV compared to men without HIV for unknown reasons. We describe PCa incidence by HIV status in Medicaid beneficiaries, allowing for comparison of men with and without HIV who are similar with respect to socioeconomic characteristics and access to healthcare. Men (N = 15,167,636) aged 18-64 with ≥7 months of continuous enrollment during 2001-2015 in 14 US states were retained for analysis.

Retention in care and antiretroviral therapy adherence among Medicaid beneficiaries with HIV, 2001-2015.

Disparities in HIV care by socioeconomic status, place of residence, and race/ethnicity prevent progress toward epidemic control. No study has comprehensively characterized the HIV care cascade among people with HIV enrolled in Medicaid - an insurance source for low-income individuals in the US. We analyzed data from 246,127 people with HIV enrolled in Medicaid 2001-2015, aged 18-64, living in 14 US states.

Cohort profile: the Johns Hopkins COVID Long Study (JHCLS)-a US nationwide prospective cohort study.

Purpose: COVID-19 continues to affect millions of individuals worldwide, both in the short and long term. The post-acute complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection, referred to as long COVID, result in diverse symptoms affecting multiple organ systems. Little is known regarding how the symptoms associated with long COVID progress and resolve over time.

Receipt of Prostate-Specific Antigen Test in Medicaid Beneficiaries With and Without HIV in 2001-2015 in 14 States.

Studies have reported lower incidence of prostate cancer in men living with HIV compared with men without HIV for reasons that remain unclear. Lower prostate cancer screening in men living with HIV could explain these findings. We describe receipt of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test each calendar year by HIV status in Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in 14 U.

Incidence of prostate cancer in Medicaid beneficiaries with and without HIV in 2001-2015 in 14 states.

Background: Prostate cancer is projected to be the most common cancer among people living with HIV; however, incidence of prostate cancer has been reported to be lower in men with HIV compared to men without HIV with little evidence to explain this difference. We describe prostate cancer incidence by HIV status in Medicaid beneficiaries, allowing for comparison of men with and without HIV who are similar with respect to socioeconomic characteristics and access to healthcare.

Methods: Medicaid beneficiaries (N=15,167,636) aged 18-64 with ≥7 months of continuous enrollment during 2001-2015 in 14 US states were retained for analysis.

Incidence of Colon Cancer Among Medicaid Beneficiaries With or Without Human Immunodeficiency Virus Under Comparable Colorectal Cancer Screening Patterns.

Background: People with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; PWH) in the United States have a lower incidence of colon cancer than the general population. The lower incidence may be explained by differences in receipt of screening. Thus, we sought to estimate colon cancer incidence under scenarios in which Medicaid beneficiaries, with or without HIV, followed the same screening protocols.

Retention in care and antiretroviral therapy adherence among Medicaid beneficiaries with HIV, 2001-2015.

Disparities in HIV care by socioeconomic status, place of residence, and race/ethnicity prevent progress toward epidemic control. No study has comprehensively characterized the HIV care cascade among people with HIV enrolled in Medicaid - an insurance source for low-income individuals in the US. We analyzed data from 246,127 people with HIV enrolled in Medicaid 2001-2015, aged 18-64, living in 14 US states.

Determinants of receipt of prostate cancer screening among men living with HIV enrolled in an urban HIV Clinic in the United States over the period of 2000-2020.

Background: Prostate cancer is projected to account for the greatest proportion of cancer-related burden among men with HIV. However, incidence is reportedly lower than in men without HIV, potentially due to differences in screening. Factors influencing receipt of screening in men with HIV are unknown.

Cohort profile: the Johns Hopkins COVID Long Study (JHCLS), a United States Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: COVID-19 disease continues to affect millions of individuals worldwide, both in the short and long term. The post-acute complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection, referred to as long COVID, result in diverse symptoms affecting multiple organ systems. Little is known regarding how the symptoms associated with long COVID progress and resolve over time.

Who is missed in a community-based survey: Assessment and implications of biases due to incomplete sampling frame in a community-based serosurvey, Choma and Ndola Districts, Zambia, 2022.

Community-based serological studies are increasingly relied upon to measure disease burden, identify population immunity gaps, and guide control and elimination strategies; however, there is little understanding of the potential for and impact of sampling biases on outcomes of interest. As part of efforts to quantify measles immunity gaps in Zambia, a community-based serological survey using stratified multi-stage cluster sampling approach was conducted in Ndola and Choma districts in May-June 2022, enrolling 1245 individuals. We carried out a follow-up study among individuals missed from the sampling frame of the serosurvey in July-August 2022, enrolling 672 individuals.

Characterizing multimorbidity in ALIVE: comparing single and ensemble clustering methods.

Multimorbidity, defined as having 2 or more chronic conditions, is a growing public health concern, but research in this area is complicated by the fact that multimorbidity is a highly heterogenous outcome. Individuals in a sample may have a differing number and varied combinations of conditions. Clustering methods, such as unsupervised machine learning algorithms, may allow us to tease out the unique multimorbidity phenotypes.

Outpatient COVID-19 convalescent plasma recipient antibody thresholds correlated to reduced hospitalizations within a randomized trial.

BACKGROUNDCOVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) virus-specific antibody levels that translate into recipient posttransfusion antibody levels sufficient to prevent disease progression are not defined.METHODSThis secondary analysis correlated donor and recipient antibody levels to hospitalization risk among unvaccinated, seronegative CCP recipients within the outpatient, double-blind, randomized clinical trial that compared CCP to control plasma. The majority of COVID-19 CCP arm hospitalizations (15/17, 88%) occurred in this unvaccinated, seronegative subgroup.

Association of Alcohol Use with COVID-19 Infection and Hospitalization Among People Living with HIV in the United States, 2020.

Alcohol use was associated with elevated COVID-19 risk in the general population. People with HIV (PWH) have high prevalences of alcohol use. To evaluate the effect of alcohol use on COVID-19 risks among PWH, we estimated the risk of COVID-19 diagnosis and COVID-19-related hospitalization among PWH in routine care at 8 HIV primary care centers that contributed data to the Centers for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS) cohort according to their alcohol use just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluating the Sick Quitting Hypothesis for Frailty Status and Reducing Alcohol Use Among People With HIV in a Longitudinal Clinical Cohort Study.

"Sick quitting," a phenomenon describing reductions in alcohol consumption following poor health, may explain observations that alcohol appears protective for frailty risk. We examined associations between frailty and reductions in drinking frequency among people with HIV (PWH). At six Centers for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS) sites between January 2012 and August 2021, we assessed whether frailty, measured through validated modified frailty phenotype, precedes reductions in drinking frequency.

An injury-responsive enhancer is required for heart regeneration.

Mammals have limited capacity for heart regeneration, whereas zebrafish have extraordinary regeneration abilities. During zebrafish heart regeneration, endothelial cells promote cardiomyocyte cell cycle reentry and myocardial repair, but the mechanisms responsible for promoting an injury microenvironment conducive to regeneration remain incompletely defined. Here, we identify the matrix metalloproteinase Mmp14b as an essential regulator of heart regeneration.

Comparing Cancer Incidence in an Observational Cohort of Medicaid Beneficiaries With and Without HIV, 2001-2015.

Background: Life expectancy among people with HIV (PWH) is increasing, making chronic conditions-including cancer-increasingly relevant. Among PWH, cancer burden has shifted from AIDS-defining cancers (ADCs) toward non-AIDS-defining cancers (NADCs).

Setting: We described incidence of cancer in a claims-based cohort of Medicaid beneficiaries.

Lower endoscopy, early-onset, and average-onset colon cancer among Medicaid beneficiaries with and without HIV.

Background: Studies suggest a lower colorectal cancer (CRC) risk and lower or similar CRC screening among people with HIV (PWH) compared with the general population. We evaluated the incidence of lower endoscopy and average-onset (diagnosed at ≥50) and early-onset (diagnosed at <50) colon cancer by HIV status among Medicaid beneficiares with comparable sociodemographic factors and access to care.

Methods: We obtained Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX) data from 2001 to 2015 for 14 states.

Physical Health and Mental Fatigue Disability Associated with Long COVID: Baseline Results from a US Nationwide Cohort.

Background: Persistent symptoms after severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2; long COVID) occur in 10%-55% of individuals, but the impact on daily functioning and disability remains unquantified.

Methods: To characterize disability associated with long COVID, we analyzed baseline data from an online, US-based cohort study. Adult participants included those reporting a history of COVID-19 (n = 8874) or never having COVID-19 (n = 633) without prior disability.

Transfusion reactions associated with COVID-19 convalescent plasma in outpatient clinical trials.

Background: COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) is an important therapeutic option for outpatients at high risk of hospitalization from SARS-CoV-2 infection. We assessed the safety of outpatient CCP transfusions administered during clinical trials.

Study Design And Methods: We analyzed data pertaining to transfusion-related reactions from two randomized controlled trials in the U.

The temporal relationship of alcohol use and subsequent self-reported health status among people with HIV.

Background: Alcohol use among people with HIV is associated with worse HIV treatment outcomes. Its impact on self-reported health status is unclear.

Setting: Longitudinal cohort of people with HIV engaged in care across 7 clinics participating in the Centers for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Care Systems between January 2011 and June 2014.