Comparing the Efficacy and Efficiency of Human and Generative AI: Qualitative Thematic Analyses.

Background: Qualitative methods are incredibly beneficial to the dissemination and implementation of new digital health interventions; however, these methods can be time intensive and slow down dissemination when timely knowledge from the data sources is needed in ever-changing health systems. Recent advancements in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and their underlying large language models (LLMs) may provide a promising opportunity to expedite the qualitative analysis of textual data, but their efficacy and reliability remain unknown.

Objective: The primary objectives of our study were to evaluate the consistency in themes, reliability of coding, and time needed for inductive and deductive thematic analyses between GenAI (ie, ChatGPT and Bard) and human coders.

Estimating the impact of a police education program on hepatitis C virus transmission and disease burden among people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico: A dynamic modeling analysis.

Background And Aims: Criminalization of drug use and punitive policing are key structural drivers of hepatitis C virus (HCV) risk among people who inject drugs (PWID). A police education program (Proyecto Escudo) delivering training on occupational safety together with drug law content was implemented between 2015 and 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico, to underpin drug law reform implementation. We used data from a longitudinal cohort of PWID in Tijuana to inform epidemic modeling and assess the long-term impact of Escudo on HCV transmission and burden among PWID in Tijuana.

Modelling the contribution of incarceration and public health oriented drug law reform to HCV transmission and elimination among PWID in Tijuana, Mexico.

Background: Incarceration is associated with increased risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among people who inject drugs (PWID). Mexico's previous attempt in implementing a public health-oriented drug law reform resulted in minimal impact on incarceration among PWID. However, implementation of reforms alongside Mexico's HCV elimination program has the potential to reshape the HCV epidemic among PWID in the next decade.

Risk of non-fatal overdose and polysubstance use in a longitudinal study with people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico.

Introduction: Among people who inject drugs (PWID), polysubstance use has been associated with fatal and non-fatal overdose (NFOD). However, the risk of overdose due to the cumulative number of various recently used drug types remains unexplored. We estimated the risk of NFOD for different polysubstance use categories among PWID in Tijuana, Mexico.

Impact of cumulative incarceration and the post-release period on syringe-sharing among people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico: a longitudinal analysis.

Background And Aims: Syringe-sharing among people who inject drugs, which can occur during incarceration and post-release, has been linked with increased risk of blood-borne infections. We aimed to investigate the cumulative effect of repeated incarceration and the post-release period on receptive syringe-sharing.

Design: Ongoing community-based cohort, recruited through targeted sampling between 2011 and 2012 with 6-month follow-ups.