Incidence Rate and Risk Factors for Developing Active Tuberculosis Among People Living With HIV in Georgia 2019-2020 Cohort.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among people with HIV (PHIV) globally. Our study is the first to evaluate TB incidence and its risk factors among PHIV in the country of Georgia, where previously no data were available.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted among persons newly diagnosed with HIV in Georgia during 2019-2020.

The 2022 symposium on dementia and brain aging in low- and middle-income countries: Highlights on research, diagnosis, care, and impact.

Two of every three persons living with dementia reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The projected increase in global dementia rates is expected to affect LMICs disproportionately. However, the majority of global dementia care costs occur in high-income countries (HICs), with dementia research predominantly focusing on HICs.

HIV stigma and other barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Georgian people living with HIV/AIDS: A mixed-methods study.

We conducted a study in Georgia to examine behavioral insights and barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among people living with HIV (PLWH). Between December 2021-July 2022, we collected quantitative data to evaluate participants' demographics, COVID-19 knowledge, attitude, perception, and HIV stigma as potential covariates for being vaccinated against COVID-19. We conducted a multivariate analysis to define the factors independently associated with COVID-19 vaccination among PLWH.

Private primary health care provider delay in tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment in Georgia.

Setting: One national and two regional tuberculosis (TB) hospitals in Georgia.

Objectives: To define the factors associated with private primary health care (PPHC) provider delay in TB diagnosis and treatment.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study of data collected from consecutive patients with pulmonary TB from July 2015 to August 2016, complemented by qualitative data collected among PPHC providers/managers, TB patients and policy makers.

Health research capacity building in Georgia: a case-based needs assessment.

Objectives: Research capacity building in the health sciences in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has typically focused on bench-science capacity, but research examining health service delivery and health workforce is equally necessary to determine the best ways to deliver care. The Republic of Georgia, formerly a part of the Soviet Union, has multiple issues within its healthcare system that would benefit from expended research capacity, but the current research environment needs to be explored prior to examining research-focused activities. The purpose of this project was to conduct a needs assessment focused on developing research capacity in the Republic of Georgia with an emphasis on workforce and network development.

Factors associated with HIV counseling and testing behavior among undergraduates of universities and vocational technical training schools in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Background: Stigmatizing attitude towards HIV/AIDS alongside other factors such as HIV knowledge, substance use, sexual behavior, and involvement in various social activities (e.g., internet use, exposure to media) may be related to likelihood of having HIV counseling and testing (HCT).

A cross-sectional study examining youth smoking rates and correlates in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Georgia has high smoking rates; however, little is known about the prevalence and correlates of youth smoking. We conducted a secondary data analysis of a 2010 cross-sectional survey of 1,879 secondary and postsecondary school students aged 15 to 24 years in Tbilisi, Georgia, examining substance use, perceived risk, and recreational activities in relation to lifetime and current (past 30 days) smoking. Lifetime and current smoking prevalence was 46.

Household income and poor treatment outcome among patients with tuberculosis in Georgia: a cohort study.

Background: Poverty is associated with increased risk of active tuberculosis (TB) disease onset, but the relation between household income and TB treatment outcomes is not well understood. The objective of this study was to determine household income characteristics associated with poor TB treatment outcome among newly diagnosed patients with pulmonary TB in the country of Georgia.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted among newly diagnosed smear positive pulmonary TB patients.

Will (or can) people pay for headache care in a poor country?

We asked whether attempts to introduce headache services in poor countries would be futile on grounds of cost and unsustainability. Using data from a population-based survey in the Republic of Georgia, an exemplary poor country with limited health care, and against the background of headache-attributed burden, we report on willingness to pay (WTP) for effective headache treatment. Consecutive households were visited in areas of Tbilisi (urban) and Kakheti (rural), together representative of Georgian habitation.

Primary headache disorders in the Republic of Georgia: prevalence and risk factors.

Objective: To estimate the 1-year prevalences of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH), and identify their principal risk factors, in the general population of the Republic of Georgia.

Methods: In a community-based door-to-door survey, 4 medical residents interviewed all biologically unrelated adult members (>/=16 years) of 500 adjacent households in Tbilisi, the capital city, and 300 in rural Kakheti in eastern Georgia, using a previously validated questionnaire based on International Headache Society diagnostic criteria.

Results: The target population included 1,145 respondents, 690 (60%) women, mean age 45.

The role of supportive supervision on immunization program outcome - a randomized field trial from Georgia.

Background: One of the most common barriers to improving immunization coverage rates is human resources and its management. In the Republic of Georgia, a country where widespread health care reforms have taken place over the last decade, an intervention was recently implemented to strengthen performance of immunization programs. A range of measures were taken to ensure that immunization managers carry out their activities effectively through direct, personal contact on a regular basis to guide, support and assist designated health care facility staff to become more competent in their immunization work.

Prevalence of cluster headache in the Republic of Georgia: results of a population-based study and methodological considerations.

We present a study of the general-population prevalence of cluster headache in the Republic of Georgia and discuss the advantages and challenges of different methodological approaches. In a community-based survey, specially trained medical residents visited 500 adjacent households in the capital city, Tbilisi, and 300 households in the eastern rural area of Kakheti. They interviewed all (n = 1145) biologically unrelated adult occupants using a previously validated questionnaire.

Human resources for health challenges of public health system reform in Georgia.

Background: Human resources (HR) are one of the most important components determining performance of public health system. The aim of this study was to assess adequacy of HR of local public health agencies to meet the needs emerging from health care reforms in Georgia.

Methods: We used the Human Resources for Health Action Framework, which includes six components: HR management, policy, finance, education, partnerships and leadership.

Validation of a Georgian language headache questionnaire in a population-based sample.

In a pilot phase of a survey of the prevalence of primary headache disorders in the Republic of Georgia, we validated a Georgian language questionnaire for migraine (MIG), tension-type headache (TTH), MIG+TTH and trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TAC). A population-based sample of 186 people with headache completed the questionnaire and were blindly examined by one of two headache experts. The questionnaire diagnoses were: MIG 49, TTH 76, MIG+TTH 45 and TAC 16.

Influence of household demographic and socio-economic factors on household expenditure on tobacco in six New Independent States.

Background: To identify demographic and socio-economic factors that are associated with household expenditure on tobacco in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, and Tajikistan.

Methods: Secondary analysis of the data available through the World Bank Living Standards Monitoring Survey conducted in aforementioned countries in 1995-2000. The role of different variables (e.

Human resource management in the Georgian National Immunization Program: a baseline assessment.

Background: Georgia's health care system underwent dramatic reform after gaining independence in 1991. The decentralization of the health care system was one of the core elements of health care reform but reports suggest that human resource management issues were overlooked. The Georgian national immunization program was affected by these reforms and is not functioning at optimum levels.

A pilot methodological validation study for a population-based survey of the prevalences of migraine, tension-type headache and chronic daily headache in the country of Georgia.

We report the methodology of an epidemiological survey of the prevalences of migraine, tension-type headache and chronic daily headache in Georgia. Medical residents visited adjacent households in Tbilisi to interview a pre-defined target of 100 biologically unrelated subjects. All respondents reporting headache in the previous year, as well as random 20 non-headache controls, were examined by a neurologist.

Health systems barriers to effective use of infectious disease surveillance data in the context of decentralization in Georgia: a qualitative study.

Objectives: In Georgia, a country where there has been extensive decentralization of public health responsibilities, an intervention was recently piloted to strengthen district-level vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) surveillance and response activities. The purpose of this qualitative research study is to provide an in-depth assessment of the perceived value and need for the analysis and use of VPD surveillance data at various levels of the infectious disease surveillance and response (IDSR) system in Georgia.

Methods: Focus groups were conducted with individuals working at different levels of the IDSR system in intervention districts in order to obtain qualitative data to better understand the process of surveillance and barriers to data availability, analysis, and response.

Health system barriers to strengthening vaccine-preventable disease surveillance and response in the context of decentralization: evidence from Georgia.

Background: A critical challenge in the health sector in developing countries is to ensure the quality and effectiveness of surveillance and public health response in an environment of decentralization. In Georgia, a country where there has been extensive decentralization of public health responsibilities over the last decade, an intervention was recently piloted to strengthen district-level local vaccine-preventable disease surveillance and response activities through improved capacity to analyze and use routinely collected data. The purpose of the study is 1) to assess the effectiveness of the intervention on motivation and perceived capacity to analyze and use information at the district-level, and 2) to assess the role that individual- and system-level factors play in influencing the effectiveness of the intervention.

Stroke incidence and 30-day case-fatality in a suburb of Tbilisi: results of the first prospective population-based study in Georgia.

Background And Purpose: Although stroke is one of the main public health problems worldwide, no study of stroke incidence has been performed in Georgia, and therefore, a population-based registry was established to determine the incidence and case-fatality rates of first-ever stroke.

Methods: We identified all first-ever strokes between November 2000 and July 2003 in a defined population of 51,246 residents in the Sanzona suburb of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, using overlapping sources of information and standard diagnostic criteria.

Results: A total of 233 first-ever strokes occurred during the study period.

Influence of clinical, demographic, and socioeconomic variables on quality of life in patients with epilepsy: findings from Georgian study.

Objective: To identify the clinical, demographic, and socioeconomic factors that are associated with a poor quality of life in patients with epilepsy in Georgia.

Methods: Clinical, demographic, and socioeconomic status data were collected from 115 adult epileptic outpatients being treated in the epilepsy programme at the Sarajishvili Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery (SINN) in Tbilisi, Georgia. Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) was measured by the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31).

Prevalence and risk of rupture of intracranial aneurysms: a systematic review.

Background And Purpose: The estimates on the prevalence and the risk of rupture of intracranial saccular aneurysms vary widely between studies. We conducted a systematic review on prevalence and risk of rupture of intracranial aneurysms and classified the data according to study design, study population, and aneurysm characteristics.

Methods: We searched for studies published between 1955 and 1996 by means of a MEDLINE search and a cumulative review of the reference lists of all relevant publications.