ASHA-Led Community-Based Groups to Support Control of Hypertension in Rural India Are Feasible and Potentially Scalable.

To improve the control of hypertension in low- and middle-income countries, we trialed a community-based group program co-designed with local policy makers to fit within the framework of India's health system. Trained accredited social health activists (ASHAs), delivered the program, in three economically and developmentally diverse settings in rural India. We evaluated the program's implementation and scalability.

Rapid assessment of prevalence of blindness and cataract surgery in Kabul province, Afghanistan.

Objective: To estimate prevalence and causes of blindness and vision impairment and assess cataract surgical coverage and quality of cataract surgery in Kabul.

Methods And Analysis: A total of 3751 adults aged 50 years and above were recruited from 77 randomly selected clusters. Each participant underwent presenting and pinhole visual acuity assessment and lens examination.

Effectiveness of interventions to increase uptake and completion of treatment for diabetic retinopathy in low- and middle-income countries: a rapid review protocol.

Background: Vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy can largely be prevented or delayed through treatment. Patients with vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy are typically offered laser or intravitreal injections which often require more than one treatment cycle. However, treatment is not always initiated, or it is not completed, resulting in poor visual outcomes.

Indicators for Assessing the Quality of Refractive Error Care.

Significance: Quality refractive error care is essential for reducing vision impairment. Quality indicators and standardized approaches for assessing the quality of refractive error care need to be established.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a set of indicators for assessing the quality of refractive error care and test their applicability in a real-world setting using unannounced standardized patients (USPs).

Effectiveness of task-shifting for the detection of diabetic retinopathy in low- and middle-income countries: a rapid review protocol.

Background: Diabetic retinopathy is the most common ocular complication of diabetes and a cause of vision loss in adults. Diabetic retinopathy screening leading to early identification of the disease followed by timely treatment, can prevent vision loss in people living with diabetes. A key barrier to the implementation of screening services in low- and middle-income countries is the low number of ophthalmologists per million population.

Effectiveness of a scalable group-based education and monitoring program, delivered by health workers, to improve control of hypertension in rural India: A cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: New methods are required to manage hypertension in resource-poor settings. We hypothesised that a community health worker (CHW)-led group-based education and monitoring intervention would improve control of blood pressure (BP).

Methods And Findings: We conducted a baseline community-based survey followed by a cluster randomised controlled trial of people with hypertension in 3 rural regions of South India, each at differing stages of epidemiological transition.

Health outcomes for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children born preterm, low birthweight or small for gestational age: A nationwide cohort study.

Objective: To examine health outcomes in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experiencing perinatal risk and identify protective factors in the antenatal period.

Methods: Baby/Child cohorts of the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children, born 2001-2008, across four annual surveys (aged 0-8 years, N = 1483). Children with 'mild' and 'moderate-to-high' perinatal risk were compared to children born normal weight at term for maternal-rated global health and disability, and body-mass-index measured by the interviewer.

Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness and diabetic retinopathy in people aged 50 years and older in the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea.

Background/aims: To conduct an assessment of avoidable blindness, diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in adults aged 50 years and older in the National Capital District (NCD) region of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Methods: A cross-sectional population-based survey was performed for which 25 clusters of 50 people aged ≥50 years were randomly selected from the NCD region. The standardised rapid assessment of avoidable blindness (RAAB) with diabetic retinopathy (+DR) methodology was used.

Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness in Papua New Guinea: a nationwide survey.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and main causes of blindness and vision impairment in people aged 50 years and older in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Design: National cross-sectional population-based survey in National Capital District (NCD), Highlands, Coastal and Islands regions.

Methods: Adults aged 50 years and above were recruited from 100 randomly selected clusters.

Cultural adaptation of a peer-led lifestyle intervention program for diabetes prevention in India: the Kerala diabetes prevention program (K-DPP).

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is now one of the leading causes of disease-related deaths globally. India has the world's second largest number of individuals living with diabetes. Lifestyle change has been proven to be an effective means by which to reduce risk of T2DM and a number of "real world" diabetes prevention trials have been undertaken in high income countries.

What Influences Parents' Fear about Children's Independent Mobility? Evidence from a State-Wide Survey of Australian Parents.

Purpose: To identify factors associated with generalized and stranger-specific parental fear (PF) about children's independent mobility (CIM), a critical aspect of physical activity.

Design: Cross-sectional survey; random sampling frame, minimum quotas of fathers, rural residents.

Setting: State of Victoria, Australia.

Cluster randomised feasibility trial to improve the Control of Hypertension In Rural India (CHIRI): a study protocol.

Introduction: Hypertension is emerging in rural populations of India. Barriers to diagnosis and treatment of hypertension may differ regionally according to economic development. Our main objectives are to estimate the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in 3 diverse regions of rural India; identify barriers to diagnosis and treatment in each setting and evaluate the feasibility of a community-based intervention to improve control of hypertension.

Factors associated with trajectories of psychological distress for Australian fathers across the early parenting period.

Purpose: Little is known about the course of fathers' psychological distress and associated risk factors beyond the postnatal period. Therefore, the current study aimed to: (a) assess the course of distress over 7 years postnatally; (b) identify classes of fathers defined by their symptom trajectories; and (c) identify early postnatal factors associated with persistent symptoms.

Method: Data from 2,470 fathers in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children were analysed using latent growth modelling.

Postpartum maternal separation anxiety, overprotective parenting, and children's social-emotional well-being: longitudinal evidence from an Australian cohort.

Postpartum maternal separation anxiety refers to a mothers' experience of worry and concern about leaving her child for short-term separations. The long-term effects of high maternal separation anxiety on maternal parenting behaviors and child outcomes have been not been established empirically. The aim of this study was to ascertain the prospective relationships between maternal separation anxiety during the child's first year of life, and overprotective parenting and children's social and emotional functioning at age 2-3 years.

Stressful life events and the onset of chronic diseases among Australian adults: findings from a longitudinal survey.

Objectives: This article examines the link between stressful life events and illness by considering both onset and reoccurrence of chronic illnesses. Using longitudinal data, we estimate the extent to which life events increase the likelihood of depression or anxiety, type 2 diabetes, cancer, coronary heart disease, circulatory disease, asthma and emphysema among Australian adults aged ≥21 years.

Methods: Longitudinal data were obtained from the nationally representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia panel survey collected at waves 3 (2003), 7 (2007) and 9 (2009).

Psychosocial risk factors associated with fathers' mental health in the postnatal period: results from a population-based study.

Purpose: Fathers' psychological distress in the postnatal period can have adverse effects on their children's wellbeing and development, yet little is known about the factors associated with fathers' distress. This paper examines a broad range of socio-demographic, individual, infant and contextual factors to identify those associated with fathers' psychological distress in the first year postpartum.

Methods: Secondary analysis of data from 3,219 fathers participating in the infant cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children at wave 1 when children were 0-12 months of age.

Father mental health during the early parenting period: results of an Australian population based longitudinal study.

Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to report on the occurrence of mental health difficulties for a large national sample of Australian fathers of children aged 0-5 years (n = 3,471). Secondary objectives were to compare fathers' mental health against normative data for the general male adult population, and to examine the course of mental health problems for fathers across the early childhood period.

Methods: Secondary analysis of data from the infant cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children at three waves when children were 0-12 months, 2-3 and 4-5 years.

Participation of CYP2C8 and CYP3A4 in the N-demethylation of imatinib in human hepatic microsomes.

Background And Purpose: Imatinib is a clinically important inhibitor of tyrosine kinases that are dysregulated in chronic myelogenous leukaemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumours. Inter-individual variation in imatinib pharmacokinetics is extensive, and influences drug safety and efficacy. Hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 has been implicated in imatinib N-demethylation, but the clearance of imatinib decreases during prolonged therapy.

Impaired irinotecan biotransformation in hepatic microsomal fractions from patients with chronic liver disease.

What Is Already Known About This Subject: The anticancer agent irinotecan is a prodrug that is hydrolyzed by hepatic carboxylesterase to its active and toxic metabolite SN-38 and oxidized by CYP3A4 to its inactive metabolite APC. Irinotecan therapy is complicated by co-administered drugs that inhibit CYP3A4 and decrease APC formation and that indirectly increase SN-38 formation. Dose adjustment in cancer patients with liver disease has been recommended.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of the inhibition potential of risperidone toward clozapine biotransformation.

Aims: To study the impact of risperidone (RISP) on clozapine (CLZ) biotransformation in vitro in microsomal fractions containing varying expression of CYP oxidases and in vivo in patients.

Methods: Human liver microsomes (n= 11) were assessed for expression of CYPs 1A2, 2D6 and 3A4, because these enzymes mediate RISP and CLZ oxidation. Inhibition of CLZ oxidation by RISP was assessed.

A liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay for the determination of irinotecan (CPT-11) and its two major metabolites in human liver microsomal incubations and human plasma samples.

A sensitive, rapid LC-MS/MS assay has been developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of CPT-11 and its two principal metabolites, 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38), and 7-ethyl-10-[4-N-(5-aminopentanoic acid)-1-piperidino]carbonyloxy-camptothecin (APC) in human liver microsomal fractions and plasma. The method was linear over the ranges of 1.56-100 ng/mL, 3.

Interindividual variation in relative CYP1A2/3A4 phenotype influences susceptibility of clozapine oxidation to cytochrome P450-specific inhibition in human hepatic microsomes.

The atypical antipsychotic drug clozapine (CLZ) is effective in a substantial number of patients who exhibit treatment-resistance to conventional agents. CYP1A2 is generally considered to be the major enzyme involved in the biotransformation of CLZ to its N-demethylated (norCLZ) and N-oxygenated (CLZ N-oxide) metabolites in liver, but several studies have also implicated CYP3A4. The present study assessed the interplay between these cytochrome P450s (P450s) in CLZ biotransformation in a panel of hepatic microsomal fractions from 14 individuals.