Unveiling readability challenges: An extensive analysis of consent document accessibility in clinical trials.

Background: Clinical research trials rely on informed consent forms (ICFs) to explain all aspects of the study to potential participants. Despite efforts to ensure the readability of ICFs, concerns about their complexity and participant understanding persist. There is a noted gap between Institutional Review Board (IRB) standards and the actual readability levels of ICFs, which often exceed the recommended 8th-grade reading level.

Applying machine learning in screening for Down Syndrome in both trimesters for diverse healthcare scenarios.

Background: This paper describes the development of low-cost, effective, non-invasive machine learning-based prediction models for Down Syndrome in the first two trimesters of pregnancy in Vietnam. These models are adaptable to different situations with limited screening capacities at community-based healthcare facilities.

Method: Ultrasound and biochemical testing alone and in combination, from both trimesters were employed to build prediction models based on k-Nearest Neighbor, Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, and Extreme Gradient Boosting algorithms.

Conquering hypertension in Vietnam: 12- month follow up results from a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Background: Approximately 20% of adults in Vietnam have hypertension, and management of this chronic condition remains challenging. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention in reducing blood pressure (BP) in adults with uncontrolled hypertension.

Methods: This cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in sixteen communities (8 intervention and 8 comparison) in a rural setting in Vietnam (2017-2022).

Comparing the effect of two systems-level interventions on perinatal generalized anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms.

Background: The Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms and PRogram In Support of Moms are designed to help obstetric practices address perinatal depression. The PRogram in Support of Moms includes the statewide Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms program, plus proactive implementation support.

Objective: The goal of this study was to understand the impact of these programs on perinatal generalized anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among individuals screening positive for depression.

Lifestyle practices and associated factors among adults with hypertension: Conquering Hypertension in Vietnam-solutions at the grassroots level study.

Background: Vietnam is experiencing an increasing prevalence of hypertension in its adult population. In addition to medical therapy, modifying adverse lifestyle practices is important for effective blood pressure control. There are limited data on unhealthy lifestyle practices in patients with chronic diseases, however, particularly among hypertensive patients living in rural Vietnam.

Cost-utility analysis of community-based interventions for hypertension control in Vietnam.

Between 2010 and 2011, stakeholders implemented a multi-faceted community-based intervention in response to the escalating issue of uncontrolled hypertension in Hung Yen province, Vietnam. This initiative integrated expanded community health worker services, home blood pressure self-monitoring, and a unique "storytelling intervention" into routine clinical care. From the limited societal perspective, our study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of this intervention using a Markov model with a one-year cycle over a lifetime horizon.

Peer Texting to Promote Quitline Use and Smoking Cessation Among Rural Participants in Vietnam: Randomized Clinical Trial.

We tested an adapted version of an effective U.S.-based peer-texting intervention to promote Quitline use and smoking cessation among rural participants in Vietnam.

Association of perinatal depression and postpartum contraception intent, choice, and actual use.

Objectives: Depression is common during pregnancy and the year following childbirth (the perinatal period). This study assessed the association of depressive symptoms and contraception decisions in perinatal individuals.

Study Design: We conducted a secondary analysis using data from the PRogram in Support of Moms (PRISM) study, a cluster randomized controlled trial of active interventions which aimed to address perinatal depression.

Examining racial/ethnic inequities in treatment participation among perinatal individuals with depression.

Objective: A cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) of two interventions for addressing perinatal depression treatment in obstetric settings was conducted. This secondary analysis compared treatment referral and participation among Minoritized perinatal individuals compared to their non-Hispanic white counterparts.

Methods: Among perinatal individuals with depression symptoms, we examined rates of treatment 1) referral (i.

Examining Race-Based and Gender-Based Discrimination, Trust in Providers, and Mental Well-Being Among Black Women.

Objectives: To examine experiences of discrimination among Black women, and to determine if experiencing race- and gender-based discrimination is associated with mental well-being and trust.

Methods: Data from the TRUST study were used to examine experiences of discrimination among 559 Black women with hypertension receiving healthcare at a safety-net hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. A three-level variable was constructed to combine the race-based and gender-based measures of the Experiences of Discrimination scale.

Strengthening Quality Measurement to Predict Success for Total Knee Arthroplasty: Results from a Nationally Representative Total Knee Arthroplasty Cohort.

Background: When performed well on appropriate patients, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) can dramatically improve quality of life. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are increasingly used to measure outcome following TKA. Accurate prediction of improvement in PROMs after TKA potentially plays an important role in judging the surgical quality of the health-care institutions as well as informing preoperative shared decision-making.

Effectiveness of two systems-level interventions to address perinatal depression in obstetric settings (PRISM): an active-controlled cluster-randomised trial.

Background: Perinatal depression is a common and undertreated condition, with potential deleterious effects on maternal, obstetric, infant, and child outcomes. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of two systems-level interventions in the obstetric setting-the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP) for Moms and the PRogram In Support of Moms (PRISM)-in improving depression symptoms and participation in mental health treatment among women with perinatal depression.

Methods: In this cluster-randomised, active-controlled trial, obstetric practices across Massachusetts (USA) were allocated (1:1) via covariate adaptive randomisation to either continue participating in the MCPAP for Moms intervention, a state-wide, population-based programme, or to participate in the PRISM intervention, which involved MCPAP for Moms plus a proactive, multifaceted, obstetric practice-level intervention with intensive implementation support.

Paying for Medical and Social Complexity in Massachusetts Medicaid.

Importance: The first MassHealth Social Determinants of Health payment model boosted payments for groups with unstable housing and those living in socioeconomically stressed neighborhoods. Improvements were designed to address previously mispriced subgroups and promote equitable payments to MassHealth accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Objective: To develop a model that ensures payments largely follow observed costs for members with complex health and/or social risks.

Effects of Teacher Training and Continued Support on the Delivery of an Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Program: Findings From a National Implementation Study in the Bahamas.

Background: Few studies have investigated the effects of teacher training and continued support on teachers' delivery of evidence-based HIV prevention programs. We examined these factors in a national implementation study of an evidence-based HIV risk reduction intervention for adolescents in the sixth grade in the Bahamas.

Methods: Data were collected from 126 grade 6 teachers and 3,118 students in 58 government elementary schools in the Bahamas in 2019-2021.

A multi-step approach to develop a "storytelling" intervention to improve patient gout knowledge and improve outpatient follow-up.

Background: "Storytelling" interventions influence knowledge, attitudes and behavior to promote chronic disease management. We aimed to describe the development of a video "storytelling" intervention to increase gout knowledge and promote adherence to medications and follow-up care after an acute gout flare visit in the emergency department.

Methods: We developed a direct-to-patient storytelling intervention to mitigate modifiable barriers to gout care and promote outpatient follow-up and medication adherence.

Effectiveness of using a patient education mobile application to improve the quality of bowel preparation: a randomised controlled trial.

Aims: To determine the effectiveness of a mobile application (app) in improving the quality of bowel preparation for colonoscopy.

Method: An endoscopist-blinded randomised controlled trial enrolled patients who were undergoing a colonoscopy on the same day of bowel preparation. The intervention used a Vietnamese mobile app that provides instructions on bowel preparation while patients in the comparison group received conventional instructions.

Esophageal Mucosal Admittance: A New Technique to Diagnose Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease - Is It Feasible?

Purpose: Esophageal mucosal admittance (MA) is a promising diagnostic method for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We conducted a study to describe the esophageal MA in patients with reflux symptoms and determine its diagnostic accuracy.

Patients And Methods: We recruited 92 patients with ambulatory pH-impedance monitoring, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and MA measured by the tissue conductance meter.

Effect of a Machine Learning Recommender System and Viral Peer Marketing Intervention on Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Novel data science and marketing methods of smoking-cessation intervention have not been adequately evaluated.

Objective: To compare machine learning recommender (ML recommender) computer tailoring of motivational text messages vs a standard motivational text-based intervention (standard messaging) and a viral peer-recruitment tool kit (viral tool kit) for recruiting friends and family vs no tool kit in a smoking-cessation intervention.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This 2 ×2 factorial randomized clinical trial with partial allocation, conducted between July 2017 and September 2019 within an online tobacco intervention, recruited current smokers aged 18 years and older who spoke English from the US via the internet and peer referral.

Clinical symptoms, endoscopic findings, and lower esophageal sphincter characteristics in patients with absent contractility.

Absent contractility is a rare esophageal motility disorder defined by high-resolution manometry which remains poorly understood in pathogenesis and management. We investigated the clinical symptoms, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy findings, and lower esophageal sphincter (LES) characteristics in adult patients diagnosed with absent contractility on high resolution manometry and factors associated with erosive esophagitis that were found on endoscopy in these patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with absent contractility who were examined at the Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vietnam between March 2018 and December 2020.

Predicting Adolescent Intervention Non-responsiveness for Precision HIV Prevention Using Machine Learning.

Interventions to teach protective behaviors may be differentially effective within an adolescent population. Identifying the characteristics of youth who are less likely to respond to an intervention can guide program modifications to improve its effectiveness. Using comprehensive longitudinal data on adolescent risk behaviors, perceptions, sensation-seeking, peer and family influence, and neighborhood risk factors from 2564 grade 10-12 students in The Bahamas, this study employs machine learning approaches (support vector machines, logistic regression, decision tree, and random forest) to identify important predictors of non-responsiveness for precision prevention.

High prevalence of esophagitis in patients with severe ineffective esophageal motility: need for a new diagnostic cutoff.

Background: A new classification criterion for diagnosing ineffective esophageal motility (IEM) was proposed at the 2018 Stanford symposium, but limited data exists about the utility of this criterion.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 3826 patients treated at the Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Hanoi, Vietnam, between March 2018 and May 2020. Patients were classified as having normal motility, mild IEM, severe IEM, or absent contractility based on the Chicago classification version 3.

Predictive algorithm to stratify newborns at-risk for child undernutrition in India: Secondary analysis of the National Family Health Survey-4.

Background: India is at the epicentre of global child undernutrition. Strategies to identify at-risk populations are needed in the context of limited resources.

Methods: Data from children under the age of five surveyed in the 2015-2016 National Family Health Survey were used.

Association of trends in child undernutrition and implementation of the National Rural Health Mission in India: A nationally representative serial cross-sectional study on data from 1992 to 2015.

Background: India launched the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2005 to strengthen its primary healthcare system in high-focus and northeast-focus states. One of the NRHM objectives was to reduce child undernutrition in India.

Methods And Findings: We used data from 1992, 1998, 2005, and 2015 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) of India to evaluate trends in child undernutrition prevalence before and after NRHM and across different categories of focus states.

SUPPORT-AF IV: Supporting use of AC through provider prompting about oral anticoagulation therapy for AF clinical trial study protocol.

Background: Six million Americans suffer from atrial fibrillation (AF), a heart rhythm abnormality that significantly increases the risk of stroke. AF is responsible for 15% of ischemic strokes, which lead to permanent disability in 60% of cases and death in up to 20%. Anticoagulation (AC) is the mainstay for stroke prevention in patients with AF.

A review of harmonization methods for studying dietary patterns.

Data harmonization is the process by which each of the variables from different research studies are standardized to similar units resulting in comparable datasets. These data may be integrated for more powerful and accurate examination and prediction of outcomes for use in the intelligent and smart electronic health software programs and systems. Prospective harmonization is performed when researchers create guidelines for gathering and managing the data before data collection begins.