Cost-Effectiveness of a Hypothetical Gene Therapy for Alzheimer's Disease: A Markov Simulation Analysis.

Alzheimer's disease is a prevalent neurodegenerative condition causing significant health and economic burden. With limited therapeutic options, clinical trials have been investigating Alzheimer's disease treatment using more novel approaches, including gene therapy. However, there is limited evidence on the cost-effectiveness of such treatments.

Polysubstance mortality trends in White and Black Americans during the opioid epidemic, 1999-2018.

Background: Psychoactive drug combinations are increasingly contributing to overdose deaths among White and Black Americans. To understand the evolving nature of overdose crisis, inform policies, and develop tailored and equitable interventions, this study provides a comprehensive assessment of polysubstance mortality trends by race and sex during the opioid epidemic.

Methods: We used serial cross-sectional US mortality data for White and Black populations from 1999 through 2018 to calculate annual age-adjusted death rates (AADR) involving any opioid, opioid subtypes, benzodiazepines, cocaine, psychostimulants, or combinations of these drugs, stratified by race and sex.

Prompt access to outpatient care post-incarceration among adults with a history of substance use: Predisposing, enabling, and need-based factors.

Introduction: As expanded Medicaid coverage reduces financial barriers to receiving health care among formerly incarcerated adults, more information is needed to understand the factors that predict prompt use of health care after release among insured adults with a history of substance use. This study's aim was to estimate the associations between characteristics suggested by the Andersen behavioral model of health service use and measures of health care use during the immediate reentry period and in the presence of Medicaid coverage.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we linked individual-level data from multiple Wisconsin agencies.

Assessing community pharmacy services in health professional shortage areas across Wisconsin.

Background: Primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) lack sufficient primary care providers to meet their health care needs, which contributes to worse health outcomes within underserved populations. Community pharmacies are commonly located in HPSAs and provide nondispensing services that can help address unmet health care needs. However, there is limited data on the nature, scope, and reimbursement for community pharmacy services.

Community pharmacists and improving contraception access: Relationships between contraceptive counseling and dispensing contraceptives.

Background: Experiences of contraceptive counseling and obtaining contraceptives vary for women of childbearing age based on education level, race, ethnicity, and health insurance. Community pharmacists are an important resource for improving access to contraceptive care in states with over-the-counter access to and pharmacist prescribing of contraceptives.

Objectives: We first aimed to determine how patient education level, race, ethnicity, insurance, and patient-provider race concordance influenced the likelihood of receiving contraceptive counseling.