Publications by authors named "Kathleen E Hurwitz"
Article Synopsis
- * Of the 8,551 participants followed for 29 months, 147 individuals (1.7%) contracted HIV, with different risk factors identified for males and females based on their relationships and community HIV prevalence.
- * The findings suggest that machine learning can effectively pinpoint key predictors of HIV risk, which could enhance the targeting of HIV prevention strategies in Botswana.
The authors provide a brief overview of different propensity score methods that can be used in observational research studies that lack randomization. Under specific assumptions, these methods result in unbiased estimates of causal effects, but the different ways propensity scores are used may require different assumptions and result in estimated treatment effects that can have meaningfully different interpretations. The authors review these issues and consider their implications for studies of therapeutics for coronavirus disease 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSafer conception strategies can minimize HIV acquisition during periconception periods among women living in HIV-endemic areas. We examined uptake and predictors of persistent use of the same safer conception strategy among a cohort of HIV-uninfected South African women ages 18-35 years planning for pregnancy with a partner living with HIV or of unknown HIV-serostatus. The safer conception strategies we evaluated included oral PrEP, condomless sex limited to peak fertility, and waiting for a better time to have a child (until, for example, the risks of HIV acquisition are reduced and/or the individual is prepared to care for a child); persistence was defined as using the same safer conception strategy from the first visit through 9 months follow-up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The Healthy Families-PrEP intervention was designed to promote HIV prevention during the period around conception and pregnancy among women in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, enrolling HIV-uninfected women in relationships with partners of unknown HIV status.
- Out of 330 enrolled women, 60% initiated PrEP, with adherence rates varying over time; factors like lower income, alcohol use, and higher HIV stigma negatively impacted adherence.
- Despite some success in PrEP uptake, there were 11 instances of HIV-seroconversions in participants, none of whom had detectable levels of the drug, highlighting the need for improved strategies to reduce HIV risk in this demographic.
Purpose: We describe constructs designed to protect the integrity of the results from comparative analyses using real-world data (RWD): staging and clean room.
Methods: Staging involves performing sequential preliminary analyses and evaluating the population size available and potential bias before conducting comparative analyses. A clean room involves restricted access to data and preliminary results, policies governing exploratory analyses and protocol deviations, and audit trail.
Background: Daily, oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) reduces HIV acquisition for African women. Adherence is key to efficacy and patterns of adherence can be highly variable in real-world settings. Using group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM), we sought to identify distinct patterns of periconception PrEP adherence and evaluate potential baseline predictors of such adherence trajectories.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- In Uganda, high fertility and HIV rates prompted the development of the Healthy Families-PrEP intervention, which promotes Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV during conception and pregnancy among women with HIV-negative status.
- The study involved enrolling HIV-negative women planning to conceive with partners living with HIV, tracking their PrEP use and adherence over several months through regular visits, testing, and counseling.
- The primary outcomes measured were how many women initiated PrEP and their adherence to the regimen, analyzed using various statistical methods to identify predictors of effective use during the first three months and over an extended nine-month follow-up.