Factors that shape COVID-19 pediatric vaccine decision-making in rural agricultural communities: A qualitative study.

While COVID-19 immunizations can improve outcomes from SARS-CoV-2, vaccine rates in the United States have been lowest among children under age 11 and among rural agricultural communities. This study examined factors influencing pediatric COVID-19 vaccine uptake among rural agricultural and predominantly Hispanic communities in Washington State. We conducted in-depth interviews with school district employees and students and held English and Spanish focus group discussions with parents, all of which were audio-recorded and transcribed.

Adjustment for imbalances in baseline characteristics in the MAGNITUDE phase 3 study confirms the clinical benefit of niraparib in combination with abiraterone acetate plus prednisone in patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

Background: MAGNITUDE (NCT03748641) demonstrated favourable outcomes with niraparib plus abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (+AAP) versus placebo+AAP in patients with BRCA1/2-altered metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Imbalances in prognostic variables were reported between arms, which impacts estimation of both the clinical benefit and cost‑effectiveness of niraparib+AAP for healthcare systems. A pre-specified multivariable analysis (MVA) demonstrated improved overall survival (OS) with niraparib+AAP.

Feasibility of Indirect Treatment Comparisons Between Niraparib Plus Abiraterone Acetate and Other First-Line Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase Inhibitor Treatment Regimens for Patients with BRCA1/2 Mutation-Positive Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

Introduction: Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) are a novel option to treat patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Niraparib plus abiraterone acetate and prednisone (AAP) is indicated for BRCA1/2 mutation-positive mCRPC. Niraparib plus AAP demonstrated safety and efficacy in the phase 3 MAGNITUDE trial (NCT03748641).

Pelvic examination under anesthesia by learners at the time of abortion: Who accepts and who declines?

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of and factors correlated with accepting a pelvic examination under anesthesia (EUA) by learners at the time of surgical abortion.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review assessing the prevalence of and comparing factors associated with accepting EUA by learners at the time of abortion.

Results: Most (88%) of the 274 patients accepted EUA by learners.

Prediction of habitat complexity using a trait-based approach on coral reefs in Guam.

Scleractinian corals are primary contributors to the structural complexity of coral reef ecosystems. The structure derived from their carbonate skeletons underpins the biodiversity and myriad of ecosystem services provided by coral reefs. This study used a trait-based approach to provide new insights into the relationships between habitat complexity and coral morphology.

Consent for Examinations Under Anesthesia With Learners at the Time of Abortion: Physician Perspectives.

Introduction: Although obtaining specific consent for examinations under anesthesia with learners is recommended by major professional organizations and mandated by many state laws and institutions, it is not practiced universally. We sought to investigate physicians' experiences using a formalized process to obtain consent from patients presenting for surgical abortions under anesthesia for pelvic examinations with learners.

Methods: Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with residents, fellows, and faculty who work or have rotated in a single family planning clinic after the clinic introduced this consent process.

Health Research in a Jail: Methodological Challenges.

Strict regulations are in place for conducting research with prisoners. Published studies are limited that focus on improving the health and well-being of incarcerated persons. Subsequently, institutional review boards established methods to guide researchers in conducting fair and ethical research in carceral settings.

How are Companion Diagnostics Considered in Economic Evaluations of Oncology Treatments? A Review of Health Technology Assessments.

Background: Companion diagnostic (CDx) testing is increasingly used to identify eligible patients for targeted treatments. Guidance on how CDx testing should be incorporated into cost-effectiveness models (CEM) is limited. This review evaluated how health technology assessment bodies and research organizations considered CDx in CEMs of targeted therapies in oncology and whether this ultimately impacted their decisions or time from regulatory approval to recommendations.

Exploring the impact of workforce turnover on the sustainability of evidence-based programs: A scoping review.

Background: Evidence-based programs (EBPs) are used across disciplines to integrate research into practice and improve outcomes at the individual and/or community level. Despite widespread development and implementation of EBPs, many programs are not sustained beyond the initial implementation period due to many factors, including workforce turnover. This scoping review summarizes research on the impact of workforce turnover on the sustainability of EBPs and recommendations for mitigating these impacts.

3D assessment of a coral reef at Lalo Atoll reveals varying responses of habitat metrics following a catastrophic hurricane.

Extreme disturbances such as hurricanes can cause reductions in coral cover and three-dimensional (3D) structural complexity of coral reefs. We examined changes in structural complexity utilizing 3D reconstruction of a coral-reef site before and after Hurricane Walaka passed through Lalo of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This event resulted in complete destruction of the coral-reef habitat, with dramatic changes in benthic cover from pre-hurricane tabulate coral to post-hurricane rubble.

Becoming Institutionalized: Incarceration as a Chronic Health Condition.

This article examines incarceration as a chronic condition with social, biological, and psychological elements. We do so through the lens of "institutionalization," a concept that emerged during interviews conducted with 26 people incarcerated in Washington state prisons as a chronic and often disabling state resulting from prolonged incarceration. We argue that institutionalization helps conceptualize how the social inequities of mass incarceration become embodied as health inequities, and how social harms become physical harms.

Patterns of Genital Examination and Vulvovaginal Graft-Versus-Host Disease in a Pediatric Post-Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Population.

Study Objective: To determine vulvovaginal graft-versus-host disease (vvGVHD) incidence among pediatric patients who have received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and who already have graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) involving any organ system and characterize patterns of genital examination and referral to pediatric and adolescent gynecology (PAG) in the post-HSCT population.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Large tertiary children's hospital in Texas.

Exacerbation Frequency And Eosinophil Counts Among Patients With COPD Currently Prescribed Triple Therapy.

Purpose: To characterize and estimate the proportion of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who continue to exacerbate while receiving triple therapy and further describe these patients according to blood eosinophil counts.

Methods: This was an analysis of the 2017 Adelphi Real-World Respiratory Disease Specific Programme (DSP) survey of patients with COPD from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom (UK). Demographics were assessed on the date of completion of the physician/patient questionnaire; clinical characteristics were captured for the previous 12 months.

Patient Evaluation of Satisfaction and Outcomes with an Autoinjector for Self-Administration of Subcutaneous Belimumab in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Objective: This study assessed patient experiences of using an autoinjector device to self-administer subcutaneous belimumab for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Satisfaction, ease and convenience of use, and confidence with the device were assessed, in addition to overall experience with belimumab.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among patients who completed a phase IIb open-label, multi-dose usability, tolerability, and safety study of subcutaneous belimumab (NCT02124798), in which patients receiving intravenous belimumab or subcutaneous belimumab using a prefilled syringe were switched to eight weekly self-administered doses of subcutaneous belimumab using the autoinjector.

Patient- and Physician-reported Satisfaction With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Treatment in US Clinical Practice.

Purpose: This two-part study comprised two descriptive, cross-sectional surveys to evaluate treatment satisfaction among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and their physicians from US clinical practices. The Lupus Plus Project (LPP; part one) involved belimumab-containing regimens; the Disease Specific Program (DSP; part two) included all treatments and was designed to build on the body of evidence from part one.

Methods: The LPP recruited patients receiving belimumab, and comprised 2 paper questionnaires: a patient self-completion questionnaire (PSC) and a patient record form (PRF) completed by the physician.

Development of the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Steroid Questionnaire (SSQ): a novel patient-reported outcome tool to assess the impact of oral steroid treatment.

Background: Oral glucocorticoids (steroids) are the mainstay of treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but their use is often associated with short- and long-term side effects. Following a literature review and discussions with patients with SLE, clinicians, and payers, a need was identified for a comprehensive SLE-specific tool that can be used to evaluate the side effects and benefits of steroids over time from a patient perspective. The objective of this study was to develop a patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure to assess general impact (baseline burden), benefits, side effects, and impacts associated with the use of oral steroids in patients with SLE.

Treatment Satisfaction in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Development of a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a patient-reported outcome measure specific for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to assess patient satisfaction with treatment, treatment options, and medical care.

Methods: Patients with SLE were recruited from four US rheumatology practices. Concept elicitation interviews identified aspects that patients considered important and relevant regarding satisfaction with treatment and medical care.

Patient experience in systemic lupus erythematosus: development of novel patient-reported symptom and patient-reported impact measures.

Background: Comprehensive assessment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its treatment requires patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures to capture impacts and fluctuating symptoms. The objective of this study was to develop PROs, in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) PRO Guidance, to assess fluctuations in SLE symptoms and its impact.

Methods: Following independent review board approval, six US rheumatology practices recruited patients with SLE to participate in concept elicitation (CE) interviews, in order to identify important SLE symptoms and their impacts.

A cost utility analysis of simeprevir used with peginterferon + ribavirin in the management of genotype 1 hepatitis C virus infection, from the perspective of the UK National Health Service.

Introduction: Triple therapy using a protease inhibitor (PI) with peginterferon and ribavirin (PR) is increasingly used in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The most recently introduced PI, simeprevir (SMV), offers high levels of viral eradication combined with a reduced overall duration of therapy. The objective of this study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of SMV + PR vs PR alone or in combination with telaprevir (TVR) or boceprevir (BOC) in patients infected with genotype 1 HCV Method: A cost-utility model was constructed, incorporating two phases, capturing the efficacy of therapy in an initial treatment phase, followed by a long-term post-treatment Markov phase, capturing lifetime outcomes according to whether a sustained viral response (SVR) had been achieved on treatment.

Reliability and validity of the Personal and Social Performance scale in patients with schizophrenia.

Objective: The construct validity and test-retest reliability of the Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scale were used to assess social functioning in a cohort of ethnically diverse UK patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: A total of 73 patients with schizophrenia took part in the study. At baseline, the PSP, two symptomatology scales and two other functioning scales were administered.

Hypoglycaemic activity of Bixa orellana extract in the dog.

In West Indian folklore, a variety of plants are used for medicinal purposes. One such plant, Bixa orellana (annatto), is commonly used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Preliminary studies have shown that a crude annatto seed extract exhibited either glucose lowering or hyperglycaemia-inducing activity depending on how it was further manipulated.

Increased elastic tissue defect formation in the growth restricted Brown Norway rat: a potential link between in utero condition and cardiovascular disease.

Low birth weight for gestational age has been epidemiologically linked to cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in adult life. This study aimed to determine whether in utero growth restriction influences an early feature of atherosclerotic pathology; disruption of the aortic internal elastic lamina (IEL) in the adult Brown Norway (BN) rat. In utero growth restriction was induced by bilateral uterine artery ligation on day 18 of gestation, thereby decreasing newborn BN pup weight by approximately 14%.