Improving Comparative Effectiveness Research of Complex Health Interventions: Standards from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

Introduction: Complex health interventions (CHIs) are increasingly studied in comparative effectiveness research (CER), and there is a need for improvements in CHI research practices. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Methodology Committee (MC) launched an effort in 2016 to develop formal guidance on this topic.

Objective: To develop a set of minimal standards for scientifically valid, transparent, and reproducible CER studies of CHIs.

Behavioral and neuroimaging evidence for impaired executive function in "cognitively normal" older HIV-infected adults.

The increased prevalence of HIV among adults >50 years underscores the importance of improving our understanding of mechanisms causing HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Identifying novel and noninvasive diagnostic predictors of HAND prior to clinical manifestation is critical to ultimately identifying means of preventing progression to symptomatic HAND. Here, using a task-switching paradigm, in which subjects were cued (unpredictably) to perform a face-gender or a word-semantic task on superimposed face and word images, we examined the behavioral and neural profile of impaired cognitive control in older HIV + adults (N = 14, 9 HIV+).

Addressing the challenges of the HIV continuum of care in high-prevalence cities in the United States.

In summary, addressing the challenges of the HIV care continuum is critical so that the goals of the NHAS can be achieved. CDC is working closely with federal partners, public health departments, and communities throughout the United States on multiple surveillance, programmatic, and research initiatives to inform and improve outcomes along the HIV care continuum. Currently, a large number of research projects are being conducted to describe the care continuum in various populations, assess and model the impact of interventions, and monitor the quality of care.

NIH support of Centers for AIDS Research and Department of Health Collaborative Public Health Research: advancing CDC's Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Planning project.

The contributions reported in this supplemental issue highlight the relevance of NIH-funded CEWG research to health department–supported HIV prevention and care activities in the 9 US cities with the highest numbers of AIDS cases. The project findings have the potential to enhance ongoing HIV treatment and care services and to advance the wider scientific agenda. The HIV testing to care continuum, while providing a framework to help track progress on national goals, also can reflect the heterogeneities of local epidemics.