Participation Rates in 11 National Dental Practice-Based Research Network Surveys 2014-2022.

Surveys of health professionals typically have low response rates, which have decreased in recent years. We report on the methods used, participation rates, and study time for 11 national questionnaire studies of dentists conducted from 2014-2022. Participation rates decreased (87%-25%).

Implications of American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) Cholesterol Guidelines on Statin Underutilization for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetes Mellitus Among Several US Networks of Community Health Centers.

Background: Little is known about statin underutilization among diabetes mellitus patients cared for in community health centers, which tend to serve socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Implications of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines on preexisting gaps in statin treatment in this population are unclear.

Methods And Results: We included 32 440 adults (45% male, 63% nonwhite, 29% uninsured/Medicaid) aged 40 to 75 years with diabetes mellitus who received care within 16 community health center groups in 11 states in the Community Health Applied Research Network during 2013.

Pragmatic (trial) informatics: a perspective from the NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory.

Pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) are research investigations embedded in health care settings designed to increase the efficiency of research and its relevance to clinical practice. The Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory, initiated by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund in 2010, is a pioneering cooperative aimed at identifying and overcoming operational challenges to pragmatic research. Drawing from our experience, we present 4 broad categories of informatics-related challenges: (1) using clinical data for research, (2) integrating data from heterogeneous systems, (3) using electronic health records to support intervention delivery or health system change, and (4) assessing and improving data capture to define study populations and outcomes.

Difference in Effectiveness of Medication Adherence Intervention by Health Literacy Level.

Context: There is little research investigating whether health information technologies, such as interactive voice recognition, are effective ways to deliver information to individuals with lower health literacy.

Objective: Determine the extent to which the impact of an interactive voice recognition-based intervention to improve medication adherence appeared to vary by participants' health literacy level.

Design: Promoting Adherence to Improve Effectiveness of Cardiovascular Disease Therapies (PATIENT) was a randomized clinical trial designed to test the impact, compared with usual care, of 2 technology-based interventions that leveraged interactive voice recognition to promote medication adherence.

Building a Governance Strategy for CER: The Patient Outcomes Research to Advance Learning (PORTAL) Network Experience.

Introduction: The Patient Outcomes Research to Advance Learning (PORTAL) Network was established with funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) in 2014. The PORTAL team adapted governance structures and processes from past research network collaborations. We will review and outline the structures and processes of the PORTAL governance approach and describe how proactively focusing on priority areas helped us to facilitate an ambitious research agenda.

Improving Adherence to Cardiovascular Therapies: An Economic Evaluation of a Randomized Pragmatic Trial.

Objective: Preplanned economic analysis of a pragmatic trial using electronic-medical-record-linked interactive voice recognition (IVR) reminders for enhancing adherence to cardiovascular medications (i.e., statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors [ACEIs], and angiotensin receptor blockers [ARBs]).

Results of the Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN) National Research Capacity Survey of Community Health Centers.

Background: The mission of the Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN) is to build capacity to carry out Patient-Centered Outcomes Research at community health centers (CHCs), with the ultimate goal to improve health care for vulnerable populations.

Objectives: The CHARN Needs Assessment Staff Survey investigates CHCs' involvement in research, as well as their need for research training and resources. Results will be used to guide future training.

Improving adherence to cardiovascular disease medications with information technology.

Objectives: Evaluate the utility of 2 electronic medical record (EMR)-linked, automated phone reminder interventions for improving adherence to cardiovascular disease medications.

Study Design: A 1-year, parallel arm, pragmatic clinical trial in which 21,752 adults were randomized to receive either usual care (UC) or 1 of 2 interventions in the form of interactive voice recognition calls-regular (IVR) or enhanced (IVR+). The interventions used automated phone reminders to increase adherence to cardiovascular disease medications.

Developing a data infrastructure for a learning health system: the PORTAL network.

The Kaiser Permanente & Strategic Partners Patient Outcomes Research To Advance Learning (PORTAL) network engages four healthcare delivery systems (Kaiser Permanente, Group Health Cooperative, HealthPartners, and Denver Health) and their affiliated research centers to create a new national network infrastructure that builds on existing relationships among these institutions. PORTAL is enhancing its current capabilities by expanding the scope of the common data model, paying particular attention to incorporating patient-reported data more systematically, implementing new multi-site data governance procedures, and integrating the PCORnet PopMedNet platform across our research centers. PORTAL is partnering with clinical research and patient experts to create cohorts of patients with a common diagnosis (colorectal cancer), a rare diagnosis (adolescents and adults with severe congenital heart disease), and adults who are overweight or obese, including those with pre-diabetes or diabetes, to conduct large-scale observational comparative effectiveness research and pragmatic clinical trials across diverse clinical care settings.

The Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN) Data Warehouse: a Resource for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research and Quality Improvement in Underserved, Safety Net Populations.

Background: The Community Health Applied Research Network, funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, is a research network comprising 18 Community Health Centers organized into four Research Nodes (each including an academic partner) and a data coordinating center. The network represents more than 500,000 diverse safety net patients across 11 states.

Objective: The primary objective of this paper is to describe the development and implementation process of the CHARN data warehouse.

Predictors of coronal caries progression in adults: results from the Prevention of Adult Caries Study.

Objectives: This secondary analysis of data from the Prevention of Adult Caries Study (PACS) assesses risk factors for progression of coronal caries.

Methods: Participants (n = 983) were adults at increased caries risk with at least one cavitated and one noncavitated lesions who were enrolled in a randomized clinical trial to test the effect of a 10% w/v chlorhexidine varnish coating on caries progression. Calibrated examiners scored tooth surfaces using a modified International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) classification at baseline and at 7 and 13 months postrandomization.

Results from the Xylitol for Adult Caries Trial (X-ACT).

Background: Although caries is prevalent in adults, investigators have tested few preventive therapies in adult populations. In a randomized controlled trial, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of xylitol lozenges in preventing caries in adults at elevated risk of developing caries.

Methods: The Xylitol for Adult Caries Trial (X-ACT) was a three-site placebo-controlled randomized trial.

Design of the Prevention of Adult Caries Study (PACS): a randomized clinical trial assessing the effect of a chlorhexidine dental coating for the prevention of adult caries.

Background: Dental caries is one of the primary causes of tooth loss among adults. It is estimated to affect a majority of Americans aged 55 and older, with a disproportionately higher burden in disadvantaged populations. Although a number of treatments are currently in use for caries prevention in adults, evidence for their efficacy and effectiveness is limited.

Four "lessons learned" while implementing a multi-site caries prevention trial.

As the number of dental-related randomized clinical trials (RCTs) increases, there is a need for literature to help investigators inexperienced in conducting RCTs design and implement studies. This commentary describes four "lessons learned" or considerations important in the planning and initial implementation of RCTs in dentistry that, to our knowledge, have not been discussed in the general dental literature describing trial techniques. These considerations are a) preparing or securing a thorough systematic review; b) developing a comprehensive set of study documents; c) designing and testing multiple recruitment strategies; and d) employing a run-in period prior to enrollment.

Direct care workers in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network: characteristics, opinions, and beliefs.

Objective: Individuals with direct care responsibilities in 348 drug abuse treatment units were surveyed to obtain a description of the workforce and to assess support for evidence-based therapies.

Methods: Surveys were distributed to 112 programs participating in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN). Descriptive analyses characterized the workforce.

Dietary quality assurance processes of the DASH-Sodium controlled diet study.

A thorough quality assurance (QA) program upholds the integrity of nutrition research studies by yielding reliable data and results. Continually evaluating the implementation of a procedure against a goal and making adjustments when needed enhance the quality of a study's conduct and outcomes. Controlled diet studies require QA processes at various steps beginning with the screening of study participants, through diet preparation and delivery to data collection.