A Multilevel Perspective on the Health Effect of Social Capital: Evidence for the Relative Importance of Individual Social Capital over Neighborhood Social Capital.

Employing a multilevel perspective on the health effects of social capital, this study analyzes how individual and neighborhood differences in self-rated health in Ghent (Belgium), relate to individual and collective social mechanisms, when taking demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of individuals into account. This study estimates the health effects of social trust, informal social control and disorder at the neighborhood level and social support and network size at the individual level, using indicators indebted to both the normative and resource-based approaches to social capital. Instead of the mere aggregation of individual indicators of social capital, this study uses the key informant technique as a methodologically superior measurement of neighborhood social capital, which combined with a multilevel analysis strategy, allows to disentangle the health effects of individual and neighborhood social capital.

Evaluation of the quality of Primary Health Care services for children: reflections on the feasibility of using the Brazilian version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool as a routine assessment tool.

Objective: To assess the quality of the Primary Health Care services provided to children and the feasibility of using the Brazilian version of Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT-Brazil) as a routine quality assessment tool.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Joanópolis, a small rural town in the State of São Paulo (SP), Brazil. Seven health professionals and 502 caretakers of children using the public health center were interviewed using the PCAT-Brazil, collecting data on the core and related attributes of Primary Health Care provided to children.

The role of socioeconomic status in the relationship between detention and self-rated health among prison detainees in Belgium.

Prisoners are known to report worse health than the general population. Research has also shown that the prison population counts disproportionally more people with a lower socioeconomic status (SES), making it difficult to determine whether the worse self-reported health of prisoners is an effect of their detention or of their lower SES. This study assesses the influence of being in prison on self-rated health and if (and how) this relationship is mediated by SES.

Do We Reap What We Sow? Exploring the Association between the Strength of European Primary Healthcare Systems and Inequity in Unmet Need.

Access to healthcare is inequitably distributed across different socioeconomic groups. Several vulnerable groups experience barriers in accessing healthcare, compared to their more wealthier counterparts. In response to this, many countries use resources to strengthen their primary care (PC) system, because in many European countries PC is the first entry-point to the healthcare system and plays a central role in the coordination of patients through the healthcare system.

Study protocol: SWING--social capital and well-being in neighborhoods in Ghent.

Background: Investing in social capital has been put forth as a potential lever for policy action to tackle health inequity. Notwithstanding, empirical evidence that supports social capital's role in the existence of health inequity is limited and inconclusive. Furthermore, social capital literature experiences important challenges with regard to (1) the level on which social capital is measured and analyzed; (2) the measurement of the concept in line with its multidimensional nature; and (3) the cross-cultural validity of social capital measurements.

How equal is the relationship between individual social capital and psychological distress? A gendered analysis using cross-sectional data from Ghent (Belgium).

Background: Social capital has been related to various aspects of health. While literature suggests that men and women differently access and mobilize social capital, gender has received little attention within social capital research. This study examines whether the association between individual social capital and psychological distress is different for men and women.

Neighborhood differences in social capital in Ghent (Belgium): a multilevel approach.

Background: Little research has focused on the spatial distribution of social capital, despite social capital's rising popularity in health research and policy. This study examines the neighborhood differences in social capital and the determinants that explain these differences.

Methods: Five components of neighborhood social capital are identified by means of factor and reliability analyses using data collected in the cross-sectional SWING study from 762 inhabitants in 42 neighbourhoods in the city of Ghent (Belgium).

Single-dose pharmacokinetics of pediatric and adult formulations of etravirine and swallowability of the 200-mg tablet: results from three Phase 1 studies.

Objectives: Three studies were conducted to assess the pharmacokinetics, methods of administration and ease of swallowability of etravirine tablets.

Methods: Two randomized studies in healthy adults investigated the single-dose pharmacokinetics of etravirine in various dosage strengths and the effects of dispersion in water and film-coating. A third study explored swallowability of etravirine 200-mg tablets in HIV-infected patients.

Steady-state pharmacokinetics of etravirine and lopinavir/ritonavir melt extrusion formulation, alone and in combination, in healthy HIV-negative volunteers.

Background: A previous study investigating coadministration of etravirine, a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, and lopinavir/ritonavir soft-gel formulation resulted in nonclinically relevant changes in etravirine and lopinavir exposure. The current study evaluated the pharmacokinetic interaction between etravirine and the lopinavir/ritonavir melt extrusion formulation.

Method: Sixteen human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative volunteers were randomized to either treatment sequence A/B or B/A, with 14 days- washout between treatments (treatment A: etravirine 200 mg bid for 8 days; treatment B: lopinavir/ritonavir 400/100 mg bid for 16 days with etravirine 200 mg bid on days 9-16).

Pharmacokinetics and short-term safety of etravirine in combination with fluconazole or voriconazole in HIV-negative volunteers.

The nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor etravirine, approved for use in treatment-experienced, HIV-1-infected patients, is a substrate and inducer of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 and a substrate and inhibitor of CYP2C9/CYP2C19. Pharmacokinetic interactions and safety of etravirine 200 mg twice daily coadministered with fluconazole 200 mg daily or voriconazole 200 mg twice daily, both inhibitors of CYP3A4, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19, were evaluated in an open-label, randomized, 3-period crossover trial in 18 HIV-negative volunteers. Based on least squares means (LSM) ratios, coadministration of etravirine with fluconazole or voriconazole resulted in higher etravirine exposures (area under plasma concentration-time curve from 0-12 hours [AUC(12) (h) ] 1.

Does neighbourhood social capital aid in levelling the social gradient in the health and well-being of children and adolescents? A literature review.

Background: Although most countries in the European Union are richer and healthier than ever, health inequalities remain an important public health challenge. Health-related problems and premature death have disproportionately been reported in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood social capital is believed to influence the association between neighbourhood deprivation and health in children and adolescents, making it a potentially interesting concept for policymakers.

Geriatric day hospital: opportunity or threat? A qualitative exploratory study of the referral behaviour of Belgian general practitioners.

Background: In order to address the challenges of an ageing population the Belgian government decided to allocate resources to the creation of geriatric day hospitals (GDHs). Although GDHs are meant to be a strategy to support general practitioners (GPs) caring for the frail elderly, few Belgian GPs seem to refer to a GDH. This study aims to explore the barriers and facilitating factors of GPs' referral to GDHs.

Effects of different meal compositions and fasted state on the oral bioavailability of etravirine.

Study Objective: To determine the effects of various meal compositions and the fasted state on the pharmacokinetics of etravirine, a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.

Design: Phase I, open-label, randomized, repeated single-dose, three-period crossover trial.

Setting: Clinical pharmacology unit.