Objective: Targeted testing and treatment of persons with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a critical component of the US tuberculosis (TB) elimination strategy. In January 2016, the California Department of Public Health issued a tool and user guide for TB risk assessment (California tool) and guidance for LTBI testing, and in September 2016, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued recommendations for LTBI testing in primary care settings. We estimated the epidemiologic effect of adherence to both recommendations in California.
Methods: We used an individual-based Markov micro-simulation model to estimate the number of cases of TB disease expected through 2026 with baseline LTBI strategies compared with implementation of the USPSTF or California tool guidance. We estimated the risk of LTBI by age and country of origin, the probability of being in a targeted population, and the probability of presenting for primary care based on available data. We assumed 100% adherence to testing guidance but imperfect adherence to treatment.
Results: Implementation of USPSTF and California tool guidance would result in nearly identical numbers of tests administered and cases of TB disease prevented. Perfect adherence to either recommendation would result in approximately 7000 cases of TB disease averted (40% reduction compared with baseline) by 2026. Almost all of this decline would be driven by a reduction in the number of cases among non-US-born persons.
Conclusions: By focusing on the non-US-born population, adherence to LTBI testing strategies recommended by the USPSTF and the California tool could substantially reduce the burden of TB disease in California in the next decade.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0033354920927845 | DOI Listing |
Nat Aging
December 2024
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
We have previously presented a multidimensional Aging Society Index, a weighted summation of five domains central to successful adaptation to societal aging: well-being, productivity and engagement, equity, cohesion and security, as a tool to assess countries' adaptation to demographic transformation. As the index was based on data from developed countries and some of the individual metrics or weightings may not be well suited for application to low- and middle-income countries, we here present the scores on a modified index (Global Aging Society Index) on 143 countries distributed across the span of economic development. Only 5 out of 143 (3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidemics
December 2024
California Department of Public Health Center for Infectious Diseases, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Richmond, CA 94804, United States. Electronic address:
The effective reproduction number serves as a metric of population-wide, time-varying disease spread. During the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, this metric was primarily derived from case data, which has varied in quality and representativeness due to changes in testing volume, test-seeking behavior, and resource constraints. Deriving nowcasting estimates from alternative data sources such as wastewater provides complementary information that could inform future public health responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJMIR Med Educ
December 2024
Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.
Background: Virtual reality (VR) technologies have demonstrated therapeutic usefulness across a variety of health care settings. However, graduate medical education (GME) trainee perspectives on VR acceptability and usability are limited. The behavioral intentions of GME trainees with regard to VR as an anxiolytic tool have not been characterized through a theoretical framework of technology adoption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConserv Physiol
December 2024
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Bay-Delta Office, 801 I St., Suite 140, Sacramento, CA 95814, USA.
Freshwater fishes are increasingly facing extinction. Some species will require conservation intervention such as habitat restoration and/or population supplementation through mass-release of hatchery fish. In California, USA, a number of conservation strategies are underway to increase abundance of the endangered Delta Smelt (); however, it is unclear how different estuarine conditions influence hatchery fish.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Diabetes Sci Technol
December 2024
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Background: Recent advances in diabetes care and technology, such as real-time continuous glucose monitoring, can help people live more freely, with more flexibility and fewer constraints, thereby enhancing quality of life (QOL). To date, there has been no validated means for measuring this key psychological dimension. We developed the Diabetes Constraints Scale (DCS) to assess perceived constraints pertaining to diabetes self-management.
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