The impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular health behaviors in people living with HIV.

The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on cardiovascular health behaviors including diet, physical activity, medication adherence, and self-care among people living with HIV (PLWH) remains unknown. Using qualitative analyses, we examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular health behaviors among PLWH. Twenty-four PLWH were enrolled in this multisite study from September to October 2020.

Association of Perceived Health Competence With Cardiac Rehabilitation Initiation.

Purpose: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR), a program of supervised exercise and cardiovascular risk management, is widely underutilized. Psychological factors such as perceived health competence, or belief in one's ability to achieve health-related goals, may play a role in CR initiation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of perceived health competence with CR initiation among patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) after adjusting for demographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics.

Rates of and Factors Associated With Primary and Booster COVID-19 Vaccine Receipt by US Veterans, December 2020 to June 2022.

Importance: COVID-19 vaccination rates remain suboptimal in the US. Identifying factors associated with vaccination can highlight existing gaps and guide targeted interventions to improve vaccination access and uptake.

Objective: To describe incidence and patient characteristics associated with primary, first booster, and second booster COVID-19 vaccination in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Incorporating TechQuity in Virtual Care Within the Veterans Health Administration: Identifying Future Research and Operations Priorities.

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic dramatically changed healthcare delivery, driving rapid expansion of synchronous (i.e., real-time) audio-only and video telehealth, otherwise known as virtual care.

Interventions to improve lung cancer screening among racially and ethnically minoritized groups: A scoping review.

Lung cancer screening (LCS) decreases lung cancer related mortality among high-risk people who smoke cigarettes and has been endorsed by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) since 2013. However, adoption of LCS has been limited, and disparities in LCS among racially and ethnically minoritized groups have become apparent. While recommendations to improve disparities in LCS have been made, there is a lack of information on how these recommendations have been implemented and their relative effectiveness in improving screening disparities.

The Prevalence of Sexual Violence Perpetration in Sexual Minority Men: A Secondary Analysis of Systematic Review Data.

Unlabelled: Prior literature illustrates that sexual minority people (e.g., bisexual, gay, queer) are at increased vulnerability for sexual violence victimization compared to heterosexual peers, including while in college.

Improving documentation of anticoagulation and antiplatelet recommendations after outpatientendoscopy.

Clear documentation of instructions for resuming anticoagulant and antiplatelet (AC/AP) medications after gastrointestinal endoscopy is essential for high-quality postprocedure care. Yet, these recommendations are frequently absent, which may impact patient safety. We aimed to improve documentation of postprocedural AC/AP instructions through targeted interventions during outpatient endoscopy at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center using validated Quality Improvement methodology.

Digital Medicine System in Veterans With Severe Mental Illness: Feasibility and Acceptability Study.

Background: Suboptimal medication adherence is a significant problem for patients with serious mental illness. Measuring medication adherence through subjective and objective measures can be challenging, time-consuming, and inaccurate.

Objective: The primary purpose of this feasibility and acceptability study was to evaluate the impact of a digital medicine system (DMS) among Veterans (patients) with serious mental illness as compared with treatment as usual (TAU) on medication adherence.

Skin Cancer Behavioral Risk Factors and Screening Among U.S. Adults in Same-Sex Relationships: A Population-Based Study from 2000 to 2015.

Skin cancer is prevalent in sexual minority men but little is known about risk factors and screening specifically among couples in same-sex relationships (SSR). We aimed to compare sunburns, sun-protective behaviors, indoor tanning, and total body skin examinations (TBSEs) between people in SSR with those in opposite-sex relationships (OSR). We conducted a pooled cross-sectional analysis of 2000-2015 data from the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative survey of the United States civilian population.

Consensus elements for observational research on COVID-19-related long-term outcomes.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and its long-term outcomes may be jointly caused by a wide range of clinical, social, and economic characteristics. Studies aiming to identify mechanisms for SARS-CoV-2 morbidity and mortality must measure and account for these characteristics to arrive at unbiased, accurate conclusions. We sought to inform the design, measurement, and analysis of longitudinal studies of long-term outcomes among people infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Resident involvement in cataract surgery at the Veterans Health Administration: complications, case complexity, and the role of experience.

Purpose: To characterize intraoperative complications, case complexity, and changes in complication rates with surgical experience for cataract surgeries involving residents at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Setting: All VHA facilities where cataract surgery was performed.

Design: Multicenter, retrospective cohort study.

Veterans' reasons for dropping out of prolonged exposure therapy across three delivery modalities: A qualitative examination.

Premature dropout from posttraumatic stress disorder treatment (PTSD) hinders treatment response. Studies have primarily used quantitative methodology to identify factors that contribute to Veterans' premature dropout, which has yielded mixed results. Qualitative methods provide rich data and generate additional hypotheses about why Veterans discontinue PTSD treatment.

MRI Quantification of Placebo Effect in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials.

Background Several early-phase clinical trials for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) use liver fat content as measured with the MRI-derived proton density fat fraction (PDFF) for a primary outcome. These trials have shown relative reductions in liver fat content with placebo treatment alone, a phenomenon termed "the placebo effect." This phenomenon confounds the results and limits generalizability to future trials.

Care utilization in eating disorders: for whom are multiple episodes of care more likely?

Purpose: The current study aimed to determine baseline clinical features among adults receiving varied levels of care for transdiagnostic eating disorders (N = 5206, 89.9% female, mean age 29 years old) that may be associated with increased care utilization.

Methods: We used negative binomial regression models to evaluate associations among eating disorder diagnoses, other psychiatric features (e.

Development of an Administrative Data-Based Frailty Index for Older Adults Receiving Dialysis.

Background: Frailty is present in ≥50% of older adults receiving dialysis. Our objective was to a develop an administrative data-based frailty index and assess the frailty index's predictive validity for mortality and future hospitalizations.

Methods: We used United States Renal Data System data to establish two cohorts of adults aged ≥65 years, initiating dialysis in 2013 and in 2017.

A Tailored SMS Text Message-Based Intervention to Facilitate Patient Access to Referred Community-Based Social Needs Resources: Protocol for a Pilot Feasibility and Acceptability Study.

Background: Health care providers are increasingly screening patients for unmet social needs (eg, food, housing, transportation, and social isolation) and referring patients to relevant community-based resources and social services. Patients' connection to referred services is often low, however, suggesting the need for additional support to facilitate engagement with resources. SMS text messaging presents an opportunity to address barriers related to contacting resources in an accessible, scalable, and low-cost manner.

BMI Trends for Veterans Up to 10 Years After VA Enrollment Following Military Discharge.

Background: Obesity (body mass index [BMI]≥30kg/m) among US adults has tripled over the past 45 years, but it is unclear how this population-level weight change has occurred.

Objective: We sought to identify distinct long-term BMI trajectories and examined associations with demographic and clinical characteristics.

Design: The design was latent trajectory modeling over 10 years of a retrospective cohort.

Effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters Against Infection, Hospitalization, and Death: A Target Trial Emulation in the Omicron (B.1.1.529) Variant Era.

Background: The effectiveness of a third mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose (booster dose) against the Omicron (B.1.1.