Outcomes of Importance to Patients Living With Cutaneous Chronic Graft-vs-Host Disease.

Importance: Cutaneous chronic graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) is independently associated with morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant. However, the health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) domains that are most important to patients are poorly understood.

Objective: To perform a concept elicitation study to define HRQOL in cutaneous chronic GVHD from the patient perspective and to compare experiences of patients with epidermal vs sclerotic disease.

Comparison of Liquid to Particle Embolics in a Translational Rat Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Histologic and Radiographic Responses.

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of transarterial embolization (TAE) using a liquid embolic (LE) to TAE using a particle embolic (PE) based on radiographic and histologic response in a translational rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: HCC was induced in Wistar rats using diethylnitrosamine. Tumor response was determined through RECIST applied to T2-weighted MRI scans.

Mammography Screening Preferences Among Screening-Eligible Women in Their 40s : A National U.S. Survey.

Background: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently changed its recommendation for mammography screening from informed decision making to biennial screening for women aged 40 to 49 years.

Patient Preferences for Immediate Compared With Delayed Postpartum Intrauterine Device Placement.

Objective: To use choice-based conjoint survey methodology to evaluate patient values and decision making regarding immediate compared with delayed placement of postpartum intrauterine devices (IUDs).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in which we surveyed 200 nonpregnant, parous patients. Participants chose between hypothetical postpartum IUDs varying in multiple attributes (hormonal or nonhormonal IUD type, placement timing, 1-year efficacy, expulsion risk, risk of lost strings, and malposition risk).

Remote Blood Pressure Monitoring With Social Support for Patients With Hypertension: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Hypertension management has traditionally been based on office visits. Integrating remote monitoring into routine clinical practices and leveraging social support might improve blood pressure (BP) control.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a bidirectional text monitoring program focused on BP control and medication adherence with and without social support in adults with hypertension.

Examining cocaine use reductions and long-term outcomes in two clinical trials of continuing care for cocaine dependence.

Background: There is a need to identify clinically meaningful non-abstinent endpoints for cocaine use disorder (CUD) clinical trials. In this study, we sought to replicate and extend prior work validating reductions in cocaine use frequency levels as an endpoint by examining associations between reductions in cocaine use frequency and long-term functioning outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of two randomized clinical trials (N = 445; 77.

Validation of the structured interview section of the penn computerized adaptive test for neurocognitive and clinical psychopathology assessment (CAT GOASSESS).

Large-scale studies and burdened clinical settings require precise, efficient measures that assess multiple domains of psychopathology. Computerized adaptive tests (CATs) can reduce administration time without compromising data quality. We examined feasibility and validity of an adaptive psychopathology measure, GOASSESS, in a clinical community-based sample (N = 315; ages 18-35) comprising three groups: healthy controls, psychosis, mood/anxiety disorders.

Depression mediates the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and risky drinking among Hispanic young adults.

Background And Objectives: Hispanic young adults in the United States have consistently high rates of risky drinking, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), depression, and anxiety. There is a positive association between ACEs and alcohol use among Hispanic populations; it is unknown if mental health symptomatology mediates this relationship. The purpose of this study was to test whether depression and anxiety mediated the relationship between ACEs and risky drinking among Hispanic young adults who engage in risky drinking.

Buprenorphine Receipt and Retention for Opioid Use Disorder Following an Initiative to Increase Access in Primary Care.

Objectives: Buprenorphine, a medication for opioid use disorder (OUD), is underutilized in general medical settings. Further, it is inequitably received by racialized groups and persons with comorbidities. The Veterans Health Administration launched an initiative to increase buprenorphine receipt in primary care.

Validation of the cognitive section of the Penn computerized adaptive test for neurocognitive and clinical psychopathology assessment (CAT-CCNB).

Background: The Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery is an efficient tool for assessing brain-behavior domains, and its efficiency was augmented via computerized adaptive testing (CAT). This battery requires validation in a separate sample to establish psychometric properties.

Methods: In a mixed community/clinical sample of N = 307 18-to-35-year-olds, we tested the relationships of the CAT tests with the full-form tests.

The impact of substance use on posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and treatment discontinuation.

This study examined the impact of ongoing substance use during posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment on PTSD symptoms and treatment discontinuation. The study represents a secondary analysis of U.S.

Liver Stiffness Measurement and Risk Prediction of Hepatocellular Carcinoma After HCV Eradication in Veterans With Cirrhosis.

Background & Aims: Patients with cirrhosis secondary to chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) are at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) despite a sustained virological response (SVR). We examined whether post-SVR liver stiffness measurement (LSM) could be used to stratify HCC risk.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 1850 participants identified from the Veterans Health Administration, with HCV cirrhosis and SVR, followed up over 5099 person-years, from the time of post-SVR elastography until death, HCC, or the end of the study.

The association between specific narrative elements and patient perspectives on acute pain treatment.

Background: Narratives are effective tools for communicating with patients about opioid prescribing for acute pain and improving patient satisfaction with pain management. It remains unclear, however, whether specific narrative elements may be particularly effective at influencing patient perspectives.

Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of data collected for Life STORRIED, a multicenter RCT.

Assessing and Understanding Reactance, Self-Exemption, Disbelief, Source Derogation and Information Conflict in Reaction to Overdiagnosis in Mammography Screening: Scale Development and Preliminary Validation.

Purpose: Overdiagnosis is a concept central to making informed breast cancer screening decisions, and yet some people may react to overdiagnosis with doubt and skepticism. The present research assessed 4 related reactions to overdiagnosis: reactance, self-exemption, disbelief, and source derogation (REDS). The degree to which the concept of overdiagnosis conflicts with participants' prior beliefs and health messages (information conflict) was also assessed as a potential antecedent of REDS.

Towards shortening the Brief Addiction Monitor-Revised (BAM-R).

Introduction: The Brief Addiction Monitor-Revised (BAM-R) is a widely used, 17-item assessment of substance use, risk, and protective factors associated with recovery from substance use disorders. Despite wide adoption in the U.S.

Lowering Expectations: Glucocorticoid Tapering Among Veterans With Rheumatoid Arthritis Achieving Low Disease Activity on Stable Biologic Therapy.

Objective: In the Steroid EliMination In Rheumatoid Arthritis (SEMIRA) trial, 65% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in low disease activity (LDA) on stable biologic therapy successfully tapered glucocorticoids. We aimed to evaluate real-world rates of glucocorticoid tapering among similar patients in the Veterans Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis registry.

Methods: Within a multicenter, prospective RA cohort, we used registry data and linked pharmacy claims from 2003 to 2021 to identify chronic prednisone users achieving LDA after initiating a new biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (b/tsDMARD).

Association of Diet Patterns and Post-Operative Tympanostomy Tube Otorrhea: A Pilot Study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore diet patterns in children with tympanostomy tube placement (TTP) complicated by postoperative tympanostomy tube otorrhea.

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey and retrospective cohort study.

Methods: Caregivers of children (0-12 years old), at a tertiary-care pediatric hospital who underwent TTP within 6 months to 2 years prior to enrollment were included.

Construction of a computerized adaptive test (CAT-CCNB) for efficient neurocognitive and clinical psychopathology assessment.

Background: Traditional paper-and-pencil neurocognitive evaluations and semi-structured mental health interviews can take hours to administer and score. Computerized assessment has decreased that burden substantially, and contemporary psychometric tools such as item response theory and computerized adaptive testing (CAT) allow even further abbreviation.

New Method: The goal of this paper was to describe the application of CAT and related methods to the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery (CNB) and a well-validated clinical assessment in order to increase efficiency in assessment and relevant domain coverage.

Study protocol: Behavioral economics and self-determination theory to change diabetes risk (BEST Change).

Background: The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and metformin can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among patients with prediabetes. Yet, even when these evidence-based strategies are accessible and affordable, uptake is low. Thus, there is a critical need for effective, scalable, and sustainable approaches to increase uptake and engagement in these interventions.

Fibromuscular Dysplasia and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Are Dimorphic Sex-Specific Diseases With Shared Complex Genetic Architecture.

Background: The risk of arterial diseases may be elevated among family members of individuals having multifocal fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). We sought to investigate the risk of arterial diseases in families of individuals with FMD.

Methods: Family histories for 73 probands with FMD were obtained, which included an analysis of 463 total first-degree relatives focusing on FMD and related arterial disorders.