State Medicaid Policies Governing Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) and MOUD Treatment Use in a Large Sample of People Who Inject Drugs in 20 U.S. States.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) are especially vulnerable to harms from opioid use disorder (OUD). Medications for OUD (MOUD) effectively reduce overdose and infectious disease transmission risks.

Objective: We investigate whether state Medicaid coverage for methadone and buprenorphine is related to past-year MOUD use among PWID using cross-sectional, multilevel analyses with individual-level data on PWID from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2018 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance.

Effectiveness of Elements of Social Behavior Change Activities in Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Programs: A Systematic Review.

Background: Limited research exists on the specific approaches and behavior change techniques (BCT) used in nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) programs and their effects on diet diversity.

Objectives: We aimed to describe nutrition-related social behavior change (SBC) in the context of NSA and quantify the effectiveness of different SBC components of NSA programs in improving diet diversity.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the International Food Policy and Research Institute repository, and Agricola for articles published between 2000 and 2023.

Primary care clinician engagement in implementing a machine-learning algorithm for targeted screening of familial hypercholesterolemia.

Objective: To assess the impact of a multi-pronged educational approach on the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) management at a large academic medical center with the aim of empowering primary care clinicians (PCC) to diagnose and treat FH.

Methods: A comprehensive educational program for PCCs on FH management was developed and piloted from July 2022 to March 2024. Components of our intervention included: 1.

Institution-level Patterns of Care for Early-stage Oropharynx Cancers in the United States.

Objectives: The adoption of transoral robotic surgery and shifting epidemiology in oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer have stimulated debate over upfront and adjuvant treatment. Institutional variation in practice patterns can be obscured in patient-level analyses. We aimed to characterize institutional patterns of care as well as identify potential associations between patterns of care and survival.

How Should Focus Be Shifted From Individual Preference to Collective Wisdom for Patients at the End of Life With Antimicrobial-Resistant Infections?

Despite growth in numbers of organizational antimicrobial stewardship programs, antimicrobial resistance continues to escalate. Interprofessional education and collaboration are needed to make these programs appropriately responsive to the ethically and clinically complex needs of patients at the end of life whose care plans still require antimicrobial management.

Design of a randomized clinical trial of brief couple therapy for PTSD augmented with intranasal oxytocin.

Background: Leveraging military veterans' intimate relationships during treatment has the potential to concurrently improve posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and relationship quality. Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) and an 8-session Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (bCBCT) are manualized treatments designed to simultaneously improve PTSD and relationship functioning for couples in which one partner has PTSD. Although efficacious in improving PTSD, the effects of CBCT on relationship satisfaction are small, especially among veterans.

Myocardial perfusion imaging-derived left ventricular strain: Regional abnormalities associated with transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis.

Background: Transthyretin (ATTR) cardiac amyloidosis is associated with an apical-sparing strain pattern on TTE. We hypothesize that strain indices derived from myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) can identify this abnormality.

Methods: A group with ATTR amyloidosis was compared to age-matched controls with LVH but without amyloidosis who underwent PET or SPECT MPI.

Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Capromorelin in Rhesus Macaques ().

Nonhuman primates used in biomedical research may experience clinically significant weight loss for a variety of reasons. Episodes of anorexia (complete loss of appetite) or hyporexia (decreased appetite) can result in significant weight loss, potentially altering animal welfare and scientific studies. The FDA has approved several appetite stimulants for use in domestic species, but currently none are approved for use in NHP.

Longitudinal trends in causes of death among adults with HIV on antiretroviral therapy in Europe and North America from 1996 to 2020: a collaboration of cohort studies.

Background: Mortality rates among people with HIV have fallen since 1996 following the widespread availability of effective antiretroviral therapy (ART). Patterns of cause-specific mortality are evolving as the population with HIV ages. We aimed to investigate longitudinal trends in cause-specific mortality among people with HIV starting ART in Europe and North America.

Association of Medicaid expansion with health insurance, unmet need for medical care and substance use disorder treatment among people who inject drugs in 13 US states.

Background And Aims: Impoverished people who inject drugs (PWID) are at the epicenter of US drug-related epidemics. Medicaid expansion is designed to reduce cost-related barriers to care by expanding Medicaid coverage to all US adults living at or below 138% of the federal poverty line. This study aimed to measure whether Medicaid expansion is (1) positively associated with the probability that participants are currently insured; (2) inversely related to the probability of reporting unmet need for medical care due to cost in the past year; and (3) positively associated with the probability that they report receiving substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in the past year, among PWID subsisting at ≤ 138% of the federal poverty line.

Public service providers' perspectives on and responses to the health and social consequences of gentrification in Atlanta, Georgia.

Service providers' perspectives on, and responses to the health and social impacts of gentrification have been underexplored. This study's objectives were to assess health and social service providers' perspectives on the causes and impacts of gentrification and their responses to gentrification's impacts. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 service providers sampled using maximum variation and snowball sampling, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.

Contribution of alcohol use in HIV/hepatitis C virus co-infection to all-cause and cause-specific mortality: A collaboration of cohort studies.

Among persons with HIV (PWH), higher alcohol use and having hepatitis C virus (HCV) are separately associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We investigated whether the association between alcohol use and mortality among PWH is modified by HCV. Data were combined from European and North American cohorts of adult PWH who started antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Opening Doors to Recovery: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Recovery-Oriented Community Navigation Service for Individuals With Serious Mental Illnesses and Repeated Hospitalizations.

Opening Doors to Recovery (ODR) is a community navigation and recovery support model created in southeast Georgia by diverse, collaborative stakeholders. Following promising results from a quasi-experimental study, this randomized controlled trial hypothesized that, among patients with serious mental illnesses being discharged from inpatient psychiatric settings, compared to those randomized to traditional case management (CM) services, those randomized to ODR would have (1) lower likelihood of hospitalization, fewer hospitalizations, and fewer inpatient days; (2) lower likelihood of arrest, fewer arrests, and longer time to arrest; and, secondarily, (3) greater housing satisfaction and housing stability; and (4) higher scores on several scales measuring recovery-related constructs. 240 individuals with Structured Clinical Interview for Disorders-based psychotic or mood disorders, functional impairment, and repeated hospitalizations were randomized (December 2014 to June 2018) to ODR or CM.

Ninety-day mortality following transoral robotic surgery or radiation at Commission on Cancer-accredited facilities.

Background: Postoperative mortality for oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) with transoral robotic surgery (TORS) varies from 0.2% to 6.5% on trials; the real-world rate is unknown.

A meta-analysis of pre-pregnancy maternal body mass index and placental DNA methylation identifies 27 CpG sites with implications for mother-child health.

Higher maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (ppBMI) is associated with increased neonatal morbidity, as well as with pregnancy complications and metabolic outcomes in offspring later in life. The placenta is a key organ in fetal development and has been proposed to act as a mediator between the mother and different health outcomes in children. The overall aim of the present work is to investigate the association of ppBMI with epigenome-wide placental DNA methylation (DNAm) in 10 studies from the PACE consortium, amounting to 2631 mother-child pairs.

Associations between combined exposure to environmental hazards and social stressors at the neighborhood level and individual perinatal outcomes in the ECHO-wide cohort.

Limited studies examine how prenatal environmental and social exposures jointly impact perinatal health. Here we investigated relationships between a neighborhood-level combined exposure (CE) index assessed during pregnancy and perinatal outcomes, including birthweight, gestational age, and preterm birth. Across all participants, higher CE index scores were associated with small decreases in birthweight and gestational age.

Associations of modern initial antiretroviral drug regimens with all-cause mortality in adults with HIV in Europe and North America: a cohort study.

Background: Over the past decade, antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens that include integrase strand inhibitors (INSTIs) have become the most commonly used for people with HIV starting ART. Although trials and observational studies have compared virological failure on INSTI-based with other regimens, few data are available on mortality in people with HIV treated with INSTIs in routine care. Therefore, we compared all-cause mortality between different INSTI-based and non-INSTI-based regimens in adults with HIV starting ART from 2013 to 2018.

Therapeutic Misconception about Research Procedures: Does a Simple Information Chart Improve Understanding?

In phase I trials, some biospecimens are used both for research and patient care and some for research only. Some research participants have therapeutic misconception, assuming all biospecimens are for patient care. This study's aim was to test if a simple information chart would improve understanding of nontherapeutic research procedures.

Using GIS to Analyze Inequality in Access to Dental Care in the District of Columbia.

Background: Access to dental care in mixed-race and predominantly African American wards in the District of Columbia (DC) was investigated in relation to community development.

Methods: This study used high-resolution geographic information system (GIS) tools to map all general dentistry and periodontal practice locations in DC wards. The spatial analysis contextualized each ward's land use and demographic data obtained from DC government reports.

Cost of Hepatitis C care facilitation for HIV/Hepatitis C Co-infected people who use drugs.

Background: Using data from a randomized trial, we evaluated the cost of HCV care facilitation that supports moving along the continuum of care for HIV/HCV co-infected individuals with substance use disorder.

Methods: Participants were HIV patients residing in the community, initially recruited from eight US hospital sites. They received HCV care facilitation (n = 51) or treatment as usual (n = 62) for up to six months.