A comparison of HIV detection rates using routine opt-out provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling versus a standard of care approach in a rural African setting.
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BACKGROUND: Routine opt-out provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling (PITC) remains underutilized in sub-Saharan Africa. By selectively targeting clients who either volunteer or have clinical indications of HIV disease, standard approaches to HIV counseling and testing are presumed more cost-efficient than PITC. METHODS: One thousand two hundred twenty-one patients aged 15- 49 years were seen by 22 practitioners in a mobile clinic in southern Zambia. A random sample of physicians was assigned to administer PITC, whereas the remaining practitioners offered standard non- PITC (ie, voluntary or diagnostic). Questionnaires assessed patient demographics and attitudes toward HIV. HIV detection rates were stratified by referral type, demographics, and HIV-related knowledge and attitudes. RESULTS: HIV prevalence was 10.6%. Infection rates detected using PITC [11.1%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.8% to 13.5%] and standard non-PITC (10.0%; 95% CI: 7.5% to 12.5%) did not significantly differ (odds ratio = 1.01; 95% CI: 0.67 to 1.52; P = 0.95). Patients who did not request testing or demonstrate clinical indicators of HIV did not have significantly higher HIV prevalence than those who did (odds ratio = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.55 to 1.24; P = 0.36). Implementation of PITC was highly acceptable and produced a 3-fold increase in patients tested per practitioner compared with standard non-PITC (114 vs. 34 patients per practitioner, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: PITC detected a comparable HIV infection rate as a standard non-PITC approach among rural adults seeking primary care services. Widespread implementation of PITC may therefore lead to significantly more cases of HIV detected. (+info)
Evaluating performance of a decision support system to improve methotrexate pharmacotherapy in children and young adults with cancer.
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TBI translational rehabilitation research in the 21st Century: exploring a Rehabilomics research model.
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Globally, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and persistent disability. Although improvements in standard of care have reduced the overall mortality rates associated with this disease, there is a paucity of effective neuroprotective therapies. However, some rehabilitation focused strategies have shown promise with enhancing neurorecovery. One major challenge in identifying effective therapies is that TBI is an inherently heterogeneous disease. Despite many patients having similar injury factors and clinical care after their TBI, recovery and outcomes can be very different. This commentary discusses the value of treatment effectiveness research that also incorporates theranostic principles of individualized care. Key to this concept is the utilization of state-of-the-art biomarker platforms and technologies that can identify relevant molecular or physiological fingerprints that can assist rehabilitation practitioners in delineating long term outcome that can be linked to plasticity, treatment response, and natural recovery. This commentary proposes a unique concept of "Rehabilomics" as a field of study involving the systematic collection and study of rehabilitation relevant phenotypes, in conjunction with a transdisciplinary evaluation of biomarkers, in order to better understand the biology, function, prognosis, complications, treatments, adaptation, and recovery for persons with disabilities. Specific Rehabilomics applications to TBI research, as well as relevance to the National Institutes of Health Roadmap, are discussed. (+info)
Population carrier screening for spinal muscular atrophy a position statement of the association for molecular pathology.
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