"Extremely slow and capricious": A qualitative exploration of genetic researcher priorities in selecting shared data resources.

PURPOSE: Genetic researchers' selection of a database can have scientific, regulatory, and ethical implications. It is important to understand what is driving database selection such that database stewards can be responsive to user needs while balancing the interests of communities in equitably benefiting from advances. METHODS: We conducted 23 semistructured interviews with US academic genetic researchers working with private, government, and collaboratory data stewards to explore factors that they consider when selecting a genetic database. RESULTS: Interviewees used existing databases to avoid burdens of primary data collection, which was described as expensive and time-consuming. They highlighted ease of access as the most important selection factor, integrating concepts of familiarity and efficiency. Data features, such as size and available phenotype, were also important. Demographic diversity was not originally cited by any interviewee as a pivotal factor; when probed, most stated that the option to consider diversity in database selection was limited. Database features, including integrity, harmonization, and storage were also described as key components of efficient use. CONCLUSION: There is a growing market and competition between genetic data stewards. Data need to be accessible, harmonized, and administratively supported for their existence to be translated into use and, in turn, result in scientific advancements across diverse communities.

Using Nudges to Reduce Missed Appointments in Primary Care and Mental Health: a Pragmatic Trial.

BACKGROUND: Missed appointments ("no-shows") are a persistent and costly problem in healthcare. Appointment reminders are widely used but usually do not include messages specifically designed to nudge patients to attend appointments. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of incorporating nudges into appointment reminder letters on measures of appointment attendance. DESIGN: Cluster randomized controlled pragmatic trial. PATIENTS: There were 27,540 patients with 49,598 primary care appointments, and 9420 patients with 38,945 mental health appointments, between October 15, 2020, and October 14, 2021, at one VA medical center and its satellite clinics that were eligible for analysis. INTERVENTIONS: Primary care (n = 231) and mental health (n = 215) providers were randomized to one of five study arms (four nudge arms and usual care as a control) using equal allocation. The nudge arms included varying combinations of brief messages developed with veteran input and based on concepts in behavioral science, including social norms, specific behavioral instructions, and consequences of missing appointments. MAIN MEASURES: Primary and secondary outcomes were missed appointments and canceled appointments, respectively. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Results are based on logistic regression models adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics, and clustering for clinics and patients. KEY RESULTS: Missed appointment rates in study arms ranged from 10.5 to 12.1% in primary care clinics and 18.0 to 21.9% in mental health clinics. There was no effect of nudges on missed appointment rate in primary care (OR = 1.14, 95%CI = 0.96-1.36, p = 0.15) or mental health (OR = 1.20, 95%CI = 0.90-1.60, p = 0.21) clinics, when comparing the nudge arms to the control arm. When comparing individual nudge arms, no differences in missed appointment rates nor cancellation rates were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Appointment reminder letters incorporating brief behavioral nudges were ineffective in improving appointment attendance in VA primary care or mental health clinics. More complex or intensive interventions may be necessary to significantly reduce missed appointments below their current rates. TRIAL NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov, Trial number NCT03850431.

Using Tailored Messages to Target Overuse of Low-Value Breast Cancer Care in Older Women.

BACKGROUND: National recommendations allow for the omission of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and post-lumpectomy radiotherapy in women ≥ 70 y/o with early-stage, hormone-receptor positive invasive breast cancer, but these therapies remain common. Previous work demonstrates an individual's maximizing-minimizing trait-an inherent preference for more or less medical care-may influence the preference for low-value care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recruited an equal number of women ≥ 70 yrs who were maximizers, minimizers, or neutral based on a validated measure between September 2020 and November 2020. Participants were presented a hypothetical breast cancer diagnosis before randomization to one of three follow-up messages: maximizer-tailored, minimizer-tailored, or neutral. Tailored messaging aimed to redirect maximizers and minimizers toward declining SLNB and radiotherapy. The main outcome measure was predicted probability of choosing SLNB or radiotherapy. RESULTS: The final analytical sample (n = 1600) was 515 maximizers (32%), 535 neutral (33%) and 550 (34%) minimizers. Higher maximizing tendency positively correlated with electing both SLNB and radiotherapy on logistic regression (P < 0.01). Any tailoring (maximizer- or minimizer-tailored) reduced preference for SLNB in maximizing and neutral women but had no effect in minimizing women. Tailoring had no impact on radiotherapy decision, except for an increased probability of minimizers electing radiotherapy when presented with maximizer-tailored messaging. CONCLUSIONS: Maximizing-minimizing tendencies are associated with treatment preferences among women facing a hypothetical breast cancer diagnosis. Targeted messaging may facilitate avoidance of low-value breast cancer care, particularly for SLNB.

A survey of internists' recommendations for aspirin in older adults and barriers to evidence-based use.

Recent trials suggest that aspirin for primary prevention may do more harm than good for some, including adults over 70 years of age. We sought to assess how primary care providers (PCPs) use aspirin for the primary prevention in older patients and to identify barriers to use according to recent guidelines, which recommend against routine use in patients over age 70. We surveyed PCPs about whether they would recommend aspirin in clinical vignettes of a 75-year-old patient with a 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk of 25%. We also queried perceived difficulty following guideline recommendations, as well as perceived barriers and facilitators. We obtained responses from 372 PCPs (47.9% response). In the patient vignette, 45.4% of clinicians recommended aspirin use, which did not vary by whether the patient was using aspirin initially (p = 0.21); 41.7% believed aspirin was beneficial. Perceived barriers to guideline-based aspirin use included concern about patients being upset (41.6%), possible malpractice claims (25.0%), and not having a strategy for discussing aspirin use (24.5%). The estimated adjusted probability of rating the guideline as "hard to follow" was higher in clinicians who believed aspirin was beneficial (29.4% vs. 8.0%; p < 0.001) and who worried the patient would be upset if told to stop aspirin (26.7% vs. 12.5%; p = 0.001). Internists vary considerably in their recommendations for aspirin use for primary prevention in older patients. A high proportion of PCPs continue to believe aspirin is beneficial in this setting. These results can inform de-implementation efforts to optimize evidence-based aspirin use.

Adapting user-centered design principles to improve communication of peer parent narratives on pediatric tracheostomy.

BACKGROUND: Parents who have to make tracheostomy decisions for their critically ill child may face forecasting errors and wish to learn from peer parents. We sought to develop an intervention with peer parent narratives to help parents anticipate and prepare for future challenges before making a decision. METHODS: To ensure that the intervention reflects parents' needs (rather than experts' opinions), we adapted a user-centered design (UCD) process to identify decision-critical information and refine the presentation format by interviewing parents who had tracheostomy decision making experience. Phase 1 (n = 10) presented 15 possible forecasting errors and asked participants to prioritize and justify the problematic ones. It also asked participants to comment on the draft narratives and preferred delivery mode and time of the intervention. Phase 2 (n = 9 additional parents and 1 previous parent) iteratively collected feedback over four waves of user interviews to guide revisions to the informational booklet. RESULTS: Phase 1 revealed that parents wanted information to address all forecasting errors as soon as tracheostomy becomes an option. They also highlighted diverse family situations and the importance of offering management strategies. The resulting prototype booklet contained five sections: introduction, child's quality of life, home care, practical challenges, and resources. Feedback from Phase 2 focused on emphasizing individualized situations, personal choice, seriousness of the decision, and caregiver health as well as presenting concrete illustrations of future challenges with acknowledgement of positive outcomes and advice. We also learned that parents preferred to use the booklet with support from the care team rather than read it alone. CONCLUSIONS: A UCD process enabled inclusion of parental perspectives that were initially overlooked and tailoring of the intervention to meet parental expectations. Similar UCD-based approaches may be valuable in the design of other types of patient communications (e.g., decision aids).

Taxonomies for synthesizing the evidence on communicating numbers in health: Goals, format, and structure.

Many people, especially those with low numeracy, are known to have difficulty interpreting and applying quantitative information to health decisions. These difficulties have resulted in a rich body of research about better ways to communicate numbers. Synthesizing this body of research into evidence-based guidance, however, is complicated by inconsistencies in research terminology and researcher goals. In this article, we introduce three taxonomies intended to systematize terminology in the literature, derived from an ongoing systematic literature review. The first taxonomy provides a systematic nomenclature for the outcome measures assessed in the studies, including perceptions, decisions, and actions. The second taxonomy is a nomenclature for the data formats assessed, including numbers (and different formats for numbers) and graphics. The third taxonomy describes the quantitative concepts being conveyed, from the simplest (a single value at a single point in time) to more complex ones (including a risk-benefit trade-off and a trend over time). Finally, we demonstrate how these three taxonomies can be used to resolve ambiguities and apparent contradictions in the literature.

Medical Maximizing-Minimizing Preferences in Relation to Low-Value Services for Older Women with Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Multiple studies have demonstrated the safety of omitting therapies in older women with breast cancer. Despite de-implementation guidelines, up to 65% of older women continue to receive one or more of these low-value services. Previous work has investigated the role of both provider and patient attitudes as barriers to de-implementation; however, the importance of the patient's maximizing-minimizing preferences within this context remains unclear. METHODS: In this qualitative study, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with women ≥ 70 years of age without a previous diagnosis of breast cancer to elicit perspectives on breast cancer treatment in relation to their medical maximizing-minimizing preferences, as determined by the single-item maximizer-minimizer elicitation question (MM1). We used an interpretive description approach in analysis to produce a thematic survey. RESULTS: Participants were relatively evenly distributed across the MM1 (minimizer, n = 8; neutral, n = 13; maximizer, n = 9). Despite being told of recommendations allowing for the safe omission of sentinel lymph node biopsy and post-lumpectomy radiotherapy, maximizers consistently stated preferences for more medical intervention and aggressive therapies over minimizers and neutral individuals. CONCLUSION: Medical maximizing-minimizing preferences in older women correspond with preferences for breast cancer treatment options that guidelines identify as potentially unnecessary. Increased awareness of patient-level variability in maximizing-minimizing preferences may be valuable in developing optimal intervention strategies to reduce utilization of low-value care.

Imprecision and Preferences in Interpretation of Verbal Probabilities in Health: a Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Many health providers and communicators who are concerned that patients will not understand numbers instead use verbal probabilities (e.g., terms such as "rare" or "common") to convey the gist of a health message. OBJECTIVE: To assess patient interpretation of and preferences for verbal probability information in health contexts. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of literature published through September 2020. Original studies conducted in English with samples representative of lay populations were included if they assessed health-related information and elicited either (a) numerical estimates of verbal probability terms or (b) preferences for verbal vs. quantitative risk information. RESULTS: We identified 33 original studies that referenced 145 verbal probability terms, 45 of which were included in at least two studies and 19 in three or more. Numerical interpretations of each verbal term were extremely variable. For example, average interpretations of the term "rare" ranged from 7 to 21%, and for "common," the range was 34 to 71%. In a subset of 9 studies, lay estimates of verbal probability terms were far higher than the standard interpretations established by the European Commission for drug labels. In 10 of 12 samples where preferences were elicited, most participants preferred numerical information, alone or in combination with verbal labels. CONCLUSION: Numerical interpretation of verbal probabilities is extremely variable and does not correspond well to the numerical probabilities established by expert panels. Most patients appear to prefer quantitative risk information, alone or in combination with verbal labels. Health professionals should be aware that avoiding numeric information to describe risks may not match patient preferences, and that patients interpret verbal risk terms in a highly variable way.

Disparities in risk perception of thyroid cancer recurrence and death.

BACKGROUND: To the authors' knowledge, studies regarding risk perception among survivors of thyroid cancer are scarce. METHODS: The authors surveyed patients who were diagnosed with differentiated thyroid cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries of Georgia and Los Angeles County (2632 patients; 63% response rate). The analytic cohort was defined by a ≤5% risk of disease recurrence and mortality (1597 patients). Patients estimated their recurrence and mortality risks separately (increments of 10% and endpoints of ≤5% and ≥95%). Both outcomes were dichotomized between reasonably accurate estimates (risk perception of ≤5% or 10%) versus overestimation (risk perception of ≥20%). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with risk overestimation, and the relationships between overestimation and both worry and quality of life were evaluated. RESULTS: In the current study sample, 24.7% of patients overestimated their recurrence risk and 12.5% overestimated their mortality risk. A lower educational level was associated with overestimating disease recurrence (≤high school diploma: odds ratio [OR], 1.64 [95% CI, 1.16-2.31]; and some college: OR, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.02-1.81]) and mortality (≤high school diploma: OR, 1.86 [95% CI, 1.18-2.93]) risk compared with those attaining at least a college degree. Hispanic ethnicity was found to be associated with overestimating recurrence risk (OR, 1.44, 95% CI 1.02-2.03) compared with their white counterparts. Worry about recurrence and death was found to be greater among patients who overestimated versus those who had a reasonably accurate estimate of their risk of disease recurrence and mortality, respectively (P < .001). Patients who overestimated mortality risk also reported a decreased physical quality of life (mean T score, 43.1; 95% CI, 41.6-44.7) compared with the general population. CONCLUSIONS: Less educated patients and Hispanic patients were more likely to report inaccurate risk perceptions, which were associated with worry and a decreased quality of life.

Physicians' Perceptions of Proton Pump Inhibitor Risks and Recommendations to Discontinue: A National Survey.

OBJECTIVE: To provide contemporary estimates of internists' perceptions of adverse effects associated with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and self-reported clinical use. METHODS: We invited 799 internists, including specialists and postgraduate trainees, to complete an online survey. Topics included perceptions of PPI adverse effects (AEs) and effectiveness for upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) prevention, changes in prescribing, and management recommendations for patients using PPIs for gastroesophageal reflux disease or UGIB prevention. We used logistic regression to identify factors associated with appropriate PPI continuation in the scenario of a patient at high risk for UGIB. RESULTS: Among 437 respondents (55% response rate), 10% were trainees and 72% specialized in general medicine, 70% were somewhat/very concerned about PPI AEs, and 76% had somewhat/very much changed their prescribing. A majority believed PPIs increase the risk for 6 of 12 AEs queried. Fifty-two percent perceived PPIs to be somewhat/very effective for UGIB prevention. In a gastroesophageal reflux disease scenario in which PPI can be safely discontinued, 86% appropriately recommended PPI discontinuation. However, in a high-risk UGIB prevention scenario in which long-term PPI use is recommended, 79% inappropriately recommended discontinuation. In this latter scenario, perceived effectiveness for bleeding prevention was strongly associated with continuing PPI (odds ratio 7.68, P < 0.001 for moderately; odds ratio 17.3, P < 0.001 for very effective). Other covariates, including concern about PPI AEs, had no significant association. DISCUSSION: Most internists believe PPIs cause multiple AEs and recommend discontinuation even in patients at high risk for UGIB. Future interventions should focus on ensuring that PPIs are prescribed appropriately according to individual risks and benefits.

"Cure" Versus "Clinical Remission": The Impact of a Medication Description on the Willingness of People Living with HIV to Take a Medication.

Many people living with HIV (PLWHIV) state that they would be willing to take significant risks to be "cured" of the virus. However, how they interpret the word "cure" in this context is not clear. We used a randomized survey to examine whether PLWHIV had a different willingness to take a hypothetical HIV medication if it causes flu-like symptoms, but provides: (a) cure, (b) remission that was labeled "cure", or (c) remission. PLWHIV (n = 454) were more willing to take a medication that provided a "cure" versus a "remission" if the side effects lasted less than 1 year. PLWHIV were more willing to take a medication that provided a remission that was labeled "cure" versus a "remission" (p = 0.01) if the side effects lasted 2 weeks. Clinicians and researchers should be aware of the impact of the word "cure" and ensure that PLWHIV fully understand the possible outcomes of their treatment options.

A New Video Aid for Communicating Risk in the Treatment of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Balancing risks of immune suppressive medications against risk of chronic disease is challenging for clinicians and families. Available aids commonly lack comparative information needed to inform treatment decisions. We developed a simple video aid to illustrate competing risks associated with medications and underlying disease in context of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. Those who viewed the video aid had more realistic risk perceptions than those who did not view it. The video aid is adaptable for other conditions. It required only commonly accessible software and little cost, thereby making an aid of this style an attractive option for health care professionals interested in communicating comparative risk data to patients.

Alternative option labeling impacts decision-making in noninvasive prenatal screening.

Prenatal genetic screening should be an informed, autonomous patient choice. Extrinsic factors which influence patient decision-making threaten the ethical basis of prenatal genetic screening. Prior research in the area of medical decision-making has identified that labeling may have unanticipated effects on patient perceptions and decision-making processes. This Internet-administered study explored the impact of option labeling on the noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) selections of US adults. A total of 1,062 participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and randomly assigned to one of three possible label sets reflecting provider-derived and industry-derived option labels used in prenatal screening. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed option labeling had a statistically significant impact on the NIPS selections of study participants (p = .0288). Outcomes of the Satisfaction with Decision Scale (SWD) indicated option labels did not play a role in participant satisfaction with screening selection. The results of this study indicate a need for further evaluation of the impact NIPS option labeling has on patient screening decisions in real-world clinical interactions. Clinical providers and testing laboratories offering NIPS should give careful consideration to the option labels used with prenatal screening so as to minimize influence on patient screening selection and decision-making processes.

Older adults' strategies for obtaining medication refills in hypothetical scenarios in the face of COVID-19 risk.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether older adults would avoid going to the pharmacy (e.g., by restricting medications or requesting delivery) due to the risk of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Our secondary objectives were to determine the types of medications that the older adults are more likely to restrict and to determine the factors that influence these decisions. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey experiment in which participants read 6 scenarios, each stating that they had a 3-day supply of a particular medication remaining. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: National Web-based survey distributed to 1457 U.S. adults aged 65 years and older by Dynata from March 25, 2020, to April 1, 2020. OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants reported whether they would go to a pharmacy, have a medication delivered, or restrict the use of each medication. They reported their perceptions and experiences with COVID-19, health risk factors, preferences for more or less care (medical maximizer-minimizer), medication attitudes (beliefs about medicines questionnaire), health literacy, prescription insurance status, and demographics. RESULTS: Most participants (84%) were told to shelter in place, but only 12% reported attempting to obtain extra medications. Participants most often reported that they would go to the pharmacy to obtain each medication (ranging from tramadol 48.9% to insulin 64.9%) except for zolpidem, which they were most likely to restrict (45.4%). Participants who reported comorbidities that increased their risk of COVID-19 were just as likely to go to the pharmacy as those without. In multinomial logistic regression analyses, women and the oldest participants were more likely to seek delivery of medications. Restricting medications was most common for 2 symptom-focused medications (tramadol and zolpidem), and both demographic factors (e.g., gender) and beliefs (e.g., medical maximizing-minimizing preferences) were associated with such decisions. CONCLUSION: Many older adults intend to continue to go to the pharmacy to obtain their medications during a pandemic, even those who have health conditions that further increase their risk for COVID-19.

Characteristics of older adults predict concern about stopping medications.

OBJECTIVE: To predict the association between demographic, psychological, and medication-specific characteristics and the level of concern about stopping medications among older adults. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study in which participants read 6 vignettes in which a primary care provider broached the idea of stopping a medication. Medications differed in risk, regulatory status, and indication for discontinuation. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: National Web-based survey distributed to adults aged 65 years or older by Dynata in January 2019. OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants reported their concern about stopping each medication (7-point scale, not at all to extremely), their preferences for more versus less care (Medical Maximizer-Minimizer Scale, MMS), medication attitudes (Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire, BMQ), demographic characteristics, and health literacy. We used a generalized estimating equations population-averaged model to examine characteristics associated with concern about stopping medications among all the vignettes and linear regressions to explore levels of concern for individual vignettes. Regressions included the MMS, BMQ, health literacy, and demographics. RESULTS: A total of 942 individuals started the survey, and 823 were included in our analysis. Approximately one-half of participants (range: glyburide, 49.5% to aspirin, 56.0%) reported substantial concern (≥ 4 on a 1-7 scale) about stopping each medication. Characteristics that significantly increased concern about stopping medications included female gender, identifying as black or African American, higher MMS score, and higher BMQ specific score. Higher MMS score predicted increased concern about stopping medications for each of the 6 medications. CONCLUSION: Characteristics of older adults (e.g., medical maximizing-minimizing preferences), as opposed to medication-specific characteristics, predict concern about stopping medications.

Prior Vaccination and Effectiveness of Communication Strategies Used to Describe Infectious Diseases.

We tested the effect of prior vaccination on response to communication strategies in a hypothetical news article about an influenza pandemic. Vaccinated were more likely than nonvaccinated participants to plan future vaccination, and future vaccination intent was greater with certain communication strategies. Using these findings to target communication may increase vaccination rates.

Rethinking the Re-Prep: Attitudes Toward Noninvasive Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests After Inadequate Bowel Preparation.

OBJECTIVES: To assess patient preferences for colorectal cancer screening with stool-based tests after initial colonoscopy with suboptimal bowel preparation. METHODS: An online scenario-based survey of adults aged 45 to 75 years at average risk for colorectal cancer was performed. RESULTS: When presented with a hypothetical scenario of screening colonoscopy with suboptimal bowel preparation, 59% of respondents chose stool-based testing as a next step, 29% preferred a repeat colonoscopy within a year, and 12% preferred a repeat colonoscopy in 10 years (N = 1,080). CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should consider offering stool-based screening tests as an alternative to repeat colonoscopy after suboptimal bowel preparation.

Communicating laboratory results to patients and families.

People are increasingly able to access their laboratory results via patient portals. The potential benefits provided by such access, such as reductions in patient burden and improvements in patient satisfaction, disease management, and medical decision making, also come with potentially valid concerns about such results causing confusion or anxiety among patients. However, it is possible to clearly convey the meaning of results and, when needed, indicate required action by designing systems to present laboratory results adapted to the people who will use them. Systems should support people in converting the potentially meaningless data of results into meaningful information and actionable knowledge. We offer 10 recommendations toward this goal: (1) whenever possible, provide a clear takeaway message for each result. (2) Signal whether differences are meaningful or not. (3) When feasible, provide thresholds for concern and action. (4) Individualize the frame of reference by allowing custom reference ranges. (5) Ensure the system is accessible. (6) Provide conversion tools along with results. (7) Design in collaboration with users. (8) Design for both new and experienced users. (9) Make it easy for people use the data as they wish. (10) Collaborate with experts from relevant fields. Using these 10 methods and strategies renders access to laboratory results into meaningful and actionable communication. In this way, laboratories and medical systems can support patients and families in understanding and using their laboratory results to manage their health.

Management of eosinophilic esophagitis is often discordant with guidelines and not patient-centered: results of a survey of gastroenterologists.

Published guidelines for the management of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) recommend an initial trial of proton pump inhibitors (PPI), histologic assessment for response to therapy, and tailoring treatments to patient needs and provider resources. Effectiveness studies directly comparing therapies are lacking, leaving a situation ripe for shared decision making. We aimed to assess gastroenterologists' adherence to guidelines and how they respond to EoE patients' preferences regarding management. We administered a web-based survey to practicing US gastroenterologists, assessing knowledge, and practice patterns in the management of EoE, including comfort with alternative treatments to steroids. Ninety-two providers responded, including 55% in private practice. Nearly half (47%) reported spending ≤10 minutes on initial education and counseling and 48% recommended PPI monotherapy prior to other strategies. Of those who did not start with PPI monotherapy, 55% chose topical steroids ± PPI and 26% dietary elimination ± PPI. Despite this, 90% felt comfortable allowing a patient to start dietary elimination instead of steroids, but less comfortable with dilation alone (39%) or no treatment (30%). Upon symptomatic resolution, 72% of academic providers recommended endoscopy with biopsies to demonstrate histologic response to treatment, compared to 27% in private practice. There are substantial variations in adherence to guidelines regarding PPI use and assessing response to therapy. Gastroenterologists prefer topical steroids over other treatment modalities and most spend little time educating and counseling, which may limit informed decision making. Strategies aimed at decreasing these variations in management and promoting shared decision making in EoE are needed.

Cross-Sectional Psychological and Demographic Associations of Zika Knowledge and Conspiracy Beliefs Before and After Local Zika Transmission.

Perceptions of infectious diseases are important predictors of whether people engage in disease-specific preventive behaviors. Having accurate beliefs about a given infectious disease has been found to be a necessary condition for engaging in appropriate preventive behaviors during an infectious disease outbreak, while endorsing conspiracy beliefs can inhibit preventive behaviors. Despite their seemingly opposing natures, knowledge and conspiracy beliefs may share some of the same psychological motivations, including a relationship with perceived risk and self-efficacy (i.e., control). The 2015-2016 Zika epidemic provided an opportunity to explore this. The current research provides some exploratory tests of this topic derived from two studies with similar measures, but different primary outcomes: one study that included knowledge of Zika as a key outcome and one that included conspiracy beliefs about Zika as a key outcome. Both studies involved cross-sectional data collections that occurred during the same two periods of the Zika outbreak: one data collection prior to the first cases of local Zika transmission in the United States (March-May 2016) and one just after the first cases of local transmission (July-August). Using ordinal logistic and linear regression analyses of data from two time points in both studies, the authors show an increase in relationship strength between greater perceived risk and self-efficacy with both increased knowledge and increased conspiracy beliefs after local Zika transmission in the United States. Although these results highlight that similar psychological motivations may lead to Zika knowledge and conspiracy beliefs, there was a divergence in demographic association.