Role of Biomarkers to Assess the Use of Alcohol.

Alcohol-associated liver disease has seen a significant rise in the last 2 decades, with an associated rise in the need for accurate alcohol use assessment. Alcohol use has been associated with poor outcomes in both the pre-liver transplant and post-liver transplant patients. Patients with alcohol use disorder often under-report their alcohol consumption because of varying factors, highlighting the need for objective assessment of alcohol use. Aside from the available self-report questionnaires, multiple serologic biomarkers are currently available to assist clinicians to assess recent alcohol consumption among patients with chronic liver disease, liver transplant candidates, and recipients. In this review, we will assess some of these alcohol biomarkers, discuss their strengths and weakness, and review-available data to discuss their role in pre-liver transplant and post-liver transplant population.

Assessing the accuracy of multiparametric MRI to predict clinically significant prostate cancer in biopsy naïve men across racial/ethnic groups.

INTRODUCTION: The Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PIRADS) has shown promise in improving the detection of Gleason grade group (GG) 2-5 prostate cancer (PCa) and reducing the detection of indolent GG1 PCa. However, data on the performance of PIRADS in Black and Hispanic men is sparse. We evaluated the accuracy of PIRADS scores in detecting GG2-5 PCa in White, Black, and Hispanic men. METHODS: We performed a multicenter retrospective review of biopsy-naïve Black (n = 108), White (n = 108), and Hispanic (n = 64) men who underwent prostate biopsy (PB) following multiparametric MRI. Sensitivity and specificity of PIRADS for GG2-5 PCa were calculated. Race-stratified binary logistic regression models for GG2-5 PCa using standard clinical variables and PIRADS were used to calculate area under the receiver operating characteristics curves (AUC). RESULTS: Rates of GG2-5 PCa were statistically similar between Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics (52.8% vs 42.6% vs 37.5% respectively, p = 0.12). Sensitivity was lower in Hispanic men compared to White men (87.5% vs 97.8% respectively, p = 0.01). Specificity was similar in Black versus White men (21.6% vs 27.4%, p = 0.32) and White versus Hispanic men (27.4% vs 17.5%, p = 0.14). The AUCs of the PIRADS added to standard clinical data (age, PSA and suspicious prostate exam) were similar when comparing Black versus White men (0.75 vs 0.73, p = 0.79) and White versus Hispanic men (0.73 vs 0.59, p = 0.11). The AUCs for the Base model and PIRADS model alone were statistically similar when comparing Black versus White men and White versus Hispanic men. CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of the PIRADS and clinical data for detecting GG2-5 PCa seems statistically similar across race. However, there is concern that PIRADS 2.0 has lower sensitivity in Hispanic men compared to White men. Prospective validation studies are needed.

A behavioral design approach to improving a Chagas disease vector control campaign in Peru.

BACKGROUND: Individual behavior change is a critical ingredient in efforts to improve global health. Central to the focus on behavior has been a growing understanding of how the human brain makes decisions, from motivations and mindsets to unconscious biases and cognitive shortcuts. Recent work in the field of behavioral economics and related fields has contributed to a rich menu of insights and principles that can be engineered into global health programs to increase impact and reach. However, there is little research on the process of designing and testing interventions informed by behavioral insights. METHODS: In a study focused on increasing household participation in a Chagas disease vector control campaign in Arequipa, Peru, we applied Datta and Mullainathan's "behavioral design" approach to formulate and test specific interventions. In this Technical Advance article we describe the behavioral design approach in detail, including the Define, Diagnosis, Design, and Test phases. We also show how the interventions designed through the behavioral design process were adapted for a pragmatic randomized controlled field trial. RESULTS: The behavioral design framework provided a systematic methodology for defining the behavior of interest, diagnosing reasons for household reluctance or refusal to participate, designing interventions to address actionable bottlenecks, and then testing those interventions in a rigorous counterfactual context. Behavioral design offered us a broader range of strategies and approaches than are typically used in vector control campaigns. CONCLUSIONS: Careful attention to how behavioral design may affect internal and external validity of evaluations and the scalability of interventions is needed going forward. We recommend behavioral design as a useful complement to other intervention design and evaluation approaches in global health programs.

Storylines of family medicine IX: people and places-diverse populations and locations of care.

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'IX: people and places-diverse populations and locations of care', authors address the following themes: 'LGBTQIA+health in family medicine', 'A family medicine approach to substance use disorders', 'Shameless medicine for people experiencing homelessness', '''Difficult" encounters-finding the person behind the patient', 'Attending to patients with medically unexplained symptoms', 'Making house calls and home visits', 'Family physicians in the procedure room', 'Robust rural family medicine' and 'Full-spectrum family medicine'. May readers appreciate the breadth of family medicine in these essays.

Management of Pelvic Organ Prolapse in the Adult Congenital Genitourinary Patient.

OBJECTIVES: To assess and present our experience with the management and outcomes of female pelvic organ prolapse in the adult congenital genitourinary patient population. METHODS: Retrospective review of our adult congenital GU patients with spina bifida with a documented Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification exam (POP-Q) from 2006 - 2021 was undertaken. Spina bifida lesion level, bladder management method, prolapse stage and component, and obstetric history were reviewed. Outcomes of treated patients are from most recent follow up. RESULTS: 37 congenital GU patients were identified. 26 (70%) were nulliparous with many showing advanced prolapse, defined as stage 2 or greater. By POP-Q, only 22% were stage 0, indicating no prolapse. 68% had advanced prolapse, with one case of complete procidentia despite no pregnancy history. The dominant prolapse compartment in advanced prolapse patients regardless of parity was apical, or cervical (47%). 16 had symptomatic prolapse, most with vaginal bulge or noticing bulge with catheterization. 6 patients underwent surgery with 2 vaginal hysterectomy and uterosacral suspensions and 1 sacrocolpopexy with mesh. Due to elongated cervix with protrusion, 3 patients underwent cervical shortening as their primary prolapse intervention. 4 of the patients saw a decrease in POP-Q score post-operatively with 2 patients still pending follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Congenital GU patients may have more advanced prolapse at younger ages and nulliparity and are frequently apical dominant. A variety of surgical options can provide meaningful improvement in the symptomatic patient.

Cost-effectiveness of Early Screening Home Semen Analysis in Couples Attempting to Conceive.

OBJECTIVE: To study the cost-effectiveness of incorporating home semen analysis in screening for oligospermia and expediting time to evaluation. METHODS: A decision analytic model was built using inputs from the medical literature. The index patient is the male partner in a couple seeking fertility, and entry into the model was assumed to be at the inception of the couple's attempts to conceive via natural means. Three main strategies are described and analyzed: (1) baseline strategy of no testing, (2) utilization of a home semen testing kit, (3) universal testing via a clinic visit and gold standard lab semen analysis. The primary outcome was detection of oligospermia (defined as sperm concentration <15 million/mL). Strategies were ranked by months to evaluation by a male infertility specialist saved. Costs were considered from the patient perspective and were incorporated to determine the incremental cost per month saved to evaluation (ICMS) per 100,000 patients. RESULTS: Compared to a baseline strategy of no screening, utilizing a home test would save 89,000 months at the incremental cost of $7,418,000 for an ICMS of $45.51. Shifting to a strategy of universal gold standard clinic and lab testing saves an additional 3000 months but at an ICMS of $17,691 compared to the home testing strategy. CONCLUSION: Widespread adoption and the early usage of home semen analysis may be a cost-effective method of screening for oligospermia and facilitating further evaluation with an andrology specialist.