The Economic Impact of Herpes Zoster Vaccine Disparities in Elderly United States Blacks.

There are persistent disparities with regard to receipt of herpes zoster vaccine among elderly blacks, but no data is available regarding the public health or economic impact of these disparities. A decision tree was constructed with multiple Markov nodes in order to estimate the preventable cases of herpes zoster occurring among elderly blacks due to disparities in receipt of herpes zoster vaccine and to quantify the economic costs associated with these disparities. The model was constructed to examine the number of herpes zoster cases occurring among elderly blacks from the age of 60 to 84 over a 20 year period and also calculated costs due to herpes zoster complications and lost productivity. Achievement of health equity would prevent over 34,500 cases of herpes zoster from occurring in the future and avert over $180 million in lost productivity and treatment costs as a result of these cases of herpes zoster. These results help to show that thousands of cases of herpes zoster could be prevented if blacks were vaccinated at the same frequency as whites and help to show the benefit of implementing viable strategies to achieving this goal.

Commentary on collaboration: the key to interdisciplinary research.

Researchers seeking federal and other sources of funding for their proposed studies have found the request for applications are for those developed by multidisciplinary teams including but not limited faith based and grass root organizations. Nurses, pharmacist, physicians, allied health providers, students, clergy and lay organizations are working together to decrease health disparities. Academic settings have the infrastructure and human resources that can promote interdisciplinary opportunities for partnerships across campus, within their school, colleges and community. The author provides recommendations for building a multidisciplinary research team.

African-American men and their reflections and thoughts on prostate cancer.

The purpose of this study was to assess African-American males' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding prostate cancer and early detection methods. This was a cross sectional study conducted with 67 (N = 67) African-American men to assess their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding prostate cancer and prostate cancer early detection methods Data collection occurred at several urban churches in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Findings from this study suggest that 91% of the men did not consider prostate cancer screening embarrassing or painful; 86.9% agreed that their physician would think they should have a Digital Rectal Exam (DRE) and Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) tests performed, and believed in the efficacy of early prostate cancer screening However, 30% of the men would not want to know if they had prostate cancer, and 53.2% did not believe they were likely to get prostate cancer in the future. The implications and results of this study support the need for ongoing prostate education and screening programs for African-American men.

HIV risk behaviors in African American males.

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune syndrome (HIV/AIDS) infection is the fifth leading cause of death for people who are 25-44 years in the United States, and is the leading cause of death for African American men ages 35-44. The incidence rates for HIV among African Americans are steadily increasing, despite wide-spread campaigns to educate the public about the disease. The purpose of this article is to review the epidemiology and statistics related to HIV/AIDS, as well as changes in the epidemic among African American males. A review of the literature was conducted which specifically focused on HIV risk behaviors, changing patterns of behavior, and risk modification among African American males. Opportunities for future research are also detailed.

Assessment and predictors of antiretroviral adherence in older HIV-infected patients.

Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV disease have resulted in increased survival for HIV-infected patients. Strict adherence to antiretroviral therapy is required to obtain these benefits, however. This holds true for older patients who often are diagnosed later in their disease course and who have shorter survival periods than younger patients. Although there have been few studies of antiretroviral adherence in older HIV patients, this article reviews the literature regarding antiretroviral adherence in younger HIV-infected adults as well as studies of medication adherence in older patients with other disease states. It then discusses the application of adherence interventions in these other populations to older HIV-infected adults. Several methods have been used in measuring antiretroviral adherence, including electronic monitoring, self-report, pill counts, viral load, therapeutic drug monitoring, and several other techniques. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods also are presented as well as recommendations for future adherence research in older HIV-infected adults. Finally, this article details areas of unmet research need concerning HIV medication adherence in older adults.