RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Conflict-affected communities face poverty and mental health problems, with sexual violence survivors at high risk for both given their trauma history and potential for exclusion from economic opportunity. To address these problems, we conducted a randomized controlled trial of a group-based economic intervention, Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA), for female sexual violence survivors in the Democratic Republic of Congo. METHODS: In March 2011, 66 VSLA groups, with 301 study participants, were randomized to the VSLA program or a wait-control condition. Data were collected prior to randomization, at 2-months post-program in June 2012, and 8-months later for VSLA participants only. Outcome data included measures of economic and social functioning and mental health severity. VSLA program effect was derived by comparing intervention and control participants' mean changes from baseline to 2-month follow-up. RESULTS: At follow-up, VSLA study women reported significantly greater per capita food consumption and significantly greater reductions in stigma experiences compared with controls. No other study outcomes were statistically different. At 8-month follow-up, VSLA participants reported a continued increase in per capita food consumption, an increase in economic hours worked in the prior 7 days, and an increase in access to social resources. CONCLUSIONS: While female sexual violence survivors with elevated mental symptoms were successfully integrated into a community-based economic program, the immediate program impact was only seen for food consumption and experience of stigma. Impacts on mental health severity were not realized, suggesting that targeted mental health interventions may be needed to improve psychological well-being.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody small-vessel vasculitis (ANCA-SVV) is an autoimmune systemic process increasingly recogniSed since the advent of antibody testing for the disease. Prompt diagnosis and institution of immunosuppressive therapy has been shown to improve patient outcome. The goal of this study was to better understand how patients navigate the health care system from symptom presentation to biopsy diagnosis, and to study the effects of prompt versus delayed diagnosis. METHODS: Disease symptoms and number of physicians seen prior to renal biopsy were assessed for 127 ANCA-SVV patients. Direct, delayed, and quest pathways to diagnosis and treatment of vasculitis were defined for both patients and providers. Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher exact tests were used to evaluate continual measures and compare categorical variables across pathways. RESULTS: Among patients who sought direct care, physician delay in referral to a nephrologist was common (49/127, 71%, p=0.0023). Patients who delayed seeking care also experienced a delayed diagnosis 57% of the time (p=0.0023). Patients presenting with prodromal flu or upper respiratory involvement were more likely to have a delay/quest patient pathway (56% and 55%, respectively) than a direct patient pathway (44%, p=0.033 and 45%, p=0.019, respectively). There was a trend for patients with more severe loss of renal function to have a more direct referral to a nephrologist. CONCLUSIONS: Delay in diagnosis of ANCA SVV may be due to lack of or non-specific symptoms, especially in patients who present with non-renal manifestations of disease. Better algorithms are needed to identify extra-renal manifestations, expedite diagnosis and improve patient outcomes.