Clinical Variables Associated with Successful Treatment of Depression or Anxiety in Collaborative Care.

Collaborative Care, an evidence-based model, has proven effective in treating depression and anxiety in healthcare settings. However, limited attention has been paid to exploring treatment outcome differences by clinical variables and diagnosis within this model. While previous research suggests that early and frequent contacts and swift treatment access lead to positive outcomes for depression and anxiety, these aspects have not been comprehensively examined in Collaborative Care. This study investigates the impact of clinical variables on treatment completion in patients primarily diagnosed with anxiety or depression who received collaborative care treatment as a treatment program. Analysis was completed as an observational study of patients (n =2018) with behavioral health diagnoses spanning from 2016 to 2023. Classification analysis offers insights into optimal practices for implementing Collaborative Care across diverse healthcare populations from pediatric to geriatric. Identifying clinical characteristics associated with successful treatment in Collaborative Care has far-reaching implications for model adoption and enhancing patient outcomes. Across all results, patients who received more clinical support and had shorter enrollment durations showed a strong association with successful treatment completion.

"I Was Almost in Disbelief" - Qualitative Analysis of Experiences and Expectations Among Psoriasis Patients Undergoing Biologic Treatment with Secukinumab.

Purpose: Psoriasis is a highly debilitating chronic inflammatory disease. Increased understanding of its pathophysiology has enabled development of targeted treatments such as biologics. Several medical treatments have been shown to be influenced by patients' experiences and expectations. However, only little is known about patients' experiences with and expectations towards biologics. Our objectives were to identify patients' treatment experiences and treatment expectations and assess their trajectories over the course of treatment with the IL-17A inhibitor secukinumab. Moreover, we aimed to document effects of psoriasis, factors that influence symptomatology, and prior treatment experiences. Patients and Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with n = 24 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and employed a qualitative content analysis to derive thematic and evaluative codes. Findings were validated via peer debriefings with experienced dermatologists. Results: Patients reported burdensome physical and psychological psoriasis symptoms and identified factors that can improve or worsen symptomatology, including stress and self-efficacy. Prior treatment experiences were mostly negative. Past barriers to effective treatment included time constraints or limited access. Concerning secukinumab, patients initially expected complete to partial remission of symptoms and occurrence or absence of side effects. Closer inspection of expectations and experiences revealed three trajectories. For most patients, initial expectations were met and future expectations remained unchanged. For the other patients, however, the experience did not match their initial expectation. One group then adapted their future expectations according to their experience, while the other group did not. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first qualitative study to assess expectations towards treatment effectiveness and side effects, their trajectories, and interplay with experiences among psoriasis patients. Our findings highlight the value of further research on the subject in order to optimize care for psoriasis patients and to learn more about the trajectories and influence of treatment expectations in general.

Patients' expectations towards a certain treatment can influence how well it will work and whether side effects occur or not. Such effects have been shown for a wide range of conditions, including dermatological ones. For patients suffering from psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease, modern biologics offer promising treatment options. Therefore, modern biologics are likely associated with high expectations by patients. Yet, the roles of treatment expectations and the experiences of patients undergoing biologic treatment have only received little attention to date. With this qualitative study, we aimed to understand patients' perspectives on these treatments, the symptoms they suffer from, expectations towards treatment effectiveness and side effects as well as treatment experiences in the past and over the course of treatment with a modern biologic. To this end, we conducted and transcribed interviews with 24 patients after several months of biologic treatment. We then analyzed interview transcripts to determine underlying categories and summarized these in a common framework. We found that patients' debilitating physical and psychological symptoms were often not well controlled in past treatments. Still, patients had positive expectations with regard to biologic treatment. For a large group of patients, their actual experiences met their expectations, leaving them with unchanged expectations for the future. Another important finding was the good understanding of factors influencing their symptomatology that patients had, like stress and self-efficacy. The reported findings may aid doctors in their clinical work, to further improve care for psoriasis patients.

Tuberculosis Treatment Outcomes and Associated Factors in Benadir Somalia. A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: In low-resource countries like Somalia, tuberculosis (TB) is still a serious global health concern. Understanding the treatment outcomes of TB patients in specific regions is crucial for developing effective strategies to combat the disease. This study aimed to assess the treatment outcomes of TB patients in Benadir, Somalia. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from TB treatment centers in Benadir, Somalia. The study included all TB patients who initiated treatment between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020. Treatment outcomes, including treatment success, treatment failure, lost, death, and transfer out, were analyzed. Factors associated with treatment outcomes were also examined using chi-square test. Results: The study comprised 3165 TB patients in total. The mean age of the observations was 29.9 years, with males making up the majority (64.58%). The overall success rate of TB treatment was 80.6%, with 5.3% lost, 4.6% died, 0.5% failed, 4.6% transferred out, and 4.4% not evaluated. Factors associated with unfavorable treatment outcomes included older age and HIV co-infection. Conclusion: The treatment success rate for TB patients in Benadir, Somalia, is below the global target of 90%. Enhancing access to quality TB diagnostic and treatment services, as well as addressing social and economic barriers to treatment adherence, are essential for improving TB control in Benadir, Somalia.

Defining treatment success in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: exploring surrogate markers, comorbidities, and patient-centered endpoints.

INTRODUCTION: Traditionally, the success of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treatment has been primarily assessed based on clinical outcomes, such as disease response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). However, the evolution of treatment approaches recognizes the importance of a patient-centered perspective that includes factors directly affecting patients' quality of life and overall well-being. AREAS COVERED: Studies addressing the impact of targeted agents on improving either OS or other endpoint surrogates were selected using PubMed and MEDLINE platforms. Our search also included studies that considered patient-centric endpoints such as health-related quality of life and patient-reported outcomes (PROs). EXPERT OPINION: The changing landscape of CLL treatment underscores the importance of continually exploring various endpoints to thoroughly define treatment success. Beyond conventional metrics such as OS and surrogate endpoints, namely, PFS, time to next treatment (TTNT), and measurable residual disease (MRD) assessment, it becomes crucial to integrate enhanced comorbidity evaluations and patient-centered viewpoints into a CLL success roadmap.Subsequent investigations ought to concentrate on enhancing current surrogate endpoints, discerning their contextual significance, and exploring innovative indicators of treatment efficacy and safety. Given the dynamic nature of CLL and the heterogeneity among patient groups, personalized strategies are essential, taking into account individual traits and patient preferences.

Factors to improve odds of success following medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy: a machine learning analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although high tibial osteotomy (HTO) is an established treatment option for medial compartment osteoarthritis, predictive factors for HTO treatment success remain unclear. This study aimed to identify informative variables associated with HTO treatment success and to develop and internally validate machine learning algorithms to predict which patients will achieve HTO treatment success for medial compartmental osteoarthritis. METHODS: This study retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent medial opening-wedge HTO (MOWHTO) at our center between March 2010 and December 2015. The primary outcomes were a lack of conversion to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and achievement of a minimal clinically important difference of improvement in the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) at a minimum of five years postoperatively. Recursive feature selection was used to identify the combination of variables from an initial pool of 25 features that optimized model performance. Five machine learning algorithms (XGBoost, multilayer perception, support vector machine, elastic-net penalized logistic regression, and random forest) were trained using five-fold cross-validation three times and applied to an independent test set of patients. The performance of the model was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: A total of 231 patients were included, and 200 patients (86.6%) achieved treatment success at the mean of 9 years of follow-up. A combination of seven variables optimized algorithm performance, and the following specific cutoffs increased the likelihood of MOWHTO treatment success: body mass index (BMI) ≤ 26.8 kg/m2, preoperative KOOS for pain ≤ 46.0, preoperative KOOS for quality of life ≤ 33.0, preoperative International Knee Documentation Committee score ≤ 42.0, preoperative Short-Form 36 questionnaire (SF-36) score > 42.25, three-month postoperative hip-knee-ankle angle > 1.0°, and three-month postoperative medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA) > 91.5° and ≤ 94.7°. The random forest model demonstrated the best performance (F1 score: 0.93; AUC: 0.81) and was transformed into an online application as an educational tool to demonstrate the capabilities of machine learning. CONCLUSIONS: The random forest machine learning algorithm best predicted MOWHTO treatment success. Patients with a lower BMI, poor clinical status, slight valgus overcorrection, and postoperative MPTA < 94.7 more frequently achieved a greater likelihood of treatment success. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, retrospective cohort study.

Defining success after surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence.

BACKGROUND: A consensus standardized definition of success after stress urinary incontinence surgical treatment is lacking, which precludes comparisons between studies and affects patient counseling. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify optimal patient-centric definition(s) of success after stress urinary incontinence surgical treatment and to compare the identified "more accurate" treatment success definitions with a commonly used composite definition of success (ie, no reported urine leakage, negative cough stress test result, and no retreatment). STUDY DESIGN: We evaluated 51 distinct treatment success definitions for participants enrolled in a previously conducted randomized trial of stress urinary incontinence treatments concomitantly performed with sacrocolpopexy (NCT00934999). For each treatment success definition, we calculated the mean (SD) of participant-assessed symptom improvement and participant-assessed surgical success scores with an 11-point Likert scale among those achieving success and failure. The "more accurate" treatment success definition(s) were identified by measuring the magnitude of the mean difference of participant assessments with Hedges g values. The treatment success definitions with the highest Hedges g values were considered "more accurate" treatment success definitions and were then compared with the composite definition of success. RESULTS: The percentage of participants who had treatment success (6.4% to 97.3%) and Hedges g values (-4.85 to 1.25) varied greatly according to each treatment success definition. An International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form score ≤5, Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 score ≤33.3, and a no/mild stress urinary incontinence response on Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 question 3 had the highest Hedges g values and were considered the top 3 "more accurate" treatment success definitions. Paradoxically, treatment success definitions that required a negative cough stress test result or no persistent urinary leakage greatly reduced the ability to differentiate between participant-assessed symptom improvement and surgical success. When the "more accurate" treatment success definitions were compared with the composite definition, patients with failed treatment according to the composite definition had lower Urinary Impact Questionnaire-7 scores and a higher proportion of survey responses indicating complete satisfaction or some level of satisfaction and very good/perfect bladder condition. In addition, the composite definition had considerably fewer favorable outcomes for participants than did the top 3 "more accurate" treatment success definitions. CONCLUSION: Successful outcomes of stress urinary incontinence surgical treatments for women undergoing concurrent sacrocolpopexy varied greatly depending on the definition used. However, stringent definitions (requiring complete dryness) and objective testing (negative cough stress test result) had decreased, rather than increased, participant-assessed symptom improvement and surgical success scores. The "more accurate" treatment success definitions better differentiated between participant-assessed symptom improvement and surgical success than the composite definition. The composite definition disproportionately misidentified participants who reported minor symptoms or complete/partial satisfaction with their outcome as having treatment failures and yielded a considerably lower proportion of women who reported favorable outcomes than did the top 3 "more accurate" treatment success definitions.

Negative effects of undernutrition on sputum smear conversion and treatment success among retreatment cases in Uganda: A quasi-experimental study.

Rationale: The causal relationship between undernutrition and response to anti-tuberculosis (TB) treatment and TB treatment outcomes among people with retreatment TB is understudied. Objective: To evaluate the effect of undernutrition on treatment success and sputum smear conversion among people with retreatment drug-susceptible TB in Kampala, Uganda. Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental study utilizing propensity score weighting among people with retreatment drug-susceptible TB aged ≥ 15 years treated between 2012 and 2022 in Kampala. The primary exposure was undernutrition assessed using the mid-upper arm circumference at the time of TB diagnosis. The primary outcome was treatment success defined as cure or treatment completion at month 6. Sputum smear conversion was the secondary outcome and was measured as a change in sputum smear status from positive to negative at months 2, 5, and 6. We estimated the causal effect of undernutrition on the outcomes using a propensity-score weighted modified Poisson regression model with robust error variance. Measurements and main results: Of the 605 participants, 432 (71.4 %) were male, 215 (35.5 %) were aged 25-34 years, 427 (70.6 %) had bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary TB, 133 (22.0 %) were undernourished and 398 (65.8 %) achieved treatment success. Of participants with bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary TB, 232 (59.0 %), 327 (59.3 %), and 360 (97.6 %) achieved sputum smear conversion at months 2, 5, and 6, respectively. Undernutrition reduced treatment success (RR 0.42, 95 % CI 0.32-0.55) as well as sputum smear conversion at months 2 (RR 0.45, 95 % CI 0.42-0.49) and 5 (RR 0.46, 95 % CI 0.43-0.51) but not month 6 (RR 0.99, 95 % CI 0.97-1.02). Conclusion: Undernutrition negatively impacts treatment outcomes. Therefore, nutritional assessment should be an integral component of TB care, with nutritional counseling and support offered to those undernourished to optimize their TB treatment response and outcomes.

Factors associated with tuberculosis treatment outcomes among TB patients aged 15 years and older at chawama level one hospital in Lusaka, Zambia.

Tuberculosis is a global health concern n impacting communities, health systems, and economies This study assessed the TB treatment outcomes among individuals aged 15+ at Chawama first level hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, using a retrospective design focussing on individuals notified in 2020. The sample was described using descriptive statistics. The Pearson Chi-square test and logistics regression were used to analyse the characteristics of the patients influencing the treatment outcomes at 5% significant level. Out of 404 participants, 83.4% of them had successful treatment outcomes. Varied outcomes were noted in sex, patient type, TB type, HIV status, and DOT plan, but lacked significance. Odds of success were lower by 72.4% for those aged 65+ compared to those aged 15-24 years (OR (95% CI): 0.276 (0.086-0.881), p = .030). Similarly, after adjusting for other variables, the odds of success were lower by 72.9% (AOR (95% CI): 0.271 (0.083-0.882), p = .030). This study yielded an encouraging 83.4% TB success rate highlighting the potential for improvement to meet WHO targets. Notably, individuals aged 65+ showed a distinct pattern with lower treatment success odds, suggesting a need for focussed interventions. Special attention to elderly patients and targeted TB program interventions are recommended.

Drug recommendation for optimization on treatment outcome for MDR/RR-TB based on a multi-center, large scale, retrospective cohort study in China.

OBJECTIVE: With the change in drug-resistant pattern, MDR/RR-TB was faced with underlying changes in regimens. A multi-center, large-scale, retrospective study performed aims to provide a recommendation of drug selection on optimization of outcome for the patients. METHOD: The study was conducted in six TB-specialized hospitals in China. Patients were included from 2018-2021 and followed up throughout the treatment. Using a multivarariable and propensity score-matched logistic regression analysis, we evaluated associations between outcomes and drug use, as well as clinical characteritics. RESULTS: Of 3112 patients, 74.29% had treatment sucess, 14.52% lost to follow-up, 9.67% failure, and 1.51% died. Treatment success was positively associated with Bedaquiline(Bdq), Linezolid(Lzd), and Cycloserin(Cs). Capreomycin(Cm) increased the risk of unfavorable outcomes. other drugs such as Amikacin(Amk) and clofazimine had no significant effect on outcomes. If isolates were susceptible to fluoroquinolones(FQs), FQs could decrease the risk of unfavorable outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The recommendation order for the treatment of MDR/RR-TB is Bdq, Lzd, and Cs. FQs were decreased in use intensity. Injection drugs, whether Amk or Cm, are not recommended.

Application frequency - key indicator for the efficiency of severe dry eye disease treatment - evidence for the importance of molecular weight of hyaluronan in lubricating agents.

PURPOSE: Lubricant eye drops are the main therapeutic resource for dry eye disease (DED), with each drop representing the equivalent of ocular surface disease treatment. Thus, any reduction in the frequency of eye drop application reflects a degree of therapeutic success. Considering also the socioeconomic burden of DED, we investigated eye drop application frequency (DF) as a parameter to potentially track the success of therapy in severe DED. Hyaluronan (HA)-containing eye drops have become the first choice for tear substitution in many countries, and recent data indicate that the average molecular weight (Mw) of HA determines the therapeutic efficacy of such eye drops. This post-hoc subgroup analysis of a previously published multicentre prospective randomized open-label study, HYLAN M, is set out to compare the effects of very high Mw HA (hylan A) eye drops to comparator eye drops, containing lower Mw HA (control). METHODS: Patients with severe DED (n = 47), recruited as part of the larger HYLAN M prospective, multicentre, open-label study, were randomized into two groups: hylan A and control group. In the hylan A group, 24 patients replaced their HA-containing eye drops with eye drops containing 0.15% hylan A, whereas the 23 control patients continued to use comparator HA eye drops. The DF was recorded daily by all participants over 8 weeks, and other subjective and objective parameters of DED were assessed at the time of inclusion (baseline), as well as at week 4 and 8. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in DF in the hylan A users between the baseline and week 4 (p = 0.004), remaining stable until week 8. Indeed, in contrast to the baseline, the hylan A group had a significantly lower DF than the control group at weeks 4 (p = 0.018) and 8 (p = 0.008). Likewise, the ocular surface disease index (OSDI) improved significantly between the time of inclusion and week 4 (p < 0.001) in hylan A users, remaining stable until week 8. The OSDI was similar in both groups at the baseline but it was significantly lower in the hylan A group than in the control group at week 4 (p = 0.002), remaining lower at week 8. Such a decrease in the DF and OSDI was not witnessed in the control group at any time point. The objective parameters assessed did not differ significantly within or between the two groups. CONCLUSION: When treating severe DED, the DF can be significantly reduced by using very high Mw HA (3 MDa) lubricant eye drops, which better alleviate DED symptoms and decrease the OSDI scores. These drops not only provide an attractive and comfortable alternative for patients with severe DED but also offer the possibility of reducing the disease's socioeconomic burden, both for affected individuals and society as a whole.

Assessment of Comorbidity in Patients with Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.

A wide range of comorbidities, especially in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) patients, markedly complicates selecting effective treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and preventing the development of adverse events. At present, it is impossible to assess the severity of comorbid pathologies and develop indications for the administration of accompanying therapy in TB patients. The aim of this study was to identify the difference in the range of comorbidities between patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB and assess the impact of comorbidities on TB treatment. Materials and Methods: A retrospective, prospective study was conducted where 307 patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB pulmonary tuberculosis aged 18 to 75 years who received eTB treatment from 2016 to 2021 in St. Petersburg hospitals were analyzed. The analysis showed that the comorbidity level in MDR-TB and XDR-TB patients with TB treatment success and treatment failure was comparable with the use of the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). The CCI demonstrated declining data in terms of TB treatment outcome period in both groups. A slight predominance of CCI score (3 to 4 points) in XDR-TB (22.7%) vs. MDR-TB (15.4%) patients was found. In the case of an TB treatment failure, the CCI level in MDR-TB vs. XDR-TB patients was characterized by a significantly higher rate of low magnitude (ranging from 1 to 2 points) in 21.1% vs. 4.5% (p < 0.05), which was higher in XDR-TB patients (ranging from 4 to 5 points, in 10.0% vs. 0, χ2 = 33.7 (p < 0.01)). Chronic viral hepatitis B and C infection, cardiovascular pathology, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic alcoholism were found to be significant comorbidity factors that influenced the TB treatment success. Conclusions: It is evident that XDR-TB patients comprise a cohort with the most severe disease course due to comorbidities impacting TB treatment efficacy. The obtained data pointed to the need to determine comorbidity severity in patients with drug-resistant Mbt prior to administering TB treatment schemes.

SASE, Success and Adverse event Score in Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography: a Novel Grading System.

BACKGROUND: Validated, accepted grading tools for preprocedural complexity assessment in ERCP are lacking. We therefore created a grading system for ERCP based on the classification used by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). METHODS: Data on ERCP adverse events (AE) and success were collected in a multicenter, prospective uncontrolled study. Multiple logistic regressions were applied to success and AEs in accordance with the ASGE classification. Each procedure suggested by ASGE was tested against different outcomes. Results were used to create a score and were evaluated in a control cohort. RESULTS: 16,327 ERCPs were documented in 27 centers. Analysis of ASGE categorization (10,904 cases) showed that this model fails to adequately predict parameters of complexity; only for cardiopulmonary AEs and perforation was no significant variance evident. Depending on the specific clinical circumstances, probability of success of the intervention sometimes varied significantly in risk, implying a twofold score, one part for probability of success and one for risk. A split score with three levels each was designed and tested in a validation cohort (5,423 procedures). Achieving therapeutic targets / post-ERCP pancreatitis could be correctly predicted in 87.0%/95.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Grading ERCP success and AEs have to be considered independently. Onefold grading systems appear incomplete and unable to provide an adequate classification of severity. SASE (Success and Adverse Event Score in Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) was created to incorporate these findings. Showing high predictive value, this score could be a potent tool for planning ERCP and training in endoscopy.

The impact of social protection interventions on treatment and socioeconomic outcomes of people with tuberculosis and their households: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of death due to infectious disease worldwide. People with TB and their households often suffer social and economic losses due to the cost of tuberculosis care. The World Health Organization 2015 End TB strategy called for socioeconomic support through social protection interventions. Social protection has the potential to enable people with TB and their households to break the cycle of TB and poverty, thereby improving both treatment and socioeconomic outcomes. This study aims to evaluate whether people with TB who are recipients of social protection interventions have better treatment and socioeconomic outcomes than those who are not recipients of social protection interventions. Methods: We will systematically review literature published in English between 2012 and 2021 from PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, and grey literature from Google Scholar and selected, relevant databases. We will include studies that describe a social protection intervention (as defined by the World Bank) and report on TB treatment outcomes and/or socioeconomic outcomes. We will only include studies pertaining to populations in low-and-middle-income countries and/or countries with high TB burden. We will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Study quality will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias for randomized controlled trials and the Newcastle Ottawa Scale for non-randomised controlled studies. If sufficient quantitative data are available, we will perform a meta-analysis of aggregated outcomes. Lastly, we will use the Grading Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation to describe the overall quality of evidence. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required for this systematic review, as all data extraction and analysis will be conducted on published documents. We will disseminate this protocol through conference presentations. The systematic review has been registered prospectively in the PROSPERO database (registration number CRD42022382181).

Evaluation of drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment outcome in Limpopo province, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: South Africa has the second-highest tuberculosis (TB) incidence globally. Drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) treatment has less successful treatment outcomes as compared with susceptible TB, and it hinders TB control and management programmes. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate drug-resistant TB treatment outcomes and factors associated with successful treatment outcomes. SETTING: The study was conducted in five districts in Limpopo province. METHODS: The study design was retrospective and descriptive. Patients' demographic data, data on clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes data were extracted from the electronic drug-resistant tuberculosis register (EDRWeb) database system for the period, 2010-2018, in Limpopo province. Frequency, percentages and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyse data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 27.0. The significance difference was determined at a 95% confidence interval and p 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 385 drug-resistant records were included in this study. The treatment success rate was 223 (57.9%). A total of 197 (51.2%) patients were cured, 26 (6.8%) completed treatment, 19 (4.9%) treatment failure, 62 (16.1%) died, 78 (20.6%) were recorded as the loss to follow-up, 1 (0.3%) moved to another country and 2 (0.5%) were transferred out. CONCLUSION: The treatment success rate was 57.9%, which is still below targets set by National Strategic Plan in South Africa and World Health Organization End TB targets.Contribution: The findings of the study reveal that to achieve successful DR-TB control programme and attain End TB targets, monitoring of treatment outcomes is crucial.

Patient-facing, Semi-automated, solutions to enhance patient participation in measurement-based care practice standards in a tele-mental health specialty clinic for populations at higher risk for self-harm.

PURPOSE: Collecting validated surveys that describe symptom severity (measurement based care) during evidence-based psychotherapy is crucial to allow a therapist to tailor the speed and intensity of treatment. COVID clinic closures mandated we create a flexible, remote system to conduct measurement-based care, which was accomplished via RedCap. METHODS: RedCap was used to create a semi-automated workflow allowing all clinically-indicated evidence-based surveys (including the PHQ-9) to be delivered via email to patients; with results automatically sent to their provider. Importantly, indications of suicidal ideation were automatically escalated to the provider. RESULTS: PHQ-9 completion improved, while provider burden for collecting surveys was greatly reduced; however, depending largely upon initial provider-patient 'training', overall compliance could still be significantly improved. CONCLUSION: This workflow gave providers additional information compared to the typical telemedicine environment, and in fact, improved data collection rates over our in-person environment. However, when patients did not complete measures on their own, the burden on providers increased.

Patient Preferences for Long-Term Implant Care in Cochlear, Glaucoma and Cardiovascular Diseases.

In the process of developing and implementing innovative implant technologies the consideration of patient preferences can be beneficial for patients, doctors and developers. Nevertheless, in existing literature, there is still scarce knowledge of patients' perspectives on long-term implant care. In this study, three discrete choice experiments (DCEs) were conducted in the context of cochlear implants (CI, n = 92), glaucoma implants (GI, n = 21) and cardiovascular implants (CVI, n = 23), examining the relative importance of attributes of long-term implant care from the patients' perspective. The participants chose between differently shaped options for implant-related care. The attributes of these care options were generated and selected based on previous literature reviews, group discussions and a diary study with patients. The choice data were analyzed via binary logit regression. In CI-DCE, the technological compatibility of the implant with newer implant models, accessories or devices from other manufacturers was highly valued by participants, whereas in GI-DCE the (in)dependency on glaucoma medication post-implantation had the greatest influence on participants' choice behavior. In CVI-DCE, the attribute with the highest relative importance related to the means of securing long-term treatment success. In all three DCE, shared decision making was relatively important for participants. Our results emphasized the importance of an adequate transfer of technological advancements in implant care for promoting patient benefits, such as the availability of comprehensible, understandable, high-quality information about current developments. Similarly, promoting technological health literacy and further pushing the technological compatibility, durability and safety of implants are directions for future implant development in accordance with patients' preferences. Therefore, the participation of implant wearers in the development process is encouraged.

Treatment success of rescue regimens after dual therapy failure in people living with HIV in a real-life setting.

OBJECTIVES: Few data on management of two-drug regimen (2DR) failure in people living with HIV (PLWH) are available. METHODS: Retrospective study of treatment-experienced PLWH on a 2DR who experienced virological failure (VF) [two consecutive viral loads (VLs) ≥50 copies/mL, single VL ≥1000 copies/mL, or antiretroviral therapy (ART) switch after single VL ≥50 copies/mL with previous blips] or discontinuation for toxicity (baseline). Integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI)-based [one INSTI plus one nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) (n = 78) or one non-NRTI (n = 20)] or boosted protease inhibitor (PI/b)-based [one PI/b plus one NRTI (n = 116) or one INSTI (n = 12)] 2DRs were included. Probabilities of treatment success (TS), VF and discontinuation for any other cause of rescue regimens were estimated by Kaplan-Meier curves. A stepwise Cox model was performed to assess predictors of TS. RESULTS: Overall, 226 PLWH were evaluated: at baseline, 144 individuals discontinued 2DR for toxicity and 82 had VF [median viraemia 81 (63-212) copies/mL]; 171 switched therapy (49.7% to triple regimen, 40.9% to different 2DR), while 55 (exclusively with VF) maintained failing regimens. Probabilities of 12- and 24-month TS were 75.6% and 64.7%, respectively. Higher TS probabilities were observed in individuals who switched ART at 2DR failure (P = 0.003) and PLWH who discontinued 2DR for toxicity (P = 0.008). Therapy switch was the only predictor of TS (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Overall probability of rescue regimens' TS introduced after 2DR failure is good. Prompt ART switch after 2DR failure is advisable.

Treatment Outcomes and Associated Factors among Tuberculosis Patients from Selected Rural Eastern Cape Hospitals: An Ambidirectional Study.

An essential metric for determining the efficacy of tuberculosis (TB) control programs is the evaluation of TB treatment outcomes; this study was conducted to investigate treatment outcomes and associated factors among tuberculosis patients in rural areas of Eastern Cape, South Africa. Assessing treatment outcomes is fundamental to facilitating the End TB Strategy's set target. Clinic records from 457 patients with DR-TB were examined for data collection while 101 patients were followed up prospectively. Data were analyzed using Stata version 17.0. The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated to check the association between variables. p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Of the 427 participants, 65.8% had successful treatment whilst 34.2% had unsuccessful TB treatment. A total of 61.2% and 39% of the HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants had a successful TB treatment whilst 66% and 34% of both HIV-negative and positive participants had unsuccessful TB treatment. From the 101 patients that were followed up, smokers took longer to have treatment outcomes compared to non-smokers. In the study with HIV/TB co-infection, men predominated. HIV and tuberculosis co-infection made therapy difficult with unfavorable effects on TB management. The treatment success rate (65.8%) was lower than the WHO threshold standard with a high proportion of patients being lost to the follow up. The co-infection of tuberculosis and HIV resulted in undesirable treatment outcomes. Strengthening TB surveillance and control is recommended.

A roadmap for applying machine learning when working with privacy-sensitive data: predicting non-response to treatment for eating disorders.

OBJECTIVES: Applying machine-learning methodology to clinical data could present a promising avenue for predicting outcomes in patients receiving treatment for psychiatric disorders. However, preserving privacy when working with patient data remains a critical concern. METHODS: In showcasing how machine-learning can be used to build a clinically relevant prediction model on clinical data, we apply two commonly used machine-learning algorithms (Random Forest and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) to routine outcome monitoring data collected from 593 patients with eating disorders to predict absence of reliable improvement 12 months after entering outpatient treatment. RESULTS: An RF model trained on data collected at baseline and after three months made 31.3% fewer errors in predicting lack of reliable improvement at 12 months, in comparison with chance. Adding data from a six-month follow-up resulted in only marginal improvements to accuracy. CONCLUSION: We were able to build and validate a model that could aid clinicians and researchers in more accurately predicting treatment response in patients with EDs. We also demonstrated how this could be done without compromising privacy. ML presents a promising approach to developing accurate prediction models for psychiatric disorders such as ED.