Overview and Methodology of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Among Transgender Women - Seven Urban Areas, United States, 2019-2020.

Transgender women, especially transgender women of color, are disproportionately affected by HIV. However, no surveillance system collects data on HIV risk factors among this population. To address this gap, CDC developed a surveillance system entitled National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Among Transgender Women (NHBS-Trans) to assess behavioral and contextual data through systematic biobehavioral surveillance to monitor behavioral risk factors, prevention usage, and HIV prevalence among transgender women. NHBS-Trans used respondent-driven sampling in seven urban areas in the United States. Trained interviewers used a standardized, anonymous questionnaire to collect information on HIV-related behavioral risk factors, HIV testing, and use of prevention services. Each of the seven participating project areas recruited approximately 200 eligible transgender women and offered anonymous HIV testing. Overall, in the seven project areas, 1,757 participants completed the eligibility screener for NHBS-Trans during 2019-2020; of these, 6.6% were seeds (i.e., a limited number of initial participants who were chosen by referrals from persons and community-based organizations who knew or were part of the local population of transgender women). A total of 1,637 (93.2%) participants were eligible, consented, and completed the interview. Of these, 1,624 (99.2%) agreed to HIV testing. Of the total 1,637 participants, 29 participants did not report identity of woman or transgender woman, resulting in a final sample of 1,608 transgender women. NHBS-Trans project area staff members (n = 14) reported that the survey was timely and addressed a critical need for HIV surveillance in a population that is often overlooked. The MMWR supplement includes this overview report on NHBS-Trans, which describes the methods (history, participant eligibility criteria, questionnaire, data collection, and HIV testing) as well as evaluation of project implementation and the performance of the questionnaire content, specifically the acceptability for transgender women. The other NHBS-Trans reports in the supplement include information on pre-exposure prophylaxis use, psychosocial syndemic conditions and condomless anal intercourse, nonprescription hormone use, homelessness, discrimination and the association between employment discrimination and health care access and use, and social support and the association between certain types of violence and harassment (gender-based verbal and physical abuse or harassment, physical intimate partner abuse or harassment, and sexual violence) and suicidal ideation. NHBS-Trans provides important data related to the goals of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative. Findings from NHBS-Trans can help guide community leaders, clinicians, and public health officials in improving access to and use of HIV prevention and treatment services by transgender women.

Herramientas de Tamizaje

HIV policy in Italy and recommendations across the HIV care continuum.

The HIV epidemic has not yet ended, and there are ever more challenges: the recent Italian National Plan of Interventions against HIV and AIDS (Piano Nazionale di Interventi Contro HIV e AIDS (PNAIDS) 2017-2019) was hailed for its comprehensiveness. Its likelihood of success across the HIV care continuum was therefore assessed. Awareness interventions are sporadic and continue to miss high risk populations; if effectively implemented, the prescriptive detail in PNAIDS may help address this. Combined prevention needs greater focus and investment. However, there has been recent progress: free anonymous testing is available at multiple settings although improvements to provide access to key vulnerable populations are needed. Clinical management is available to a high standard across the country, with some areas for improvement in ensuring equality of access. Long-term management of people living with HIV is often effective, but discrepancies exist across regions and settings of care. It is recommended to enable implementation of PNAIDS as a matter of urgency, develop integrated awareness and testing interventions for STIs and HIV, make condoms free for high-risk populations, and develop a network of multidisciplinary services for long-term holistic care of people living with HIV.

Influence of anonymous HIV testing on national HIV surveillance in the Republic of Korea (2000 to 2015): a retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Owing to the continuous increase in the number of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in Korea, public health centers (PHCs) have performed anonymous tests since 1989. No study has examined the patterns of anonymous HIV testing performed at PHCs and the characteristics of HIV infection detected in those tests. We aimed to assess the influence of anonymous HIV testing on Korea's national HIV surveillance. METHODS: HIV screening test data from 253 PHCs over a 16-year period were classified into 13 groups based on reason for testing. For anonymous HIV test takers (Anonymous), the HIV positivity per 10,000 tests was calculated, as repetitions could not be distinguished. Those with suspected HIV infection voluntarily underwent HIV testing and revealed their identity (Suspected). HIV prevalence was calculated as the number of HIV-positive persons per 10,000 test takers. Analyses were performed using chi-square and Cochran-Armitage trend test with SAS 9.4. RESULTS: Approximately 400,000 HIV screening tests were performed at PHCs annually, which remained unchanged in the past 10 years. The proportion of anonymous testing increased from < 3.0% before 2014 to 4.8% in 2014 and 6.1% in 2015. While the number of HIV cases increased, the number of anonymous HIV-positive test results per 10,000 tests decreased from 68.8 in 2010 to 41.8 in 2015. The HIV prevalence among the suspected was approximately 20.0 per 10,000 test takers before 2014, which steeply increased to 71.6 in 2015. Those with suspected HIV were predominantly men, aged 20 years, foreigners, and metropolitan city dwellers in the last 6 years. The high prevalence of persons with suspected HIV resulted in a doubling of HIV prevalence at PHCs between 2014 and 2015. CONCLUSIONS: Anonymous and Suspected, which were driven by similar motives, impacted each other. Increase in HIV prevalence among the suspected led to a higher HIV prevalence among all test takers in PHCs and higher proportions of HIV infection nationwide, which could be attributed to the increase in the number of anonymous tests performed in PHCs. HIV positivity among the anonymous and HIV prevalence among the suspected are key indexes of the national HIV surveillance in Korea.

A battery of self-screening instruments and self-reported body frame could not detect eating disorders among college students.

OBJECTIVE: Although studies have shown inconsistent results in terms of prevalence of eating disorders, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was used to screen students for abnormal eating behaviors. The results of the self-reported EAT-26 and body frame, as well as the efficacy of using self-administered questionnaires (SAQs) were examined to detect eating disorders in new college students. RESULTS: An anonymous questionnaire (EAT-26) was provided to 7738 new students; 4552 (58.8%) responders were included in the final analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for 131 (1.7%) students. Among them, 6 students showed a high EAT-26 score, but were not diagnosed with an eating disorder based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I). Three students were diagnosed with an eating disorder using SCID-I, but their EAT-26 scores were below the threshold. From these results, in a non-clinical population, findings on EAT-26 do not agree with those on SCID-I in terms of the diagnosis of eating disorders, and this battery is not appropriate for detecting eating disorders.

¿Quo vadis, Endocrinología y Nutrición? / Quo vadis, Endocrinology and nutrition?

Introducción: En España, la elección de la especialidad se realiza vía examen médico interno residente (MIR). El número de elección de plaza MIR puede reflejar el interés por una especialidad. El objetivo del estudio es corroborar el aumento del número de elección y analizar los posibles factores influyentes a la hora de elegirla. Material y método: Analizar la evolución del número de orden con el que se elige nuestra especialidad y compararla con otras especialidades afines, así como las preferencias a la hora de elegirla realizando una encuesta anónima a 108 MIR de Endocrinología. Resultados: El número medio de elección ha ido aumentando progresivamente hasta llegar el último año al número 2336, esta tendencia coincide con un aumento en el número de plazas ofertadas, aunque es más marcada que en otras especialidades médicas relacionadas. En la encuesta se evaluaron diferentes factores influyentes a la hora de elegir especialidad. También se preguntó sobre los aspectos considerados más positivos y negativos de la especialidad. Se consideró como más positivo que sea tranquila y el más negativo, la escasez de técnicas. A la pregunta de si la especialidad había cumplido sus expectativas se dio una puntuación de 8,7 sobre 10, aunque la percepción del prestigio de la especialidad se puntuó solo con 6,7 puntos. Conclusiones: Hay un deterioro evidente del número de elección de nuestra especialidad que no es tan marcado en el resto ramas médicas relacionadas

Introduction: In Spain, the system used to select a medical specialty is the MIR (internal resident physician) exam. The MIR selection number may reflect the interest in a given specialty. Our study objective was to confirm the increase in the selection number and to analyze possible factors influencing the decision. Material and method: To analyze change over time in the MIR number with which this specialty is chosen and to compare it with other related specialties, as well as the reasons why it is preferred using an anonymous survey to 108 MIRs of endocrinology. Results: The average number of MIR for Endocrinology and Nutrition has gradually increased to 2336 in year 2018, a trend that coincides with an increase in the number of places offered but is more marked as compared to other medical specialties. Respondents weighed different factors when choosing specialty. When asked about the most positive aspects of the specialty, the highest rated was that day to day activity was "less intense". The most commonly mentioned negative aspect was the low number of techniques. When asked if the specialty had met their expectations, respondents gave an average score of 8.7, although the perceived prestige of the specialty scored only 6.7 points. Conclusions: There is an obvious deterioration of the MIR selection number of our specialty that it is not so marked in other specialties

On the Content of "Real-World" Sexual Fantasy: Results From an Analysis of 250,000+ Anonymous Text-Based Erotic Fantasies.

A recurring problem with the study of sexual fantasy is that of social desirability bias. Study participants may report fantasies that are consistent with general societal expectations of fantasy content, as opposed to themes characterized by their actual fantasies. The wide availability of erotic material on the Internet, however, facilitates the study of sexual fantasy narratives as they are anonymously expressed and viewed online. By extracting approximately 250,000 text-based erotic fantasies from a user-generated website, we sought to examine "real-world" sexual fantasies, determine the themes that were typical of these narratives, and explore the relationship between themes and story popularity (as assessed by story views per day). A principal components analysis identified 20 themes that commonly occurred across the massive corpus, and a path analysis revealed that these themes played a significant role in predicting the popularity of the sexual fantasy narratives. In particular, the empirically identified themes reflecting familial words (e.g., mother, father) and colloquial sexual words (e.g., cock, fuck) were predictive of story popularity. Other themes identified included those not obviously erotic, such as those consisting of words reflecting domesticity (e.g., towel, shower) and colors (e.g., brown, blue). By analyzing a sexual fantasy corpus of unprecedented size, this study offers unique insight into both the content of sexual fantasies and the popularity of that content.

Cardiovascular Medication Stability in Urine for Non-Adherence Screening by LC-MS-MS.

Biochemical testing in urine is a powerful new tool in the investigation of non-adherence to cardiovascular medications Drug testing using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) is the mainstay of the laboratory test but may be subject to pre-analytical factors that could impact on test results. The stability of cardiovascular medications in urine is one such factor that has not been fully explored in non-adherence testing and has the potential to result in patients appearing falsely non-adherent to their therapy. The stability of 29 cardiovascular medications in patients' urine samples were assessed at room temperature (RT) and at -80°C using a LC-MS-MS screening method. All drugs and drug metabolites were found to be stable under the storage conditions studied. The findings imply that the medication stability in urine samples does not have any impact on non-adherence results and thus allowing samples to be taken and transported without the need for specialist sample handling procedures. The stability of cardiovascular drugs in urine samples will allow adherence testing to be utilized more widely into routine clinics and research.

Disclosure of Adolescent Substance Use in Primary Care: Comparison of Routine Clinical Screening and Anonymous Research Interviews.

PURPOSE: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends substance use screening in adolescent primary care. Many studies of substance use prevalence and screening tool validation are conducted under research protocols that differ from routine clinical screening in context, consequences, and privacy implications. METHODS: This study is a secondary analysis drawing from two projects focused on adolescent primary care patients, aged 12-17, conducted nearly contemporaneously in a Federally Qualified Health Center system. The first project conducted anonymous research interviews with patients (N = 525), while the other tracked routine clinical screening as part of a larger service implementation project (N = 5,971). Both projects assessed substance use with the CRAFFT screening tool. RESULTS: Rates of substance use disclosure and substance use problems were over three and four times higher, respectively, in the anonymous research interview sample compared to rates found in routine clinical screening (p values < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Routine clinical screening may underestimate substance use among adolescents.

Predictors of willingness to accept pre-marital HIV testing and intention to sero-sort marital partners; risks and consequences: Findings from a population-based study in Cameroon.

INTRODUCTION: The objectives of this study was to investigate and compare levels of acceptability of pre-marital HIV testing; and intention to sero-sort future marital and its associated factors among unmarried adults in two cities in Cameroon. METHODS: A population-based survey was conducted simultaneously in the cities of Kumba and Buea, located in the Southwest region of Cameroon. Data were collected from September to October 2016 by trained interviewers who administered questionnaires to eligible and consenting unmarried adults aged 21-35 years. Data were weighted and logistic regression analyses performed to identify significant predictors. The level of statistical significance was set at p< = 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 1,406 respondents (767 in Kumba and 639 in Buea) participated in the study. In the pooled sample, the median age of respondents was 26 years (IQR = 23-29) and over half (54.8%) were males. Over 90% of respondents in both cities indicated their willingness to accept pre-marital HIV testing. Respondents who had previously tested for HIV in Kumba (AOR = 7.87; 95%CI, 4.02-15.44) were significantly more likely to accept premarital HIV testing than those who had never tested for HIV. In Kumba, older age (AOR = 0.42; 95%CI, 0.18-0.96) and those unemployed (AOR = 0.22; 95% CI, 0.06-0.76) were significantly less likely to accept pre-marital HIV testing. In Buea males (AOR = 0.64 95% CI, 0.45-0.89) who would test HIV negative would be significantly less likely to accept to marry an HIV positive partner. In Buea, respondents who indicated a moderate risk of contracting HIV (AOR = 1.71; 95%CI, 1.09-2.66, p = 0.018) were significantly more likely to accept to marry an HIV positive partner. The major limitation of the study was that a hypothetical situation was used to ask respondents about their willingness to accept pre-marital HIV testing rather than actual HIV test acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: Most respondents expressed their willingness to undergo pre-marital HIV testing. However, majority of respondents who would test HIV negative would refuse to marry their partner who tests HIV positive. These findings suggest that interventions to reduce HIV infection and fight against stigma and discrimination should be reinforced at community level.

Investigación, salud pública y asistencia sanitaria en el Reglamento General de Protección de Datos de la Unión Europea y en la Ley Orgánica de Protección de Datos Personales y Garantía de los Derechos Digitales / Research, public health and healthcare in the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union and in the Fundamental Law of Personal Data Protection and Guarantee of Digital Rights

Este trabajo analiza las consecuencias que tiene el inicio de la aplicación del RGPD y la aprobación de la LOPDGDD en la investigación biomédica, la salud pública y la asistencia sanitaria. Aborda el objetivo y el ámbito de aplicación del RGPD, la disociación y la seudonimización y su relevancia en la investigación y la salud pública. También examina la incorporación de los datos biométricos y de los datos genéticos dentro de las categorías especiales de datos personales y la definición que hace el RGPD de los datos de salud. Asimismo, analiza los supuestos de legitimación del tratamiento de categorías especiales de datos personales para asistencia sanitaria, la salud pública y la investigación en salud. Finalmente estudia las previsiones de la disposición adicional decimoséptima de la LOPDGDD que facilita la investigación sanitaria

This paper analyzes the consequences of the beginning of the application of the GDPR and the approval of the LOPDGDD in biomedical research, public health and health care. It addresses the objective and scope of the GDPR, decoupling and pseudonymisation and their relevance to research and public health. It also examines the incorporation of biometric data and genetic data within the special categories of personal data and the GDPR definition of health data. It also analyses the legitimisation of the processing of special categories of personal data for health care, public health and health research. Finally, it studies the requirements of the seventeenth additional provision of the LOPDGDD that facilitates health research

Evaluación de los aspectos metodológicos, éticos, legales y sociales de proyectos de investigación en salud con datos masivos (big data) / Review of the methodological, ethical, legal and social issues of research projects in healthcare with big data

El actual modelo evaluador de la investigación con seres humanos depende básicamente de los procesos de toma de decisiones de los comités de ética de la investigación. Resulta prioritario que estos comités tomen conciencia de la relevancia del nuevo paradigma digital asentado en la explotación a gran escala de datos personales, incluidos los de salud. El artículo ofrece pautas para una adecuada evaluación de los proyectos que apliquen analítica de datos masivos en salud ante los cambios introducidos por el Reglamento General de Protección de Datos. Los procesos de recolección y explotación de datos constituyen el nicho donde desarrollar la investigación. En este contexto, los protocolos de obtención del consentimiento de los participantes han quedado claramente desfasados debido a que se presuponía no solo que los datos eran anónimos, sino que siempre lo seguirían siendo en el futuro. Por ese motivo, resulta imprescindible que los citados comités asimilen nuevas capacidades y procedan a una relectura de valores como la intimidad y la libertad, actualizando para ello protocolos, metodologías y procedimientos de trabajo. Este cambio de cultura de trabajo dotará de seguridad jurídica al personal implicado en las investigaciones, posibilitará que se garantice la protección de la intimidad de los titulares de los datos, y permitirá orientar la explotación de estos de tal forma que se evite la comercialización de conjuntos de datos personales en la era de la reidentificación, para que la investigación responda a las necesidades sociales y no a intereses espurios u oportunistas disfrazados de investigación

The current model for reviewing research with human beings basically depends on decision-making processes within research ethics committees. These committees must be aware of the importance of the new digital paradigm based on the large-scale exploitation of datasets, including personal data on health. This article offers guidelines, with the application of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, for the appropriate evaluation of projects that are based on the use of big data analytics in healthcare. The processes for gathering and using this data constitute a niche where current research is developed. In this context, the existing protocols for obtaining informed consent from participants are outdated, as they are based not only on the assumption that personal data are anonymized, but that they will continue to be so in the future. As a result, it is essential that research ethics committees take on new capabilities and revisit values such as privacy and freedom, updating protocols, methodologies and working procedures. This change in the work culture will provide legal security to the personnel involved in research, will make it possible to guarantee the protection of the privacy of the subjects of the data, and will permit orienting the exploitation of data to avoid the commodification of personal data in this era of deidentification, so that research meets actual social needs and not spurious or opportunistic interests disguised as research

Seroprevalence of maternal HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis in a major maternity hospital in North Kordofan, Sudan.

Routine infectious diseases screening of Sudanese pregnant women has been patchy due to scarcity of healthcare resources and social stigma. We sought to determine the seroprevalence of HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis among pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) at El Obeid Maternity Hospital in western Sudan. We also explored the association between these infections and a set of socio-demographic and maternal variables. Unlinked anonymous testing for HIV-1/2 antibodies, hepatitis B surface antigen, and Treponema pallidum antibodies was performed on residual blood samples collected during routine ANC (August 2016-March 2017). Seroprevalence of HIV was 1.13% (5/444; 95% CI 0.37-2.61%), hepatitis B 2.93% (13/444; 95% CI 1.57-4.95%), and syphilis 7.43% (33/444; 95% CI 5.17-10.28%). On bivariate analysis, there were no statistically significant associations between hepatitis B, syphilis, or a composite outcome including any of the three infections and age, stage of pregnancy, gravidity, parity, previous mode of delivery, history of blood transfusion, or husband polygamy. Urgent action is needed to scale up routine maternal screening for HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis on an opt-out basis. Further research into the socio-demographic and behavioural determinants of these infections as well as their clinical outcomes is needed.

Feasibility of an internet-based HIV testing service: anonymous urine collection from men who have sex with men.

A large proportion of people who are HIV positive do not know their serostatus because facility-based provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling, and voluntary counseling and testing, have not been efficiently implemented in China. Therefore, a new HIV testing strategy must be developed to improve testing services so that more HIV infections can be detected earlier. In this study, we established an anonymous internet-aided urine-based HIV testing service for men who have sex with men (MSM) from 1 April 2016 to 20 January 2017. In total, 3092 urine sample collection packs were distributed by grassroots organizations to MSM; 1977 (69.3%) packs were mailed back to the laboratory; and 1911 (96.7%) eligible samples were tested for HIV antibody. The rate of HIV antibody positivity was 7.1% (135/1901), excluding 10 previously-identified HIV infections. Of those tested, 65.4% (1243/1901) participants obtained their results from our website, 94 (69.6%) of 135 newly-identified urine HIV antibody-positive participants were contacted by CDC staff, and 61.7% (58/94) reported undergoing blood HIV antibody confirmation testing after learning of their urine HIV antibody test results. Of those who were tested for venous HIV antibody, 84.5% (49/58) reported being confirmed HIV antibody positive. Thirty-six of the newly diagnosed participants were successfully referred to a hospital to receive antiretroviral therapy. The rate of confirmed HIV antibody positivity was estimated to be 72.8-89.2 times of that of routine HIV antibody testing. In conclusion, this approach offers an alternative efficient HIV testing strategy to identify HIV positive persons in vulnerable populations.

Increasing awareness and prompting HIV testing: Contributions of Amsterdam HIV Testing Week 2016.

We evaluated Amsterdam HIV Testing Week (HTW) 2016 regarding its primary goals of raising awareness and prompting HIV testing. Participating services offered free, anonymous HIV testing, with a focus on reaching men who have sex with men (MSM) and people with a non-western migration background. Sociodemographic characteristics, HIV testing history, intention to test regularly, beliefs about personal risk and severity of HIV, and perceived social norms regarding HIV testing and people living with HIV were assessed among all who tested. A community quick scan assessed awareness of Amsterdam HTW 2016 and attitudes and intentions regarding HIV testing. Of 806 people tested, 59.6% (405/679) belonged to key populations. None tested HIV-positive and 37.6% intended to test regularly in the future. The community quick scan found moderate awareness of Amsterdam HTW 2016. Awareness was highest among recent testers and HIV-positive MSM and not associated with HIV testing attitudes and intentions. People tested during Amsterdam HTW 2016 were from key populations and/or were not (adequately) reached via traditional testing approaches. The contribution of the Amsterdam HTW approach to raising awareness and prompting HIV testing in key populations may benefit from focusing on HIV-negative individuals who have not been tested recently.

Transforming classroom questioning using emerging technology.

Classroom questioning is a common teaching and learning strategy in postgraduate nurse education. Technologies such as audience response systems (ARS) may offer advantage over traditional approaches to classroom questioning. However, despite being available since the 1960s, ARSs are still considered novel in many postgraduate nurse education classroom settings. This article aims to explicate the attitudes of postgraduate nursing students in an Irish academic teaching hospital towards classroom questioning (CQ) and the use of ARSs as an alternative to traditional CQ techniques. The results of this small-scale study demonstrate that ARSs have a role to play in CQ in the postgraduate setting, being regarded by students as beneficial to learning, psychological safety and classroom interaction.

Addiction: an underestimated problem in psoriasis health care.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a disease of enormous socio-economic impact. Despite approval of numerous highly efficient and costly therapies, a minor proportion of severely affected patients actually receives sufficient treatment. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether addictions are associated with psoriasis and to develop evidence-based recommendations for dermatologists in their daily clinical practice in order to improve medical assessment of psoriasis and patients' quality of life. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Psoriasis patients at the University Department of Dermatology were asked to fill out a paper-based self-reported anonymous questionnaire with 92 questions of validated screening tests for the six most common addictions in Germany (alcohol, nicotine, drugs and illegal drugs, gambling, food). Body weight and height as well as current Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) were documented as well. RESULTS: Between October 2015 and February 2016, 102 patients (65 males, 37 females; mean age 49.7 years (SD 13.4), range 18-83 years) participated in the study. Fifty-seven of the 102 patients showed addictive behaviour. Of these, 23.8% were high-risk drinkers, 41% regular smokers, 11% at risk of drug abuse, 4.1% at risk of food dependency and 19% compulsive gamblers. Compared with the general population, these results are significantly higher for alcohol abuse (P < 0.005), nicotine (P < 0.001) and gambling (P < 0.001). Body mass index was significantly higher in the study population (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Addictions and gambling are more prevalent in patients with psoriasis compared with the general population. Respective screening measures are recommended in daily practice for doctors treating psoriasis patients, and PeakPASI is suggested as a score to document patients' lifetime highest PASI. Parallel to new drug approvals and even more detailed insights into the pathomechanism of psoriasis, public health strategies and interdisciplinary approaches are essential for a general sustained psoriasis treatment.

[Communication preferences of patients with prostate cancer : Preferences regarding the communication of bad news of patients with prostate cancer in Germany-results of an anonymous patient survey]. / Kommunikationspräferenzen von Patienten mit Prostatakrebs : Ergebnisse einer anonymen Patientenbefragung unter Patienten mit Prostatakrebs zu ihren Kommunikationspräferenzen.

BACKGROUND: The communication of bad medical news represents a burdening situation for both patients and physicians which may lead to hurdles in their communication. The questionnaire Measure of Patients' Preferences (MPP-D, validated German translation) was developed to investigate patients' preferences regarding the communication of bad news. OBJECTIVES: The preferences regarding the communication of bad news among patients with prostate cancer was assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Anonymous survey, where approximately 70 office-based urologists were asked to distribute the MPP-D questionnaire to about 20 of their patients with prostate cancer. In addition, information on social demographics was retrieved in order to investigate the influence on communication preferences. RESULTS: In total, 709 questionnaires were evaluated (>50 % return). The majority of patients had clear preferences concerning privacy of the setting, completeness, and unambiguity of information provided and assessment of their subjective information needs. Larger individual differences were observed regarding preferences for emotional support offered by the physician and involvement of family which was also influenced by age and education of the patients. CONCLUSION: This is the first large, multicenter survey of prostate cancer patients in Germany regarding their preferences for communication of bad news. The results confirm previous reports on the importance of cultural affiliation, age, and education as influencing factors.

Beyond Condoms: Risk Reduction Strategies Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men Receiving Rapid HIV Testing in Montreal, Canada.

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) have adapted their sexual practices over the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic based on available data and knowledge about HIV. This study sought to identify and compare patterns in condom use among gay, bisexual, and other MSM who were tested for HIV at a community-based testing site in Montreal, Canada. Results showed that while study participants use condoms to a certain extent with HIV-positive partners and partners of unknown HIV status, they also make use of various other strategies such as adjusting to a partner's presumed or known HIV status and viral load, avoiding certain types of partners, taking PEP, and getting tested for HIV. These findings suggest that MSM who use condoms less systematically are not necessarily taking fewer precautions but may instead be combining or replacing condom use with other approaches to risk reduction.