Predictors of Transition Outcomes in Cystic Fibrosis: Analysis of National Patient Registry and CF RISE (Responsibility. Independence. Self-care. Education) Data.

OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors of change in lung function and body weight during health care transition in cystic fibrosis (CF). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the CF Foundation Patient Registry and the web-based transition program CF RISE (Responsibility. Independence. Self-care. Education) for patients aged 16-25 years who transitioned to adult care from 2013 through 2019. We modeled change in forced expiratory volume in 1 second % predicted and weight using linear regression fit with generalized estimating equations. Predictors included gap in care (time between last pediatric and first adult outpatient visit), transition program engagement, and sociodemographic and medical factors. RESULTS: Among 12 420 adolescents and young adults (AYAs), 3876 transitioned to adult care with a median gap in care of 7.6 months. Patients from CF centers with greater rates of CF RISE engagement had improved lung function and weight at their first adult outpatient visit. Coverage on a parent's insurance plan and absence of CF complications predicted increased lung function. History of a nonlung transplant and sinus disease predicted increased weight. Comorbid diabetes mellitus and gaps in care >3 months predicted decreased lung function with longer gaps in care associated with greater decrease. A gap in care of 6-9 months predicted decreased weight. Control variables including baseline forced expiratory volume in 1 second and weight, and exacerbation status were also statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest 2 promising targets to improve transition of AYAs with CF: increasing AYA engagement in CF RISE and reducing gaps in care during the transition period.

Assessing multilevel barriers to hydroxyurea adherence in youth with sickle cell disease using pharmacy-based refill records.

BACKGROUND: Suboptimal medication adherence is common across youth with chronic health conditions and may contribute to health disparities and adverse health outcomes, especially in underserved communities. METHODS: Using pharmacy prescription records and guided by the World Health Organization Multidimensional Adherence Model, we examined patient-, treatment-, and health system-related factors that may affect hydroxyurea adherence in 72 youth with sickle cell disease (SCD), 10-18 years who had participated in the multisite "Hydroxyurea Adherence for Personal Best in SCD" (HABIT) feasibility (6 months) and efficacy (12 months) trials. Pharmacy data were collected from the year prior to study entry through the duration of each trial. We also examined hydroxyurea dose at baseline, prescribing patterns (hydroxyurea formulation and dose prescribed), quantity of hydroxyurea dispensed, and number of daily capsules/tablets prescribed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: On average, youth were prescribed 1095 ± 402 mg hydroxyurea per day, requiring ingestion of 3 or more capsules for 39.4% of youth. Frequently identified potential barriers were complex medication regimens in which dose of hydroxyurea differed by day of week (47.2%); receipt of an inadequate (< 30 days) supply of hydroxyurea from the pharmacy ≥ 3 times during record collection period (29.2%); and prescription of hydroxyurea suspension suggesting problems swallowing capsules (22.2%). In this sample, most youth were exclusively prescribed 500 mg capsules (62.5%), which was associated with complex medication regimens (RR 3.0, 95% CI 1.4-6.7). Potential barriers were common, occurred at all levels and are potentially modifiable with targeted interventions at the treatment- and health system-related levels.

Hydroxyurea Adherence for Personal Best in Sickle Cell Treatment (HABIT) efficacy trial: Community health worker support may increase hydroxyurea adherence of youth with sickle cell disease.

Despite disease-modifying effects of hydroxyurea on sickle cell disease (SCD), poor adherence among affected youth commonly impedes treatment impact. Following our prior feasibility trial, the "Hydroxyurea Adherence for Personal Best in Sickle Cell Treatment (HABIT)" multi-site randomized controlled efficacy trial aimed to increase hydroxyurea adherence for youth with SCD ages 10-18 years. Impaired adherence was identified primarily through flagging hydroxyurea-induced fetal hemoglobin (HbF) levels compared to prior highest treatment-related HbF. Eligible youth were enrolled as dyads with their primary caregivers for the 1-year trial. This novel semi-structured supportive, multidimensional dyad intervention led by community health workers (CHW), was augmented by daily tailored text message reminders, compared to standard care during a 6-month intervention phase, followed by a 6-month sustainability phase. Primary outcomes from the intervention phase were improved Month 6 HbF levels compared to enrollment and proportion of days covered (PDC) for hydroxyurea versus pre-trial year. The secondary outcome was sustainability of changes up to Month 12. The 2020-2021 peak coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted enrollment and clinic-based procedures; CHW in-person visits shifted to virtual scheduled interactions. We enrolled 50 dyads, missing target enrollment. Compared to enrollment levels, both HbF level and PDC significantly - but not sustainably - improved within the intervention group (p = .03 and .01, respectively) with parallel increased mean corpuscular volume (MCV) (p = .05), but not within controls. No significant between-group differences were found at Months 6 or 12. These findings suggest that our community-based, multimodal support for youth-caregiver dyads had temporarily improved hydroxyurea usage. Durability of impact should be tested in a trial with longer duration of CHW-led and mobile health support.

Natural Language Processing of Nursing Notes: An Integrative Review.

Natural language processing includes a variety of techniques that help to extract meaning from narrative data. In healthcare, medical natural language processing has been a growing field of study; however, little is known about its use in nursing. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL and found 689 studies, narrowed to 43 eligible studies using natural language processing in nursing notes. Data related to the study purpose, patient population, methodology, performance evaluation metrics, and quality indicators were extracted for each study. The majority (86%) of the studies were conducted from 2015 to 2021. Most of the studies (58%) used inpatient data. One of four studies used data from open-source databases. The most common standard terminologies used were the Unified Medical Language System and Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine, whereas nursing-specific standard terminologies were used only in eight studies. Full system performance metrics (eg, F score) were reported for 61% of applicable studies. The overall number of nursing natural language processing publications remains relatively small compared with the other medical literature. Future studies should evaluate and report appropriate performance metrics and use existing standard nursing terminologies to enable future scalability of the methods and findings.

Emergency Department Use by Young Adults With Chronic Illness Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: There was a significant decrease in emergency department encounters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our large urban emergency department observed decreased encounters and admissions by youths with chronic health conditions. This study aimed to compare the frequency of emergency department encounters for certain young adults before the pandemic and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study using medical records of patients ages 20 to 26 years from October 2018 to September 2019 and February 2020 to February 2021. Files set for inclusion were those with a primary diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus, diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, sickle cell disease, asthma, and certain psychiatric disorders for potentially preventable health events. RESULTS: We included 1203 total encounters (853 before the pandemic and 350 during the pandemic), with the total number of subjects included in the study 568 (293 before the pandemic to 239 during the pandemic). During the pandemic, young adults with mental health conditions (53.1%) accounted for most encounters. Encounters requiring hospital admissions increased from 27.4% to 52.5% during the pandemic, primarily among patients with diabetes (41.8% vs 61.1%) and mental health conditions (50% vs 73.3%). DISCUSSION: The number of young adults with certain chronic health conditions decreased during COVID-19, with encounters for subjects with mental health conditions increasing significantly. The proportion of admissions increased during the pandemic with increases for subjects with mental health disorders and diabetes. The number of frequent users decreased during COVID-19. Future research is needed to understand better the causes for these disparities in young adults with chronic conditions who use the emergency department as a source of care.

Do Interventions Improve Symptoms Among ICU Surrogates Facing End-of-Life Decisions? A Prognostically-Enriched Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluate the efficacy of interventions to improve symptoms for ICU surrogates at highest risk of developing psychologic distress: those facing end-of-life care decisions. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched through April 16, 2022. STUDY SELECTION: Following an a priori protocol, randomized trials of interventions delivered to surrogates of adult ICU patients who died or had high likelihood of mortality evaluating surrogate symptoms were identified. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers performed screening and data extraction and assessed risk of bias (Cochrane Risk of Bias [RoB] 2 tool). Trials were eligible for meta-analysis if group mean symptom scores were provided at 3 or 6 months. Pooled effects were estimated using a random effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed (Cochrane Q, I2 ). Certainty of evidence was assessed (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation). DATA SYNTHESIS: Of 1,660 records, 10 trials met inclusion criteria representing 3,824 surrogates; eight were included in the meta-analysis. Overall RoB was rated Some Concerns. Most ( n = 8) interventions focused on improving communication and enhancing psychologic support in the ICU. All trials measured anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress. Significant improvement was seen at 3 months (depression, mean difference [MD], -0.68; 95% CI, -1.14 to -0.22, moderate certainty; posttraumatic stress, standardized MD, -0.25; 95% CI, -0.49 to -0.01, very low certainty) and 6 months (anxiety, MD, -0.70; 95% CI, -1.18 to -0.22, moderate certainty). Sensitivity analyses suggest significant findings may be unstable. Subgroup analyses demonstrated differences in effect by trial location, interventionist, and intervention dose. CONCLUSIONS: Communication and psychological support interventions in the ICU yielded small but significant improvement in psychological symptoms with moderate to very low certainty evidence in a prognostically-enriched sample of ICU surrogates facing end-of-life care decisions. A new approach to interventions that extend beyond the ICU may be needed.

Mental health assessment of youth with sickle cell disease and their primary caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) and their caregivers are susceptible to stress and depression, perhaps exacerbated by pandemic-associated health and economic concerns. Most of the 50 youth-caregiver dyads enrolled in the multisite trial, Hydroxyurea Adherence for Personal Best in Sickle Cell Treatment (HABIT), took an online survey of self-reported mental health symptoms and food insecurity during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to largely pre-pandemic results, prevalence of mental health symptoms in dyad members appeared to have shifted: fewer youth and more caregivers were affected during the pandemic; many of both groups lacked optimism. Pandemic/post-pandemic screening of youth with SCD for mental health symptoms and food insecurity appears warranted.

Pediatric hematology providers' contraceptive practices for female adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease: A national survey.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) women with sickle cell disease (SCD) have increased pregnancy-related health risks and are prescribed potentially teratogenic medications, yet limited data are available regarding pediatric SCD provider contraceptive practices. We aimed to assess pediatric hematology providers' beliefs, practices, motivators, and barriers for providing contraceptive care to female AYAs with SCD. METHODS: Guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM), we developed a 25-question, web-based survey to assess practices. Survey links were distributed nationwide to pediatric SCD and/or general hematology providers through their publicly available emails and by request to directors of U.S.-accredited Pediatric Hematology-Oncology fellowship programs for distribution to their SCD providers. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, and logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 177 respondents, 160 surveys meeting inclusion criteria were analyzed. Most providers reported counseling (77.5%) and referring female AYA patients for contraception (90.8%), but fewer reported prescribing contraception (41.8%). Proportionally fewer trainees provided counseling compared with established providers (54% vs. 85%, p < .001), with a similar trend for prescribing (p = .05). Prescription practices did not differ significantly by provider beliefs regarding potential teratogenicity of hydroxyurea. Key motivators included patient request and disclosure of sexual activity. Key barriers included inadequate provider training, limited visit time, and perceived patient/parent interest. CONCLUSION: Provider contraceptive practices for female AYAs with SCD varied, especially by provider status. Health beliefs regarding teratogenic potential of hydroxyurea did not correlate with contraceptive practices. Clinical guidelines, provider training, and patient/parent decision-making tools may be tested to assess whether provider contraceptive practices could be improved.

Moving up: Healthcare transition experiences of adolescents and young adults with cystic fibrosis.

PURPOSE: The experience of healthcare transition from pediatric to adult care in cystic fibrosis (CF) remains poorly understood, particularly among racially and ethnically diverse adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with CF. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of a diverse sample of AYAs with CF at one urban academic medical center regarding healthcare transition. DESIGN AND METHODS: Guided by qualitative descriptive methodology, we purposively selected AYAs who represented the pre and post transition experience: some AYAs had experienced the transition preparation program CF R.I.S.E. Demographic information and responsibility for self-management behaviors were collected using an online survey. Semi-structured video interviews were conducted following an iterative interview guide. A codebook directed inductive coding. QSR NVivo Version 12 software was used to organize the data. RESULTS: 12 AYAs with CF were enrolled (25% female, 25% Black AYA, 33% Hispanic/Latina/o AYA, 50% White AYA; mean age 20.8 years). Three themes were identified: independent care of the whole self, preparing for change and the unknown and transition experiences vary. CONCLUSIONS: Not all participants experienced a smooth transition. Participants identified suggestions for the development of transition preparation interventions, specifically around involving AYAs in transition decisions and beginning transition preparation early in adolescence. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Participants expressed uncertainty about transition when they felt little control over the process or lacked sufficient information about adult care. Therefore, comprehensive early transition preparation for all AYAs with CF with a focus on involving AYAs in transition decisions is recommended.

A 10-year examination of a one-on-one grant writing partnership for nursing pre- and post-doctoral trainees.

BACKGROUND: The training and mentoring of pre- and post-doctoral trainees in nursing research is essential to feed the pipeline of nurses prepared to launch an independent program of research. PURPOSE: The purpose of this report is to describe a one-on-one grant writing Partnership developed in a school of nursing targeting pre- and post-doctoral trainees and quantify its impact on funding rates. METHODS: The Partnership includes four key elements: regular meetings, setting a timeline with milestones, writing and editing support, and attention to administrative documents. Forty grant applications by pre- and post-doctoral trainees were developed and submitted from 2011 to 2020. FINDINGS: Among Partnership participants, 81.0% (17/21) received funding as compared with 42.1% (8/19) who did not participate, p = .02. DISCUSSION: Schools of nursing and other disciplines should consider investing in a Partnership to provide grant writing support their pre- and post-doctoral trainees and increase their overall research capacity.

Identifying Symptom Information in Clinical Notes Using Natural Language Processing.

BACKGROUND: Symptoms are a core concept of nursing interest. Large-scale secondary data reuse of notes in electronic health records (EHRs) has the potential to increase the quantity and quality of symptom research. However, the symptom language used in clinical notes is complex. A need exists for methods designed specifically to identify and study symptom information from EHR notes. OBJECTIVES: We aim to describe a method that combines standardized vocabularies, clinical expertise, and natural language processing to generate comprehensive symptom vocabularies and identify symptom information in EHR notes. We piloted this method with five diverse symptom concepts: constipation, depressed mood, disturbed sleep, fatigue, and palpitations. METHODS: First, we obtained synonym lists for each pilot symptom concept from the Unified Medical Language System. Then, we used two large bodies of text (clinical notes from Columbia University Irving Medical Center and PubMed abstracts containing Medical Subject Headings or key words related to the pilot symptoms) to further expand our initial vocabulary of synonyms for each pilot symptom concept. We used NimbleMiner, an open-source natural language processing tool, to accomplish these tasks and evaluated NimbleMiner symptom identification performance by comparison to a manually annotated set of nurse- and physician-authored common EHR note types. RESULTS: Compared to the baseline Unified Medical Language System synonym lists, we identified up to 11 times more additional synonym words or expressions, including abbreviations, misspellings, and unique multiword combinations, for each symptom concept. Natural language processing system symptom identification performance was excellent. DISCUSSION: Using our comprehensive symptom vocabularies and NimbleMiner to label symptoms in clinical notes produced excellent performance metrics. The ability to extract symptom information from EHR notes in an accurate and scalable manner has the potential to greatly facilitate symptom science research.

Characterizing shared and distinct symptom clusters in common chronic conditions through natural language processing of nursing notes.

Data-driven characterization of symptom clusters in chronic conditions is essential for shared cluster detection and physiological mechanism discovery. This study aims to computationally describe symptom documentation from electronic nursing notes and compare symptom clusters among patients diagnosed with four chronic conditions-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cancer. Nursing notes (N = 504,395; 133,977 patients) were obtained for the 2016 calendar year from a single medical center. We used NimbleMiner, a natural language processing application, to identify the presence of 56 symptoms. We calculated symptom documentation prevalence by note and patient for the corpus. Then, we visually compared documentation for a subset of patients (N = 22,657) diagnosed with COPD (n = 3339), heart failure (n = 6587), diabetes (n = 12,139), and cancer (n = 7269) and conducted multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical clustering to discover underlying groups of patients who have similar symptom profiles (i.e., symptom clusters) for each condition. As expected, pain was the most frequently documented symptom. All conditions had a group of patients characterized by no symptoms. Shared clusters included cardiovascular symptoms for heart failure and diabetes; pain and other symptoms for COPD, diabetes, and cancer; and a newly-identified cognitive and neurological symptom cluster for heart failure, diabetes, and cancer. Cancer (gastrointestinal symptoms and fatigue) and COPD (mental health symptoms) each contained a unique cluster. In summary, we report both shared and distinct, as well as established and novel, symptom clusters across chronic conditions. Findings support the use of electronic health record-derived notes and NLP methods to study symptoms and symptom clusters to advance symptom science.

Nursing documentation of symptoms is associated with higher risk of emergency department visits and hospitalizations in homecare patients.

BACKGROUND: Nurses often document patient symptoms in narrative notes. PURPOSE: This study used a technique called natural language processing (NLP) to: (1) Automatically identify documentation of seven common symptoms (anxiety, cognitive disturbance, depressed mood, fatigue, sleep disturbance, pain, and well-being) in homecare narrative nursing notes, and (2) examine the association between symptoms and emergency department visits or hospital admissions from homecare. METHOD: NLP was applied on a large subset of narrative notes (2.5 million notes) documented for 89,825 patients admitted to one large homecare agency in the Northeast United States. FINDINGS: NLP accurately identified symptoms in narrative notes. Patients with more documented symptom categories had higher risk of emergency department visit or hospital admission. DISCUSSION: Further research is needed to explore additional symptoms and implement NLP systems in the homecare setting to enable early identification of concerning patient trends leading to emergency department visit or hospital admission.

Greater number of perceived barriers to hydroxyurea associated with poorer health-related quality of life in youth with sickle cell disease.

BACKGROUND: Despite medical benefits, hydroxyurea adherence in adolescents is often poor. As part of a baseline assessment of 28 youth (10-18 years) parent dyads who participated in a 6-month feasibility trial to improve hydroxyurea adherence, we measured the relationship between greater barriers to adherence and health-related quality of life (HRQL) from youth and parent perspectives. PROCEDURE: Barriers were measured using the Adolescent and Parent Medication Barriers Scales with nine hydroxyurea items added. Barriers reported by ≥25% of the sample were considered common. Generic and disease-specific HRQL were measured by PedsQL and PedsQL Sickle Cell Disease modules. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha, Spearman correlation coefficients, and paired t tests. RESULTS: Fifty-six subjects (28 dyads) participated. Youth reported greater barriers compared with parents (5.0 ± 3.9 and 3.5 ± 3.2; P = 0.03), with >80% of respondents reporting ≥1 barriers. Twelve barriers were reported by ≥25% of adolescents, whereas six were reported by ≥25% of parents. Of these, only two were common to both dyad members. Approximately one-third of youth had generic and disease-specific HRQL scores that fell at or below cutoff scores, suggesting being at risk for impaired HRQL. Greater barriers were inversely associated with poorer generic (parent r = -0.43, P = 0.03; youth r = -0.44, P < 0.001) and disease-specific HRQL (parent r = -0.53, P = 0.005; youth r = -0.53, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Hydroxyurea barriers were frequently reported but differed by dyad members' perspective. Greater barriers were associated with poorer generic and disease-specific HRQL. To reduce barriers to hydroxyurea in youth with sickle cell disease, perspectives of both dyad members should be addressed.

HABIT efficacy and sustainability trial, a multi-center randomized controlled trial to improve hydroxyurea adherence in youth with sickle cell disease: a study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Hydroxyurea (HU) is recommended as standard practice for youth with sickle cell disease (SCD). Yet, despite its efficacy, HU adherence in adolescents and young adults is often poor. Poor medication adherence increases disease burden, healthcare cost and widens health disparities. Adolescence is a critical time to improve adherence through improved chronic disease self-management. This study aims to test the efficacy of an intervention delivered to youth/parent dyads by community health workers (CHWs), augmented by tailored text messages on HU adherence (primary outcome). Secondary outcomes are intervention sustainability, youth health-related quality of life, self-management responsibility concordance, acute hospital use and self-reported disease symptoms. METHODS: Hydroxyurea Adherence for Personal Best in Sickle Cell Disease, "HABIT," is a 12 month multi-center randomized controlled trial. One hundred four youth, 10 to 18 years of age prescribed HU who meet eligibility criteria, enrolled with their parent as dyads, will be randomized 1:1 to either the HABIT intervention or to usual clinical care plus education handouts. All subjects will complete clinic visits at months 0, 2, 4, 6 (efficacy component), 9 and 12 (sustainability component) for assessment of HbF biomarker, other hematologic parameters, and to complete questionnaires. In addition, dyads assigned to the HABIT intervention will work with CHWs to identify a daily habit (e.g., brushing teeth) on which to build a HU adherence habit. Tailored daily text message reminders to support the habit will be developed by the dyad in collaboration with the CHWs and sent to parent and youth. At the 6 month visit, the intervention will end and the sustainability portion of the trial will begin. All data analyses will be based on intention to treat with all randomized subjects included in the analyses. DISCUSSION: Prior retrospective studies demonstrate that a majority of adolescents are poorly adherent to HU. If efficacious, the HABIT intervention has the potential to improve the lives of youth with SCD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03462511 . Registered March 6, 2018, last updated July 26, 2019.

Dissemination of PhD Dissertation Research by Dissertation Format: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: The study purpose was to compare dissemination of PhD dissertation research by dissertation format: traditional (five-chapter document providing a complete and systematic account of the PhD research) versus an alternate (substudy [document containing three smaller studies but not written as stand-alone manuscripts] or publication [document containing three or more related manuscripts intended for submission or published in a peer-reviewed journal]) format. DESIGN: A retrospective study of all PhD dissertations (1999-2019) from one research intensive school of nursing. METHODS: Following identification of graduates via the school's PhD database, we searched ProQuest and PubMed databases for the dissertation and first authored peer-reviewed publications of each graduate to determine dissertation format, study design, timing and number of dissertation research publications, and inclusion of dissertation sponsor in authorship. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon rank sum tests. FINDINGS: Of 113 graduates, 80 (70.8%) employed a traditional format, with the remaining graduates structuring dissertations using an alternate (substudy [n = 12], publication [n = 21]) format. Of those using the traditional format, 33 graduates (41.3%) never published dissertation research findings in a peer-reviewed journal. For those who published their dissertation research in a peer-reviewed journal, time to first publication was 1.4 ± 2.1 years (median 1.6 years) following degree conferral. In contrast, all graduates who utilized alternate formats published one or more components of their dissertation research with shorter time to first published manuscript (-0.6 ± 1.1 years; median -0.5 years; p < .001). Number of peer-reviewed publications was higher for those who utilized an alternate format compared to the traditional format (2.9 ± 1.5 [median 3.0] vs. 1.8 ± 1.1 [median 1.0], p = .001). Acknowledgment of the sponsor's contribution via publication authorship was higher for those using an alternate format compared to the traditional format (100% vs. 70.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Number and timeliness of peer-reviewed publications stemming from dissertation research was higher for PhD graduates who utilized an alternate dissertation format. Alternate dissertation formats should be encouraged by PhD programs as one means to improve dissemination of PhD nursing research. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Dissemination of PhD research through peer-reviewed publications promotes the continued development of nursing science to inform nursing practice and advances the career trajectory of PhD graduates.

HABIT, a Randomized Feasibility Trial to Increase Hydroxyurea Adherence, Suggests Improved Health-Related Quality of Life in Youths with Sickle Cell Disease.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of a community health worker (CHW) intervention, augmented by tailored text messages, on adherence to hydroxyurea therapy in youths with sickle cell disease, as well as on generic and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HrQL) and youth-parent self-management responsibility concordance. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a 2-site randomized controlled feasibility study (Hydroxyurea Adherence for Personal Best in Sickle Cell Treatment [HABIT]) with 2:1 intervention allocation. Youths and parents participated as dyads. Intervention dyads received CHW visits and text message reminders. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and growth models adjusting for group assignment, time, and multiple comparisons. Changes in outcomes from 0 to 6 months were compared with their respective minimal clinically important differences. RESULTS: A total of 28 dyads (mean age of youths, 14.3 ± 2.6 years; 50% Hispanic) participated (18 in the intervention group, 10 in the control group), with 10.7% attrition. Accounting for group assignment, time, and multiple comparisons, at 6 months intervention youths reported improved generic HrQL total score (9.8 points; 95% CI, 0.4-19.2) and Emotions subscale score (15.0 points; 95% CI, 1.6-28.4); improved disease-specific subscale scores for Worry I (30.0 points; 95% CI, 8.5-51.5), Emotions (37.0 points, 95% CI, 9.4-64.5), and Communication I (17.8 points; 95% CI, 0.5-35.1); and 3-month dyad self-management responsibility concordance (3.5 points; 95% CI, -0.2 to 7.1). There were no differences in parent proxy-reported HrQL measures at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: These findings add to research examining effects of behavioral interventions on HrQL outcomes in youths with sickle cell disease. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02029742.

Associations between health literacy, HIV-related knowledge, and information behavior among persons living with HIV in the Dominican Republic.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the health literacy levels of persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH) at a health clinic in the Dominican Republic (DR) and assess associations between health literacy, HIV-related knowledge, and health information behavior (how patients need, seek, receive, and use information). DESIGN AND SAMPLE: Cross-sectional, descriptive. Participants were 107 PLWH attending the Clinic. MEASURES: A theoretically based, 64-item survey assessing information behavior and HIV-related knowledge was administered in Spanish through individual interviews. Health literacy was assessed using the Short Assessment of Health Literacy-Spanish and English. RESULTS: On average, participants were 40.8 years old and had lived with HIV for 7.7 years. The majority (69.2%) had low health literacy. HIV-related knowledge and information behavior varied by health literacy level and uncertainty regarding a main indicator of disease progression, viral load, was demonstrated regardless of health literacy level. Participants with low health literacy were less likely to answer questions or answer questions correctly and many participants (39.2%) indicated viral transmission can occur through supernatural means. CONCLUSIONS: Findings demonstrate unmet information need and that information received may not always be understood. Methods to improve health education are needed to ensure patients receive health information in an understandable way.

Randomized feasibility trial to improve hydroxyurea adherence in youth ages 10-18 years through community health workers: The HABIT study.

INTRODUCTION: The main therapeutic intervention for sickle cell disease (SCD) is hydroxyurea (HU). The effect of HU is largely through dose-dependent induction of fetal hemoglobin (HbF). Poor HU adherence is common among adolescents. METHODS: Our 6-month, two-site pilot intervention trial, "HABIT," was led by culturally aligned community health workers (CHWs). CHWs performed support primarily through home visits, augmented by tailored text message reminders. Dyads of youth with SCD ages 10-18 years and a parent were enrolled. A customized HbF biomarker, the percentage decrease from each patients' highest historical HU-induced HbF, "Personal best," was used to qualify for enrollment and assess HU adherence. Two primary outcomes were as follows: (1) intervention feasibility and acceptability and (2) HU adherence measured in three ways: monthly percentage improvement toward HbF Personal best, proportion of days covered (PDC) by HU, and self-report. RESULTS: Twenty-eight dyads were enrolled, of which 89% were retained. Feasibility and acceptability were excellent. Controlling for group assignment and month of intervention, the intervention group improved percentage decrease from Personal best by 2.3% per month during months 0-4 (P = 0.30), with similar improvement in adherence demonstrated using pharmacy records. Self-reported adherence did not correlate. Dyads viewed CHWs as supportive for learning about SCD and HU, living with SCD and making progress in coordinated self-management responsibility to support a daily HU habit. Most parents and youth appreciated text message HU reminders. CONCLUSIONS: The HABIT pilot intervention demonstrated feasibility and acceptability with promising effect toward improved medication adherence. Testing in a larger multisite intervention trial is warranted.