PLoS medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Wirelessly observed therapy compared to directly observed therapy to confirm and support tuberculosis treatment adherence: A randomized controlled trial.
Excellent adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment is critical to cure TB and avoid the emergence of resistance. Wirelessly observed therapy (WOT) is a novel patient self-management system consisting of an edible ingestion sensor (IS), external wearable patch, and paired mobile device that can detect and digitally record medication ingestions. Our study determined the accuracy of ingestion detection in clinical and home settings using WOT and subsequently compared, in a randomized control trial (RCT), confirmed daily adherence to medication in persons using WOT or directly observed therapy (DOT) during TB treatment. ⋯ In terms of accuracy, WOT was equivalent to DOT. WOT was superior to DOT in supporting confirmed daily adherence to TB medications during the continuation phase of TB treatment and was overwhelmingly preferred by participants. WOT should be tested in high-burden TB settings, where it may substantially support low- and middle-income country (LMIC) TB programs.
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Multicenter Study
Characterization of Parkinson's disease using blood-based biomarkers: A multicohort proteomic analysis.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting about 5 million people worldwide with no disease-modifying therapies. We sought blood-based biomarkers in order to provide molecular characterization of individuals with PD for diagnostic confirmation and prediction of progression. ⋯ In this study, we found that the blood-based biomarkers BSP, OMD, ACY1, and GHR robustly associated with PD across multiple clinical sites. Our findings suggest that biomarkers based on a peripheral blood sample may be developed for both disease characterization and prediction of future disease progression in PD.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Implementing a structured model for osteoarthritis care in primary healthcare: A stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial.
To improve quality of care for patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA), a structured model for integrated OA care was developed based on international recommendations. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of this model in primary care. ⋯ In this study, a structured model in primary care resulted in higher quality of OA care as compared to usual care. Future studies should explore ways to implement the structured model for integrated OA care on a larger scale.
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Multicenter Study
Longitudinal engagement trajectories and risk of death among new ART starters in Zambia: A group-based multi-trajectory analysis.
Retention in HIV treatment must be improved to advance the HIV response, but research to characterize gaps in retention has focused on estimates from single time points and population-level averages. These approaches do not assess the engagement patterns of individual patients over time and fail to account for both their dynamic nature and the heterogeneity between patients. We apply group-based trajectory analysis-a special application of latent class analysis to longitudinal data-among new antiretroviral therapy (ART) starters in Zambia to identify groups defined by engagement patterns over time and to assess their association with mortality. ⋯ Among new ART starters in Zambia, we observed 6 patient subgroups that demonstrated distinctive engagement trajectories over time and that were associated with marked differences in the subsequent risk of mortality. Further efforts to develop tailored intervention strategies for different types of engagement behaviors, monitor early engagement to identify higher-risk patients, and better understand the determinants of these heterogeneous behaviors can help improve care delivery and survival in this population.
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Multicenter Study Pragmatic Clinical Trial
Text messaging for maternal and infant retention in prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission services: A pragmatic stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial in Kenya.
Timely diagnosis of infant HIV infection is essential for antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. In a randomized controlled trial, we found the Texting Improves Testing (TextIT) intervention (a theory-based text messaging system) to be efficacious for improving infant HIV testing rates and maternal retention in prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programs. Using an implementation science approach, we aimed to evaluate real-world effectiveness of the intervention. ⋯ In this study, a larger proportion of infants in the intervention group received HIV testing compared with the control group, but the difference was small and not statistically significant. There was also a nonsignificant increase in maternal postpartum retention in the intervention periods. Despite the lack of a significant effect of the intervention, key lessons emerged, both for strengthening PMTCT and for implementation research in general. Perhaps most important, improving the implementation of usual care may have been sufficient to substantially improve infant HIV testing rates.