Cost-effectiveness of genotype-guided and dual antiplatelet therapies in acute coronary syndrome.

BackgroundThe choice of antiplatelet therapy after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is complicated: Ticagrelor and prasugrel are novel alternatives to clopidogrel, patients with some genotypes may not respond to clopidogrel, and low-cost generic formulations of clopidogrel are available.ObjectiveTo determine the most cost-effective strategy for dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention for ACS.DesignDecision-analytic model.Data sourcesPublished literature, Medicare claims, and life tables.Target populationPatients having percutaneous coronary intervention for ACS.Time horizonLifetime.PerspectiveSocietal.InterventionFive strategies were examined: generic clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor, and genotyping for polymorphisms of CYP2C19 with carriers of loss-of-function alleles receiving either ticagrelor (genotyping with ticagrelor) or prasugrel (genotyping with prasugrel) and noncarriers receiving clopidogrel.Outcome measuresDirect medical costs, quality-adjusted life years(QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).Results of base-case analysisThe clopidogrel strategy produced$179 301 in costs and 9.428 QALYs. Genotyping with prasugrel was superior to prasugrel alone, with an ICER of$35 800 per QALY relative to clopidogrel. Genotyping with ticagrelor was more effective than genotyping with prasugrel ($30 200 per QALY relative to clopidogrel). Ticagrelor was the most effective strategy($52 600 per QALY relative to genotyping with ticagrelor).Results of sensitivity analysisStronger associations between genotype and thrombotic outcomes rendered ticagrelor substantially less cost-effective ($104 800 per QALY). Genotyping with prasugrel was the preferred therapy among patients who could not tolerate ticagrelor.LimitationNo randomized trials have directly compared genotyping strategies or prasugrel with ticagrelor.ConclusionGenotype-guided personalization may improve the cost-effectiveness of prasugrel and ticagrelor after percutaneous coronary intervention for ACS, but ticagrelor for all patients may bean economically reasonable alternative in some settings

The effect of age on outcomes of coronary artery bypass surgery compared with balloon angioplasty or bare-metal stent implantation among patients with multivessel coronary disease. A collaborative analysis of individual patient data from 10 randomized trials.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess whether patient age modifies the comparative effectiveness of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). BACKGROUND: Increasingly, CABG and PCI are performed in older patients to treat multivessel disease, but their comparative effectiveness is uncertain. METHODS: Individual data from 7,812 patients randomized in 1 of 10 clinical trials of CABG or PCI were pooled. Age was analyzed as a continuous variable in the primary analysis and was divided into tertiles for descriptive purposes (≤56.2 years, 56.3 to 65.1 years, ≥65.2 years). The outcomes assessed were death, myocardial infarction and repeat revascularization over complete follow-up, and angina at 1 year. RESULTS: Older patients were more likely to have hypertension, diabetes, and 3-vessel disease compared with younger patients (p < 0.001 for trend). Over a median follow-up of 5.9 years, the effect of CABG versus PCI on mortality varied according to age (interaction p < 0.01), with adjusted CABG-to-PCI hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 1.23 (95% CI: 0.95 to 1.59) in the youngest tertile; 0.89 (95% CI: 0.73 to 1.10) in the middle tertile; and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.67 to 0.94) in the oldest tertile. The CABG-to-PCI hazard ratio of less than 1 for patients 59 years of age and older. A similar interaction of age with treatment was present for the composite outcome of death or myocardial infarction. In contrast, patient age did not alter the comparative effectiveness of CABG and PCI on the outcomes of repeat revascularization or angina. CONCLUSIONS: Patient age modifies the comparative effectiveness of CABG and PCI on hard cardiac events, with CABG favored at older ages and PCI favored at younger ages

Stand Down–Think Before You Drink: protocol for an effectiveness-implementation trial of a mobile application for unhealthy alcohol use with and without peer support

Introduction Mobile apps can increase access to alcohol-related care but only if patients actively engage with them. Peers have shown promise for facilitating patients’ engagement with mobile apps. However, the effectiveness of peer-based mobile health interventions for unhealthy alcohol use has yet to be evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. The goal of this hybrid I effectiveness-implementation study is to test a mobile app (‘Stand Down–Think Before You Drink’), with and without peer support, to improve drinking outcomes among primary care patients.Methods and analysis In two US Veterans Health Administration (VA) medical centres, 274 primary care patients who screen positive for unhealthy alcohol use and are not currently in alcohol treatment will be randomised to receive usual care (UC), UC plus access to Stand Down (App), or UC plus Peer-Supported Stand Down (PSSD—four peer-led phone sessions over the initial 8 weeks to enhance app engagement). Assessments will occur at baseline and 8-, 20- and 32-weeks postbaseline. The primary outcome is total standard drinks; secondary outcomes include drinks per drinking day, heavy drinking days and negative consequences from drinking. Hypotheses for study outcomes, as well as treatment mediators and moderators, will be tested using mixed effects models. Semi-structured interviews with patients and primary care staff will be analysed using thematic analysis to identify potential barriers and facilitators to implementation of PSSD in primary care.Ethics and dissemination This protocol is a minimal risk study and has received approval from the VA Central Institutional Review Board. The results have the potential to transform the delivery of alcohol-related services for primary care patients who engage in unhealthy levels of drinking but rarely seek treatment. Study findings will be disseminated through collaborations with healthcare system policymakers as well as publications to scholarly journals and presentations at scientific conferences.Trial registration number NCT05473598

A Behavior-Based Intervention That Prevents Sexual Assault: the Results of a Matched-Pairs, Cluster-Randomized Study in Nairobi, Kenya

Journal ArticleThe study’s design was a cluster-randomized,matched-pairs, parallel trial of a behavior-based sexual assault prevention intervention in the informal settlements.The participants were primary school girls aged 10–16. Classroom-based interventions for girls and boys were delivered by instructors from the same settlements, at the same time, over six 2-h sessions. The girls’ program had components of empowerment, gender relations, and self-defense. The boys’ program promotes healthy gender norms. The control armof the study received a health and hygiene curriculum. The primary outcome was the rate of sexual assault in the prior 12 months at the cluster level (school level). Secondary outcomes included the generalized self-efficacy scale, the distribution of number of times victims were sexually assaulted in the prior period, skills used, disclosure rates, and distribution of perpetrators. Difference-in-differences estimates are reported with bootstrapped confidence intervals. Fourteen schools with 3147 girls from the interventiogroup and 14 schools with 2539 girls from the control group were included in the analysis. We estimate a 3.7 % decrease, p = 0.03 and 95 % CI = (0.4, 8.0), in risk of sexual assault in the intervention group due to the intervention (initially 7.3 % at baseline). We estimate an increase in mean generalized self-efficacy score of 0.19 (baseline average 3.1, on a 1–4 scale), p = 0.0004 and 95 % CI = (0.08, 0.39). Interpretation This innovative intervention that combined parallel training for young adolescent girls and boys in school settings showed significant reduction in the rate of sexual assault among girls in this population

Anticipating VA/non-VA care coordination demand for Veterans at high risk for hospitalization

AbstractU.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) patients' multi-system use can create challenges for VA clinicians who are responsible for coordinating Veterans' use of non-VA care, including VA-purchased care ("Community Care") and Medicare.To examine the relationship between drive distance and time-key eligibility criteria for Community Care-and VA reliance (proportion of care received in VA versus Medicare and Community Care) among Veterans at high risk for hospitalization. We used prepolicy data to anticipate the impact of the 2014 Choice Act and 2018 Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act (MISSION Act), which expanded access to Community Care.Cross-sectional analysis using fractional logistic regressions to examine the relationship between a Veteran's reliance on VA for outpatient primary, mental health, and other specialty care and their drive distance/time to a VA facility.Thirteen thousand seven hundred three Veterans over the age of 65 years enrolled in VA and fee-for-service Medicare in federal fiscal year 2014 who were in the top 10th percentile for hospitalization risk.Key explanatory variables were patients' drive distance to VA &gt; 40 miles (Choice Act criteria) and drive time to VA ≥ 30 minutes for primary and mental health care and ≥60 minutes for specialty care (MISSION Act criteria).Veterans at high risk for hospitalization with drive distance eligibility had increased odds of an outpatient specialty care visit taking place in VA when compared to Veterans who did not meet Choice Act eligibility criteria (odds ratio = 1.10, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.15). However, drive time eligibility (MISSION Act criteria) was associated with significantly lower odds of an outpatient specialty care visit taking place in VA (odds ratio = 0.69, 95% confidence interval 0.67, 0.71). Neither drive distance nor drive time were associated with reliance for outpatient primary care or mental health care.VA patients who are at high risk for hospitalization may continue to rely on VA for outpatient primary care and mental health care despite access to outside services, but may increase use of outpatient specialty care in the community in the MISSION era, increasing demand for multi-system care coordination

A BehaviorBased Intervention That Prevents Sexual Assault: the Results of a MatchedPairs, ClusterRandomized Study in Nairobi, Kenya

A journal Article by Prof. Munyae Mulinge and Dr. Oscar Githua, Lecturers in the school of Humanities and Social Sciences at USIU- AfricaDesign The study’s design was a clusterrandomized, matchedpairs, parallel trial of a behaviorbased sexual assault prevention intervention in the informal settlements. Methods The participants were primary school girls aged 10–16. Classroombased interventions for girls and boys were delivered by instructors from the same settlements, at the same time, over six 2h sessions. The girls’ program had components of empowerment, gender relations, and selfdefense. The boys’program promotes healthy gender norms. The control arm of the study received a health and hygiene curriculum. The primary outcome was the rate of sexual assault in the prior 12 months at the cluster level (school level). Secondary outcomes included the generalized sel fefficacy scale, the distribution of number of times victims were sexually assaulted in the prior period, skills used, disclosure rates, and distribution of perpetrators. Difference indifferences estimates are reported with bootstrapped confidence intervals