Positive outcomes: validity, reliability and responsiveness of a novel person-centred outcome measure for people with HIV

Objectives Despite successful treatment, people living with HIV experience persisting and burdensome multidimensional problems. We aimed to assess the validity, reliability and responsiveness of Positive Outcomes, a patient-reported outcome measure for use in clinical practice. Methods In all, 1392 outpatients in five European countries self-completed Positive Outcomes, PAM-13 (patient empowerment), PROQOL-HIV (quality of life) and FRAIL (frailty) at baseline and 12 months. Analysis assessed: (a) validity (structural, convergent and divergent, discriminant); (b) reliability (internal consistency, test-retest); and (c) responsiveness. Results An interpretable four-factor structure was identified: ‘emotional wellbeing’, ‘interpersonal and sexual wellbeing’, ‘socioeconomic wellbeing’ and ‘physical wellbeing’. Moderate to strong convergent validity was found for three subscales of Positive Outcomes and PROQOL (ρ = −0.481 to −0.618, all p < 0.001). Divergent validity was found for total scores with weak ρ (−0.295, p < 0.001). Discriminant validity was confirmed with worse Positive Outcomes score associated with increasing odds of worse FRAIL group (4.81-fold, p < 0.001) and PAM-13 level (2.28-fold, p < 0.001). Internal consistency for total Positive Outcomes and its factors exceeded the conservative α threshold of 0.6. Test-retest reliability was established: those with stable PAM-13 and FRAIL scores also reported median Positive Outcomes change of 0. Improved PROQOL-HIV score baseline to 12 months was associated with improved Positive Outcomes score (r = −0.44, p < 0.001). Conclusions Positive Outcomes face and content validity was previously established, and the remaining validity, reliability and responsiveness properties are now demonstrated. The items within the brief 22-item tool are designed to be actionable by health and social care professionals to facilitate the goal of person-centred care

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Frente al deber : cincuenta meditaciones

T. I (519 p.) -- t. II (489 p.

El combate de la pureza : (a los que tienen veinte años)

AntepPort. con esc. de Compañía de JesúsPort. con esc. da Compañía de Xesú

El viacrucis

Fecha de impresión, 1944Data do imprimatur, 194