Characteristics of the health care providers.

<p>Characteristics of the health care providers.</p

Acceptance of side effects. (A) Acceptance of side effects for 8 weeks survival gain.

<p>Preference of 16 weeks survival with moderate side effects with ipilimumab vs. 8 weeks survival with mild side effects with chemotherapy in melanoma patients, healthy respondents and physicians. Preference significantly differed between melanoma patients and physicians. <b>(B)</b><b>Acceptance of side effects due to chemotherapy compared to palliative care.</b> Preference of 3 months survival with mild side effects with chemotherapy vs. 3 months survival free of symptoms with palliative care in melanoma patients, healthy respondents and physicians. Preference significantly differed with melanoma patients accepting tumor therapy with no survival prolongation more frequently than healthy respondents or physicians. <b>(C)</b><b>Acceptance of early palliative care.</b> Acceptance of early palliative care in melanoma patients, healthy respondents and physicians. Numbers were rounded, it may occur that the sum of the numbers in the table may not exactly add up to 100%.</p

Findings on survey questions regarding attitudes to treatment options of different study groups (melanoma patients, healthy individuals, physicians).

<p>Numbers were rounded; it may occur that the sum of the numbers in the table may not exactly add up to 100%.</p><p>Findings on survey questions regarding attitudes to treatment options of different study groups (melanoma patients, healthy individuals, physicians).</p

Characteristics of the study groups.

1<p>NA =  not assessed.</p><p>Characteristics of the study groups.</p

Influencing factors on willingness to preferably treat younger patients with ipilimumab (q. 39).

<p>Influencing factors on willingness to preferably treat younger patients with ipilimumab (q. 39).</p

Restriction of ipilimumab for spending on other health interventions.

<p>(A) Restriction of ipilimumab to save money for research. Physicians are more frequently opposed to ration the drug than healthy respondents. (B) Restriction of ipilimumab to save money for prevention. Physicians are more frequently opposed to ration the drug than healthy respondents.</p

Evaluating HIV Prevention Programs: Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Antibodies as Biomarker for Sexual Risk Behavior in Young Adults in Resource-Poor Countries

<div><p>Background</p><p>Measuring effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions is challenged by bias when using self-reported knowledge, attitude or behavior change. HIV incidence is an objective marker to measure effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions, however, because new infection rates are relatively low, prevention studies require large sample sizes. Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is similarly transmitted and more prevalent and could thus serve as a proxy marker for sexual risk behavior and therefore HIV infection.</p><p>Methods</p><p>HSV-2 antibodies were assessed in a sub-study of 70,000 students participating in an education intervention in Western Province, Kenya. Feasibility of testing for HSV-2 antibodies was assessed comparing two methods using Fisher’s exact test. Three hundred and ninety four students (aged 18 to 22 years) were randomly chosen from the cohort and tested for HIV, <i>Chlamydia trachomatis</i>, <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i>, and <i>Trichomonas vaginalis</i>. Out of these, 139 students were tested for HSV-2 with ELISA and surveyed for sexual risk behavior and 89 students were additionally tested for HSV-2 with a point-of-contact (POC) test.</p><p>Results</p><p>Prevalence rates were 0.5%, 1.8%, 0.3% and 2.3% for HIV, <i>Chlamydia trachomatis</i>, <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i>, and <i>Trichomonas vaginalis</i>, respectively. Prevalence of HSV-2 antibodies was 3.4 % as measured by POC test (n=89) and 14.4 % by ELISA (n=139). Specificity of the POC test compared with ELISA was 100%, and the sensitivity only 23.1%. Associations between self-reported sexual behavior and HSV-2 serostatus could not be shown.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Associations between self-reported sexual risk behavior and HSV-2 serostatus could not be shown, probably due to social bias in interviews since its transmission is clearly linked. HSV-2 antibody testing is feasible in resource-poor settings and shows higher prevalence rates than other sexually transmitted diseases thus representing a potential biomarker for evaluation of HIV prevention interventions.</p></div

Prevalences of sexually transmitted diseases.

<p>Prevalences of sexually transmitted diseases.</p

Willingness to pay for a cure of low-risk melanoma patients in Germany

<div><p>Malignant melanoma is potentially life-threatening but in most cases curable if detected early. Willingness to pay (WTP) is a preference-based construct that reflects burden of disease by assessment of the monetary value for a hypothetical cure from disease. Since WTP (directly as total amount of money) has not been assessed so far in patients with low risk melanoma, it was interesting to gain insights in this patient population and then, in a second step, compare it directly with the WTP of their treating dermato-oncologists. WTP was assessed in 125 patients with low-risk melanoma and additionally in 105 treating physicians, asking for the one-time and continuous payments they would be willing to make for a sustainable cure, both as absolute sums and as percentages of monthly income. The median WTP based on one-time payment was €10,000 for patients and €100,000 for physicians; relative numbers were 100% versus 300% of monthly income. For continuous monthly payments, WTP was €500 for patients and €1000 for physicians, relative numbers 25% and 50% of income, respectively. Even after controlling for income differences, there was a significantly higher WTP in physicians for all four questions. Compared to patients with chronic skin diseases such as vitiligo, rosacea, atopic eczema and psoriasis, patients with low-risk melanoma showed a significantly higher WTP. Our data suggest that there is a relevant burden of disease even in patients with low-risk tumors. Higher WTP of physicians underlines the prevalence of differences in disease perception.</p></div

ANCOVA.

<p>ANCOVA.</p