Readability of COVID-19 Parental Guidance Documents

The purpose of this study is to examine the readability levels of the state departments of education guidance documents regarding COVID-19 protocols for families of students receiving special education services. The authors searched the 50 states and the District of Columbia’s departments of education websites for their COVID-19, special education, parental guidance documents for the 2020-2021 school year. Parental guidance documents were available from 90% (46/51) of the department of education websites with 61% (31/51) of those documents specifically designed for parents of children receiving special education services. The researchers used the Flesch Reading Ease (FRES) to analyze the reading level of the 31 documents that the departments of education websites created for families of individuals receiving special education services. The FRES score was 43.05, indicating that the average reading difficulty was “difficult” with a “college reading level.” The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) average score for the reviewed documents revealed an average U.S. grade level of 12.34. Thus, documents produced during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly exceeded the appropriate reading level recommended by the current research (Nagro & Stein, 2016). To improve communication and provide caregivers with the necessary information to make informed decisions regarding their children’s educational need during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential for parental guidance documents to be written at lower reading levels to accommodate the general population

Viral Load Status Before Switching to Dolutegravir-Containing Antiretroviral Therapy and Associations With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Treatment Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Background: Dolutegravir is being rolled out globally as part of preferred antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens, including among treatment-experienced patients. The role of viral load (VL) testing before switching patients already on ART to a dolutegravir-containing regimen is less clear in real-world settings. Methods: We included patients from the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS consortium who switched from a nevirapine- or efavirenz-containing regimen to one with dolutegravir. We used multivariable cause-specific hazards regression to estimate the association of the most recent VL test in the 12 months before switching with subsequent outcomes. Results: We included 36 393 patients at 37 sites in 5 countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda) who switched to dolutegravir from July 2017 through February 2020, with a median follow-up of approximately 11 months. Compared with those who switched with a VL <200 copies/mL, patients without a recent VL test or with a preswitch VL ≥1000 copies/mL had significantly increased hazards of an incident VL ≥1000 copies/mL (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.99-4.19 and aHR, 6.60; 95% CI, 4.36-9.99, respectively) and pulmonary tuberculosis or a World Health Organization clinical stage 4 event (aHR, 4.78; 95% CI, 2.77-8.24 and aHR, 13.97; 95% CI, 6.62-29.50, respectively). Conclusions: A VL test before switching to dolutegravir may help identify patients who need additional clinical monitoring and/or adherence support. Further surveillance of patients who switched to dolutegravir with an unknown or unsuppressed VL is needed

Lower rates of ART initiation and decreased retention among ART-naïve patients who consume alcohol enrolling in HIV care and treatment programs in Kenya and Uganda

Objectives Almost 13 million people are estimated to be on antiretroviral therapy in Eastern and Southern Africa, and their disease course and program effectiveness could be significantly affected by the concurrent use of alcohol. Screening for alcohol use may be important to assess the prevalence of alcohol consumption and its impact on patient and programmatic outcomes. Methods As part of this observational study, data on patient characteristics and alcohol consumption were collected on a cohort of 765 adult patients enrolling in HIV care in East Africa. Alcohol consumption was assessed with the AUDIT questionnaire at enrollment. Subjects were classified as consuming any alcohol (AUDIT score &gt;0), hazardous drinkers (AUDIT score ≥8) and hyper drinkers (AUDIT score ≥16). The effects of alcohol consumption on retention in care, death and delays in antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation were assessed through competing risk (Fine &amp; Gray) models. Results Of all study participants, 41.6% consumed alcohol, 26.7% were classified as hazardous drinkers, and 16.0% as hyper drinkers. Depending on alcohol consumption classification, men were 3–4 times more likely to consume alcohol compared to women. Hazardous drinkers (median age 32.8 years) and hyper drinkers (32.7 years) were slightly older compared to non-hazardous drinkers (30.7 years) and non-hyper drinkers (30.8 years), (p-values = 0.014 and 0.053 respectively). Median CD4 at enrollment was 330 cells/μl and 16% were classified World Health Organization (WHO) stage 3 or 4. There was no association between alcohol consumption and CD4 count or WHO stage at enrollment. Alcohol consumption was associated with significantly lower probability of ART initiation (adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratio aSHR = 0.77 between alcohol consumers versus non-consumers; p-value = 0.008), and higher patient non-retention in care (aSHR = 1.77, p-value = 0.023). Discussion Alcohol consumption is associated with significant delays in ART initiation and reduced retention in care for patients enrolling in HIV care and treatment programs in East Africa. Consequently, interventions that target alcohol consumption may have a significant impact on the HIV care cascade. © 2020 Patsis et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Monitoring and switching of first-line antiretroviral therapy in adult treatment cohorts in sub-Saharan Africa: Collaborative analysis

Background HIV-1 viral load testing is recommended to monitor antiretroviral therapy (ART) but is not universally available. The aim of our study was to assess monitoring of first-line ART and switching to second-line ART in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods We did a collaborative analysis of cohort studies from 16 countries in east Africa, southern Africa, and west Africa that participate in the international epidemiological database to evaluate AIDS (IeDEA). We included adults infected with HIV-1 who started combination ART between January, 2004, and January, 2013. We defined switching of ART as a change from a non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based regimen to one including a protease inhibitor, with adjustment of one or more nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). Virological and immunological failures were defined according to WHO criteria. We calculated cumulative probabilities of switching and hazard ratios with 95% CIs comparing routine viral load monitoring, targeted viral load monitoring, CD4 monitoring, and clinical monitoring, adjusting for programme and individual characteristics. Findings Of 297 825 eligible patients, 10 352 (3%) switched to second-line ART during 782 412 person-years of follow-up. Compared with CD4 monitoring, hazard ratios for switching were 3·15 (95% CI 2·92–3·40) for routine viral load monitoring, 1·21 (1·13–1·30) for targeted viral load monitoring, and 0·49 (0·43–0·56) for clinical monitoring. Of 6450 patients with confirmed virological failure, 58·0% (95% CI 56·5–59·6) switched by 2 years, and of 15 892 patients with confirmed immunological failure, 19·3% (18·5–20·0) switched by 2 years. Of 10 352 patients who switched, evidence of treatment failure based on one CD4 count or viral load measurement ranged from 86 (32%) of 268 patients with clinical monitoring to 3754 (84%) of 4452 with targeted viral load monitoring. Median CD4 counts at switching were 215 cells per μL (IQR 117–335) with routine viral load monitoring, but were lower with other types of monitoring (range 114–133 cells per μL). Interpretation Overall, few patients switched to second-line ART and switching happened late in the absence of routine viral load monitoring. Switching was more common and happened earlier after initiation of ART with targeted or routine viral load testing

Vorapaxar in the secondary prevention of atherothrombotic events

Item does not contain fulltextBACKGROUND: Thrombin potently activates platelets through the protease-activated receptor PAR-1. Vorapaxar is a novel antiplatelet agent that selectively inhibits the cellular actions of thrombin through antagonism of PAR-1. METHODS: We randomly assigned 26,449 patients who had a history of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or peripheral arterial disease to receive vorapaxar (2.5 mg daily) or matching placebo and followed them for a median of 30 months. The primary efficacy end point was the composite of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, or stroke. After 2 years, the data and safety monitoring board recommended discontinuation of the study treatment in patients with a history of stroke owing to the risk of intracranial hemorrhage. RESULTS: At 3 years, the primary end point had occurred in 1028 patients (9.3%) in the vorapaxar group and in 1176 patients (10.5%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio for the vorapaxar group, 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 0.94; P<0.001). Cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or recurrent ischemia leading to revascularization occurred in 1259 patients (11.2%) in the vorapaxar group and 1417 patients (12.4%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.82 to 0.95; P=0.001). Moderate or severe bleeding occurred in 4.2% of patients who received vorapaxar and 2.5% of those who received placebo (hazard ratio, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.43 to 1.93; P<0.001). There was an increase in the rate of intracranial hemorrhage in the vorapaxar group (1.0%, vs. 0.5% in the placebo group; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Inhibition of PAR-1 with vorapaxar reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or ischemic events in patients with stable atherosclerosis who were receiving standard therapy. However, it increased the risk of moderate or severe bleeding, including intracranial hemorrhage. (Funded by Merck; TRA 2P-TIMI 50 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00526474.)