quality health care

PURPOSE: For children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (CWNDs), early diagnosis that leads to early intervention with regular targeted therapies is critical. In Qatar, private therapy centres that address this demand often have highly exclusive prices restricting families from availing them. This paper examines the challenges faced by families with CWNDs, as well as various financial and systemic obstacles, from the vantage point of these centres, all of which culminate in an extraordinarily high disability price tag for disability families in Qatar...

BACKGROUND: Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada, and living with cancer generates psychological demands, including depression and anxiety among cancer survivors and caregivers. Text4Hope-Cancer Care SMS text messaging-based service was provided to people with cancer and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic to support their mental health. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine the clinical effectiveness of and satisfaction with Text4Hope-Cancer Care in addressing mental health conditions among people living with cancer and caregivers...

BACKGROUND: Black adults who smoke and have HIV experience immense stressors (eg, racial discrimination and HIV stigma) that impede smoking cessation success and perpetuate smoking-related health disparities. These stressors also place Black adults who smoke and have HIV at an increased risk of elevated interoceptive stress (eg, anxiety and uncomfortable bodily sensations) and smoking to manage symptoms. In turn, this population is more likely to smoke to manage interoceptive stress, which contributes to worse HIV-related outcomes in this group...

BACKGROUND: Early childhood education services (ECE) continue to be a key setting to promote physical activity and limit sedentary behaviour. Thus, the aim of this study was to (1) provide an updated systematic review of correlates of physical activity and sedentary behaviour among children in ECE settings and (2) discuss changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviour correlates among children in ECEC settings over time. METHODS: A systematic search of eight databases identified 40 studies published between 2015 and 2023 that met the inclusion criteria...

Economic incentives to promote health behavior change are highly efficacious for substance use disorders as well as increased medication adherence. Knowledge about participants' experiences with and perceptions of incentives is needed to understand their mechanisms of action and optimize future incentive-based interventions. The Drinkers' Intervention to Prevent Tuberculosis (DIPT) trial enrolled people with HIV (PWH) in Uganda with latent tuberculosis and unhealthy alcohol use in a 2x2 factorial trial that incentivized recent alcohol abstinence and isoniazid (INH) adherence on monthly urine testing while on INH preventive therapy...

BACKGROUND: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) has become a popular mobile health study design to understand the lived experiences of dynamic environments. The numerous study design choices available to EMA researchers, however, may quickly increase participant burden and could affect overall adherence, which could limit the usability of the collected data. OBJECTIVE: This study quantifies what study design, participant attributes, and momentary factors may affect self-reported burden and adherence...

BACKGROUND: Since 2016, the government of Bangladesh has been piloting a health protection scheme known as Shasthyo Surokhsha Karmasuchi (SSK), which specifically targets households living below the poverty line. This noncontributory scheme provides enrolled households access to inpatient health care services for 78 disease groups. Understanding patients' experiences with health care utilization from the pilot SSK scheme is important for enhancing the quality of health care service delivery during the national-level scale-up of the scheme...

BACKGROUND: Diabetes affects more than 4.3 million individuals in the United Kingdom, with 19% to 34% developing diabetes-related foot ulceration (DFU) during their lifespan, which can lead to an amputation. In the United Kingdom, every week, approximately 169 people have an amputation due to diabetes. Preventing first-ever ulcers is the most effective strategy to reduce the occurrence of diabetes-related amputations, but research in this space is lacking. OBJECTIVE: This protocol seeks to document the experiences and perspectives of frontline health care professionals who work with people who have diabetes and diabetes-related foot problems...

BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer who have recently been diagnosed have distinct requirements compared to cancer survivors. It is crucial to take into account their unique needs to ensure that they make informed decisions and are receptive to the care provided. OBJECTIVE: This study suggested a framework titled Effectiveness of Patient-Centered Cancer Care that considers the needs of newly diagnosed patients with cancer and related work system factors. This study investigated how work system factors influence the perceptions of patient-centered care, quality of care, and associated outcomes among newly diagnosed patients with cancer...

BACKGROUND: Neck pain is a common condition that leads to neck motor dysfunction and subsequent disability, with a significant global health care burden. As a newly emerging tool, virtual reality (VR) technology has been employed to address pain and reduce disability among patients with neck pain. However, there is still a lack of high-quality studies evaluating the efficacy of VR therapy combined with conventional rehabilitation for patients with chronic neck pain, particularly in terms of kinematic function...

BACKGROUND: Preterm neonates are extensively monitored to require strict oxygen target attainment for optimal outcomes. In daily practice, detailed oxygenation data are hardly used and crucial patterns may be missed due to the snapshot presentations and subjective observations. This study aimed to develop a web-based dashboard with both detailed and summarized oxygenation data in real-time and to test its feasibility to support clinical decision making. METHODS: Data from pulse oximeters and ventilators were synchronized and stored to enable real-time and retrospective trend visualizations in a web-based viewer...

We consider the problem of targeted mass screening of heterogeneous populations under limited testing capacity. Mass screening is an essential tool that arises in various settings, e.g., ensuring a safe supply of blood, reducing prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, and mitigating the spread of infectious disease outbreaks. The goal of mass screening is to classify whole population groups as positive or negative for an infectious disease as efficiently and accurately as possible. Under limited testing capacity, it is not possible to screen the entire population and hence administrators must reserve testing and target those among the population that are most in need or most susceptible...

IMPORTANCE: A high proportion of patients who sustain a fracture have multimorbidity. However, the association of multimorbidity with postfracture adverse outcomes, such as subsequent fractures and premature mortality, has not been widely explored. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of multimorbidity and self-rated health with subsequent fractures and mortality after fracture. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This prospective cohort study included participants from New South Wales, Australia, in the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study (n = 267 357)...

The WOUND-Q is a modular patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) with 13 scales measuring constructs across 4 domains (i.e., wound characteristics, health related quality of life, experience of care and wound treatment). The psychometrics of the WOUND-Q were previously assessed and the 13 scales evidenced good validity and reliability. However, the responsiveness (i.e., ability to detect clinical change) of the WOUND-Q has yet to be assessed. The objective of this study was to evaluate responsiveness for 9 WOUND-Q scales that assess outcomes, in a sample of people 18 years of age or older with chronic wounds that were present for at least 3 months...

OBJECTIVES: Few cytologically indeterminate thyroid fine-needle aspirations (FNAs) harbor BRAF V600E. Here, we assess interobserver agreement for The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) category III (atypia of undetermined significance [AUS]) FNAs harboring BRAF V600E and contrast their features with those harboring non-BRAF V600E alterations, with attention to cytopathology experience. METHODS: Seven reviewers evaluated 5 AUS thyroid FNAs harboring BRAF V600E...

BACKGROUND: Budget constraints in health care systems have led to the popularity of Cost Effectiveness Thresholds (CET) to achieve efficient allocation of resources. The capability approach has been hailed for its potentially richer evaluative capabilities compared to the QALY in terms of thresholds. Extensive research, however, is still limited. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This study estimated the monetary value of a year in full capability (YFC) and compared it to monetary value of a QALY for the Hungarian population...

Doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) reduces sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW). In a clinical trial of doxy-PEP, we sought to assess acceptability, impact, and meaning of doxy-PEP use among MSM/TGW. We conducted semistructured, in-depth 1:1 interviews with MSM and TGW enrolled in the intervention arm of the Doxy-PEP study. We queried motivations for and meaning of use, attitudes, beliefs, adherence, effect on sexual behaviors, and partner, community, and structural factors related to use...

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic started in Alberta in March 2020 and significantly increased telehealth service use and provision reducing the risk of virus transmission. We examined the change in the number and proportion of virtual visits by physician specialty and condition (chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases [COPD], heart failure [HF], colorectal and lung cancers), as well as associated changes in physician compensation. Methods: A population-based design was used to analyze all processed physician claims comparing the number and proportion of virtual visits and associated physician billings relative to in-person between pre- (2019/2020) and intra-pandemic (2020/2021)...

INTRODUCTION: Aging is associated with an increased burden of multi-morbidity and disease related functional loss and disability, widely impacting patients and health care systems. Frailty is a major actor in age-related disability and is an important target for rehabilitation interventions, considering that is a reversible condition. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A working group of members of the ISPRM, responding to WHO 2030 call for action to strengthen rehabilitation, was established to assess the quality and implementability of the existing guidelines for the rehabilitation of frailty...

OBJECTIVES: This study determines the effect of an integrated 12-month follow-up support programme on the oral health of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) who received radiotherapy (RT). METHODS: Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 47) or a control group (n = 45). The intervention group received usual care and an integrated supportive programme, which included face-to-face education and telephone coaching...