Faculty Bibliography

Prevention of intimate partner violence on college campuses includes programs designed to change attitudes, and hence, a scale that assesses such attitudes is needed. Study 1 (N = 859) cross validates the factor structure of the Intimate Partner Violence Attitude Scale-Revised using exploratory factor analysis and presents initial validity data on the scale. In Study 2 (N = 687), the obtained three-factor structure (Abuse, Control, Violence) is tested using confirmatory factor analysis, and it is shown to be concurrently related to assault in romantic relationships and to predict psychological aggression 14 weeks later. The findings are discussed in the context of how understanding and modifying attitudes assessed by the Intimate Partner Violence Attitude Scale-Revised may improve interventions aimed at reducing intimate partner violence

BACKGROUND: The decrement in utility attributable to side effects from combination antiretroviral therapy (CART) is unknown and likely to influence clinical decisions regarding CART initiation and cost-effectiveness. OBJECTIVE: To quantify the decrement in utility attributable to side effects from CART. METHODS: We estimated SF-6D utilities (quality-of-life weights on a scale from 0.29 [worst possible health] to 1.00 [perfect health]) from SF-12 scores among patients with HIV in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study by using a published and validated conversion algorithm. We then compared utilities among patients who: 1) did not have bothersome symptoms while taking CART; 2) had bothersome symptoms that they thought might be due to CART; and 3) had bothersome symptoms that they were confident were due to CART; we controlled for other characteristics known to influence quality of life and stratified analyses by CD4 count. RESULTS: Among 1864 patients with available data, symptoms perceived to be attributable to CART were associated with a mean (95% confidence interval) decrement in utility of 0.06 (0.05, 0.08) points in univariate analyses and 0.08 (0.06, 0.10) in multivariable analyses, clinically significant differences that are comparable to utility decrements reported for partial impotence or mild angina. Other significant predictors of changes in SF-6D utilities were hazardous alcohol consumption, recent drug use, cigarette smoking, homelessness, and African American race (R(2) = 0.12). Stratifying by CD4 count, symptoms attributable to CART side effects decreased utility by 0.03 to 0.08 points. CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms perceived to be related to CART are associated with a substantial decrement in utility

The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior (Joiner, 2005) proposes that the need to belong is fundamental; when met it can prevent suicide and when thwarted it can substantially increase the risk for suicide. We investigate one source of group-wide variation in belongingness among college students--changes in the social composition of college campuses across academic semesters--as an explanation for variation in suicidal ideation across the academic year. Our results indicate that in a sample of college students at a large southern state university (n = 309), suicidal ideation varied across academic semesters, with highest levels in summer compared to both spring and fall. Differences in suicidal ideation between summer and spring were, in large part, accounted for by belongingness. Theoretical, as well as practical, implications are discussed regarding mechanisms for seasonal variation in suicidal ideation

BACKGROUND: In the United States, $50,000 per Quality-Adjusted Life-Year (QALY) is a decision rule that is often used to guide interpretation of cost-effectiveness analyses. However, many investigators have questioned the scientific basis of this rule, and it has not been updated. METHODS: We used 2 separate approaches to investigate whether the $50,000 per QALY rule is consistent with current resource allocation decisions. To infer a lower bound for the decision rule, we estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness of recent (2003) versus pre-'modern era' (1950) medical care in the United States. To infer an upper bound for the decision rule, we estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness of unsubsidized health insurance versus self-pay for nonelderly adults (ages 21-64) without health insurance. We discounted both costs and benefits, following recommendations of the Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine. RESULTS: Our base case analyses suggest that plausible lower and upper bounds for a cost-effectiveness decision rule are $183,000 per life-year and $264,000 per life-year, respectively. Our sensitivity analyses widen the plausible range (between $95,000 per life-year saved and $264,000 per life-year saved when we considered only health care's impact on quantity of life, and between $109,000 per QALY saved and $297,000 per QALY saved when we considered health care's impact on quality as well as quantity of life) but it remained substantially higher than $50,000 per QALY. CONCLUSIONS: It is very unlikely that $50,000 per QALY is consistent with societal preferences in the United States

CONTEXT: Occurrence of in-hospital cardiac arrest and survival patterns have not been characterized by time of day or day of week. Patient physiology and process of care for in-hospital cardiac arrest may be different at night and on weekends because of hospital factors unrelated to patient, event, or location variables. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether outcomes after in-hospital cardiac arrest differ during nights and weekends compared with days/evenings and weekdays. DESIGN AND SETTING: We examined survival from cardiac arrest in hourly time segments, defining day/evening as 7:00 am to 10:59 pm, night as 11:00 pm to 6:59 am, and weekend as 11:00 pm on Friday to 6:59 am on Monday, in 86,748 adult, consecutive in-hospital cardiac arrest events in the National Registry of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation obtained from 507 medical/surgical participating hospitals from January 1, 2000, through February 1, 2007. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome of survival to discharge and secondary outcomes of survival of the event, 24-hour survival, and favorable neurological outcome were compared using odds ratios and multivariable logistic regression analysis. Point estimates of survival outcomes are reported as percentages with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). RESULTS: A total of 58,593 cases of in-hospital cardiac arrest occurred during day/evening hours (including 43,483 on weekdays and 15,110 on weekends), and 28,155 cases occurred during night hours (including 20,365 on weekdays and 7790 on weekends). Rates of survival to discharge (14.7% [95% CI, 14.3%-15.1%] vs 19.8% [95% CI, 19.5%-20.1%], return of spontaneous circulation for longer than 20 minutes (44.7% [95% CI, 44.1%-45.3%] vs 51.1% [95% CI, 50.7%-51.5%]), survival at 24 hours (28.9% [95% CI, 28.4%-29.4%] vs 35.4% [95% CI, 35.0%-35.8%]), and favorable neurological outcomes (11.0% [95% CI, 10.6%-11.4%] vs 15.2% [95% CI, 14.9%-15.5%]) were substantially lower during the night compared with day/evening (all P values < .001). The first documented rhythm at night was more frequently asystole (39.6% [95% CI, 39.0%-40.2%] vs 33.5% [95% CI, 33.2%-33.9%], P < .001) and less frequently ventricular fibrillation (19.8% [95% CI, 19.3%-20.2%] vs 22.9% [95% CI, 22.6%-23.2%], P < .001). Among in-hospital cardiac arrests occurring during day/evening hours, survival was higher on weekdays (20.6% [95% CI, 20.3%-21%]) than on weekends (17.4% [95% CI, 16.8%-18%]; odds ratio, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.09-1.22]), whereas among in-hospital cardiac arrests occurring during night hours, survival to discharge was similar on weekdays (14.6% [95% CI, 14.1%-15.2%]) and on weekends (14.8% [95% CI, 14.1%-15.2%]; odds ratio, 1.02 [95% CI, 0.94-1.11]). CONCLUSION: Survival rates from in-hospital cardiac arrest are lower during nights and weekends, even when adjusted for potentially confounding patient, event, and hospital characteristics

BACKGROUND: The optimal threshold for initiating HIV treatment is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To compare different thresholds for initiating HIV treatment. DESIGN: A validated computer simulation was used to weigh important harms from earlier initiation of antiretroviral therapy (toxicity, side effects, and resistance accumulation) against important benefits (decreased HIV-related mortality). DATA SOURCES: Veterans Aging Cohort Study (5742 HIV-infected patients and 11 484 matched uninfected controls) and published reports. TARGET POPULATION: Individuals with newly diagnosed chronic HIV infection and varying viral loads (10,000, 30,000, 100,000, and 300,000 copies/mL) and ages (30, 40, and 50 years). TIME HORIZON: Unlimited. PERSPECTIVE: Societal. INTERVENTION: Alternative thresholds for initiating antiretroviral therapy (CD4 counts of 200, 350, and 500 cells/mm3). OUTCOME MEASURES: Life-years and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). RESULTS OF BASE-CASE ANALYSIS: Although the simulation was biased against earlier treatment initiation because it used an upper-bound assumption for therapy-related toxicity, earlier treatment increased life expectancy and QALYs at age 30 years regardless of viral load (life expectancies with CD4 initiation thresholds of 500, 350, and 200 cells/mm3 were 18.2 years, 17.6 years, and 17.2 years, respectively, for a viral load of 10,000 copies/mL and 17.3 years, 15.9 years, and 14.5 years, respectively, for a viral load of 300,000 copies/mL), and increased life expectancies at age 40 years if viral loads were greater than 30 000 copies/mL (life expectancies were 12.5 years, 12.0 years, and 11.4 years, respectively, for a viral load of 300,000 copies/mL). RESULTS OF SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS: Findings favoring early treatment were generally robust. LIMITATIONS: Results favoring later treatment may not be valid. The findings may not be generalizable to women. CONCLUSION: This simulation suggests that earlier initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy is often favored compared with current recommendations

BACKGROUND: Evidence is accumulating to suggest that clinical guidelines should be modified for patients with comorbidities, yet there is no quantitative and objective approach that considers benefits together with risks. METHODS: We outline a framework using a payoff time, which we define as the minimum elapsed time until the cumulative incremental benefits of a guideline exceed its cumulative incremental harms. If the payoff time of a guideline exceeds a patient's comorbidity-adjusted life expectancy, then the guideline is unlikely to offer a benefit and should be modified. We illustrate the framework by applying this method to colorectal cancer screening guidelines for 50-year-old men with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and 60-year-old women with congestive heart failure (CHF). RESULTS: We estimated that colorectal cancer screening payoff times for 50-year-old men with HIV would range from 1.9 to 5.0 years and that colorectal cancer screening payoff times for 60-year-old women with CHF would range from 0.7 to 2.9 years. Because the payoff times for 50-year-old men with HIV were lower than their life expectancies (12.5-24.0 years), colorectal cancer screening may be beneficial for these patients. In contrast, because payoff times for 60-year-old women with CHF were sometimes greater than their life expectancies (0.6 to >5 years), colorectal cancer screening is likely to be harmful for some of these patients. CONCLUSION: Use of a payoff time calculation may be a feasible framework to tailor clinical guidelines to the comorbidity profiles of individual patients

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine adherence, virological, and immunological outcomes one year after starting a first combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen. DESIGN: Observational; synthesis of administrative, laboratory, and pharmacy data. Antiretroviral regimens were divided into efavirenz, nevirapine, boosted protease inhibitor (PI), and single PI categories. Propensity scores were used to control for confounding by treatment assignment. Adherence was estimated from pharmacy refill records. SETTING: Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, all sites. PARTICIPANTS: HIV-infected individuals starting combination ART with a low likelihood of previous antiretroviral exposure. INTERVENTIONS: None. OUTCOMES: The proportion of antiretroviral prescriptions filled as prescribed, a change in log HIV-RNA, the proportion with log HIV-RNA viral suppression, a change in CD4 cell count. RESULTS: A total of 6394 individuals unlikely to have previous antiretroviral exposure started combination ART between 1996 and 2004, and were eligible for analysis. Adherence overall was low (63% of prescriptions filled as prescribed), and adherence with efavirenz (67%) and nevirapine (65%) regimens was significantly greater than adherence with boosted PI (59%) or single PI (61%) regimens (P < 0.001). Efavirenz regimens were more likely to suppress HIV-RNA at one year (74%) compared with nevirapine (62%), boosted PI (63%), or single PI (53%) regimens (all P < 0.001), and this superiority was maintained when analyses were adjusted for baseline clinical characteristics and propensity for treatment assignment. Efavirenz also yielded more favorable immunological outcomes. CONCLUSION: HIV-infected individuals initiating their first combination ART using an efavirenz-based regimen had improved virological and immunological outcomes and greater adherence levels

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is an important risk factor for morbidity and mortality in HIV-positive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether awareness of smoking differs between HIV and non-HIV providers, and to identify factors associated with failure to recognize current smoking. DESIGN: Observational study. PARTICIPANTS: 801 HIV-positive and 602 HIV-negative patients, 72 HIV and 71 non-HIV providers enrolled in the Veterans Aging Cohort 5 Site Study. MEASUREMENTS: Data sources included patient and provider questionnaires; electronic medical records; and the national administrative VA database. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, and measures of agreement between patient- and provider-reported smoking, and examined factors associated with failure to recognize current smoking using logistic regression. RESULTS: Whereas most providers were correct when they identified a patient as a current smoker (specificity > or = 90%), HIV providers missed current smoking more often (sensitivity 65% for HIV vs. 82% for non-HIV). Kappa scores for current smoking were significantly lower for HIV compared to non-HIV providers (0.55 vs. 0.75, p < .001). In models adjusted for age, gender, race, and other differences, patient HIV status and provider specialty in infectious diseases were independent predictors of a provider's failure to recognize current smoking. Comorbid illnesses, cough/dyspnea, degree of immune competence and HIV viral suppression did not impact recognition of current smoking. Only 39% of HIV providers reported confidence in their ability to influence smoking cessation compared to 62% of non-HIV providers (p = .049). CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to increase HIV provider awareness of current smoking and skills to influence smoking cessation are needed. Efforts should also target patient populations with smoking-related comorbid diseases who would especially benefit from smoking cessation