PLoS medicine
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Although the success of HIV treatment programs depends on retention and viral suppression, routine program monitoring of these outcomes may be incomplete. We used data from the national electronic medical record (EMR) system in Zambia to enumerate a large and regionally representative cohort of patients on treatment. We traced a random sample with unknown outcomes (lost to follow-up) to document true care status and HIV RNA levels. ⋯ In this region of Zambia, routine program data underestimated retention, and the point prevalence of unsuppressed HIV RNA was high when lost patients were accounted for. Viremia was prevalent among patients who unofficially transferred: Sustained engagement remains a challenge among HIV patients in Zambia, and targeted sampling is an effective strategy to identify such gaps in the care cascade and monitor programmatic progress.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Octreotide-LAR in later-stage autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ALADIN 2): A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial.
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most frequent genetically determined renal disease. In affected patients, renal function may progressively decline up to end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and approximately 10% of those with ESRD are affected by ADPKD. The somatostatin analog octreotide long-acting release (octreotide-LAR) slows renal function deterioration in patients in early stages of the disease. We evaluated the renoprotective effect of octreotide-LAR in ADPKD patients at high risk of ESRD because of later-stage ADPKD. ⋯ In this study we observed that in later-stage ADPKD, octreotide-LAR slowed kidney growth and delayed progression to ESRD, in particular in CKD stage 4.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Pragmatic Clinical Trial
Contact tracing versus facility-based screening for active TB case finding in rural South Africa: A pragmatic cluster-randomized trial (Kharitode TB).
There is a dearth of comparative effectiveness research examining the implementation of different strategies for active tuberculosis (TB) case finding, particularly in rural settings, which represent 60% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa. ⋯ Contact tracing based on symptom screening and Xpert MTB/RIF testing did not increase the rate of treatment initiation for TB relative to the less resource-intensive approach of facility-based screening in this rural sub-Saharan setting.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Long-term outcomes of an educational intervention to reduce antibiotic prescribing for childhood upper respiratory tract infections in rural China: Follow-up of a cluster-randomised controlled trial.
Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing causes widespread serious health problems. To reduce prescribing of antibiotics in Chinese primary care to children with upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), we developed an intervention comprising clinical guidelines, monthly prescribing review meetings, doctor-patient communication skills training, and education materials for caregivers. We previously evaluated our intervention using an unblinded cluster-randomised controlled trial (cRCT) in 25 primary care facilities across two rural counties. When our trial ended at the 6-month follow-up period, we found that the intervention had reduced antibiotic prescribing for childhood URTIs by 29 percentage points (pp) (95% CI -42 to -16). ⋯ Our intervention was associated with sustained and substantial reductions in antibiotic prescribing at the end of the intervention period and 12 months later. Our intervention may be adapted to similar resource-poor settings.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
A reduced-carbohydrate and lactose-free formulation for stabilization among hospitalized children with severe acute malnutrition: A double-blind, randomized controlled trial.
Children with medically complicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) have high risk of inpatient mortality. Diarrhea, carbohydrate malabsorption, and refeeding syndrome may contribute to early mortality and delayed recovery. We tested the hypothesis that a lactose-free, low-carbohydrate F75 milk would serve to limit these risks, thereby reducing the number of days in the stabilization phase. ⋯ Empirically treating hospitalized severely malnourished children during the stabilization phase with lactose-free, reduced-carbohydrate milk formula did not improve clinical outcomes. The biochemical analyses suggest that the lactose-free formulae may still exceed a carbohydrate load threshold for intestinal absorption, which may limit their usefulness in the context of complicated SAM.