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Engagement in HIV care and a high level of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence for people living with HIV is crucial to treatment success and can minimize the population burden of the disease. Despite this, there is a critical gap in HIV prevention science around the development of interventions for serodiscordant male couples. This paper reports on the results of a randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of Stronger Together, a dyadic counseling intervention aimed at increasing engagement in and optimizing HIV care among serodiscordant male couples in Atlanta, GA, Boston, MA, and Chicago, IL. Between 2014 and 2017, 159 male serodiscordant couples (total N = 318) in Atlanta, GA, Boston, MA, and Chicago, IL were enrolled and equally randomized to either the Stronger Together intervention arm (a three-session dyadic intervention involving HIV testing and adherence counseling) or a standard of care (SOC) control arm. Couples completed individual study assessments via an audio computer assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) system at baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months. Primary outcomes included being prescribed and currently taking ART, and fewer missed doses of ART in the past 30 days; because the trial was not powered to examine viral suppression, we examined this as an exploratory outcome. Longitudinal data analysis was by an intention-to-treat approach. Participants ages ranged from 18 to 69 (mean = 35.9), and are predominantly white (77.5%), and college educated (68.4% earned a college degree or higher). Participants randomized to the Stronger Together arm had a significantly greater odds of being prescribed and currently taking ART over time than those in the SOC arm (at 12 months OR 2.75, 95%CI 1.35–4.67, p-value 0.020, and at 18 months OR 2.91, 95%CI 1.61–4.88, p-value 0.013). Similarly, those in the Stronger Together arm had a significantly lower odds of missing a dose of ART in the past 30 days over time compared to those in the SOC arm (at 12 months OR 0.28, 95%CI 0.09–0.81, p-value 0.019, and at 18 months OR 0.25, 95%CI 0.07–0.82, p-value 0.023). Among male couples in serodiscordant relationships, the Stronger Together intervention resulted in significantly improved HIV treatment outcomes at both 12 and 18 months of follow-up. This trial is the first to date to demonstrate evidence of efficacy for a dyadic counseling intervention and has the potential to fill a critical gap in secondary HIV prevention interventions for serodiscordant male couples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is recommended for people at risk of acquiring HIV. We assessed billable costs associated with PrEP delivery at community health centers. Methods: The Sustainable Health Center Implementation PrEP Pilot (SHIPP) study is an observational cohort of people receiving daily oral PrEP at participating federally qualified health centers and other community health centers. We assessed health care utilization and billable costs of providing PrEP at 2 health centers, 1 in Chicago, Illinois, and 1 in Washington, DC, from 2014 to 2018. The health centers followed the clinical practice guidelines for PrEP provision, including regular visits with health care providers and ongoing laboratory monitoring. Using clinic billing records and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) coding, we retrospectively extracted data on the frequency and costs (in 2017 US dollars) of PrEP clinic visits and laboratory screening, for each patient, for 12 months since first PrEP prescription. Results: The average annual number of PrEP clinic visits and associated laboratory screens per patient was 5.1 visits and 25.2 screens in Chicago (n = 482 patients) and 5.4 visits and 24.8 screens in Washington, DC (n = 56 patients). The average annual PrEP billable cost per patient was $583 for clinic visits and $1070 for laboratory screens in Chicago and $923 for clinic visits and $1018 for laboratory screens in Washington, DC. The average annual total cost per patient was $1653 (95% CI, $1639-$1668) in Chicago and $1941 (95% CI, $1811-$2071) in Washington, DC. Conclusions: Our analysis, which provides PrEP billable cost estimates based on empirical data, may help inform health care providers who are considering implementing this HIV prevention strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many parts of the world nursing home residents have experienced a disproportionate risk of exposure to COVID-19 and have died at much higher rates than other groups. There is a critical need to identify the factors driving COVID-19 risk in nursing homes to better understand and address the conditions contributing to their vulnerability during public health crises. This study investigates the characteristics associated with COVID-19 cases and deaths among residents in U.S. nursing homes from 2020 to 2021, with a focus on geospatial and racial inequalities. Using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and LTCFocus, this paper uses zero-inflated negative binomial regression models, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and Local Moran's I to generate statistical and geospatial results. Our analysis reveals that majority Hispanic facilities have alarmingly high COVID-19 cases and deaths, suggesting that these facilities have the greatest need for policy improvements in staffing and financing to reduce racial inequalities in nursing home care. At the same time we also detect COVID-19 hot spots in rural areas with predominately White residents, indicating a need to rethink public messaging strategies in these areas. The top states with COVID-19 hot spots are Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Oklahoma. This research provides new insights into the socio-spatial contexts and inequities that contribute to the vulnerability of nursing home residents during a pandemic. • Geographic and racial inequalities are important indicators of covid-19 risk. • Covid-19 cases & deaths are high among facilities with majority Hispanic residents. • Facilities with majority Hispanic residents have high covid-19 vaccination rates. • Most covid-19 hot spots of cases & deaths are in predominantly White, rural areas. • The top states with covid-19 hot spots of cases & deaths are KY, PA, IL, and OK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Intimate partner violence (IPV) rates in the Arab American community are high, and there are gaps in the understanding of young adults' perspectives on IPV and its prevention. The aims of this study are to describe Arab American young adults' perspectives on the design of IPV prevention programmes and to document and explore their understanding and experiences with IPV. Design: This exploratory study was part of a larger community‐based participatory mixed‐method study (QUAL‐quan) amongst Arabs in Chicago and focused on young adult participants (18–25 years). Methods: Participants (n = 44) completed an IPV survey about IPV perpetration and victimization, dating violence norms, conflict management skills, gender stereotyping, and belief in the need for help. From four focus groups (22 participants), we explored Arab American young adults' perspectives on IPV prevention programme development. Results: Participants supported the adaptation and development of a youth‐centred IPV prevention intervention that is community‐based, culturally informed, and inclusive of multiple Arab community stakeholders. The survey results indicated multiple experiences with psychological and physical dating violence victimization (76.3% and 47.2%) and perpetration (62.2% and 27%). Conclusion: Arab American young adults in Chicago are exposed to high rates of IPV. Community‐based participatory approaches are needed to develop IPV prevention interventions that centre community needs. Impact Intimate partner violence is a significant public health problem; nearly 1 in 4 women have experienced IPV at some point in their life, and about 70% of those experiencing IPV, experience their first victimization before the age of 25. Arab American young adults experience high rates of IPV victimization and perpetration, requiring urgent attention. Participants proposed various community‐based strategies to develop IPV prevention programmes that include multiple community stakeholders. Community‐based organizations and researchers, schools and religious institutions could establish collaborations to ensure the adaptation and development of community‐informed IPV prevention programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Illinois-Rape Myth Acceptance-Short Form (IRMA-SF) is a widely used scale measuring people's endorsement of rape myths. However, it uses heavily gendered wording and makes gender-based assumptions that may affect its generalizability to various subgroups of people, including sexual and gender minorities who may view gender constructs outside of the heteronormative gender binary. This study validates the psychometric properties of a modified form of the IRMA-SF that is gender inclusive. Participants were adults with a range of sexual orientations and gender identities. Two sets of data were merged and then the sample was randomly split with a 20/80 weight. Data in the 20% split were used for exploratory factor analyses. Data in the 80% split were used for confirmatory factor analyses. According to the exploratory factor analysis, we found a theoretically predicted one-factor model was best (41% variance explained). Further, we found acceptable absolute model fit according to the confirmatory factor analysis (RMSEA =.07, p <.001; SRMR =.06) but unsatisfactory incremental fit (CFI =.82). These model issues were likely due to a floor-effect of low item variability which may call into question the utility of this scale in determining differences in rape myth acceptance overall. Overwhelmingly, participants in this study rejected rape myths. Researchers should explore the use of gender inclusive wording with an updated rape myth scale for use with sexual and gender minorities and, perhaps the general population, as some of these statements may be lacking in cultural relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is common in the U.S. There is no cure, and survival requires either dialysis or kidney transplant. Medicare provides coverage for most ESKD patients in the U.S., though non-citizens are excluded from most current policies providing standard ESKD care, especially regarding kidney transplants. Despite being eligible to be organ donors, non-citizens often have few avenues to be organ recipients—a major equity problem. Overall, transplants are cost-saving compared to dialysis, and non-citizens have comparable outcomes to the general population. We reviewed the literature regarding the vastly different policies across the U.S., with a focus on current Illinois policy, including updates regarding Illinois legislation which passed in 2014 providing non-citizens to receive coverage for transplants. Unfortunately, despite legislation providing avenues for transplants, funds were not allocated, and the bill has not had the impact that was expected when initially passed. We outline opportunities for improving current policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background While there is evidence that workers in nonstandard employment arrangements are disproportionately exposed to recognized occupational hazards, existing studies have not comprehensively examined associations between employment precarity and exposure to occupational hazards for these workers in the USA. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between employment precarity and occupational hazards in two contiguous high socio-economic hardship neighborhoods in Chicago. Methods Using a community-based participatory research approach, community researchers administered a community-developed survey to 489 residents of Greater Lawndale who reported current or recent employment in a job that met at least one characteristic of precarious employment (e.g. unpredictable schedule, insecure work, no living wage/benefits). Employment precarity was calculated using a modified version of the Employment Precarity Index (EPI) developed by the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario group. We modeled the association between employment precarity and occupational exposures using logistic regression models. Results We identified a high prevalence of precarious employment in this sample, as well as a high prevalence of self-reported exposure to recognized occupational hazards. Increases in relative employment precarity were significantly associated with self-reported exposure to chemical and biological hazards, physical hazards, and slip, trip, strike, fall, trap or crush hazards at work. Conclusions Results highlight the importance of using community research approaches and robust measures of employment characteristics, such as the EPI, to evaluate associations between employment precarity and hazardous exposures. These results suggest that variability in employment situations and resultant relative employment precarity are important predictors of exposure to recognized occupational hazards. Findings also suggest that health inequities observed among precariously employed workers may be partly explained by increased risk for exposure to occupational hazards, which has implications for community health and should be investigated in future longitudinal research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI) provides a comprehensive framework for understanding adolescent substance use. Objectives: We examined mechanisms by which a TTI-guided social-emotional and character development program, Positive Action (PA), influences adolescent substance use. Study data come from the PA-Chicago, longitudinal matched-pairs cluster-randomized control trial. A diverse, dynamic cohort of approximately 1,200 students from 14 low-performing schools were assessed at eight points of time, between grades 3-8, across a six-year period. Students completed scales related to substance use, self-control, deviant peer affiliation, and school attachment, adapted from the Risk Behavior Survey, Social-Emotional and Character Development Scale, Conventional Friends Scale, and People in My Life Scale. After testing the overall effect of PA on substance use, we used latent growth modeling to assess whether effects on each outcome were mediated by longitudinal changes in three composite measures aligning with the TTIs three streams. Results: Students in PA schools reported fewer experiences with drinking, getting drunk, and overall substance use. In the multiple mediator models, significant indirect effects of PA on substance use via changes in self-control were evident. Conclusions/Importance: Findings are consistent with theory and past research suggesting the influence of self-control on youth substance use. Future studies should include implementation in different settings and additional theory-based measures. Trial RegistrationThis trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01025674. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The authors examined the association between state-level policy protections and selfrated health disparities between transgender and cisgender adults. Methods: They used data on transgender (n =4,982) and cisgender (n=1.168,859) adults from the 2014-2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The authors estimated state-specific health disparities between transgender and cisgender adults, and they used multivariable logistic regression models to compare adjusted odds ratios between transgender and cisgender adults by state-level policy environments. Findings: Transgender adults were significantly more likely to report poor/fair health, frequent mental distress, and frequent poor physical health days compared to cisgender adults. Disparities between transgender and cisgender adults were found in states with strengthened protections and in states with limited protections. Compared to transgender adults in states with limited protections. transgender adults in states with strengthened protections were marginally less likely to report frequent mental distress. Conclusions: Transgender adults in most states reported worse self-rated health than their cisgender peers. Much more research and robust data collection on gender identity are needed to study the associations between state policies and transgender health and to identify best practices for achieving health equity for transgender Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Few studies, mostly descriptive, have quantitatively analyzed the working conditions of domestic workers (DWers) informally employed by private households in the USA. These workers are explicitly or effectively excluded from numerous workplace protections, and scant data exist on their exposures or how best to categorize them. Methods We analyzed data from the sole nationwide survey of informally employed US DWers with work-related hazards data, conducted by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the University of Illinois Chicago Center for Urban Economic Development, and the DataCenter in 14 US cities (2011–2012; N = 2086). We used exploratory latent class analysis to identify groups of DWers with distinct patterns of exposure to 21 self-reported economic, social, and occupational workplace hazards (e.g. pay violations, verbal abuse, heavy lifting). We then used multinomial logistic latent class regression to examine associations between workers' individual, household, and occupational characteristics and latent class membership. Results Among the 2086 DWers, mean age was 42.6 years, 97.3% were women, 56.0% Latina/o, 26.5% White, 33.2% undocumented immigrants, and 11.7% live-in. 53.5%, 32.0%, and 14.5% primarily worked doing housecleaning, child care, and adult care, respectively. 49.9% of workers reported ≥3 hazards. Latent class analysis identified four groups of DWers doing: 'Low hazard domestic work' (lowest exposure to all hazards), 'Demanding care work' (moderate exposure to pay violations [item response probability (IRP) = 0.42] and contagious illness care [IRP = 0.39]), 'Strenuous cleaning work' (high exposure to cleaning-related occupational hazards, such as climbing to clean [IRP = 0.87]), and 'Hazardous domestic work' (highest exposure to all but one hazard). Covariates were strongly associated, in many cases, with latent class membership. For example, compared to other DWers, DWers doing 'hazardous domestic work' had the largest predicted probability of being economically insecure (0.53) and living-in with their employers (0.17). Conclusions Results indicate that informally employed US DWers experience distinct patterns of workplace hazards, and that it is informative to characterize DWers' exposures to different sets of multiple hazards using latent class analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts on domestic violence (DV) with the following research questions: 1) Did DV occurring during the pandemic differ on certain variables from cases occurring on a typical day the previous year? 2) Did DV occurring after the implementation of shelter-in-place orders differ (on these same variables) from cases occurring prior to shelter-in-place orders? Two logistic regression models were developed to predict DV case differences before and during the pandemic. DV reports (N = 4618) were collected from the Chicago Police Department. Cases from March 2019 and March 2020 were analyzed based on multiple variables. One model was set to predict case differences since the pandemic began, and another model was set to predict case differences during the shelter-in-place period later that month. Both models were significant with multiple significant predictors. During the pandemic period, cases with arrests were 20% less likely to have occurred, and cases at residential locations were 22% more likely to have occurred. During the shelter-in-place period, cases at residential locations were 64% more likely to have occurred, and cases with child victims were 67% less likely to have occurred. This study offers a rapid analysis of DV case differences since the pandemic and shelter-in-place began. Additional variables and data sources could improve model explanatory power. Research, policy, and practice in this area must pivot to focus on protecting children whose access to mandated reporters has decreased and moving victims out of dangerous living situations into safe spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the association between nativity status (U.S.- vs foreignborn) and viral suppression among women of color (WOC) with HIV (HIV +) and whether this association was modified by education and housing. Methods: Data were from 549 HIV + WOC, who participated in the Health Resources and Services Administration-funded WOC Initiative 2009–2013. We used generalized estimating equation models to quantify the association between the respondents' nativity status and viral suppression. Results: After adjusting for covariates, foreign-born WOC were 2.2 times (95% confidence interval: 1.25, 3.85) more likely to achieve viral suppression than U.S.-born WOC. This association was not modified by education or housing status. Conclusions: Despite facing barriers to care, foreign-born WOC were more likely to achieve viral suppression than U.S.-born WOC. Programs aiming to end the HIV epidemic and reduce HIV disparities in the U.S. should consider these findings as they provide a more nuanced understanding of HIV + WOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Burn Association (ABA) hosted a Burn Care Strategic Quality Summit (SQS) in an ongoing effort to advance the quality of burn care. The goals of the SQS were to discuss and describe characteristics of quality burn care, identify goals for advancing burn care, and develop a roadmap to guide future endeavors while integrating current ABA quality programs. Forty multidisciplinary members attended the two-day event. Prior to the event, they participated in a pre-meeting webinar, reviewed relevant literature, and contemplated statements regarding their vision for improving burn care. At the in-person, professionally facilitated Summit in Chicago, Illinois, in June 2022, participants discussed various elements of quality burn care and shared ideas on future initiatives to advance burn care through small and large group interactive activities. Key outcomes of the SQS included burn-related definitions of quality care, avenues for integration of current ABA quality programs, goals for advancing quality efforts in burn care, and work streams with tasks for a roadmap to guide future burn care quality-related endeavors. Work streams included roadmap development, data strategy, quality program integration, and partners and stakeholders. This paper summarizes the goals and outcomes of the SQS and describes the status of established ABA quality programs as a launching point for futurework., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Burn Association. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

This study is the first to examine the collective of dental lecturers and scientists who emigrated from Nazi Germany to the United States of America. We pay special attention to the socio-demographic characteristics, emigration journeys, and further professional development of these individuals in the country of immigration. The paper is based on primary sources from various German, Austrian, and United States archives and a systematic evaluation of the secondary literature on the persons concerned. We identified a total of eighteen male emigrants. The majority of these dentists left the "Greater" German Reich between 1938 and 1941. Thirteen of the eighteen lecturers were able to find a position in American academia, mainly as full professors. Two-thirds of them settled in New York and Illinois. The study concludes that most of the emigrated dentists studied here succeeded in continuing or even expanding their academic careers in the USA, although they usually had to retake their final dental examinations. No other destination country for immigration offered similarly favorable conditions. Not a single dentist decided to remigrate after 1945., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)