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Disclosure to children living with HIV (CLHIV) about their own status is associated with positive outcomes such as treatment adherence, but prior cross-sectional studies in sub-Saharan Africa report disclosure rates of <50%. This study aims to assess pediatric disclosure over time. 548 CLHIV were followed from 2/2013–4/2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Cumulative incidence of disclosure was calculated with Kaplan-Meier analysis, and disclosure characteristics assessed with a Cox model. By end of follow-up, cumulative disclosure was 70.3% (95% confidence interval: 60.0–79.9). Median age at disclosure was 9 years (range: 3–13). Baseline predictors of disclosure included older child age and the child having a history of going hungry. Prior to disclosure, 98.0% of caregivers who disclosed had conversed with their child about their illness or an HIV-related topic, or their child had asked about HIV, versus 88.6% of caregivers who never disclosed. While many children did not receive disclosure during this relatively large, longitudinal study of South African CLHIV, caregivers who had not yet disclosed may have been preparing to do so by discussing their child's health or HIV generally with their child. This highlights the need for clinicians to consistently support caregivers throughout the incremental disclosure process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the clinical and economic impact of anti-obesity medications (AOMs; orlistat, liraglutide, phentermine/topiramate extended-release [ER], naltrexone ER/bupropion ER) among United States Veterans with obesity participating in Motivating Overweight/Obese Veterans Everywhere! (MOVE!), a government-initiated weight management program. The study population was identified from electronic medical records of the Veterans Health Administration (2010–2020). Clinical indices of obesity and health care resource utilization and costs were evaluated at 6, 12, and 24 months after the initial dispensing of an AOM in the AOM+MOVE! cohort (N = 3732, mean age 57 years, 79% male) or on the corresponding date of an inpatient or outpatient encounter in the MOVE! cohort (N = 7883, mean age 58 years, 81% male). At 6 months postindex, the AOM+MOVE! cohort had better cardiometabolic indices (eg, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c) than the MOVE! cohort, with the trends persisting at 12 and 24 months. The AOM+MOVE! cohort was significantly more likely than the MOVE! cohort to have weight decreases of 5%–10%, 10%–15%, and >15% and lower body mass index at 6, 12, and 24 months. The AOM+MOVE! cohort also had fewer inpatient and emergency department visits than the MOVE! cohort, which was associated with lower mean total medical costs including inpatient costs. These results suggest that combining AOM treatment with the MOVE! program could yield long-term cost savings for the Veterans Affairs network and meaningful clinical improvements for Veterans with obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Cannabis use among parents may be increasing with legalization, but perception of associated risk has declined. The study investigated the association between cannabis legalization and cannabis use among adults with children in the home over time in the United States (US). Design A difference‐in‐difference approach was applied to public and restricted‐use data from the 2004–2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual cross‐sectional survey. Setting: A representative sample of the United States. Participants/Cases: Respondents ages 18+ with children living in the home drawn from the NSDUH (n = 287,624), which is administered to non‐institutionalized civilians in the 50 states and District of Columbia. Measurements Exposures were year and state‐level cannabis policy in state of residence annually. Outcomes were past‐30‐day cannabis use and daily cannabis use. Sociodemographic variables included age, gender, marital status, annual family income, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and strength of state‐level tobacco control. Findings In 2017, past‐month cannabis use (11.9%, 9.3%, and 6.1%) and daily cannabis use (4.2%, 3.2%, and 2.3%) were more common in states with recreational marijuana laws (RML), followed by states with medical marijuana laws (MML) and without legal cannabis use, respectively. RML and MML were associated with significantly higher prevalence of past‐month cannabis use (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.12–1.46; AOR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.03–1.22) and daily cannabis use (AOR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.03–1.51; AOR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.02–1.32), respectively. The impact of MML was particularly salient among adults ages 50+ and the highest income and education subgroups. Conclusions: Among adults with children living in the home, cannabis use appears to be more common in US states with legalized cannabis use compared with states with no legal cannabis use. Recreational legalization appears to increase use among adults with children in the home broadly across nearly all sociodemographic groups, whereas the effect of legalization for medical use is heterogeneous by age and socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Patient safety concerns over the past 2 decades have prompted widespread efforts to reduce adverse events (AEs). It is unclear whether these efforts have resulted in reductions in hospital-wide AE rates. We used a validated safety surveillance tool, the Global Assessment of Pediatric Patient Safety, to measure temporal trends (2007-2012) in AE rates among hospitalized children. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective surveillance study of randomly selected pediatric inpatient records from 16 teaching and nonteaching hospitals. We constructed Poisson regression models with hospital random intercepts, controlling for patient age, sex, insurance, and chronic conditions, to estimate changes in AE rates over time. RESULTS: Examining 3790 records, reviewers identified 414 AEs (19.1 AEs per 1000 patient days; 95% confidence interval [CI] 17.2-20.9) and 210 preventable AEs (9.5 AEs per 1000 patient days; 95% CI 8.2-10.8). On average, teaching hospitals had higher AE rates than nonteaching hospitals (26.2 [95% CI 23.7-29.0] vs 5.1 [95% CI 3.7-7.1] AEs per 1000 patient days, P < .001). Chronically ill children had higher AE rates than patients without chronic conditions (33.9 [95% CI 24.5-47.0] vs 14.0 [95% CI 11.8-16.5] AEs per 1000 patient days, P < .001). Multivariate analyses revealed no significant changes in AE rates over time. When stratified by hospital type, neither teaching nor nonteaching hospitals experienced significant temporal AE rate variations. CONCLUSIONS: AE rates in pediatric inpatients are high and did not improve from 2007 to 2012. Pediatric AE rates were substantially higher in teaching hospitals as well as in patients with more chronic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]