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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relative cost-effectiveness in different sub-Saharan African settings of presumptive treatment, field-standard microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to diagnose malaria. METHODS: We used a decision tree model and probabilistic sensitivity analysis applied to outpatients presenting at rural health facilities with suspected malaria. Costs and effects encompassed those for both patients positive on RDT (assuming artemisinin-based combination therapy) and febrile patients negative on RDT (assuming antibiotic treatment). Interventions were defined as cost-effective if they were less costly and more effective or had an incremental cost per disability-adjusted life year averted of less than US$ 150. Data were drawn from published and unpublished sources, supplemented with expert opinion. FINDINGS: RDTs were cost-effective compared with presumptive treatment up to high prevalences of Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia. Decision-makers can be at least 50% confident of this result below 81% malaria prevalence, and 95% confident below 62% prevalence, a level seldom exceeded in practice. RDTs were more than 50% likely to be cost-saving below 58% prevalence. Relative to microscopy, RDTs were more than 85% likely to be cost-effective across all prevalence levels, reflecting their expected better accuracy under real-life conditions. Results were robust to extensive sensitivity analysis. The cost-effectiveness of RDTs mainly reflected improved treatment and health outcomes for non-malarial febrile illness, plus savings in antimalarial drug costs. Results were dependent on the assumption that prescribers used test results to guide treatment decisions. CONCLUSION: RDTs have the potential to be cost-effective in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Appropriate management of malaria and non-malarial febrile illnesses is required to reap the full benefits of these tests. Copyright © 2008 World Health Organization [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify barriers to improving diversity within adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology (ACTA) and to provide possible strategies that could be implemented by evaluating the demographics of current ACTA fellows, examining motivating factors to pursue the sub-specialty, and assessing perceptions of unconscious biases during their application process and training., Design: A survey was created by the authors and distributed electronically by the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists to the ACTA Fellows from April to June 2022., Setting: A multicenter survey., Participants: Recent 2021 to 2022 ACTA fellows., Interventions: None., Measurements and Main Results: A total of 68 fellows were included in the analytical sample; 37.3% were women, and 58.2% were men. Half of the participants in the sample were White race (47%), 26% were Asian, 8% Hispanic or Latinx, 5% Black, and 2% were Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian. Most fellows indicated that the complexity of cases and/or competency in transesophageal echocardiography was "very important" in their motivating factor (74.0%). When examining sex differences, female fellows reported (p value <0.05) that their experience was impacted negatively by sex and was more often treated with less respect and courtesy. There were no statistically significant differences in perceived discrimination by race and/or ethnicity., Conclusions: This study identified several motivators to pursue ACTA and the perceptions of unconscious biases during the fellowship. Female fellows felt unconscious bias and a negative impact against them due to sex. Due to the small number of undergraduate enrollments, the results should be interpreted cautiously. Additionally, this provides support to complete further studies. Implicit bias training is one strategy that can be implemented to decrease unconscious bias experienced by ACTA fellows., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess gender in abstract poster presentations at the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Annual Meetings from 2016 through 2020 to determine possible gender disparities in anesthesia overall as compared to cardiothoracic anesthesia., Design: A bibliometric study SETTING: Publicly available data from the SCA and ASA websites., Participants: Presenting and senior authors of abstracts at the SCA and ASA Annual Meetings., Interventions: None., Measurements and Main Results: Abstract data on presenting and senior authors were collected for the years 2016 through 2020 for both annual meetings. Observed gender of abstract authors was compared to expected gender based on the gender distribution of cardiac anesthesiologists for the SCA or of all anesthesiologists for the ASA. From 2016 to 2020, the proportion of women senior authors on abstracts was significantly underrepresented (2016-2019, p < 0.05). At the SCA meetings, there was no significant difference in the observed versus expected proportion of women presenting and senior authors. The percentage of woman physicians' abstract-presenting authors at the ASA was overrepresented compared to the expected proportion for each year (2016-2020, p < 0.001)., Conclusion: At the SCA, women were appropriately represented as both presenting and senior abstract authors. At the ASA, there was significant overrepresentation of women as presenting authors and underrepresentation of women as senior authors. These results suggested that abstract presentation is not a barrier to academic advancement., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Disclosure Dr. S.Shillcutt is the owner of Brave Enough LLC. The other authors have nothing to disclose.

Background: Our aim was to evaluate trends of childbearing during medical training, evaluate issues of infertility, and measure institutionalized barriers to childbearing among women physicians. Materials and Methods: Attendees of a national women physician's leadership conference (Brave Enough Women Physicians Continuing Medical Education Conference) were surveyed during the conference using Qualtrics © (2019 Qualtrics, Provo, UT), in September 2019. Survey data included demographics, training level, and medical specialty. Data related to reproductive health factors, pregnancy status and history, current number of children, medical history related to pregnancy, breastfeeding history, institutional family planning support, and use of previous fertility treatments were collected. Descriptive analyses were done using IBM SPSS v26.0. Results: Three hundred seventy-seven survey participants were included in the study. 10.6% of respondents reported at least one pregnancy during medical school, versus 78.8% as a practicing physician. Of the participants, 25.8% reported having taken off 1 month or less of clinical duties after giving birth, 39.4% reported that their job prevented breastfeeding for the desired length of time, and 52.2% reported significant workplace limitations to breastfeeding. Of them, 25.5% reported having had fertility issues in the past. Fertility drugs (72.9%) was the most common fertility treatment method used, followed by fertility tracking (54.2%). Demands of training (72.9%) and long work hours (61.5%) were the most cited factors in delaying having children as reported by women physicians. Conclusions: This study reported several barriers related to fertility, family planning, and reproductive health among women physicians. Our results highlight the need for a paradigm shift in fertility awareness and institutional support for childbearing during medical training, postgraduate training programs, and in practice for women in medicine.

Background: Our aim was to evaluate differences in reported citizenship tasks among women physicians due to personal or demographic factors and time spent performing those tasks for work. Materials and Methods: Attendees of a national women physician's leadership conference (Brave Enough Women Physicians Continuing Medical Education Conference) replied to a survey using Qualtrics © (2019 Qualtrics, Provo, UT), in September 2019. Data collected included age, race, ethnicity, training level, medical practice, specialty, current annual total compensation, educational debt, and number of children. We asked about employment-related citizenship tasks, including time spent on those activities, and perceived obligation to volunteer for citizenship tasks. Descriptive and impact of demographic factors on those opinions were evaluated using IBM SPSS v26.0. Results: Three hundred eighty-nine women physicians replied. When compared with their younger counterparts, women physicians older than 49 years stated they feel obligated to volunteer for these tasks because of their gender ( p  = 0.049), and were less likely able to decide which citizenship tasks they were assigned to ( p  = 0.021). Furthermore, a higher proportion of women of color physicians perceived race as a factor in feeling obligated to volunteer for work-related citizenship tasks, when compared with White women physicians ( p  < 0.001). Additionally, nearly 50% of women physicians reported spending more time on citizenship tasks than their male counterparts. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that gender, race, and age may play a role in the decision of women physicians to participate in work-related citizenship tasks. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report on work-related citizenship tasks as described by women physicians. Still, an in-depth assessment on the role citizenship tasks play in the culture of healthcare is warranted.

Intraoperative use of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has become commonplace in high-risk noncardiac surgeries but the balance of benefits and harms remains unclear. This systematic review investigated the comparative effectiveness and harms of intraoperative TEE in noncardiac surgery. We searched Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library from 1946 to March 2017. Two reviewers independently screened the literature for eligibility. Studies were assessed for the risk of selection bias, confounding, measurement bias, and reporting bias. Three comparative and 13 noncomparative studies were included. Intraoperative TEE was employed in a total of 1912 of 3837 patients. Studies had important design limitations. Data were not amenable to quantitative synthesis due to clinical and methodological diversity. Reported incidence of TEE complications ranged from 0% to 1.7% in patients undergoing various procedures (5 studies, 540 patients). No serious adverse events were observed for mixed surgeries (2 studies, 197 patients). Changes in surgical or medical management attributable to the use of TEE were noted in 17% to 81% of patients (7 studies, 558 patients). The only randomized trial of intraoperative TEE was grossly underpowered to detect meaningful differences in 30-day postoperative outcomes. There is lack of high-quality evidence of effectiveness and harms of intraoperative TEE in the management of non-cardiac surgeries. Evidence, however, indicates timely evaluation of cardiac function and structure, and hemodynamics. Future studies should be comparative evaluating confounder-adjusted impact on both intraoperative and 30-day postoperative clinical outcomes.

Background: Proven strategies to reduce right ventricular (RV) dysfunction after continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) implantation are lacking. We sought to evaluate the tolerability, feasibility, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics of inhaled milrinone (iMil) delivery after CF-LVAD implantation., Methods and Results: We prospectively evaluated fixed-dose nebulized iMil delivered into a ventilator circuit for 24 hours in 10 postoperative CF-LVAD (Heartmate-II) patients. Tolerability (arrhythmias, hypotension, and hypersensitivity reaction), efficacy (hemodynamics), pharmacokinetics (plasma milrinone levels), and cost data were collected.Mean age was 56 ± 9 years, 90% were male, and mean INTERMACS profile was 2.5 ± 0.8. No new atrial arrhythmia events occurred, although 3 (30%) ventricular tachycardia (1 nonsustained, 2 sustained) events occurred. Sustained hypotension, drug hypersensitivity, death, or need for right ventricular assist device were not observed. Invasive mean pulmonary arterial pressure from baseline to during iMil therapy was improved (P = .017). Mean plasma milrinone levels (ng/mL) at baseline, and 1, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours were 74.2 ± 35.4, 111.3 ± 70.9, 135.9 ± 41.5, 205.0 ± 86.7, 176.8 ± 61.3 187.6 ± 105.5, respectively. Reduced institutional cost was observed when iMil was compared with nitric oxide therapy over 24 hours ($165.29 vs $1,944.00, respectively)., Conclusions: iMil delivery after CF-LVAD implantation was well tolerated, feasible, and demonstrated favorable hemodynamic, pharmacokinetic, and cost profiles. iMil therapy warrants further study in larger clinical trials., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The incidence of aggressive behaviors is higher among persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) than among persons without such disorders. This phenomenon represents a risk to the well-being of patients, their families, and society. The authors undertook a systematic review of the English language literature to determine the efficacy of neuropharmacological agents for the management of hostility and aggression among persons with SSDs. The search combined findings from the Medline, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases. Ninety-two full text articles were identified that reported relevant findings. The American Academy of Neurology criteria were used to determine levels of evidence. Paliperidone-extended release is probably effective for the management of hostility among inpatients with SSDs who have not been preselected for aggression (Level B). Clozapine is possibly more effective than haloperidol for the management of overt aggression and possibly more effective than chlorpromazine for the management of hostility among inpatients with SSDs who have not been preselected for aggression (Level C). Clozapine is also possibly more effective than olanzapine or haloperidol for reducing aggression among selected physically assaultive inpatients (Level C). Adjunctive propranolol, valproic acid, and famotidine are possibly effective for reducing some aspects of hostility or aggression among inpatients with SSDs (Level C). Paliperidone-extended release currently appears to be the agent for the management of hostility among inpatients with SSDs for which there is the strongest evidence of efficacy.

Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are generally regarded as vital in addressing the growing problem posed by the development of antimalarial resistance across sub-Saharan Africa. However, the costs of the new ACTs are likely to be significantly higher than current therapies. Therefore, it is important to examine formally the cost-effectiveness of the more effective yet more expensive ACTs before advocating a switch in policy. Importantly, any such economic evaluation must consider the temporal dynamics of drug resistance, and not just focus on the static question of whether switching today would be cost-effective at current levels of resistance, particularly since the development of new antimalarials in the future is so uncertain. However, predicting the future changes in drug resistance is a major difficulty in accurately quantifying the relative costs and health outcomes associated with different drug therapies over time. Here, we use a simple decision tree model to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of using ACTs, compared with persisting with current therapies, over 5-, 10-, and 15-year periods. We describe the dynamics of drug resistance using a general logistic growth function, in which the starting frequency of resistance and maximum growth may be altered. However, rather than make assumptions about the absolute rate at which resistance to ACTs will progress, we allow the ratio of the growth rate of resistance to ACTs relative to that of current therapies to vary. Defining the growth rate of ACT resistance in this manner allows us to calculate the threshold ratio at which ACTs would no longer appear cost-effective, for any starting conditions of resistance to current therapies and ACTs, and over any time period. The influence of uncertainty in other decision tree parameters on the threshold ratio values is also quantified, using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. This analysis shows that ACTs are more than 95% likely to be cost-effective under most conditions, other than very low levels of initial resistance to sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine and a five-year time frame. These predictions are conservative in that 95% certainty is a stringent decision rule favoring the rejection of new policies. The importance of other variables not included in the analysis for the robustness of the findings are discussed (e.g., consideration of the entire population at risk for malaria, the affordability of ACTs in specific settings, and the growth of resistance modeled according to population genetic parameters)., (Copyright 2004 The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene)

The metabolism of phenothiazine drugs may contribute to both their therapeutic and toxic actions by production of active metabolites in vivo. Idiosyncratic reactions or treatment failure may be a consequence of differing patterns of metabolism in different patients. In this report, a modification of our method for the detection of metabolites of phenothiazines is described, which also permits the simultaneous determination of sulfoxide metabolites in human plasma. Application of this method to human plasma identifies marked individual differences in patterns of phenothiazine metabolism.

Treatment of the chronic schizophrenic patient is often complicated by depressive symptoms that can be difficult to detect. Because of the association between depressive symptoms and poor outcome features, the presence of these symptoms has substantial treatment implications. Treatment issues for depressive schizophrenic patients include selecting appropriate drug therapy, overcoming high rates of noncompliance, dealing with self-doubt and social withdrawal, and protecting patients from recurrent depressive symptomatology, suicide, or psychotic relapse. Controlled studies suggest that neuroleptic therapy is the drug treatment of choice; addition of an antidepressant does not appear to enhance therapeutic efficacy and may be associated with increased adverse effects. Successful treatment also requires the use of assertive case management, community support, family support, and careful patient education.

The dopamine (D2) receptor blocking property of antipsychotic medications has been proposed as the mechanism of the therapeutic activity of this class of drugs. This property has also been exploited as a method to quantify therapeutic levels of these drugs in patients. However, the lack of correlation among dosage, blood levels and clinical response has resulted in a contradictory literature on both mechanism and quantification of these drugs. Bioactivity and chemical identity of the commonly prescribed neuroleptic drug fluphenazine and its metabolites in human plasma were determined by a new method which combines the selectivity of chemical methods with the sensitivity and bioassay of the radioreceptor assay (RRA) method. Fluphenazine and its metabolites were separated and identified in human plasma by an ion-pairing reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic method with electrochemical detection. A volatile buffer system was employed which was compatible with facile sample preparation for post-column analyses, and which provided sharp, symmetrical chromatographic peaks of parent compound and metabolites. Post chromatography, HPLC fractions were assayed by RRA for D2, alpha 1 and sigma receptors. More than one pattern of metabolism of the drug was seen, including biosynthesis of drug metabolites with biological activities at these receptor types. The individual differences with which this occurs may contribute to the variabilities seen in clinical response to neuroleptics, and to difficulties in neuroleptic blood level determinations.