Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2014
The aim of the study was to determine whether enhanced personal contact with human immunodeficien... more The aim of the study was to determine whether enhanced personal contact with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients across time improves retention in care compared with existing standard of care (SOC) practices, and whether brief skills training improves retention beyond enhanced contact. The study, conducted at 6 HIV clinics in the United States, included 1838 patients with a recent history of inconsistent clinic attendance, and new patients. Each clinic randomized participants to 1 of 3 arms and continued to provide SOC practices to all enrollees: enhanced contact with interventionist (EC) (brief face-to-face meeting upon returning for care visit, interim visit call, appointment reminder calls, missed visit call); EC + skills (organization, problem solving, and communication skills); or SOC only. The intervention was delivered by project staff for 12 months following randomization. The outcomes during that 12-month period were (1) percentage of participants attending...
To evaluate whether the use of placental alpha-microglobulin-1 (PAMG-1) for the diagnosis of pret... more To evaluate whether the use of placental alpha-microglobulin-1 (PAMG-1) for the diagnosis of preterm premature rupture of membranes is cost-effective in resource-limited settings. We designed a decision-analytic model from a third-party payer's perspective to determine the cost-effectiveness of the PAMG-1 test compared with the traditional diagnostic test of pooling, Nitrazine, and ferning in diagnosing preterm premature rupture of membranes in a resource-limited setting. The primary health outcome of interest is the number of hospital transfers averted by each strategy per 1,000 patients screened. Baseline probabilities and cost assumptions were derived from published literature. We conducted sensitivity analyses using both deterministic and probabilistic models. Cost estimates reflect 2015 U.S. dollars. Under our baseline parameters, the use of a PAMG-1 test was the preferred cost-effective strategy. The PAMG-1 test averted hospital transfers of 447 true-negative patients per ...
Background: The US Census estimates nearly 54.4 million people have some type of disability. Pers... more Background: The US Census estimates nearly 54.4 million people have some type of disability. Persons with disabilities often face undue barriers in accessing health services and medical treatment. This study evaluated the perceptions of barriers to healthcare access between persons with disabilities and healthcare providers. Methods: Retrospective study of 540 persons with disabilities receiving Medicaid benefits enrolled in an HMO. And, healthcare providers providing care to the general population (n=325) grouped into five categories: outpatient mental health, inpatient mental health, outpatient medical, inpatient medical, and dentists. Results: Persons with mental health and cognitive disabilities had higher odds of utilizing outpatient mental health, dentists, and inpatient mental health services. Persons with cognitive limitations experienced barriers related to need (OR 2.16, p 0 0.001) and understanding (OR 3.40 p 0.001) when accessing outpatient medical care, and barriers rel...
People with disabilities (PWD) are more likely than those without disabilities to experience barr... more People with disabilities (PWD) are more likely than those without disabilities to experience barriers when accessing healthcare, often leading to unmet needs. The chasm between what providers perceive as adequate care for PWD and the actual health care needs as perceived by PWD remains significant. Using data from 360 health care providers and 540 Medicaid eligible PWD, we compared perceived barriers to care faced by PWD from the perspective of both providers and PWD. Our results indicated major variations in provider and PWD perceptions about barriers to care. PWD and providers both perceived transportation issues as the highest ranked barriers and physical access issues as the lowest ranked barriers. Multivariate results indicated that PWD reported barriers when communicating with providers, although providers did not consider communication as a major barrier. Among PWD, those with multiple types of disabilities were more likely to experience barriers when communicating with provi...
As black women over age 50 represent a growing share of women living with HIV, understanding what... more As black women over age 50 represent a growing share of women living with HIV, understanding what helps them persist and engage in ongoing HIV care will become increasingly important. Delineating the specific roles of social support and stigma on HIV care experiences among this population remains unclear. We qualitatively examined how experiences with stigma and social support either facilitated or inhibited engagement in HIV care, from the perspective of older black women. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 older black women currently receiving HIV care at primary care clinics in the Metropolitan Boston area. Women expressed that experiences with stigma and seeking support played an important role in evaluating the risks and benefits of engaging in care. Social support facilitated their ability to engage in care, while stigma interfered with their ability to engage in care throughout the course of their illness. Providers in particular, can facilitate engagement by understanding the changes in these women's lives as they struggle with stigma and disclosure while engaging in HIV care. The patient's experiences with social support and stigma and their perceptions about engagement are important considerations for medical teams to tailor efforts to engage older black women in regular HIV care.
We sought to evaluate if the placental alpha-microglobulin (PAMG)-1 test vs the combined traditio... more We sought to evaluate if the placental alpha-microglobulin (PAMG)-1 test vs the combined traditional diagnostic test (CTDT) of pooling, nitrazine, and ferning would be a cost-beneficial screening strategy in the setting of potential preterm premature rupture of membranes. A decision analysis model was used to estimate the economic impact of PAMG-1 test vs the CTDT on preterm delivery costs from a societal perspective. Our primary outcome was the annual net cost-benefit per person tested. Baseline probabilities and costs assumptions were derived from published literature. We conducted sensitivity analyses using both deterministic and probabilistic models. Cost estimates reflect 2013 US dollars. Annual net benefit from PAMG-1 was $20,014 per person tested, while CTDT had a net benefit of $15,757 per person tested. If the probability of rupture is <38%, PAMG-1 will be cost-beneficial with an annual net benefit of $16,000-37,000 per person tested, while CTDT will have an annual net benefit of $16,000-19,500 per person tested. If the probability of rupture is >38%, CTDT is more cost-beneficial. Monte Carlo simulations of 1 million trials selected PAMG-1 as the optimal strategy with a frequency of 89%, while CTDT was only selected as the optimal strategy with a frequency of 11%. Sensitivity analyses were robust. Our cost-benefit analysis provides the economic evidence for the adoption of PAMG-1 in diagnosing preterm premature rupture of membranes in uncertain presentations and when CTDT is equivocal at 34 to <37 weeks' gestation.
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2014
The aim of the study was to determine whether enhanced personal contact with human immunodeficien... more The aim of the study was to determine whether enhanced personal contact with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients across time improves retention in care compared with existing standard of care (SOC) practices, and whether brief skills training improves retention beyond enhanced contact. The study, conducted at 6 HIV clinics in the United States, included 1838 patients with a recent history of inconsistent clinic attendance, and new patients. Each clinic randomized participants to 1 of 3 arms and continued to provide SOC practices to all enrollees: enhanced contact with interventionist (EC) (brief face-to-face meeting upon returning for care visit, interim visit call, appointment reminder calls, missed visit call); EC + skills (organization, problem solving, and communication skills); or SOC only. The intervention was delivered by project staff for 12 months following randomization. The outcomes during that 12-month period were (1) percentage of participants attending...
To evaluate whether the use of placental alpha-microglobulin-1 (PAMG-1) for the diagnosis of pret... more To evaluate whether the use of placental alpha-microglobulin-1 (PAMG-1) for the diagnosis of preterm premature rupture of membranes is cost-effective in resource-limited settings. We designed a decision-analytic model from a third-party payer's perspective to determine the cost-effectiveness of the PAMG-1 test compared with the traditional diagnostic test of pooling, Nitrazine, and ferning in diagnosing preterm premature rupture of membranes in a resource-limited setting. The primary health outcome of interest is the number of hospital transfers averted by each strategy per 1,000 patients screened. Baseline probabilities and cost assumptions were derived from published literature. We conducted sensitivity analyses using both deterministic and probabilistic models. Cost estimates reflect 2015 U.S. dollars. Under our baseline parameters, the use of a PAMG-1 test was the preferred cost-effective strategy. The PAMG-1 test averted hospital transfers of 447 true-negative patients per ...
Background: The US Census estimates nearly 54.4 million people have some type of disability. Pers... more Background: The US Census estimates nearly 54.4 million people have some type of disability. Persons with disabilities often face undue barriers in accessing health services and medical treatment. This study evaluated the perceptions of barriers to healthcare access between persons with disabilities and healthcare providers. Methods: Retrospective study of 540 persons with disabilities receiving Medicaid benefits enrolled in an HMO. And, healthcare providers providing care to the general population (n=325) grouped into five categories: outpatient mental health, inpatient mental health, outpatient medical, inpatient medical, and dentists. Results: Persons with mental health and cognitive disabilities had higher odds of utilizing outpatient mental health, dentists, and inpatient mental health services. Persons with cognitive limitations experienced barriers related to need (OR 2.16, p 0 0.001) and understanding (OR 3.40 p 0.001) when accessing outpatient medical care, and barriers rel...
People with disabilities (PWD) are more likely than those without disabilities to experience barr... more People with disabilities (PWD) are more likely than those without disabilities to experience barriers when accessing healthcare, often leading to unmet needs. The chasm between what providers perceive as adequate care for PWD and the actual health care needs as perceived by PWD remains significant. Using data from 360 health care providers and 540 Medicaid eligible PWD, we compared perceived barriers to care faced by PWD from the perspective of both providers and PWD. Our results indicated major variations in provider and PWD perceptions about barriers to care. PWD and providers both perceived transportation issues as the highest ranked barriers and physical access issues as the lowest ranked barriers. Multivariate results indicated that PWD reported barriers when communicating with providers, although providers did not consider communication as a major barrier. Among PWD, those with multiple types of disabilities were more likely to experience barriers when communicating with provi...
As black women over age 50 represent a growing share of women living with HIV, understanding what... more As black women over age 50 represent a growing share of women living with HIV, understanding what helps them persist and engage in ongoing HIV care will become increasingly important. Delineating the specific roles of social support and stigma on HIV care experiences among this population remains unclear. We qualitatively examined how experiences with stigma and social support either facilitated or inhibited engagement in HIV care, from the perspective of older black women. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 older black women currently receiving HIV care at primary care clinics in the Metropolitan Boston area. Women expressed that experiences with stigma and seeking support played an important role in evaluating the risks and benefits of engaging in care. Social support facilitated their ability to engage in care, while stigma interfered with their ability to engage in care throughout the course of their illness. Providers in particular, can facilitate engagement by understanding the changes in these women's lives as they struggle with stigma and disclosure while engaging in HIV care. The patient's experiences with social support and stigma and their perceptions about engagement are important considerations for medical teams to tailor efforts to engage older black women in regular HIV care.
We sought to evaluate if the placental alpha-microglobulin (PAMG)-1 test vs the combined traditio... more We sought to evaluate if the placental alpha-microglobulin (PAMG)-1 test vs the combined traditional diagnostic test (CTDT) of pooling, nitrazine, and ferning would be a cost-beneficial screening strategy in the setting of potential preterm premature rupture of membranes. A decision analysis model was used to estimate the economic impact of PAMG-1 test vs the CTDT on preterm delivery costs from a societal perspective. Our primary outcome was the annual net cost-benefit per person tested. Baseline probabilities and costs assumptions were derived from published literature. We conducted sensitivity analyses using both deterministic and probabilistic models. Cost estimates reflect 2013 US dollars. Annual net benefit from PAMG-1 was $20,014 per person tested, while CTDT had a net benefit of $15,757 per person tested. If the probability of rupture is <38%, PAMG-1 will be cost-beneficial with an annual net benefit of $16,000-37,000 per person tested, while CTDT will have an annual net benefit of $16,000-19,500 per person tested. If the probability of rupture is >38%, CTDT is more cost-beneficial. Monte Carlo simulations of 1 million trials selected PAMG-1 as the optimal strategy with a frequency of 89%, while CTDT was only selected as the optimal strategy with a frequency of 11%. Sensitivity analyses were robust. Our cost-benefit analysis provides the economic evidence for the adoption of PAMG-1 in diagnosing preterm premature rupture of membranes in uncertain presentations and when CTDT is equivocal at 34 to <37 weeks' gestation.
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Papers by M. Maya McDoom