Influence of Classroom-Level Factors on Implementation Fidelity During Scale-up of Evidence-Based Interventions

Prevention Science - As evidence-based interventions (EBIs) become more widely disseminated, fidelity of implementation (FOI) often wanes. This study explores the association between FOI and...     

Older women testing positive for HPV16/18 on cervical screening and risk of high-grade cervical abnormality

In Australia's HPV-based cervical screening program, we previously showed that risk of histological high-grade abnormality at 1 year post screening decreased with age in women with oncogenic HPV. In this study, we followed 878 HPV16/18 positive women aged 55 years and over for up to 3 years post screening test, to determine the proportion with histological high-grade abnormality (HGA, incorporating high-grade squamous intraepithelial abnormality (HSIL), adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma) and to correlate risk of HGA with liquid-based cytology result and with prior screening history. HGA was detected in 7.8% at 1 year and 10.0% at 3 years, with no significant difference (P = .136), despite the number of women with follow-up information significantly increasing from 82.9% to 91.0% (P < .0001). The proportion of HPV16/18 positive women with HGA at 3 years was highest in those with an HSIL cytology result (79.0%) and lowest in those with negative cytology (6.2%). Women with an adequate screening history had fewer HGA than such women with inadequate prior screening (6.6% vs 16.0%, P = .001) or with a history of an abnormality (6.6% vs 14.4%, P = .001). HPV16/18 infection in women over 55 years may have a different natural history from that in younger women, in whom HGA are more common after HPV16/18 detection. In HPV-based cervical screening programs, management algorithms for screen-detected abnormalities based on risk stratification should include factors such as age, screening history and index cytology result, so that women receive appropriate investigation and follow-up.     

Treatment fidelity evidence for BE-ACTIV – a behavioral intervention for depression in nursing homes

Objectives: Evidence-based depression therapies are difficult to implement in nursing homes. We present data for BE-ACTIV, a 10-week depression treatment designed for implementation in nursing homes, to address questions of treatment fidelity (delivery, receipt, and enactment) in that context.

Method: Participants were 41 patients from 13 nursing homes in the treatment arm of a clinical trial, treated by graduate student therapists. Therapists and their supervisor rated their audio-recorded sessions for adherence to treatment protocol and session quality.

Results: Delivery of core program elements averaged from 80–94% across all sessions; mean quality was 5.6 (SD 0.61) out of 6 points. Delivery of core components to nursing home activities staff who collaborated in the treatment was similarly high. Patients received an average of 7.32 sessions (SD 3.39); 17 completed 10 sessions. The theoretical basis of BE-ACTIV is behavioral activation; therapist-client dyads planned new pleasant events weekly, from a mean of 3.66 (SD 1.35) after the first session to a mean of between 5 and 6 activities a week across sessions 6–9, with a similar progression in percent activities completed. Activities enactment was significantly related to the likelihood of remission at post-treatment, and of maintaining improvement at 3-month follow-up. Treatment receipt and enactment were also related to improved mood from baseline to 3 months.

Conclusion: Results demonstrate delivery, receipt, and successful enactment of BE-ACTIV core components in diverse nursing homes and patients, and support the theoretical premise of the intervention. These findings support further implementation work for the BE-ACTIV intervention.     

Exploring the half-life of glyphosate in human urine samples

Background

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has recently classified glyphosate as a Group 2A ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’. Due to this carcinogenic classification and resulting international debate, there is an increased demand for studies evaluating human health effects from glyphosate exposures. There is currently limited information on human exposures to glyphosate and a paucity of data regarding glyphosate's biological half-life in humans.