Medication Adherence App for Food Pantry Clients With Diabetes: A Feasibility Study

Low-income food pantry clients are unable to adhere to the diet and physical activity recommendations of the American Diabetes Association. The aim of the study is to test the feasibility of using a mobile phone app to improve diabetes medication adherence. Clients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes were enrolled in a mobile phone app featuring 70 days of text message reminders and incentives. The app and the 4-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale evaluated medication adherence. Clinically significant medication adherence of 93% was achieved with use of the app. Phone app use is feasible among urban low-income clients to improve medication adherence.     

Premature Ticagrelor Discontinuation in Secondary Prevention of Atherosclerotic CVD: JACC Review Topic of the Week

Ticagrelor is a cornerstone of modern antithrombotic therapy alongside aspirin in patients with acute coronary syndrome and after percutaneous coronary intervention. Adverse effects such as bleeding and dyspnea have been associated with premature ticagrelor discontinuation, which may limit any potential advantage of ticagrelor over clopidogrel. The randomized trials of ticagrelor captured adverse events, offering the opportunity to more precisely quantify these effects across studies. Therefore, a meta-analysis of 4 randomized clinical trials of ticagrelor conducted between January 2007 and June 2017 was performed to quantify the incidence and causes of premature ticagrelor discontinuation. Among 66,870 patients followed for a median 18 months, premature ticagrelor discontinuation was seen in 25%; bleeding was the most common cause of discontinuation followed by dyspnea. Versus the comparators, the relative risk of dyspnea-related discontinuation during follow-up was 6.4-fold higher, the relative risk of bleeding was 3.2-fold higher, and the relative risk of discontinuation due to any adverse event was 59% higher for patients receiving ticagrelor. Understanding these potential barriers to adherence to ticagrelor is crucial for informed patient-physician decision making and can inform future efforts to improve ticagrelor adherence. This review discusses the incidence, causes, and biological mechanisms of ticagrelor-related adverse effects and offers strategies to improve adherence to ticagrelor.     

Economic Evaluation of Factorial Trials: Cost-Utility Analysis of the Atorvastatin in Factorial With Omega EE90 Risk Reduction in Diabetes 2 × 2 × 2 Factorial Trial of Atorvastatin,Omega-3 Fish Oil,and Action Planning

ObjectivesWe applied principles for conducting economic evaluations of factorial trials to a trial-based economic evaluation of a cluster-randomized 2 × 2 × 2 factorial trial. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of atorvastatin, omega-3 fish oil, and an action-planning leaflet, alone and in combination, from a UK National Health Service perspective.MethodsThe Atorvastatin in Factorial With Omega EE90 Risk Reduction in Diabetes (AFORRD) Trial randomized 800 patients with type 2 diabetes to atorvastatin, omega-3, or their respective placebos and randomized general practices to receive a leaflet-based action-planning intervention designed to improve compliance or standard care. The trial was conducted at 59 UK general practices. Sixteen-week outcomes for each trial participant were extrapolated for 70 years using the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study Outcomes Model v2.01. We analyzed the trial as a 2 × 2 factorial trial (ignoring interactions between action-planning leaflet and medication), as a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial trial (considering all interactions), and ignoring all interactions.ResultsWe observed several qualitative interactions for costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) that changed treatment rankings. However, different approaches to analyzing the factorial design did not change the conclusions. There was a ≥99% chance that atorvastatin is cost-effective and omega-3 is not, at a £20 000/QALY threshold.ConclusionsAtorvastatin monotherapy was the most cost-effective combination of the 3 trial interventions at a £20 000/QALY threshold. Omega-3 fish oil was not cost-effective, while there was insufficient evidence to draw firm conclusions about action planning. Recently-developed methods for analyzing factorial trials and combining parameter and sampling uncertainty were extended to estimate cost-effectiveness acceptability curves within a 2x2x2 factorial design with model-based extrapolation.     

用生物发光法定量测定绿脓杆菌对聚苯乙烯的粘附

本文用生物发光技术建立了定量测定绿脓杆菌(PA)对聚苯乙烯表面粘附的研究方法,同时观察了影响 PA 粘附的某些因素,比较了12株 PA 菌株对聚苯乙烯的粘附率。结果表明:在生物发光(BL)反应体系中,在萤虫素/萤虫素酶浓度给定的条件下,发光强度与 PA 释放的 ATP 量呈剂量依赖关系;在 PA 粘附体系中,其与聚苯乙烯表面的粘附随菌量的增加和粘附时间的延长而增加并受其缓冲液 pH 和菌龄的影响;不同 PA 菌株在同一条件下对聚苯乙烯的粘附率具有很大差别。     

白细胞粘附作用对ELISA检测HBsAg干扰现象的探讨

目的 探讨在ELISA检测HBsAg试验中，标本混入WBC后，WBC的粘附现象对试验结果的干扰。方法 观察WBC粘附现象对测定结果的干扰情况，以及血浆中WBC含量与干扰程度的关系，同时采用增加洗涤次数的方法对抗WBC粘附的效果观察。结果 标本混入WBC，WBC在反应板内发生粘附。WBC的中性粒细胞含过氧化物酶对试验结果造成干扰；标本中单位体积WBC含量与WBC的粘附量不成正比，但WBC的有效粘附数与OD值直接相关，粘附量越多，OD值越高；且WBC的粘附经洗涤10次也未能完全洗脱。结论 在ELISA检测HBsAg工作中应注意WBC对试验产生的非特异性干扰，采用多种方法防止WBC的混入。