Scholars@Duke
Elizabeth Louise Turner

Elizabeth Louise Turner

Associate Professor of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics
Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Division of Biostatistics
liz.turner@duke.edu
Duke Box 2721, Durham, NC 27710
2424 Erwin Road, Suite 1104, 11109 Hock Plaza, Durham, NC 27705

Selected Publications

Evaluating analytic models for individually randomized group treatment trials with complex clustering in nested and crossed designs.

Journal Article Stat Med · November 10, 2024 Many individually randomized group treatment (IRGT) trials randomly assign individuals to study arms but deliver treatments via shared agents, such as therapists, surgeons, or trainers. Post-randomization interactions induce correlations in outcome measure ... Full text Link to item Cite

A website for cluster randomised trials including stepped wedge: facilitating quality trials and methodological research.

Journal Article Trials · November 6, 2024 BACKGROUND: A cluster randomised trial is a randomised controlled trial in which groups of individuals (clusters) are randomised to treatment arms. Stepped wedge cluster randomised trials are a type of cluster randomised trial where clusters are randomised ... Full text Link to item Cite

When Shepherds Shed: Trajectories of Weight-Related Behaviors in a Holistic Health Intervention Tailored for US Christian Clergy.

Journal Article J Relig Health · June 2024 Maintaining healthy behaviors is challenging. Based upon previous reports that in North Carolina (NC), USA, overweight/obese clergy lost weight during a two-year religiously tailored health intervention, we described trajectories of diet, physical activity ... Full text Link to item Cite

Down the Victorian data mine

Journal Article Significance · March 1, 2024 Full text Cite

How should a cluster randomized trial be analyzed?

Journal Article J Epidemiol Popul Health · February 2024 In cluster randomized trials, individuals from the same cluster tend to have more similar outcomes than individuals from different clusters. This correlation must be taken into account in the analysis of every cluster trial to avoid incorrect inferences. I ... Full text Link to item Cite

A cluster-randomized trial of client and provider directed financial interventions to align incentives with appropriate case management in private medicine retailers: results of the TESTsmART Trial in Lagos, Nigeria.

Journal Article medRxiv · January 31, 2024 Malaria remains a major health priority in Nigeria. Among children with fever who seek care, less than a quarter gets tested for malaria, leading to inappropriate use of the recommended treatment for malaria; Artemether Combination Therapies (ACT). Here we ... Full text Link to item Cite

Designing individually randomized group treatment trials with repeated outcome measurements using generalized estimating equations.

Journal Article Stat Med · January 30, 2024 Individually randomized group treatment (IRGT) trials, in which the clustering of outcome is induced by group-based treatment delivery, are increasingly popular in public health research. IRGT trials frequently incorporate longitudinal measurements, of whi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Autism Caregiver Coaching in Africa (ACACIA): Protocol for a type 1-hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2024 BACKGROUND: While early autism intervention can significantly improve outcomes, gaps in implementation exist globally. These gaps are clearest in Africa, where forty percent of the world's children will live by 2050. Task-sharing early intervention to non- ... Full text Link to item Cite

A cluster-randomized trial of client and provider-directed financial interventions to align incentives with appropriate case management in retail medicine outlets: Results of the TESTsmART Trial in western Kenya.

Journal Article PLOS Glob Public Health · 2024 ACTs are responsible for a substantial proportion of the global reduction in malaria mortality over the last ten years, made possible by publicly-funded subsidies making these drugs accessible and affordable in the private sector. However, inexpensive ACTs ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

A cluster-randomized trial of client and provider directed financial interventions to align incentives with appropriate case management in private medicine retailers: Results of the TESTsmART trial in Lagos, Nigeria.

Journal Article PLOS Glob Public Health · 2024 Malaria remains a major health priority in Nigeria. Among children with fever who seek care, less than a quarter gets tested for malaria, leading to inappropriate use of the recommended treatment for malaria; Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT). He ... Full text Link to item Cite

Study protocol for Sauti ya Vijana (The Voice of Youth): A hybrid-type 1 randomized trial to evaluate effectiveness and implementation of a mental health and life skills intervention to improve health outcomes for Tanzanian youth living with HIV.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2024 OBJECTIVE: Young people living with HIV (YPLWH) experience increased morbidity and mortality compared to all other age groups. Adolescence brings unique challenges related to sexual reproductive health, the elevated importance of peer groups, and often, em ... Full text Link to item Cite

An ADaptivE PrenaTal (ADEPT) intervention to increase childhood vaccinations: Protocol for a cluster randomized trial and nested mixed methods evaluation.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2024 BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence to assess if interventions implemented during pregnancy proactively mitigate parental vaccine hesitancy and promote timely vaccination among children after birth. This study protocol describes the evaluation of an ADap ... Full text Link to item Cite

Telemedicine Referral to Improve Access to Specialty Care for Preschool Children in Rural Alaska: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Journal Article Ear Hear · November 2023 OBJECTIVES: Preschool programs provide essential preventive services, such as hearing screening, but in rural regions, limited access to specialists and loss to follow-up compound rural health disparities. We conducted a parallel-arm cluster-randomized con ... Full text Link to item Cite

A cluster-randomized trial of client and provider-directed financial interventions to align incentives with appropriate case management in retail medicine outlets: results of the TESTsmART Trial in western Kenya.

Journal Article medRxiv · September 15, 2023 ACTs are responsible for a substantial proportion of the global reduction in malaria mortality over the last ten years. These reductions would not have been possible without publicly-funded subsidies making these drugs accessible and affordable in the priv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Autism Caregiver Coaching in Africa (ACACIA): Protocol for a type 1-hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial.

Journal Article medRxiv · September 11, 2023 BACKGROUND: While early autism intervention can significantly improve outcomes, gaps in implementation exist globally. These gaps are clearest in Africa, where forty percent of the world's children will live by 2050. Task-sharing early intervention to non- ... Full text Link to item Cite

Generalizing the information content for stepped wedge designs: A marginal modeling approach.

Journal Article Scand Stat Theory Appl · September 2023 Stepped wedge trials are increasingly adopted because practical constraints necessitate staggered roll-out. While a complete design requires clusters to collect data in all periods, resource and patient-centered considerations may call for an incomplete st ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Day-in-the-Life method for assessing infant caregiving in rural Pakistan.

Journal Article Fam Relat · July 2023 OBJECTIVE: This manuscript describes the Day-in-the-Life (DIL) method for assessing child caregiving activities, its implementation, and findings regarding family members' roles and associations with maternal depression symptoms. BACKGROUND: Infant caregiv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Stroke and activity limitation in Chinese adults 65 Years or older.

Journal Article Disabil Health J · July 2023 BACKGROUND: Differences in activity limitations between stroke survivors and people with other chronic conditions and how their levels of activity limitation vary by sociodemographic characteristics have not been well quantified. OBJECTIVE: To quantify act ... Full text Link to item Cite

ORTH.Ord: An R package for analyzing correlated ordinal outcomes using alternating logistic regressions with orthogonalized residuals.

Journal Article Comput Methods Programs Biomed · July 2023 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Marginal models with generalized estimating equations (GEE) are usually recommended for analyzing correlated ordinal outcomes which are commonly seen in a longitudinal study or clustered randomized trial (CRT). Within-cluster ass ... Full text Link to item Cite

Improving access to early intervention for autism: findings from a proof-of-principle cascaded task-sharing naturalistic developmental behavioural intervention in South Africa.

Journal Article Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health · May 20, 2023 BACKGROUND: Despite the high number of children living with neurodevelopmental disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa, access to early intervention is almost non-existent. It is therefore important to develop feasible, scalable early autism intervention that c ... Full text Link to item Cite

Improving sandwich variance estimation for marginal Cox analysis of cluster randomized trials.

Journal Article Biom J · March 2023 Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) frequently recruit a small number of clusters, therefore necessitating the application of small-sample corrections for valid inference. A recent systematic review indicated that CRTs reporting right-censored, time-to-event ... Full text Link to item Cite

GEEMAEE: A SAS macro for the analysis of correlated outcomes based on GEE and finite-sample adjustments with application to cluster randomized trials.

Journal Article Comput Methods Programs Biomed · March 2023 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Generalized estimating equations (GEE) are used to analyze correlated outcomes in marginal regression models with population-averaged interpretations of exposure effects. Limitations of popular software for GEE include: (i) user ... Full text Link to item Cite

Improving access to early intervention for autism - findings from a proof-of-principle cascaded task-sharing naturalistic developmental behavioural intervention in South Africa.

Journal Article Res Sq · March 1, 2023 Background Despite the high number of children living with neurodevelopmental disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa, access to early intervention is almost non-existent. It is therefore important to develop feasible, scalable early autism intervention that ca ... Full text Link to item Cite

A general method for calculating power for GEE analysis of complete and incomplete stepped wedge cluster randomized trials.

Journal Article Stat Methods Med Res · January 2023 Stepped wedge designs have uni-directional crossovers at randomly assigned time points (steps) where clusters switch from control to intervention condition. Incomplete stepped wedge designs are increasingly used in cluster randomized trials of health care ... Full text Link to item Cite

Protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial of a telehealth-delivered counseling intervention to reduce suicidality and improve HIV care engagement in Tanzania.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2023 OBJECTIVE: Suicidal ideation is strikingly common among people living with HIV (PLWH) worldwide, leading to higher burden of disease, poor HIV care engagement, and loss of life. In low- and middle-income countries such as Tanzania, mental health resources ... Full text Link to item Cite

How do malaria testing and treatment subsidies affect drug shop client expenditures? A cross-sectional analysis in Western Kenya.

Journal Article BMJ Open · December 6, 2022 OBJECTIVES: To examine how drug shop clients' expenditures are affected by subsidies for malaria diagnostic testing and for malaria treatment, and also to examine how expenditures vary by clients' malaria test result and by the number of medications they p ... Full text Link to item Cite

power swgee: GEE-based power calculations in stepped wedge cluster randomized trials.

Journal Article Stata J · December 2022 Stepped wedge cluster randomized trials are increasingly being used to evaluate interventions in medical, public health, educational, and social science contexts. With the longitudinal and crossover nature of a SW-CRT, complex analysis techniques are often ... Full text Link to item Cite

Marginal modeling of cluster-period means and intraclass correlations in stepped wedge designs with binary outcomes.

Journal Article Biostatistics · July 18, 2022 Stepped wedge cluster randomized trials (SW-CRTs) with binary outcomes are increasingly used in prevention and implementation studies. Marginal models represent a flexible tool for analyzing SW-CRTs with population-averaged interpretations, but the joint e ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mobile health school screening and telemedicine referral to improve access to specialty care in rural Alaska: a cluster- randomised controlled trial.

Journal Article Lancet Glob Health · July 2022 BACKGROUND: School-based programmes, including hearing screening, provide essential preventive services for rural children. However, minimal evidence on screening methodologies, loss to follow-up, and scarcity of specialists for subsequent care compound ru ... Full text Link to item Cite

Facility-based disease surveillance and Bayesian hierarchical modeling to estimate endemic typhoid fever incidence, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania, 2007-2018.

Journal Article PLoS Negl Trop Dis · July 2022 Growing evidence suggests considerable variation in endemic typhoid fever incidence at some locations over time, yet few settings have multi-year incidence estimates to inform typhoid control measures. We sought to describe a decade of typhoid fever incide ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Implementation strategy in collaboration with people with lived experience of mental illness to reduce stigma among primary care providers in Nepal (RESHAPE): protocol for a type 3 hybrid implementation effectiveness cluster randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article Implement Sci · June 16, 2022 BACKGROUND: There are increasing efforts for the integration of mental health services into primary care settings in low- and middle-income countries. However, commonly used approaches to train primary care providers (PCPs) may not achieve the expected out ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sauti ya Vijana (SYV; The Voice of Youth): Longitudinal Outcomes of an Individually Randomized Group Treatment Pilot Trial for Young People Living with HIV in Tanzania.

Journal Article AIDS Behav · June 2022 Sauti ya Vijana is a mental health and life skills intervention delivered by young adult group leaders for the improvement of HIV outcomes in young people living with HIV in Tanzania. This pilot randomized controlled trial estimated exploratory interventio ... Full text Link to item Cite

Healthy eating and all-cause mortality among Chinese aged 80 years or older.

Journal Article Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act · May 26, 2022 BACKGROUND: There is little evidence of the influence of dietary patterns on mortality risk among adults 80 years or older ("oldest-old"). We evaluated the association between the Simplified Healthy Eating index (SHE-index) and mortality among Chinese olde ... Full text Link to item Cite

Constrained randomization and statistical inference for multi-arm parallel cluster randomized controlled trials.

Journal Article Stat Med · May 10, 2022 A practical limitation of cluster randomized controlled trials (cRCTs) is that the number of available clusters may be small, resulting in an increased risk of baseline imbalance under simple randomization. Constrained randomization overcomes this issue by ... Full text Link to item Cite

Power considerations for generalized estimating equations analyses of four-level cluster randomized trials.

Journal Article Biom J · April 2022 In this article, we develop methods for sample size and power calculations in four-level intervention studies when intervention assignment is carried out at any level, with a particular focus on cluster randomized trials (CRTs). CRTs involving four levels ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of unequal cluster sizes for GEE analyses of stepped wedge cluster randomized trials with binary outcomes.

Journal Article Biom J · March 2022 The stepped wedge (SW) design is a type of unidirectional crossover design where cluster units switch from control to intervention condition at different prespecified time points. While a convention in study planning is to assume the cluster-period sizes a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Two weights make a wrong: Cluster randomized trials with variable cluster sizes and heterogeneous treatment effects.

Journal Article Contemp Clin Trials · March 2022 In cluster randomized trials (CRTs), the hierarchical nesting of participants (level 1) within clusters (level 2) leads to two conceptual populations: clusters and participants. When cluster sizes vary and the goal is to generalize to a hypothetical popula ... Full text Link to item Cite

A group-based mental health intervention for Tanzanian youth living with HIV: Secondary analysis of a pilot trial.

Journal Article Medicine (Baltimore) · February 18, 2022 BACKGROUND: Youth living with human immunodeficiency virus (YLWH) are vulnerable to incomplete adherence to antiretroviral therapy in the context of stigma, decreased hope for future, and mental health challenges. Despite these challenges, few mental healt ... Full text Link to item Cite

Community-Based Malaria Testing Reduces Polypharmacy in a Population-Based Survey of Febrile Illness in Western Kenya.

Journal Article Int J Public Health · 2022 Objective: The objective was to describe the relationship between the location of care, the malaria test result, and the type of medicine consumed for the fever, and to determine whether community-based access to malaria testing reduced polypharmacy. Metho ... Full text Link to item Cite

Collaboration With People With Lived Experience of Mental Illness to Reduce Stigma and Improve Primary Care Services: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.

Journal Article JAMA Netw Open · November 1, 2021 IMPORTANCE: Collaboration with people with lived experience of mental illness (PWLE), also referred to as service users, is a growing priority to reduce stigma and improve mental health care. OBJECTIVE: To examine feasibility and acceptability of conductin ... Full text Link to item Cite

Intra-cluster correlations from the CLustered OUtcome Dataset bank to inform the design of longitudinal cluster trials.

Journal Article Clin Trials · October 2021 BACKGROUND: Sample size calculations for longitudinal cluster randomised trials, such as crossover and stepped-wedge trials, require estimates of the assumed correlation structure. This includes both within-period intra-cluster correlations, which importan ... Full text Link to item Cite

Completeness of reporting and risks of overstating impact in cluster randomised trials: a systematic review.

Journal Article Lancet Glob Health · August 2021 Overstating the impact of interventions through incomplete or inaccurate reporting can lead to inappropriate scale-up of interventions with low impact. Accurate reporting of the impact of interventions is of great importance in global health research to pr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Bayesian hierarchical factor regression models to infer cause of death from verbal autopsy data.

Journal Article J R Stat Soc Ser C Appl Stat · June 2021 In low-resource settings where vital registration of death is not routine it is often of critical interest to determine and study the cause of death (COD) for individuals and the cause-specific mortality fraction (CSMF) for populations. Post-mortem autopsi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effectiveness of Group Problem Management Plus, a brief psychological intervention for adults affected by humanitarian disasters in Nepal: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article PLoS Med · June 2021 BACKGROUND: Globally, 235 million people are impacted by humanitarian emergencies worldwide, presenting increased risk of experiencing a mental disorder. Our objective was to test the effectiveness of a brief group psychological treatment delivered by trai ... Full text Link to item Cite

Budget impact and cost-effectiveness analyses of the COBRA-BPS multicomponent hypertension management programme in rural communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Journal Article Lancet Glob Health · May 2021 BACKGROUND: COBRA-BPS (Control of Blood Pressure and Risk Attenuation-Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), a multi-component hypertension management programme that is led by community health workers, has been shown to be efficacious at reducing systolic blood ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effectiveness of a primary care-based integrated mobile health intervention for stroke management in rural China (SINEMA): A cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article PLoS Med · April 2021 BACKGROUND: Managing noncommunicable diseases through primary healthcare has been identified as the key strategy to achieve universal health coverage but is challenging in most low- and middle-income countries. Stroke is the leading cause of death and disa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Can individuals’ beliefs help us understand nonadherence to malaria test results? Evidence from rural Kenya

Journal Article Review of Development Economics · February 1, 2021 In malaria-endemic countries about a quarter of test-negative individuals take antimalarials (artemisinin-based combination therapies [ACTs]). ACT overuse depletes scarce resources for subsidies and contributes to parasite resistance. As part of an experim ... Full text Cite

Incentivizing appropriate malaria case management in the private sector: a study protocol for two linked cluster randomized controlled trials to evaluate provider- and client-focused interventions in western Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria.

Journal Article Implement Sci · January 20, 2021 BACKGROUND: A large proportion of artemisinin-combination therapy (ACT) anti-malarial medicines is consumed by individuals that do not have malaria. The over-consumption of ACTs is largely driven by retail sales in high malaria-endemic countries to clients ... Full text Link to item Cite

Optimizing an Obesity Treatment Using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy Framework: Protocol for a Randomized Factorial Trial.

Journal Article JMIR Res Protoc · January 18, 2021 BACKGROUND: Effective weight loss interventions exist, yet few can be scaled up for wide dissemination. Further, none has been fully delivered via text message. We used the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) to develop multicomponent interventions tha ... Full text Link to item Cite

Implications of Regionalizing Care in the Developing World: Impact of Distance to Referral Center on Compliance to Biopsy Recommendations in a Brazilian Prostate Cancer Screening Cohort.

Journal Article Prostate Cancer · 2021 Given growing specialization in medical care, optimal care may require regionalization, which may create access barriers. We tested this within a large prostate cancer (PC) screening program in Brazil. In 2004-2007, Barretos Cancer Hospital prospectively s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preventive malaria treatment among school-aged children in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analyses.

Journal Article Lancet Glob Health · December 2020 BACKGROUND: The burden of malaria infection in sub-Saharan Africa among school-aged children aged 5-15 years is underappreciated and represents an important source of human-to-mosquito transmission of Plasmodium falciparum. Additional interventions are nee ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association of maternal depression and home adversities with infant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis biomarkers in rural Pakistan.

Journal Article J Affect Disord · November 1, 2020 BACKGROUND: Each year, almost 35% of children are exposed to maternal depression and more grow up in persistent poverty, increasing the risk for stress-related disease and other socio-developmental deficits later in life. These impacts are likely related t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Subsidise the test, the treatment or both? Results of an individually randomised controlled trial of the management of suspected malaria fevers in the retail sector in western Kenya.

Journal Article BMJ Glob Health · November 2020 INTRODUCTION: In many malaria-endemic countries, the private retail sector is a major source of antimalarial drugs. However, the rarity of malaria diagnostic testing in the retail sector leads to overuse of the first-line class of antimalarial drugs known ... Full text Link to item Cite

A group-based mental health intervention for young people living with HIV in Tanzania: results of a pilot individually randomized group treatment trial.

Journal Article BMC Public Health · September 4, 2020 BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of young people living with HIV (YPLWH) have unaddressed mental health challenges. Such challenges are associated with poor antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and high mortality. Few evidence-based mental health intervent ... Full text Link to item Cite

An evaluation of quadratic inference functions for estimating intervention effects in cluster randomized trials.

Journal Article Contemp Clin Trials Commun · September 2020 Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) usually randomize groups of individuals to interventions, and outcomes are typically measured at the individual level. Marginal intervention effects are frequently of interest in CRTs due to their population-averaged interp ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effectiveness of a peer-delivered, psychosocial intervention on maternal depression and child development at 3 years postnatal: a cluster randomised trial in Pakistan.

Journal Article Lancet Psychiatry · September 2020 BACKGROUND: Maternal depression has a recurring course that can influence offspring outcomes. Evidence on how to treat maternal depression to improve longer-term maternal outcomes and reduce intergenerational transmission of psychopathology is scarce, part ... Full text Link to item Cite

The contribution of grandmother involvement to child growth and development: an observational study in rural Pakistan.

Journal Article BMJ Glob Health · August 2020 INTRODUCTION: Early childhood interventions primarily focus on the mother-child relationship, but grandmothers are often critical in childcare in low-resource settings. Prior research is mixed on how grandmother involvement influences child outcomes and th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Corrigendum: Relative Measures of Association for Binary Outcomes: Challenges and Recommendations for the Global Health Researcher.

Journal Article Ann Glob Health · July 6, 2020 [This corrects the article DOI: 10.5334/aogh.2581.]. ... Full text Link to item Cite

xtgeebcv: A command for bias-corrected sandwich variance estimation for GEE analyses of cluster randomized trials.

Journal Article Stata J · June 2020 Cluster randomized trials, where clusters (for example, schools or clinics) are randomized to comparison arms but measurements are taken on individuals, are commonly used to evaluate interventions in public health, education, and the social sciences. Analy ... Full text Link to item Cite

Feasibility of Group Problem Management Plus (PM+) to improve mental health and functioning of adults in earthquake-affected communities in Nepal.

Journal Article Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci · May 26, 2020 AIMS: Psychological interventions that are brief, acceptable, effective and can be delivered by non-specialists are especially necessary in low- and middle-income countries, where mental health systems are unable to address the high level of psychosocial n ... Full text Link to item Cite

Properties and pitfalls of weighting as an alternative to multilevel multiple imputation in cluster randomized trials with missing binary outcomes under covariate-dependent missingness.

Journal Article Stat Methods Med Res · May 2020 The generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach can be used to analyze cluster randomized trial data to obtain population-averaged intervention effects. However, most cluster randomized trials have some missing outcome data and a GEE analysis of availab ... Full text Link to item Cite

Optimizing an Obesity Treatment Using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy Framework: Protocol for a Randomized Factorial Trial (Preprint)

Journal Article · April 22, 2020 BACKGROUNDEffective weight loss interventions exist, yet few can be scaled up for wide dissemination. Further, none has been fully delivered via text message. We used the multiphase optim ... Full text Cite

Effectiveness of Group Problem Management Plus (Group-PM+) for adults affected by humanitarian crises in Nepal: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article Trials · April 19, 2020 BACKGROUND: Globally, the lack of availability of psychological services for people exposed to adversities has led to the development of a range of scalable psychological interventions with features that enable better scale-up. Problem Management Plus (PM+ ... Full text Link to item Cite

Essential Ingredients and Innovations in the Design and Analysis of Group-Randomized Trials.

Journal Article Annu Rev Public Health · April 2, 2020 This article reviews the essential ingredients and innovations in the design and analysis of group-randomized trials. The methods literature for these trials has grown steadily since they were introduced to the biomedical research community in the late 197 ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Community-Based Intervention for Managing Hypertension in Rural South Asia.

Journal Article N Engl J Med · February 20, 2020 BACKGROUND: The burden of hypertension is escalating, and control rates are poor in low- and middle-income countries. Cardiovascular mortality is high in rural areas. METHODS: We conducted a cluster-randomized, controlled trial in rural districts in Bangla ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reducing mental illness stigma in healthcare settings: Proof of concept for a social contact intervention to address what matters most for primary care providers.

Journal Article Soc Sci Med · February 15, 2020 Initiatives for integration of mental health services into primary care are underway through the World Health Organization's mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) and related endeavors. However, primary healthcare providers' stigma against persons wit ... Full text Link to item Cite

Using a holistic health approach to achieve weight-loss maintenance: results from the Spirited Life intervention.

Journal Article Transl Behav Med · February 3, 2020 Weight-loss maintenance is essential to sustain the health benefits of weight loss. Studies with lower intensity intervention supports under real-world conditions are lacking. This study examined changes in weight and cardiometabolic biomarkers among Spiri ... Full text Link to item Cite

System-integrated technology-enabled model of care (SINEMA) to improve the health of stroke patients in rural China: Statistical analysis plan for a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article Int J Stroke · February 2020 BACKGROUND: The system-integrated technology-enabled model of care (SINEMA) trial aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based multi-component intervention for secondary prevention of stroke in rural China. OBJECTIVE: To present the detailed st ... Full text Link to item Cite

Maternal depression in rural Pakistan: the protective associations with cultural postpartum practices.

Journal Article BMC Public Health · January 15, 2020 BACKGROUND: Traditional postpartum practices are intended to provide care to mothers, but there is mixed evidence concerning their impact on postpartum depression (PPD). It remains unknown if there is a unique impact of postpartum practices on PPD separate ... Full text Link to item Cite

Advancing successful implementation of task-shifted mental health care in low-resource settings (BASIC): protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial.

Journal Article BMC Psychiatry · January 8, 2020 BACKGROUND: The mental health treatment gap-the difference between those with mental health need and those who receive treatment-is high in low- and middle-income countries. Task-shifting has been used to address the shortage of mental health professionals ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Impact of baseline covariate imbalance on bias in treatment effect estimation in cluster randomized trials: Race as an example.

Journal Article Contemp Clin Trials · January 2020 Individual-level baseline covariate imbalance could happen more frequently in cluster randomized trials, and may influence the observed treatment effect. Using computer and real-data simulations, this paper quantifies the extent and impact of covariate imb ... Full text Link to item Cite

cvcrand: A package for covariate-constrained randomization and the clustered permutation test for cluster randomized trials

Journal Article R Journal · December 1, 2019 The cluster randomized trial (CRT) is a randomized controlled trial in which randomization is conducted at the cluster level (e.g., school or hospital) and outcomes are measured for each individual within a cluster. Often, the number of clusters available ... Cite

Randomization procedures for multicomponent behavioral intervention factorial trials in the multiphase optimization strategy framework: challenges and recommendations.

Journal Article Transl Behav Med · November 25, 2019 The multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) is an increasingly popular framework to prepare, optimize, and evaluate multicomponent behavioral health interventions. Within this framework, it is common to use a factorial trial to assemble an optimized multic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relative Measures of Association for Binary Outcomes: Challenges and Recommendations for the Global Health Researcher.

Journal Article Ann Glob Health · November 20, 2019 BACKGROUND: Binary outcomes-which have two distinct levels (e.g., disease yes/no)-are commonly collected in global health research. The relative association of an exposure (e.g., a treatment) and such an outcome can be quantified using a ratio measure such ... Full text Link to item Cite

Father involvement in the first year of life: Associations with maternal mental health and child development outcomes in rural Pakistan.

Journal Article Soc Sci Med · September 2019 The contribution of fathers to child development and maternal mental health is increasingly acknowledged, although research on this topic outside of high income countries is limited. Using longitudinal data, we characterized father involvement in a rural s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cohort Profile: Perinatal depression and child socioemotional development ; the Bachpan cohort study from rural Pakistan.

Journal Article BMJ Open · May 5, 2019 PURPOSE: This is a prospective pregnancy-birth cohort designed to investigate the effects of depression on socioemotional development of children. Perinatal depression is a risk factor for poor child development and for many it has a recurring chronic cour ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationships between Sabbath Observance and Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Health in Clergy

Journal Article Pastoral Psychology · April 15, 2019 Keeping the Sabbath, that is, setting a day apart for rest and spiritual rejuvenation, has been related to better mental health and less stress in cross-sectional studies. However, for clergy, keeping Sabbath can be complicated by needing to work on Sunday ... Full text Cite

Quality of stepped-wedge trial reporting can be reliably assessed using an updated CONSORT: crowd-sourcing systematic review.

Journal Article J Clin Epidemiol · March 2019 OBJECTIVES: The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials extension for the stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial (SW-CRT) is a recently published reporting guideline for SW-CRTs. We assess the quality of reporting of a recent sample of SW-CRTs. STUDY DE ... Full text Link to item Cite

Power and sample size requirements for GEE analyses of cluster randomized crossover trials.

Journal Article Stat Med · February 20, 2019 The cluster randomized crossover design has been proposed to improve efficiency over the traditional parallel cluster randomized design, which often involves a limited number of clusters. In recent years, the cluster randomized crossover design has been in ... Full text Link to item Cite

System-integrated technology-enabled model of care to improve the health of stroke patients in rural China: protocol for SINEMA-a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article Am Heart J · January 2019 BACKGROUND: Despite the significant burden of stroke in rural China, secondary prevention of stroke is suboptimal. This study aims to develop a SINEMA for the secondary prevention of stroke in rural China and to evaluate the effectiveness of the model comp ... Full text Link to item Cite

Patients' experiences on accessing health care services for management of hypertension in rural Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka: A qualitative study.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2019 Hypertension is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and leading cause of premature death globally. In 2008, approximately 40% of adults were diagnosed with hypertension, with more than 1.5 billion people estimated to be affected globally by ... Full text Link to item Cite

Psychosocial determinants of sustained maternal functional impairment: Longitudinal findings from a pregnancy-birth cohort study in rural Pakistan.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2019 Function is an important marker of health throughout the life course, however, in low-and-middle-income-countries, little is known about the burden of functional impairment as women transition from pregnancy to the first year post-partum. Leveraging longit ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sample size determination for GEE analyses of stepped wedge cluster randomized trials.

Journal Article Biometrics · December 2018 In stepped wedge cluster randomized trials, intact clusters of individuals switch from control to intervention from a randomly assigned period onwards. Such trials are becoming increasingly popular in health services research. When a closed cohort is recru ... Full text Link to item Cite

Influence of stent design and use of protection devices on outcome of carotid artery stenting: a pooled analysis of individual patient data.

Journal Article J Neurointerv Surg · December 2018 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Carotid artery stenting is an alternative to endarterectomy for the treatment of symptomatic carotid stenosis but was associated with a higher risk of procedural stroke or death in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Technical aspe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Statistical analysis plan for the control of blood pressure and risk attenuation-rural Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka (COBRA-BPS) trial: a cluster randomized trial for a multicomponent intervention versus usual care in hypertensive patients.

Journal Article Trials · November 29, 2018 BACKGROUND: In rural south Asia, hypertension remains a significant public health issue with sub-optimal blood pressure (BP) control rates. The goal of the trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention (MCI) ... Full text Link to item Cite

Changing literacy instruction in Kenyan classrooms: Assessing pathways of influence to improved early literacy outcomes in the HALI intervention

Journal Article International Journal of Educational Development · September 1, 2018 This study uses data from the Health and Literacy Intervention (HALI) program evaluation, an in-service teacher training program focused on early grade literacy instruction for class one teachers. We assess how changes in classroom instructional processes ... Full text Cite

Restenosis and risk of stroke after stenting or endarterectomy for symptomatic carotid stenosis in the International Carotid Stenting Study (ICSS): secondary analysis of a randomised trial.

Journal Article Lancet Neurol · July 2018 BACKGROUND: The risk of stroke associated with carotid artery restenosis after stenting or endarterectomy is unclear. We aimed to compare the long-term risk of restenosis after these treatments and to investigate if restenosis causes stroke in a secondary ... Full text Link to item Cite

Improving rational use of ACTs through diagnosis-dependent subsidies: Evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in western Kenya.

Journal Article PLoS Med · July 2018 BACKGROUND: More than half of artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) consumed globally are dispensed in the retail sector, where diagnostic testing is uncommon, leading to overconsumption and poor targeting. In many malaria-endemic countries, ACTs sold o ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Antiretroviral drug concentrations in hair are associated with virologic outcomes among young people living with HIV in Tanzania.

Journal Article AIDS · June 1, 2018 OBJECTIVE: We assessed the relationship of self-reported adherence versus antiretroviral therapy (ART) concentrations in hair with virologic outcomes among young people living with HIV. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study that enrolled young people li ... Full text Link to item Cite

Optimal allocation of clusters in cohort stepped wedge designs

Journal Article Statistics and Probability Letters · June 1, 2018 We study optimal allocation of clusters for a fixed number of periods in cohort stepped wedge cluster randomized trials. The optimal design turns more clusters into treatment during the second and final periods, and depends on values of correlation paramet ... Full text Cite

cvcrand and cptest: Commands for efficient design and analysis of cluster randomized trials using constrained randomization and permutation tests.

Journal Article Stata J · June 1, 2018 Cluster randomized trials (CRTs), where clusters (for example, schools or clinics) are randomized to comparison arms but measurements are taken on individuals, are commonly used to evaluate interventions in public health, education, and the social sciences ... Full text Link to item Cite

Evaluation of malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) use by community health workers: a longitudinal study in western Kenya.

Journal Article Malar J · May 18, 2018 BACKGROUND: Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are a simple, point-of-care technology that can improve the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of malaria. They are an increasingly common diagnostic tool, but concerns remain about their use by community h ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Cost Analysis of Universal versus Targeted Cholesterol Screening in Pediatrics.

Journal Article J Pediatr · May 2018 OBJECTIVE: To compare the number of children needed to screen to identify a case of childhood dyslipidemia and estimate costs under universal vs targeted screening approaches. STUDY DESIGN: We constructed a decision-analytic model comparing the health syst ... Full text Link to item Cite

Socioeconomic status indicators and common mental disorders: Evidence from a study of prenatal depression in Pakistan.

Journal Article SSM Popul Health · April 2018 There is growing interest in the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), poverty, and mental health in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). However, it is not clear whether a gradient approach focused on a wider SES distribution or a binary pov ... Full text Link to item Cite

Modality of Primary HIV Disclosure and Association with Mental Health, Stigma, and Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence in Tanzanian Youth Living with HIV.

Journal Article AIDS Patient Care STDS · January 2018 Disclosing HIV status to children before adolescence is a major challenge facing families and healthcare providers. This study used a mixed methods approach to explore the youth perspective of how youth living with HIV (YLHIV) found out their status and to ... Full text Link to item Cite

A mobile health technology platform for quality assurance and quality improvement of malaria diagnosis by community health workers.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2018 BACKGROUND: Community health workers (CHWs) play an important role in improving access to services in areas with limited health infrastructure or workforce. Supervision of CHWs by qualified health professionals is the main link between this lay workforce a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reducing stigma among healthcare providers to improve mental health services (RESHAPE): protocol for a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial of a stigma reduction intervention for training primary healthcare workers in Nepal.

Journal Article Pilot Feasibility Stud · 2018 BACKGROUND: Non-specialist healthcare providers, including primary and community healthcare workers, in low- and middle-income countries can effectively treat mental illness. However, scaling-up mental health services within existing health systems has bee ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Protocol for a feasibility study of group-based focused psychosocial support to improve the psychosocial well-being and functioning of adults affected by humanitarian crises in Nepal: Group Problem Management Plus (PM+).

Journal Article Pilot Feasibility Stud · 2018 BACKGROUND: The prevalence of common mental disorders increases in humanitarian emergencies while access to services to address them decreases. Problem Management Plus (PM+) is a brief five-session trans-diagnostic psychological WHO intervention employing ... Full text Link to item Cite

Criterion-related validity and reliability of the Urdu version of the patient health questionnaire in a sample of community-based pregnant women in Pakistan.

Journal Article PeerJ · 2018 BACKGROUND: Depression is one of the most prevalent, yet unrecognized but treatable mental disorders in low and middle income countries (LMICs). In such locations, screening tools that are easy-to-administer, valid, and reliable are needed to assist in det ... Full text Link to item Cite

Building resilience: a mental health intervention for Tanzanian youth living with HIV.

Journal Article AIDS Care · 2018 Despite a growing population of youth living with HIV, few interventions have been developed to address their unique mental health needs and to promote resilience. Based on our prior needs assessment, a mental health intervention, Sauti ya Vijana ( The Voi ... Full text Link to item Cite

HIV Resistance and Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Regimen in HIV-Infected Infants in Northern Tanzania.

Journal Article AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses · November 2017 Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) guidelines recommend that all HIV-infected pregnant women receive antiretroviral therapy (Option B) and HIV-infected infants should initiate therapy with a protease inhibitor-based regimen; however, implem ... Full text Link to item Cite

An evaluation of constrained randomization for the design and analysis of group-randomized trials with binary outcomes.

Journal Article Stat Med · October 30, 2017 Group-randomized trials are randomized studies that allocate intact groups of individuals to different comparison arms. A frequent practical limitation to adopting such research designs is that only a limited number of groups may be available, and therefor ... Full text Link to item Cite

A 2-Year Holistic Health and Stress Intervention: Results of an RCT in Clergy.

Journal Article Am J Prev Med · September 2017 INTRODUCTION: This study sought to determine the effect of a 2-year, multicomponent health intervention (Spirited Life) targeting metabolic syndrome and stress simultaneously. DESIGN: An RCT using a three-cohort multiple baseline design was conducted in 20 ... Full text Link to item Cite

A longitudinal cohort study of malaria exposure and changing serostatus in a malaria endemic area of rural Tanzania.

Journal Article Malar J · August 2, 2017 BACKGROUND: Measurements of anti-malarial antibodies are increasingly used as a proxy of transmission intensity. Most serological surveys are based on the use of cross-sectional data that, when age-stratified, approximates historical patterns of transmissi ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Improving Literacy Instruction in Kenya Through Teacher Professional Development and Text Messages Support: A Cluster Randomized Trial

Journal Article Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness · July 3, 2017 We evaluated a program to improve literacy instruction on the Kenyan coast using training workshops, semiscripted lesson plans, and weekly text-message support for teachers to understand its impact on students' literacy outcomes and on the classroom practi ... Full text Cite

Review of Recent Methodological Developments in Group-Randomized Trials: Part 2-Analysis.

Journal Article Am J Public Health · July 2017 In 2004, Murray et al. reviewed methodological developments in the design and analysis of group-randomized trials (GRTs). We have updated that review with developments in analysis of the past 13 years, with a companion article to focus on developments in d ... Full text Link to item Cite

Multicomponent intervention versus usual care for management of hypertension in rural Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article Trials · June 12, 2017 BACKGROUND: High blood pressure (BP) is the leading attributable risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). In rural South Asia, hypertension continues to be a significant public health issue with sub-optimal BP control rates. The goal of the trial is to compa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Review of Recent Methodological Developments in Group-Randomized Trials: Part 1-Design.

Journal Article Am J Public Health · June 2017 In 2004, Murray et al. reviewed methodological developments in the design and analysis of group-randomized trials (GRTs). We have highlighted the developments of the past 13 years in design with a companion article to focus on developments in analysis. As ... Full text Link to item Cite

Innovative public-private partnership to target subsidised antimalarials: a study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate a community intervention in Western Kenya.

Journal Article BMJ Open · March 20, 2017 INTRODUCTION: There are concerns of inappropriate use of subsidised antimalarials due to the large number of fevers treated in the informal sector with minimal access to diagnostic testing. Targeting antimalarial subsidies to confirmed malaria cases can le ... Full text Link to item Cite

Efficacy of iron-supplement bars to reduce anemia in urban Indian women: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article Am J Clin Nutr · March 2017 Background: India's high prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia has largely been attributed to the local diet consisting of nonheme iron, which has lower absorption than that of heme iron.Objective: We assessed the efficacy of the consumption of iron-supplem ... Full text Link to item Cite

A nurse-delivered mental health intervention for obstetric fistula patients in Tanzania: results of a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article Pilot Feasibility Stud · 2017 BACKGROUND: Obstetric fistula has severe psychological consequences, but no evidence-based interventions exist to improve mental health in this population. This pilot trial evaluated a psychological intervention for women receiving surgical care for obstet ... Full text Link to item Cite

DOES THE EXPERIENCE OF MALARIA TESTING INCREASE TRUST IN THE TEST? EVIDENCE FROM WESTERN KENYA

Conference AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE · January 1, 2017 Link to item Cite

The effectiveness of the peer delivered Thinking Healthy Plus (THPP+) Programme for maternal depression and child socio-emotional development in Pakistan: study protocol for a three-year cluster randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article Trials · September 8, 2016 BACKGROUND: The negative effects of perinatal depression on the mother and child start early and persist throughout the lifecourse (Lancet 369(9556):145-57, 2007; Am J Psychiatry 159(1):43-7, 2002; Arch Dis Child 77(2):99-101, 1997; J Pak Med Assoc 60(4):3 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Evaluating mental health difficulties and associated outcomes among HIV-positive adolescents in Tanzania.

Journal Article AIDS Care · July 2016 AIDS-related mortality among HIV-positive adolescents has risen by 50% despite the scale up of antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART maladherence likely plays a role in the increase of AIDS-related deaths among adolescents and has shown to be associated with p ... Full text Link to item Cite

Outcomes of Active Surveillance for Ductal Carcinoma in Situ: A Computational Risk Analysis.

Journal Article J Natl Cancer Inst · May 2016 BACKGROUND: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a noninvasive breast lesion with uncertain risk for invasive progression. Usual care (UC) for DCIS consists of treatment upon diagnosis, thus potentially overtreating patients with low propensity for progressi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neighborhood clustering of non-communicable diseases: results from a community-based study in Northern Tanzania.

Journal Article BMC Public Health · March 5, 2016 BACKGROUND: In order to begin to address the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in sub-Saharan Africa, high quality community-based epidemiological studies from the region are urgently needed. Cluster-designed sampling methods may be most efficient ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predictors of Stroke, Myocardial Infarction or Death within 30 Days of Carotid Artery Stenting: Results from the International Carotid Stenting Study.

Journal Article Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg · March 2016 OBJECTIVES: Stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and death are complications of carotid artery stenting (CAS). The effect of baseline patient demographic factors, processes of care, and technical factors during CAS on the risk of stroke, MI, or death within ... Full text Link to item Cite

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease in Northern Tanzania: A Community-Based Study.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2016 BACKGROUND: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a leading cause of death among adults in sub-Saharan Africa, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing public health threat. Understanding knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with NCDs is vita ... Full text Link to item Cite

Universal Cholesterol Screening in Childhood: A Systematic Review.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · 2016 BACKGROUND: In 2011, a US expert panel recommended universal cholesterol screening for children ages 9 to 11 years. Controversy exists over this recommendation, especially because the most recent systematic review on universal childhood screening was incon ... Full text Link to item Cite

Assessing the independent and combined effects of subsidies for antimalarials and rapid diagnostic testing on fever management decisions in the retail sector: results from a factorial randomised trial in western Kenya.

Journal Article BMJ Glob Health · 2016 OBJECTIVES: There is an urgent need to understand how to improve targeting of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) to patients with confirmed malaria infection, including subsidised ACTs sold over-the-counter. We hypothesised that offering an antimalarial ... Full text Link to item Cite

Balancing Contamination and Referral Bias in a Randomized Clinical Trial: An Application of Pseudo-Cluster Randomization.

Journal Article Am J Epidemiol · December 15, 2015 In randomized trials of provider-focused clinical interventions, treatment allocation often cannot be blinded to participants, study staff, or providers. The choice of unit of randomization (patient, provider, or clinic) entails tradeoffs in cost, power, a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Risk Factors For Stroke, Myocardial Infarction, or Death Following Carotid Endarterectomy: Results From the International Carotid Stenting Study.

Journal Article Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg · December 2015 OBJECTIVES: Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is standard treatment for symptomatic carotid artery stenosis but carries a risk of stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), or death. This study investigated risk factors for these procedural complications occurring wit ... Full text Link to item Cite

The effect of antidepressant treatment on HIV and depression outcomes: results from a randomized trial.

Journal Article AIDS · September 24, 2015 BACKGROUND: Depression is a major barrier to HIV treatment outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To test whether antidepressant management decision support integrated into HIV care improves antiretroviral adherence and depression morbidity. DESIGN: Pseudo-cluster randomize ... Full text Link to item Cite

Development and validation of a cross-cultural knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey instrument for chronic kidney disease in a Swahili-speaking population.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2015 INTRODUCTION: Non-communicable diseases are a growing global burden, and structured surveys can identify critical gaps to address this epidemic. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are very few well-tested survey instruments measuring population attributes relate ... Full text Link to item Cite

The epidemiology of chronic kidney disease in Northern Tanzania: a population-based survey.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2015 BACKGROUND: In sub-Saharan Africa, kidney failure has a high morbidity and mortality. Despite this, population-based estimates of prevalence, potential etiologies, and awareness are not available. METHODS: Between January and June 2014, we conducted a hous ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effect of free distribution of safety equipment on usage among motorcycle-taxi drivers in Tanzania--A cluster randomised controlled trial.

Journal Article Injury · November 2014 INTRODUCTION: Deaths due to road traffic injuries, particularly motorcycle crashes, have increased rapidly in many African nations and context-specific strategies to improve preventative behaviours are needed. Although adhering to conspicuity measures by w ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incidence, impact, and predictors of cranial nerve palsy and haematoma following carotid endarterectomy in the international carotid stenting study.

Journal Article Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg · November 2014 OBJECTIVE: Cranial nerve palsy (CNP) and neck haematoma are complications of carotid endarterectomy (CEA). The effects of patient factors and surgical technique were analysed on the risk, and impact on disability, of CNP or haematoma in the surgical arm of ... Full text Link to item Cite

A cluster-randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of using 15% DEET topical repellent with long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) compared to a placebo lotion on malaria transmission.

Journal Article Malar J · August 16, 2014 BACKGROUND: Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) have limited effect on malaria transmitted outside of sleeping hours. Topical repellents have demonstrated reduction in the incidence of malaria transmitted in the early evening. This study assessed whethe ... Full text Link to item Cite

The association between race and prostate cancer risk on initial biopsy in an equal access, multiethnic cohort.

Conference Cancer Causes Control · August 2014 PURPOSE: Population-based studies have established a link between race and prostate cancer (PC) risk, but whether race predicts PC after adjusting for clinical characteristics is unclear. We investigated the association between race and risk of low- and hi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incidence estimation using a single cross-sectional age-specific prevalence survey with differential mortality.

Journal Article Stat Med · February 10, 2014 Here, we present a method for incidence estimation of a curable, non-recurring disease when data from a single cross-sectional survey are used together with population-level mortality rates and an assumption of differential mortality of diseased versus non ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of intermittent screening and treatment for malaria among school children in Kenya: a cluster randomised trial.

Journal Article PLoS Med · January 2014 BACKGROUND: Improving the health of school-aged children can yield substantial benefits for cognitive development and educational achievement. However, there is limited experimental evidence of the benefits of alternative school-based malaria interventions ... Full text Link to item Cite

Baseline health-related quality of life and 10-year all-cause mortality among 1739 Chinese adults.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2014 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) may be associated with the longevity of patients; yet it is not clear whether this association holds in a general population, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Peak flow rate and death due to coronary heart disease: 30-year results from the Northwick Park Heart cohort study.

Journal Article Open Heart · 2014 OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies have reported that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or impaired lung function are associated with later coronary heart disease (CHD). However, it is unclear if lung function is an independent risk factor, as many of these s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association between earthquake events and cholera outbreaks: a cross-country 15-year longitudinal analysis.

Journal Article Prehosp Disaster Med · December 2013 INTRODUCTION: Large earthquakes can cause population displacement, critical sanitation infrastructure damage, and increased threats to water resources, potentially predisposing populations to waterborne disease epidemics such as cholera. Problem The risk o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Dyslipidaemia and atherosclerotic vascular disease: DYSIS results in the UK

Journal Article British Journal of Cardiology · October 1, 2013 Cite

What is cardiac rehabilitation achieving for patients with CHD? The ASPIRE-2-PREVENT results

Journal Article British Journal of Cardiology · October 1, 2013 Cite

Taxis assays measure directional movement of mosquitoes to olfactory cues.

Journal Article Parasit Vectors · May 3, 2013 BACKGROUND: Malaria control methods targeting indoor-biting mosquitoes have limited impact on vectors that feed and rest outdoors. Exploiting mosquito olfactory behaviour to reduce blood-feeding outdoors might be a sustainable approach to complement existi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Comparative field evaluation of combinations of long-lasting insecticide treated nets and indoor residual spraying, relative to either method alone, for malaria prevention in an area where the main vector is Anopheles arabiensis.

Journal Article Parasit Vectors · February 22, 2013 BACKGROUND: Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) are commonly used together in the same households to improve malaria control despite inconsistent evidence on whether such combinations actually offer better protection t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Do topical repellents divert mosquitoes within a community? Health equity implications of topical repellents as a mosquito bite prevention tool.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2013 OBJECTIVES: Repellents do not kill mosquitoes--they simply reduce human-vector contact. Thus it is possible that individuals who do not use repellents but dwell close to repellent users experience more bites than otherwise. The objective of this study was ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fool's gold: Why imperfect reference tests are undermining the evaluation of novel diagnostics: a reevaluation of 5 diagnostic tests for leptospirosis.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · August 2012 BACKGROUND: We observed that some patients with clinical leptospirosis supported by positive results of rapid tests were negative for leptospirosis on the basis of our diagnostic gold standard, which involves isolation of Leptospira species from blood cult ... Full text Link to item Cite

ASPIRE-2-PREVENT: a survey of lifestyle, risk factor management and cardioprotective medication in patients with coronary heart disease and people at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the UK.

Journal Article Heart · June 2012 OBJECTIVE: To determine in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and people at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) whether the Joint British Societies' guidelines on CVD prevention (JBS2) are followed in everyday clinical practice. DE ... Full text Link to item Cite

Plasmodium falciparum, anaemia and cognitive and educational performance among school children in an area of moderate malaria transmission: baseline results of a cluster randomized trial on the coast of Kenya.

Journal Article Trop Med Int Health · May 2012 OBJECTIVES: Studies have typically investigated health and educational consequences of malaria among school-aged children in areas of high malaria transmission, but few have investigated these issues in moderate transmission settings. This study investigat ... Full text Link to item Cite

Covariate adjustment increased power in randomized controlled trials: an example in traumatic brain injury.

Journal Article J Clin Epidemiol · May 2012 OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine to what extent covariate adjustment could affect power in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a heterogeneous population with traumatic brain injury (TBI). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We analyzed 14-day mortality in 9,497 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preoperative visual acuity among cataract surgery patients and countries' state of development: a global study.

Journal Article Bull World Health Organ · October 1, 2011 OBJECTIVE: To describe the preoperative surgical case mix among patients undergoing cataract extraction and explore associations between case mix, country level of development (as measured by the Human Development Index, HDI) and cataract surgery rates (CS ... Full text Link to item Cite

MyAction: An innovative approach to the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the community

Journal Article British Journal of Cardiology · August 1, 2011 We developed and piloted an innovative family-centred preventive cardiology programme (MyAction) that aimed to both integrate the care of patients with vascular disease with that of individuals identified at high multi-factorial risk and help them achieve ... Cite

Repellent plants provide affordable natural screening to prevent mosquito house entry in tropical rural settings--results from a pilot efficacy study.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2011 Sustained malaria control is underway using a combination of vector control, prompt diagnosis and treatment of malaria cases. Progress is excellent, but for long-term control, low-cost, sustainable tools that supplement existing control programs are needed ... Full text Link to item Cite

Categorisation of continuous risk factors in epidemiological publications: A survey of current practice

Journal Article Epidemiologic Perspectives and Innovations · October 20, 2010 Background. Reports of observational epidemiological studies often categorise (group) continuous risk factor (exposure) variables. However, there has been little systematic assessment of how categorisation is practiced or reported in the literature and no ... Full text Cite

Cultural imagery and statistical models of the force of mortality: Addison, Gompertz and Pearson

Journal Article Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A: Statistics in Society · July 1, 2010 We describe selected artistic and statistical depictions of the force of mortality (hazard or mortality rate), which is a concept that has long preoccupied actuaries, demographers and statisticians. We provide a more graphic form for the force-of-mortality ... Full text Cite

Age in medieval plagues and pandemics: Dances of Death or Pearson's bridge of life?

Journal Article Significance · June 1, 2010 Death has long obsessed humanity. In times of plague and pandemic even more so. Medieval man saw four horsemen of the apocalypse, and of them, Death by disease was gathering the greatest harvest. How randomly did he gather? And how random is the death toll ... Full text Cite

Cataract surgery and mortality.

Journal Article Br J Ophthalmol · July 2009 Full text Link to item Cite

CVCRAND: Stata module for efficient design and analysis of Cluster Randomized Trials

Software Cluster randomized trials (CRTs), where clusters (for example, schools or clinics) are randomized but measurements are taken on individuals, are commonly used to evaluate interventions in public health and social science. Because CRTs typically involve onl ... Cite

XTGEEBCV: Stata module to compute bias-corrected (small-sample) standard errors for generalized estimating equations

Software Cluster randomized trials (CRTs), where clusters (e.g., schools or clinics) are randomized to comparison arms but measurements are taken on individuals, are commonly used to evaluate interventions in public health, education, and the social sciences. Anal ... Cite