Browsing by Author "Geng, Elvin"
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Item Closing the Gap: A Novel Metric of Change in Performance(East African journal of applied health monitoring and evaluation, 2019) Katuramu, Richard; Wallenta, Jeanna; Semitala, Fred C.; Amanyire, Gideon; Kampiire, Leatitia; Namusobya, Jennifer; Kamya, Moses R.; Havlir, Diane; Geng, ElvinInterventions to improve performance of global programs in the HIV cascade of care are widespread and increasing the focus of implementation science. At present, however, there is no clear consensus on how to conceptualize their improvement at the program level. The commonly used measures of association, based on ratios of probabilities (or odds), have well-known defects in public health applications. They yield large effect sizes even when the absolute effects, and therefore the public health impact, are small. On the other hand, risk differences create problems because settings with higher baseline values are penalized. We aim to examine ways of quantifying improvement in each health center of a cluster-randomized trial in Uganda to accelerate antiretroviral therapy initiation among HIV-infected adults.Item Gendered dimensions of population mobility associated with HIV across three epidemics in rural Eastern Africa(Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 2008) Camlin, Carol S.; Akullian, Adam; Neilands, Torsten B.; Getahun, Monica; Bershteyn, Anna; Ssali, Sarah; Geng, Elvin; Gandhi, Monica; Cohen, Craig R.; Maeri, Irene; Eyul, Patrick; Petersen, Maya L.; Havlir, Diane V.; Kamya, Moses R.; Bukusi, Elizabeth A.; Charlebois, Edwin D.Mobility in sub-Saharan Africa links geographically-separate HIV epidemics, intensifies transmission by enabling higher-risk sexual behavior, and disrupts care. This population-based observational cohort study measured complex dimensions of mobility in rural Uganda and Kenya. Survey data were collected every 6 months beginning in 2016 from a random sample of 2308 adults in 12 communities across three regions, stratified by intervention arm, baseline residential stability and HIV status. Analyses were survey-weighted and stratified by sex, region, and HIV status. In this study, there were large differences in the forms and magnitude of mobility across regions, between men and women, and by HIV status. We found that adult migration varied widely by region, higher proportions of men than women migrated within the past one and five years, and men predominated across all but the most localized scales of migration: a higher proportion of women than men migrated within county of origin. Labor-related mobility was more common among men than women, while women were more likely to travel for non-labor reasons. Labor-related mobility was associated with HIV positive status for both men and women, adjusting for age and region, but the association was especially pronounced in women. The forms, drivers, and correlates of mobility in eastern Africa are complex and highly gendered. An in-depth understanding of mobility may help improve implementation and address gaps in the HIV prevention and care continua.Item Population mobility associated with higher risk sexual behavior in eastern African communities participating in a Universal Testing and Treatment trial(Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2018) Camlin, Carol S.; Akullian, Adam; Neilands, Torsten B.; Getahun, Monica; Eyul, Patrick; Maeri, Irene; Ssali, Sarah; Geng, Elvin; Gandhi, Monica; Cohen, Craig R.; Kamya, Moses R.; Odeny, Thomas; Bukusi, Elizabeth A.; Charlebois, Edwin D.There are significant knowledge gaps concerning complex forms of mobility emergent in sub-Saharan Africa, their relationship to sexual behaviors, HIV transmission, and how sex modifies these associations. This study, within an ongoing test-and-treat trial (SEARCH, NCT01864603), sought to measure effects of diverse metrics of mobility on behaviors, with attention to gender. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected in 2016 from 1919 adults in 12 communities in Kenya and Uganda, to examine mobility (labor/non-labor-related travel), migration (changes of residence over geopolitical boundaries) and their associations with sexual behaviors (concurrent/higher risk partnerships), by region and sex. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models, stratified by sex and adjusted for clustering by community, were fitted to examine associations of mobility with higher risk behaviors, in past 2 years/past 6 months, controlling for key covariates.Item Redemption of the “spoiled identity:” the role of HIV-positive individuals in HIV care cascade interventions(Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2017) Camlin, Carol S.; Geng, Elvin; Semitala, Fred; Wallenta, Jeanna; Kampiire, Leatitia; Bukusi, Elizabeth A.; Kwarisiima, Dalsone; Clark, Tamara D.; Kamya, Moses R.; Havlir, Diane V.The concept of “therapeutic citizenship” has drawn attention to ways in which public testimony, the “story-telling in the public sphere” undertaken by people living with HIV (PLHIV), has shaped the global response to the epidemic. This paper presents qualitative findings from two large studies in eastern Africa that reveal how the advent of population-based HIV testing campaigns and efforts to accelerate antiretroviral “treatment for all” has precipitated a rapidly expanding therapeutic citizenship “project,” or social movement. The title of this paper refers to Goffman's original conceptualization of stigma as a social process through which a person's identity is rendered “spoiled.”Item Rethinking the ‘‘Pre’’ in Pre-Therapy Counseling: No Benefit of Additional Visits Prior to Therapy on Adherence or Viremia in Ugandans Initiating ARVs(PLoS ONE, 2012) Siedner, Mark J.; Lankowski, Alexander; Haberer, Jessica E.; Kembabazi, Annet; Emenyonu, Nneka; Tsai, Alexander C.; Muzoora, Conrad; Geng, Elvin; Martin, Jeffrey N.; Bangsberg, David R.Many guidelines recommend adherence counseling prior to initiating antiretrovirals (ARVs), however the additional benefit of pre-therapy counseling visits on early adherence is not known. We sought to assess for a benefit of adherence counseling visits prior to ARV initiation versus adherence counseling during the early treatment period. We performed a secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort of HIV-infected patients in Mbarara, Uganda. Adults were enrolled upon initiation of ARVs. Our primary exposure of interest was ARV adherence counseling prior to initiating therapy (versus concurrent with initiation of therapy). Our outcomes of interest were: 1) average adherence .90% in first three months; 2) absence of treatment interruptions .72 hours in first three months; and 3) Viral load .400 copies/ml at the three month visit. We fit univariable and multivariable regression models, adjusted for predictors of ARV adherence, to estimate the association between additional pre-therapy counseling visits and our outcomes. Results: 300 participants had records of counseling, of whom 231 (77%) completed visits prior to initiation of ARVs and 69 (23%) on or shortly after initiation. Median age was 33, 71% were female, and median CD4 was 133 cell/ml. Median 90-day adherence was 95%. Participants who completed pre-therapy counseling visits had longer delays from ARV eligibility to initiation (median 49 vs 14 days, p,0.01). In multivariable analyses, completing adherence counseling prior to ARV initiation was not associated with average adherence .90% (AOR 0.8, 95%CI 0.4–1.5), absence of treatment gaps (AOR 0.7, 95%CI 0.2–1.9), or HIV viremia (AOR 1.1, 95%CI 0.4–3.1). Completion of adherence counseling visits prior to ARV therapy was not associated with higher adherence in this cohort of HIV-infected patients in Uganda. Because mortality and loss-to-follow-up remain high in the pre-ARV period, policy makers should reconsider whether counseling can be delivered with ARV initiation, especially in patients with advanced disease.