Misattributions of the source of health-related information in HIV disease

A Process Analysis of Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test Performance Using the Boston Qualitative Scoring System in HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

Deficits in episodic verbal memory are commonly observed in persons with HIV (PWH) disease, in whom they are characterized by dysregulation of the executive aspects of encoding and retrieval and adversely impact everyday functioning. Deficits in episodic visual memory are also apparent in PWH, but we know less about their cognitive architecture. This study used the Boston Qualitative Scoring System (BQSS) for the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) to examine visual learning and recall in 43 individuals without HIV and 141 PWH who completed a full research neuropsychological, psychiatric, and medical assessment. A mixed model covarying for education and estimated verbal IQ showed that participants with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) performed worse than PWH without neurocognitive disorders and HIV- participants at comparable medium-to-large effect sizes across the Copy, Immediate, and Delayed trials of the BQSS-ROCF, suggesting a primary encoding deficit. A component process analysis of the BQSS-ROCF Copy Trial revealed that participants with HAND had specific difficulties with configural accuracy, cluster accuracy, and cluster placement. Within the PWH sample, measures of motor coordination and executive functions emerged as independent predictors of BQSS-ROCF Copy Trial performance. Findings extend prior research by showing that HAND may be associated with a primary encoding deficit for complex visuomotor learning and memory tasks that is driven by a combination of visuospatial, motor, and executive difficulties.

Ethical implications of epigenetics in the era of personalized medicine

Given the increasing research activity on epigenetics to monitor human diseases and its connection with lifestyle and environmental expositions, the field of epigenetics has attracted a great deal of interest also at the ethical and societal level. In this review, we will identify and discuss current ethical, legal and social issues of epigenetics research in the context of personalized medicine. The review covers ethical aspects such as how epigenetic information should impact patient autonomy and the ability to generate an intentional and voluntary decision, the measures of data protection related to privacy and confidentiality derived from epigenome studies (e.g., risk of discrimination, patient re-identification and unexpected findings) or the debate in the distribution of responsibilities for health (i.e., personal versus public responsibilities). We pay special attention to the risk of social discrimination and stigmatization as a consequence of inferring information related to lifestyle and environmental exposures potentially contained in epigenetic data. Furthermore, as exposures to the environment and individual habits do not affect all populations equally, the violation of the principle of distributive justice in the access to the benefits of clinical epigenetics is discussed. In this regard, epigenetics represents a great opportunity for the integration of public policy measures aimed to create healthier living environments. Whether these public policies will coexist or, in contrast, compete with strategies reinforcing the personalized medicine interventions needs to be considered. The review ends with a reflection on the main challenges in epigenetic research, some of them in a technical dimension (e.g., assessing causality or establishing reference epigenomes) but also in the ethical and social sphere (e.g., risk to add an epigenetic determinism on top of the current genetic one). In sum, integration into life science investigation of social experiences such as exposure to risk, nutritional habits, prejudice and stigma, is imperative to understand epigenetic variation in disease. This pragmatic approach is required to locate clinical epigenetics out of the experimental laboratories and facilitate its implementation into society.

Aspectos relacionados ao letramento em saúde, autocuidado e adesão ao tratamento de pessoas vivendo com HIV

RESUMO Objetivo: verificar a relação entre letramento em saúde, adesão à terapia antirretroviral e autocuidado de pessoas vivendo com HIV. Método: trata-se de estudo transversal, desenvolvido entre janeiro e julho de 2019, por meio de escalas validadas sobre letramento em saúde (SAHLPA), adesão (CEAT-HIV) e autocuidado (EACAC). Resultados: participaram do estudo 303 pessoas cadastradas em três serviços de atendimento ambulatorial-HIV, apresentando grau satisfatório de letramento (52,5%), ótimo nível de autocuidado (62,9%) e adesão estrita à terapia antirretroviral (57,1%). Os não letrados apresentaram adesão medicamentosa insuficiente, quando comparados com os letrados (RP = 1,17). A adesão estrita foi significativa para o autocuidado (p-valor < 0,001). Uma maior relação de risco para o não letramento esteve associada ao sexo feminino, pessoas com ensino fundamental, que recebem benefícios, com renda de até um salário mínimo, não ter hábito de buscar informações em saúde e maior tempo de uso da TARV. Conclusão identificou-se relação entre o letramento e a adesão insuficiente. O risco para adesão medicamentosa insuficiente aumenta à medida que o autocuidado diminui. Medidas sociais redutoras de iniquidades podem contribuir para melhoria da assistência a pessoas que vivem com HIV.

Aspects related to health literacy, self-care and compliance with treatment of people living with HIV

OBJECTIVE

to verify the relationship between health literacy, compliance with antiretroviral therapy and self-care of people living with HIV.

METHOD

this is a cross-sectional study, developed between January and July 2019, using validated scales on health literacy (SAHLPA), compliance (CEAT-HIV) and self-care (EACAC).

RESULTS

a total of 303 people enrolled in three HIV outpatient care services participated in the study, with a satisfactory level of literacy (52.5%), excellent level of self-care (62.9%) and strict compliance with antiretroviral therapy (57.1%). The illiterate had insufficient medication compliance, when compared with the literate (PR = 1.17). Strict compliance was significant for self-care (p-value < 0.001). A higher risk ratio for illiteracy was associated with females, people with elementary education, who receive benefits, with an income of up to one minimum wage, not having the habit of seeking health information and longer use of ART.

CONCLUSION

a relationship was identified between literacy and insufficient compliance. The risk for insufficient medication compliance increases as self-care declines. Social measures that reduce inequities can contribute to improving care for people living with HIV.

A Clinical Pilot Study of Spaced Retrieval Practice with a Self-Generation Booster to Improve Health-Related Memory in Persons With HIV Disease

Objective

Spaced retrieval practice (SRP) and self-generation are among the most replicated and effective mnemonic strategies in the cognitive psychology literature, but their benefits have not yet been realized in healthcare settings. This study used a randomized, between-subjects design to examine the hypothesis that SRP with a self-generation booster can improve memory for health-related information among clinically referred persons with HIV (PWH), who often have difficulty acquiring new health knowledge.

Method

A consecutive series of 41 PWH referred to a county-funded urban neuropsychology clinic were enrolled. Participants were randomly assigned to learn four statements about the treatment of a mock infectious disease in either a massed study control condition (n = 20) or an SRP condition (n = 21) in which they received two distributed free recall training tests supplemented with self-generation for missed items. The primary outcome was participants’ free recall of the four treatment statements after a 20-minute delay filled with nonverbal tests.

Results

PWH participants in the SRP condition were four times more likely than controls to recall at least one treatment statement at the 20-minute delay. SRP was not related to post-test recognition or health-related decision-making performance but was associated with moderately better self-efficacy for decision-making.

Conclusions

Findings from this pilot study show the potential of SRP with a self-generation booster to improve learning and memory for health-related information among PWH in clinic.