Nazneen Fatima Shaikh

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a substantial public health challenge in the United States (US). As of 2023, an estimated 1.13 million people aged 13 years or older were living with HIV ...

This retrospective study was conducted to evaluate all‐cause healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs in commercially insured patients living with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and explore end‐of‐life (EOL)‐related HCRU and costs. Data from the IQVIA PharMetrics® Plus database (October 2014 to May 2020) were analyzed to identify adults (≥18 years) with PAH (PAH cohort) and those without PH (non‐PH cohort). Patients were required to have data for ≥12 months before (baseline) and ≥6 months after (follow‐up) the first observed PH diagnosis (index date) for PAH cohort or pseudo index date for non‐PH cohort. A PAH EOL cohort was similarly constructed using a broader data window (October 2014 to March 2022) and ≥1 month of follow‐up. Annualized all‐cause HCRU and costs during follow‐up were compared between PAH and non‐PH cohorts after 1:1 matching on propensity scores derived from patient characteristics. EOL‐related HCRU and costs were explored within 30 days and 6 months before the death date and estimated by a claims‐based algorithm in PAH EOL cohort. The annual all‐cause total ($183,616 vs. $20,212) and pharmacy ($115,926 vs. $7862; both p < 0.001) costs were 8 and 14 times higher, respectively, in the PAH cohort versus matched non‐PH cohort (N = 386 for each). In PAH EOL cohort (N = 28), the mean EOL‐related costs were $48,846 and $167,524 per patient within 30 days and 6 months before the estimated death, respectively. Hospitalizations contributed 58.8%–70.8% of the EOL‐related costs. The study findings indicate substantial HCRU and costs for PAH. While pharmacy costs were one of the major sources, hospitalization was the primary driver for EOL‐related costs.

Objective: To evaluate treatment patterns, healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and costs among peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) patients in the USA. Methods: A retrospective cohort study, using ... Plain language summary – How are patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma treated in the real world & how much does it cost? Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) are a rare and fast-growing form of b... Tweetable abstract Treatment patterns and costs in peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in poor mental health among Asian Indians was observed in the United States. However, the leading predictors of poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Asian Indians remained unknown. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to self-identified Asian Indians aged 18 and older (N = 289). Survey collected information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics and the COVID-19 burden. Two novel machine learning techniques-eXtreme Gradient Boosting and Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were used to identify the leading predictors and explain their associations with poor mental health. A majority of the study participants were female (65.1%), below 50 years of age (73.3%), and had income ≥ $75,000 (81.0%). The six leading predictors of poor mental health among Asian Indians were sleep disturbance, age, general health, income, wearing a mask, and self-reported discrimination. SHAP plots indicated that higher age, wearing a mask, and maintaining social distancing all the time were negatively associated with poor mental health while having sleep disturbance and imputed income levels were positively associated with poor mental health. The model performance metrics indicated high accuracy (0.77), precision (0.78), F1 score (0.77), recall (0.77), and AUROC (0.87). Nearly one in two adults reported poor mental health, and one in five reported sleep disturbance. Findings from our study suggest a paradoxical relationship between income and poor mental health; further studies are needed to confirm our study findings. Sleep disturbance and perceived discrimination can be targeted through tailored intervention to reduce the risk of poor mental health in Asian Indians.

Objective. To develop a questionnaire for measuring entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial intentions among student pharmacists and to identify characteristics and personality traits that are associated with these intentions. Methods. A 105-item survey instrument was developed and administered to all Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students (incoming to third year) at a large public university. It consisted of nine scales pertaining to entrepreneurism including previously validated and some newly developed scales adapted for use among student pharmacists. Data analysis consisted of factor analysis to determine scale constructs, reliability assessment, and systematic item-reduction analysis. Multiple linear regression and structural equation modeling was used to determine and confirm the association of personality traits and demographic characteristics with entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial intentions. Results. Of 289 students surveyed, 286 useable survey instruments were included in the analysis. Factor analysis was conducted for each scale, and items that did not load on their theorized factor or had cross-loadings above the permissible limits were removed, reducing the survey to 69 items. Findings demonstrated that gender, joint degree program, and autonomy were significant predictors of entrepreneurial intentions, and achievement motivation, leadership self-efficacy, and problem-solving were significant predictors of intrapreneurial intentions. Conclusion. A multi-dimensional questionnaire to measure entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial intentions of student pharmacists was developed and a few key predictors of such intentions were identified. When fully validated, the questionnaire may be used in pharmacy schools for several purposes, including in the PharmD admission process to gain additional insights into a student’s potential to become a future innovative entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial practitioner.

The association of prescription NSAIDs to presence of depression among adults with inflammatory chronic conditions in adults with and without depression and seeking care in routine clinical practice remains unknown. We examined the association of prescription NSAIDs to depression among adults with inflammatory chronic conditions in a nationally representative sample of the US non-institutionalized civilian population. We used a retrospective cross-sectional design. Data on 10,713 adults with inflammatory chronic conditions were derived from 2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The dependent variable was the presence or absence of depression and the key independent variable was prescription NSAIDs use. Logistic regression models were used to examine the adjusted associations of prescription NSAIDs to depression. In these regressions, other independent variables (biological, sociocultural, socio-economic, access to healthcare services, medical conditions and treatment factors, behavioural, and environmental factors) that may affect the relationship of prescription NSAIDs to depression were also included. All analyses accounted for the complex survey design of MEPS. Overall, 18.2% reported depression. Almost 21% used prescription NSAIDs. In the unadjusted model, prescription NSAIDs use had higher odds of depression (OR = 1.59;95%CI = [1.40, 1.82]) as compared to those without NSAIDs. In the fully-adjusted logistic regression model, with controls for other independent variables, adults using prescription NSAIDs had no significant association with depression (AOR = 0.97;95%CI = [0.84, 1.13]) compared to those without NSAIDs. In this first real-world study of all adults (with and without depression) in the US, we did not observe a statistically significant association of prescription NSAIDs to the presence of depression.

Evaluative research approach with pre experimental one group pre test post test was used to find out effectiveness of STP on CPR among nursing students. Total 30 samples were taken for the study, the total mean percentage 66.33% was obtained in the area of ‘General concept of CPR” with mean and standard deviation of 7.96 ± 1.65. The mean percentage of 30.76 was obtained in the area of ‘steps and techniques of CPR” with mean and standard deviation of 4.00 ± 1.53 and the mean percentage of 37.20 was obtained in the area of ‘post resuscitation care” with mean and standard deviation of 1.86 ± 0.81. Quartile distribution of pre-test post-test knowledge scores of students showed a significant difference between the quartiles of pre-test and post-test scores. Pre-test median score was 12.4 whereas post-test median score was 27.2. The difference of 14.8 indicates out of 30 maximum attainable scores. The difference between the knowledge score of post-test and pre-test of III year B. Sc. Nursing students were analyzed using paired ‘t’. The result was found to be very highly significant (t= 27.44, p ² 0.001). A very high increase in the post-test scores was observed in III year degree students regarding CPR.