Chinazo O Cunningham

..These patterns of high levels of access to and utilization of health care services contradict clinical experiences and other studies, and require further exploration...

..We developed a program that delivers HIV medical care and support services to marginalized people, and evaluated the association between support and medical services utilization...

..Using vignettes, we sought to identify HIV provider characteristics associated with endorsing buprenorphine treatment in primary care...

..These findings support HIV multidisciplinary care with marginalized populations. Understanding factors associated with health care utilization is essential for outreach programs to facilitate engagement in HIV care...

..NPs and PAs are interested in prescribing buprenorphine. To improve uptake of buprenorphine in HIV settings, the implications of permitting nonphysician providers to prescribe buprenorphine should be further explored...

..This program addresses disparities and needs of a particularly marginalized population: unstably housed substance users with HIV infection...

..It is important that clinicians and researchers working with substance-using populations understand how specific types of substance use differentially impact on health care...

..It is essential that new induction strategies be based on existing models or theories and be well studied...

..Buprenorphine enables physicians to simultaneously treat HIV and opioid dependence, offering opportunities to improve health outcomes. Despite this, few physicians prescribe buprenorphine...

..Agreement between a subject's self-reports and medical records in marginalized populations is uncertain, yet important to understand, as this population is disproportionately affected by HIV...

..6% initiated treatment. The number of inquiries increased gradually over time, and most came from local community residents (80.4%). These results may allay health center concerns, and can help planning for buprenorphine treatment...

..It is important to understand how various testing strategies may affect HIV testing rates. In addition, further exploration of patients' reasons for declining HIV testing in these settings is warranted...

..Further refinement and expansion of strategies to improve outcomes of HIV-infected drug users is warranted...

..Physicians can now prescribe buprenorphine for opioid dependency in the primary care setting. This study assessed primary care providers' attitudes and beliefs about opioid addiction treatment with buprenorphine...

..9, p = 0.003). A medical outreach program targeting unstably housed HIV-infected individuals was associated with increased use of regular medical care and improved perceived quality of care...

..15-16.64). Self-management of injection-related wounds is common and certain behaviors may increase the potential for harm. Further research is needed to best focus efforts to improve wound care for injecting drug users...

..38; 95% CI = 1.05, 1.80; same-day appointments: AOR = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.03, 2.81). These findings demonstrate the importance of program-related characteristics in health services delivery to marginalized populations...

..Urine drug testing (UDT) can help identify misuse or diversion of opioid medications among patients with chronic pain. However, misinterpreting results can lead to false reassurance or erroneous conclusions about drug use...

..In multivariable analyses, the authors found no association between pain and buprenorphine treatment outcomes. Opioid-dependent individuals with and without pain can achieve similar success with buprenorphine treatment...

..A brief literature review of mastitis from atypical mycobacteria is presented, along with the first reported case of localized MAC infection of the nonaugmented breast in an HIV-infected woman taking highly active antiretroviral therapy...

..Interventions to engage people in HIV medical care need to address barriers to care through linkages with mental health, substance abuse treatment and support services, and address the health beliefs that deter people from seeking care...

..We conclude that health care utilization is poorer for people who use illicit drugs than those who do not, and stopping drug use may facilitate improvements in health care utilization and HIV outcomes for this population...

..Interventions to engage and retain underserved populations living with HIV in medical care are essential to ensure access to medical care and to reduce disparities in health outcomes...

..However, these hard-to-reach groups are important to study because they may be in greatest need of services...

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