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INTRODUCTION Risk stratification has been proposed as a strategy to improve participation in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, but evidence is lacking. We performed a randomized controlled trial of risk stratification using the National Cancer Institute's Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (CCRAT) on screening intent and completion. METHODS A total of 230 primary care patients eligible for first-time CRC screening were randomized to risk assessment via CCRAT or education control. Follow-up of screening intent and completion was performed by record review and phone at 6 and 12 months. We analyzed change in intent after intervention, time to screening, overall screening completion rates, and screening completion by CCRAT risk score tertile. RESULTS Of the patients, 61.7% of patients were aged

Susan Reif,1 Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell,1,2 Jia Yao,1 Sara LeGrand,1,2 Anna Uehara,2 Edgar Asiimwe,2 Evelyn Byrd Quinlivan31Duke Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research, 2Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 3Center for Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USABackground: Adherence with medication regimens for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a life-saving behavior for people with HIV infection, yet adherence is challenging for many individuals with co-occurring substance use and/or mood disorders. Medication-taking self-efficacy, which is the confidence that one can take one's medication as prescribed, is associated with better adherence with HIV medication. However, little is known about the influence that other kinds of self-efficacy have on adherence with HIV medication, especially among HIV-infected individuals with co-occurring substance use and/or mood disorders. We sought to examine the relationship between adherence with HIV medication among substance users and three specific kinds of self-efficacy, ie, one's confidence that one can communicate with medical providers, get support, and manage one's mood. We further sought to examine whether symptoms of depression and anxiety moderate these relationships.Methods: Patients were recruited from three HIV clinics in the southeastern United States as part of an integrated study of treatment for HIV and substance use.Results: We interviewed 154 patients with HIV and substance use who reported taking HIV medications. Based on symptoms of depression and anxiety using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety, 63% had probable depression and/or anxiety. Higher levels of self-efficacy in provider communication (β = 3.86, P < 0.01), getting needed support (β = 2.82, P < 0.01), and mood management (β = 2.29, P < 0.05) were related to better self-reported adherence with HIV medication among study participants with probable depression and/or anxiety. The three kinds of self-efficacy were not associated with medication adherence among participants with HIV and substance use only.Conclusion: In the search for mutable factors to improve medication adherence among individuals triply diagnosed with HIV, substance use, and mood disorders, these findings support previous research indicating the benefit of enhancing self-efficacy, and further point to three specific kinds of self-efficacy that may benefit medication adherence, ie, provider communication, getting support, and mood management.Keywords: human immunodeficiency virus, self-efficacy, substance use, depression, anxiety, interventions

Chiari Type I Malformation (CMI) is characterized by displacement of the cerebellar tonsils below the base of the skull, resulting in significant neurologic morbidity. Although multiple lines of evidence support a genetic contribution to disease, no genes have been identified. We therefore conducted the largest whole genome linkage screen to date using 367 individuals from 66 families with at least two individuals presenting with nonsyndromic CMI with or without syringomyelia. Initial findings across all 66 families showed minimal evidence for linkage due to suspected genetic heterogeneity. In order to improve power to localize susceptibility genes, stratified linkage analyses were performed using clinical criteria to differentiate families based on etiologic factors. Families were stratified on the presence or absence of clinical features associated with connective tissue disorders (CTDs) since CMI and CTDs frequently co-occur and it has been proposed that CMI patients with CTDs represent a distinct class of patients with a different underlying disease mechanism. Stratified linkage analyses resulted in a marked increase in evidence of linkage to multiple genomic regions consistent with reduced genetic heterogeneity. Of particular interest were two regions (Chr8, Max LOD = 3.04; Chr12, Max LOD = 2.09) identified within the subset of "CTD-negative" families, both of which harbor growth differentiation factors (GDF6, GDF3) implicated in the development of Klippel-Feil syndrome (KFS). Interestingly, roughly 3-5% of CMI patients are diagnosed with KFS. In order to investigate the possibility that CMI and KFS are allelic, GDF3 and GDF6 were sequenced leading to the identification of a previously known KFS missense mutation and potential regulatory variants in GDF6. This study has demonstrated the value of reducing genetic heterogeneity by clinical stratification implicating several convincing biological candidates and further supporting the hypothesis that multiple, distinct mechanisms are responsible for CMI.