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Background: Given the growing demand for gender-affirming surgery (GAS) in recent years, it is essential to explore the public perceptions of GAS. Understanding the public's opinions and attitudes toward GAS will provide valuable insights for shaping educational initiatives to enhance public knowledge and awareness., Methods: This cross-sectional study used the Prolific Academic platform to distribute an online survey among adult participants residing in the United States in August 2023., Results: Of 1005 completed survey responses, 50% of respondents were 41 years of age or older, 51% were women, and 73% were White. A total of 18% identified as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and most (37%) resided in the southern United States. The majority of participants (78%) did not personally know anyone who underwent GAS, and 74% believed that plastic surgeons mainly perform GAS. Only 22% felt healthcare professionals were well qualified to provide gender-affirming care. Media's effect on GAS acceptance was assessed to be mostly negative (33%) or very negative (12%). About 33% favored both public and private health insurance coverage for GAS, whereas 35% opposed insurance coverage. Most respondents strongly agreed (32% and 34%) or agreed (33% and 37%) that GAS aligns with gender identity and improves mental health. Regarding minimum age, most partakers (43%) supported 18 years, whereas 38% endorsed 21 years., Conclusions: This study sheds light on the public perceptions of GAS. These insights underscore the need for targeted educational efforts to increase awareness, rectify misconceptions, and promote a deeper understanding of GAS within society., Competing Interests: The authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article. This study was self-funded by the authors for the purpose of data collection or preparation of the manuscript. Disclosure statements are at the end of this article, following the correspondence information., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons.)

Introduction: Over the past decade, there has been an improvement in access to gender-affirming surgical care for the transgender population. Even with improvements, this population continues with a high level of inequity among access to specialized surgical care. While multiple studies have previously focused on trends among top and bottom surgery, this study provides trends specifically among facial gender affirmation surgery (FGAS) within the United States., Methods: The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) was utilized to identify patients who underwent FGAS from 2012 to 2019. The diagnostic codes for gender identity disorder and gender dysphoria were used to identify the desired patient population. CPT coding released in a medical policy for transgender care coverage was used to identify those who underwent FGAS. Frequency distributions from the patient population were analyzed to determine differences among characteristics., Results: In total, 660 patients underwent FGAS from 2012 to 2019. The incidence of FGAS has increased by 1433%. Geographically, FGAS was more likely to be performed in the West and Northeast geographical regions (P<0.0001). There was a statistically significant difference in hospital length of stay and the total number of charges when stratified by race (P<0.0001 and P=0.0003), hospital location (P<0.0001 and <0.0001), and insurance type (P<0.0001 and <0.0001). The largest cohort of patients paid out-of-pocket (P<0.0001)., Conclusions: FGAS is one of the fastest-growing GAS procedures. Currently, FGAS procedures are not equally distributed, with higher concentrations occurring among wealthier, white individuals in certain geographical regions. Future studies are warranted to understand further trends within FGAS., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.)

Background: The Plastic Surgery In-Service Training Examination (PSITE) remains a critical milestone in residency training. Successful preparation requires extensive studying during an individual's residency. This study focuses on the capacity of Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4 (GPT-4) to generate PSITE practice questions., Methods: GPT-4 was prompted to generate multiple choice questions for each PSITE section and provide answer choices with detailed rationale. Question composition via readability metrics were analyzed, along with quality. Descriptive statistics compared GPT-4 and the 2022 PSITE., Results: The overall median Flesch-Kincaid reading ease for GPT-4-generated questions was 43.90 (versus 50.35 PSITE, P = 0.036). GPT-4 provided questions that contained significantly fewer mean sentences (1 versus 4), words (16 versus 56), and percentage of complex words (3 versus 13) than 2022 PSITE questions ( P < 0.001). When evaluating GPT-4 generated questions for each examination section, the highest median Flesch-Kincaid reading ease was on the core surgical principles section (median: 63.30, interquartile range [54.45-68.28]) and the lowest was on the craniomaxillofacial section (median: 36.25, interquartile range [12.57-58.40]). Most readability metrics were higher for the 2022 PSITE compared with GPT-4 generated questions. Overall question quality was poor for the chatbot., Conclusions: Our study found that GPT-4 can be adapted to generate practice questions for the 2022 PSITE, but its questions are of poor quality. The program can offer general explanations for both the correct and incorrect answer options but was observed to generate false information and poor-quality explanations. Although trainees should navigate with caution as the technology develops, GPT-4 has the potential to serve as an effective educational adjunct under the supervision of trained plastic surgeons., Competing Interests: The authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons.)

Peer mentorship shows promise as a strategy to support veteran mental health. A community-academic partnership involving a veteran-led nonprofit organization and institutions of higher education evaluated a collaboratively developed peer mentor intervention. We assessed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), postdeployment experiences, social functioning, and psychological strengths at baseline, midpoint, and 12-week discharge using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory-2, Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale, and Values in Action Survey. Brief weekly check-in surveys reinforced mentor contact and assessed retention. The sample included 307 veterans who were served by 17 veteran peer mentors. Mixed-effects linear models found a modest effect for PTSD symptom change, with a mean PCL-5 score reduction of 4.04 points, 95% CI [-6.44, -1.64], d = 0.44. More symptomatic veterans showed a larger effect, with average reductions of 9.03 points, 95% CI [-12.11, -5.95], d = 0.77. There were no significant findings for other outcome variables. Compared to younger veterans, those aged 32-57 years were less likely to drop out by 6 weeks, aORs = 0.32-0.26. Week-by-week hazard of drop-out was lower with mentors ≥ 35 years old, aHR = 0.62, 95% CI [0.37, 1.05]. Unadjusted survival differed by mentor military branch, p = .028, but the small mentor sample reduced interpretability. Like many community research efforts, this study lacked a control group, limiting the inferences that can be drawn. Continued study of veteran peer mentorship is important as this modality is often viewed as more tolerable than therapy., (© 2024 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.)

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the trends of Medicare physician reimbursement from 2011 to 2021 and compare the rates across different surgical specialties., Background: Knowledge of Medicare is essential because of its significant contribution in physician reimbursements. Previous studies across surgical specialties have demonstrated that Medicare, despite keeping up with inflation in some areas, has remained flat when accounting for physician reimbursement., Study Design: The Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary data for the calendar year 2021 were queried to extract the top 50% of Current Procedural Terminology codes based on case volume. The Physician Fee Schedule look-up tool was accessed, and the physician reimbursement fee was abstracted. Weighted mean reimbursement was adjusted for inflation. Growth rate and compound annual growth rate were calculated. Projection of future inflation and reimbursement rates were also calculated using the US Bureau of Labor Statistics., Results: After adjusting for inflation, the weighted mean reimbursement across surgical specialties decreased by -22.5%. The largest reimbursement decrease was within the field of general surgery (-33.3%), followed by otolaryngology (-31.5%), vascular surgery (-23.3%), and plastic surgery (-22.8%). There was a significant decrease in median case volume across all specialties between 2011 and 2021 (P < 0.001)., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that, when adjusted for inflation, over the study period, there has been a consistent decrease in reimbursement for all specialties analyzed. Awareness of the current downward trends in Medicare physician reimbursement should be a priority for all surgeons, as means of advocating for compensation and to maintain surgical care feasible and accessible to all patients., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: none declared., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Over the past decade across multiple surgical specialties, Medicare reimbursement rates have remained stagnant, failing to keep pace with inflation. An internal comparison of subspecialties within plastic surgery has not yet been attempted. The goal of this study was to investigate the trends in reimbursement from 2010 to 2020 and compare across the subspecialties of plastic surgery., Methods: The Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary was used to extract the annual case volume for the top 80% most-billed CPT codes within plastic surgery. Codes were defined into the following subspecialties: microsurgery, craniofacial surgery, breast surgery, hand surgery, and general plastic surgery. The Medicare physician reimbursement was weighted by case volume. The growth rate and compound annual growth rate were calculated and compared against an inflation-adjusted reimbursement value., Results: On average, inflation-adjusted growth in reimbursement for the procedures analyzed in this study was -13.5%. The largest decrease in growth rate was within the field of microsurgery (-19.2%), followed by craniofacial surgery (-17.6%). These subspecialties also had the lowest compound annual growth rate (-2.11% and -1.91%, respectively). For case volumes, microsurgery increased case volumes by an average of 3% per year, whereas craniofacial surgery increased case volumes by an average of 5% per year., Conclusions: After adjusting for inflation, all subspecialties had a decrease in growth rate. This was particularly evident in the fields of craniofacial surgery and microsurgery. Consequently, practice patterns and patient access may be negatively affected. Further advocacy and physician participation in reimbursement rate negotiation may be essential to adjust for variance and inflation., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.)

Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest None.

Background: The relationship between procedural complexity and relative value units (RVUs) awarded has been studied within some specialties, but it has not yet been compared across different surgical disciplines. This study aims to analyze the association of RVUs with operative time as a surrogate for complexity across surgical specialties, with a focus on plastic surgery., Methods: A retrospective review of surgical cases was conducted with the 2019 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. The top 10 most performed procedures per surgical specialty were identified based on case volume. Only cases with a single CPT code were analyzed. A subanalysis of plastic surgery procedures was also conducted to include unilateral and bilateral procedures with a frequency greater than 20., Results: Overall, operative time correlated strongly with work RVUs (R = 0.86). Orthopedic surgery had one of the shortest average operative times with the greatest work RVUs per hour, in contrast to plastic surgery, with the greatest average operative time and one of the lowest work RVUs per hour. Of the plastic surgery procedures analyzed, only five were valued on par with the average calculated from all other specialties. The most poorly rewarded procedure for time spent is unilateral free flap breast reconstruction., Conclusions: Of all the surgical specialties, plastic surgery has the lowest RVUs per hour and the highest average operative time, leading to severe potential undervaluation compared with other specialties. This study suggests that further reevaluation of the current RVU system is needed to account for complexity more equitably as well as encourage value-based care., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.)

Objectives: HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is a neuroinflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by high levels of infected immortalized T cells in circulation, which makes it difficult for antiretroviral (ART) drugs to work effectively. In previous studies, we established that Apigenin, a flavonoid, can exert immunomodulatory effects to reduce neuroinflammation. Flavonoids are natural ligands for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which is a ligand activated endogenous receptor involved in the xenobiotic response. Consequently, we tested Apigenin's synergy in combination with ART against the survival of HTLV-1-infected cells., Methods: First, we established a direct protein-protein interaction between Apigenin and AhR. We then demonstrated that Apigenin and its derivative VY-3-68 enter activated T cells, drive nuclear shuttling of AhR, and modulate its signaling both at RNA and protein level., Results: In HTLV-1 producing cells with high AhR expression, Apigenin cooperates with ARTs such as Lopinavir (LPN) and Zidovudine (AZT), to impart cytotoxicity by exhibiting a major shift in IC 50 that was reversed upon AhR knockdown. Mechanistically, Apigenin treatment led to an overall downregulation of NF-κB and several other pro-cancer genes involved in survival., Conclusions: This study suggest the potential combinatorial use of Apigenin with current first-line antiretrovirals for the benefit of patients affected by HTLV-1 associated pathologies., Competing Interests: Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest., (© 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.)

Background: Nonadherence to antidepressants is a major obstacle to deriving antidepressants' therapeutic benefits, resulting in significant burdens on the individuals and the health care system. Several studies have shown that nonadherence is weakly associated with personal and clinical variables but strongly associated with patients' beliefs and attitudes toward medications. Patients' drug review posts in online health care communities might provide a significant insight into patients' attitude toward antidepressants and could be used to address the challenges of self-report methods such as patients' recruitment., Objective: The aim of this study was to use patient-generated data to identify factors affecting the patient's attitude toward 4 antidepressants drugs (sertraline [Zoloft], escitalopram [Lexapro], duloxetine [Cymbalta], and venlafaxine [Effexor XR]), which in turn, is a strong determinant of treatment nonadherence. We hypothesized that clinical variables (drug effectiveness; adverse drug reactions, ADRs; perceived distress from ADRs, ADR-PD; and duration of treatment) and personal variables (age, gender, and patients' knowledge about medications) are associated with patients' attitude toward antidepressants, and experience of ADRs and drug ineffectiveness are strongly associated with negative attitude., Methods: We used both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the dataset. Patients' drug reviews were randomly selected from a health care forum called askapatient. The Framework method was used to build the analytical framework containing the themes for developing structured data from the qualitative drug reviews. Then, 4 annotators coded the drug reviews at the sentence level using the analytical framework. After managing missing values, we used chi-square and ordinal logistic regression to test and model the association between variables and attitude., Results: A total of 892 reviews posted between February 2001 and September 2016 were analyzed. Most of the patients were females (680/892, 76.2%) and aged less than 40 years (540/892, 60.5%). Patient attitude was significantly (P<.001) associated with experience of ADRs, ADR-PD, drug effectiveness, perceived lack of knowledge, experience of withdrawal, and duration of usage, whereas oth age (F 4,874 =0.72, P=.58) and gender (χ 2 4 =2.7, P=.21) were not found to be associated with patient attitudes. Moreover, modeling the relationship between variables and attitudes showed that drug effectiveness and perceived distress from adverse drug reactions were the 2 most significant factors affecting patients' attitude toward antidepressants., Conclusions: Patients' self-report experiences of medications in online health care communities can provide a direct insight into the underlying factors associated with patients' perceptions and attitudes toward antidepressants. However, it cannot be used as a replacement for self-report methods because of the lack of information for some of the variables, colloquial language, and the unstructured format of the reports., (©Maryam Zolnoori, Kin Wah Fung, Paul Fontelo, Hadi Kharrazi, Anthony Faiola, Yi Shuan Shirley Wu, Virginia Stoffel, Timothy Patrick. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (http://mental.jmir.org), 30.09.2018.)

OBJECTIVE. We sought to understand the lived experience of 2 student veterans and identify factors influencing their higher education. METHOD. A qualitative research design was used with 2 student veterans who engaged in photovoice methodology. We analyzed their photographs, accompanying narratives, and discussion session transcripts using descriptive coding and thematic analysis. RESULTS. Data analysis revealed four themes: (1) reminiscence of past duty and reflections on military life, (2) transition from military life to civilian student life, (3) entry to a new stage of life, and (4) influence of the university and community environment. CONCLUSION. Findings from this study revealed factors influencing student veterans' education and can be used to develop occupation-based interventions to assist veterans who engage in higher education., (Copyright © 2014 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)

Background: Risk stratification is essential for the clinical decision-making process in patients undergoing revascularization of the unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA), since the optimal revascularization strategy still remains subject of ongoing debate., Objectives: To assess the prognostic value of angiographic versus clinical characteristics for the prediction of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and to develop a combined risk model., Methods: In 115 patients, who were followed up for MACE after ULMCA stenting, SYNTAX score and EuroSCORE have been calculated for a combined risk model., Results: Whereas the SYNTAX score was not able to predict MACE at 1 year (32.8 ± 11.7 vs. 29.1 ± 12.2, P = 0.13), the logistic EuroSCORE was significantly increased in these patients suffering a MACE at 1 year [11.9 (4.4/22.6) vs. 4.8 (2.3/14.6)%, P = 0.007]. With ROC curve validated cut-off values, the combination of EuroSCORE (>7.5%) and SYNTAX score (>25) provided incremental predictive value for risk stratification of ULMCA patients (AUC 0.71, 95% CI 0.62-0.79, P < 0.001). This combined risk model was associated with the rate of cardiac mortality (P = 0.04), non-fatal myocardial infarction (P = 0.005), and target lesion revascularization (P = 0.04) and was superior to the SYNTAX score alone (P = 0.03). High risk patients had a 7.1-fold higher risk for MACE (HR 7.1. 95% CI 2.1-24.1, P = 0.002) after 1 year., Conclusions: For adequate risk assessment in ULMCA patients, consideration of both comorbidities and coronary anatomic complexity, is essential. A combination of angiographic and clinical risk scores improves the prognostic value for the prediction of 1-year MACE risk and is superior to stand-alone scores.

Buruli ulcer (Mycobacterium ulcerans) sees its incidence increase particularly in West Africa. Our Non Governmental Organization (Projet Humanitaire Afrique Nord Sud) studied the distribution of cutaneous ulcer (of which Buruli ulcer) between a flooded site (Bonou) and a dry site (Ketou) in Benin. The ratio "prevalence of Buruli ulcer in our patients of Bonou on prevalence of Buruli ulcer in our patients of Ketou" was 7.5 with a confidence interval at 95% at [1.4 - 41.4]. There is a link between a watery ecosystem and the emergence of Buruli ulcer. Buruli ulcer is overrepresented in the under 15 age group. It can interest all the zones of the tegument whereas the other ulcers concern especially the lower limbs. Thus doctors could not be unaware of the importance of ecological factors ... in precarious medium where diagnosis is based on interrogation, clinical examination and field experience.

A project of a humanitarian action was preceded by a health diagnosis of a population in the rural district Bonou in Bénin. A diagnosis of perception was set up by the interviews among the population and the local health professionals. That diagnosis was completed by an objectified diagnosis originating from the analysis of 460 consultations performed in Bénin end 1998- beginning 1999. The cross-sorting between the diagnosis of perception and the objectified diagnosis pointed out four public health problems: malaria, bronchial asthma, infectious diarrhoeas and Buruli ulcer with respective prevalences of 9%, 6%, 3% and 0.9%. The prevalence of bronchial asthma fluctuates from 4% in dry areas to 8% in wet areas (Chi 2 = 3.50; p = 0.06). The role of house dust mites is suspected because of those ecological arguments to which is added clinical reasoning. Bronchial asthma was chosen as a priority health problem because of the feasibility and acceptance of a survey which aims at pointing out the allergic etiology. The confirmation of that etiology will enable in that case the decrease of the allergenic pressure, particularly well adapted solution in the Southern countries. Therefore a humanitarian action is foreseen to apprehend the etiologies of bronchial asthma in the rural district Bonou in Bénin in 2000.

The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) (Public Law 101-336) provides persons with mental health problems basic rights resulting in full access to community resources, especially the rights and privileges associated with the work role. This paper discusses the law, personal self-efficacy, and four environmental aspects as they relate to the employment of persons with mental impairments: (a) employer and co-worker attitudes, (b) essential job functions, (c) reasonable accommodations, and (d) community access. Areas of intervention for occupational therapists in mental health include attitude and advocacy training, assisting employers in providing reasonable accommodations, and preparing persons with mental impairments to be successful employees. Examples in occupational therapy are reviewed to illustrate the implementation of the ADA with persons with mental health problems.

Occupational therapists who work with persons who are alcohol and drug dependent often provide services to enhance self-esteem and to promote healthy leisure activities. This article describes a study conducted in a residential chemical dependency program with 101 subjects. Each subject was assessed for selfesteem and leisure interest patterns. Although for the entire group self-esteem was not found to be strongly correlated with a variety of and involvement in leisure activities, decreased past involvement in activities was found to be prevalent in those subjects with a low self-esteem. Treatment and evaluation implications for the occupational therapist in a chemical dependency setting are discussed.