We have observed that as the theoretical landscape in behavioral science continues to proliferate and diversify, it is not uncommon that distance between subspecialties emerge, artificially ...accentuating differences between camps. This may occur at the risk of losing sight of the common ground, and worsening communication between subspecialties. In this paper, we propose conceptual "crosswalking" as a means to preserve interdisciplinary communication within the behavioral sciences. This is illustrated using Bronfenbrenner's Person-Process-Context-Time (PPCT) Model, mapped onto therapeutic modalities with a focus on ecological systems. Recommendations for future crosswalking are made.
Chronic pain management services are often provided in group formats, as they are cost effective, increase access to care, and provide unique and needed social support to patients, but mixed outcomes ...for these groups indicate room for improvement. A small but growing body of research suggests routine assessment of and feedback on group cohesion may improve individual patient outcomes, though this has not been studied among chronic pain groups. Provided in this article is a rationale for assessing group cohesion in pain management programs, along with considerations for how and when to use routine outcome monitoring of cohesion in clinical practice.
Clinical Impact Statement
Question:
This article hopes to address using routine process feedback monitoring to improve outcomes in group therapy for chronic pain.
Findings:
Group clinicians in chronic pain programs can use the ideas in this article to inspire using cohesion measures in pain management programs, with the hope that it could improve their patient outcomes.
Meaning:
The conclusions in this article indicate that group clinicians in chronic pain programs can look at cohesion as a possible contributor to outcomes and that there are ways to improve cohesion in these groups through progress monitoring.
Next Steps:
Group clinicians could begin to assess cohesion and alter their interventions based on the continuous progress monitoring described.
Abstract
Introduction
Sleep research among Hispanic populations is limited. Hispanics may be at higher risk of poor sleep when compared to other race/ethnicities. Non-white and other ...socioeconomically disadvantaged populations have higher rates of chronic health conditions. Epidemiological studies have substantiated the correlation between short sleep and a variety of negative health outcomes. Sleep is foundational to overall good health and functioning, impacting academic and physical performance in technical training, and crucial for an airmen’s adjustment to the rigor of a military career. Authors explored the role of race/ethnicity on perceived sleep health (e.g., sleep duration and sleep distress) among airmen attending technical school.
Methods
Sleep health survey was administered to two groups of Airmen at an Air Force technical training: In-processing: Airmen who just arrived to begin technical training, (n=187), Age: M= 20.83 (SD 3.26), 82.55% Male; upon completion of training, i.e., Out-processing: Airmen about to complete technical training, (n=302), Age M = 20.7 (SD 3.09), 85.81% Male. To account for correlations between Airmen from the same squadron, a covariates-adjusted generalized mixed-effects model was used. Associations between race/ethnicity and short sleep duration (≤6 hours), and between race/ethnicity and sleep pattern distress—among shorter sleepers as a sub-group—were examined. Racial/Ethnic frequency among short sleepers (n=135): 19.3 % Hispanic, 13.3% NH-Black, 55.6% NH-White, 6.6% NH-Multiracial, and 5.2% NH-Other.
Results
Among Hispanic Airmen, the out-processing group was 2.25 times as likely as the in-processing group to be short sleepers on weekdays (95% CI: 1.15 to 4.38, p=0.017). Among short sleepers in the out-processing group, Hispanic Airmen were significantly more worried/distressed about their sleep pattern than Black and White Airmen (OR=2.29, 95% CI: 1.18 to 4.42, p=0.014 and OR=2.29, 95% CI: 1.10 to 4.76, p=0.026, respectively).
Conclusion
Short sleep duration is a significant problem in the military and results suggest that race/ethnicity-related contextual factors may point to at risk subgroups. Others have considered the influence of perceived prejudice, access to social capital, cultural barriers to academic success, and potential sensitivity to somatic discomfort on sleep complaints. Future directions involve repeating this assessment with another cohort of technical training Airmen to see if findings replicate.
Support (if any)
none
While tobacco Quitlines are effective in the promotion of smoking cessation, the majority of callers who wish to quit still fail to do so. The aim of this study was to determine if 12-month tobacco ...Quitline smoking cessation rates could be improved with re-engagement of callers whose first Quitline treatment failed to establish abstinence.
In an adaptive trial, 614 adult smokers, who were active duty, retired, and family of military personnel with TRICARE insurance who called a tobacco Quitline, received a previously evaluated and efficacious four-session tobacco cessation intervention with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). At the scheduled follow-up at 3 months, callers who had not yet achieved abstinence were offered the opportunity to re-engage. This resulted in three caller groups: 1) those who were abstinent, 2) those who were still smoking but willing to re-engage with an additional Quitline treatment; and 3) individuals who were still smoking but declined re-engagement. A propensity score-adjusted logistic regression model was generated to compare past-7-day point prevalence abstinence at 12 months post Quitline consultation.
Using a propensity score adjusted logistic regression model, comparison of the three groups resulted in higher odds of past-7-day point prevalence abstinence at follow-up at 12 months for those who were abstinent at 3 months compared to those who re-engaged (OR=9.6; 95% CI: 5.2-17.8; Bonferroni adjusted p<0.0001), and relative to those who declined re-engagement (OR=13.4; 95% CI: 6.8-26.3; Bonferroni adjusted p<0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference in smoking abstinence between smokers at 3 months who re-engaged and those who declined re-engagement (OR=1.39; 95% CI: 0.68-2.85).
Tobacco Quitlines seeking to select a single initiative by which to maximize abstinence at follow-up at 12 months may benefit from diverting additional resources from the re-engagement of callers whose initial quit attempt failed, toward changes which increase callers' probability of success within the first 3 months of treatment.
This study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02201810).
Abstract
Background
Manualized cognitive and behavioral therapies are increasingly used in primary care environments to improve nonpharmacological pain management. The Brief Cognitive Behavioral ...Therapy for Chronic Pain (BCBT-CP) intervention, recently implemented by the Defense Health Agency for use across the military health system, is a modular, primary care–based treatment program delivered by behavioral health consultants integrated into primary care for patients experiencing chronic pain. Although early data suggest that this intervention improves functioning, it is unclear whether the benefits of BCBT-CP are sustained. The purpose of this paper is to describe the methods of a pragmatic clinical trial designed to test the effect of monthly telehealth booster contacts on treatment retention and long-term clinical outcomes for BCBT-CP treatment, as compared with BCBT-CP without a booster, in 716 Defense Health Agency beneficiaries with chronic pain.
Design
A randomized pragmatic clinical trial will be used to examine whether telehealth booster contacts improve outcomes associated with BCBT-CP treatments. Monthly booster contacts will reinforce BCBT-CP concepts and the home practice plan. Outcomes will be assessed 3, 6, 12, and 18 months after the first appointment for BCBT-CP. Focus groups will be conducted to assess the usability, perceived effectiveness, and helpfulness of the booster contacts.
Summary
Most individuals with chronic pain are managed in primary care, but few are offered biopsychosocial approaches to care. This pragmatic brief trial will test whether a pragmatic enhancement to routine clinical care, monthly booster contacts, results in sustained functional changes among patients with chronic pain receiving BCBT-CP in primary care.
The aim of this study was to evaluate sex-related differences in symptoms of sleep disorders, sleep-related impairment, psychiatric symptoms, traumatic brain injury, and polysomnographic variables in ...treatment-seeking military personnel diagnosed with insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), or comorbid insomnia and OSA (COMISA).
Participants were 372 military personnel (46.2% women, 53.8% men) with an average age of 37.7 (standard deviation = 7.46) years and median body mass index of 28.4 (5.50) kg/m
. Based on clinical evaluation and video-polysomnography, participants were diagnosed with insomnia (n = 118), OSA (n = 118), or COMISA (n = 136). Insomnia severity, excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep quality, nightmare disorder, sleep impairment, fatigue, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression symptoms, and traumatic brain injury were evaluated with validated self-report questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, parametric and nonparametric
-tests, and effect sizes were used to assess sex differences between men and women.
There were no significant differences between women and men with insomnia or OSA in sleep-related symptoms, impairment, or polysomnography-based apnea-hypopnea index. Military men with COMISA had a significantly greater apnea-hypopnea index as compared to military women with COMISA, but women had greater symptoms of nightmare disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and anxiety.
In contrast to civilian studies, minimal differences were observed in self-reported sleep symptoms, impairment, and polysomnography metrics between men and women diagnosed with the most frequent sleep disorders in military personnel (ie, insomnia, OSA, or COMISA) except in those with COMISA. Military service may result in distinct sleep disorder phenotypes that differ negligibly by sex.
Mysliwiec V, Pruiksma KE, Matsangas P, et al. Sex differences in US military personnel with insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, or comorbid insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea.
. 2024;20(1):17-30.
Detector simulation in high energy physics experiments is a key yet computationally expensive step in the event simulation process. There has been much recent interest in using deep generative models ...as a faster alternative to the full Monte Carlo simulation process in situations in which the utmost accuracy is not necessary. In this work we investigate the use of conditional Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Networks to simulate both hadronization and the detector response to jets. Our model takes the 4-momenta of jets formed from partons post-showering and pre-hadronization as inputs and predicts the 4-momenta of the corresponding reconstructed jet. Our model is trained on fully simulated
tt
events using the publicly available GEANT-based simulation of the CMS Collaboration. We demonstrate that the model produces accurate conditional reconstructed jet transverse momentum (
p
T
) distributions over a wide range of
p
T
for the input parton jet. Our model takes only a fraction of the time necessary for conventional detector simulation methods, running on a CPU in less than a millisecond per event.
Insomnia affects approximately 40% of active duty service members and adversely affects health, readiness, and safety. The VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the management of insomnia recommends ...cognitive-behavioral treatment of insomnia (CBTI) or its abbreviated version (brief behavioral treatment of insomnia BBTI) as the first-line insomnia treatment. The goal of this study was to assess CBTI/BBTI resources at MTFs, perceived facilitators and barriers for CBTI/BBTI, and gaps in these treatments across the Defense Health Agency.
Between July and October 2022, we conducted an electronic survey of CBTI/BBTI resources across Contiguous United States and the District of Columbia (CONUS) and Outside Continental United States (OCONUS) MTFs. The survey was distributed to 154 military sleep health care providers from 32 MTFs, and a link to the survey was posted on two online military sleep medicine discussion forums. Fifteen providers from 12 MTFs volunteered to complete a 30-minute qualitative interview to explore their perception of barriers and facilitators of CBTI/BBTI at their facility.
Fifty-two of 154 providers (33.8%) at 20 MTFs completed the survey. A majority of providers indicated that hypnotics remain the most common treatment for insomnia at their facility. Sixty-eight percent reported that CBTI/BBTI was available at their facility and estimated that less than 50% of the patients diagnosed with insomnia receive CBTI/BBTI. The main facilitators were dedicated, trained CBTI/BBTI providers and leadership support. Referrals to the off-post civilian network and self-help apps were not perceived as significant facilitators for augmenting insomnia care capabilities. The primary barriers to offering CBTI/BBTI were under-resourced clinics to meet the high volume of patients presenting with insomnia and scheduling and workflow limitations that impede repeated treatment appointments over the period prescribed by CBTI/BBTI protocols. Four primary themes emerged from qualitative interviews: (1) CBTI/BBTI groups can scale access to insomnia care, but patient engagement and clinical outcomes are perceived as inferior to individual treatment; (2) embedding trained providers in primary or behavioral health care could accelerate access, before escalation and referral to a sleep clinic; (3) few providers have the time to adhere to traditional CBTI protocols, and appointment scheduling often does not support weekly or bi-weekly treatment visits; and (4) the absence of quality and/or continuity of care measures dampens providers' enthusiasm for using external referral resources or self-help apps.
Although there is a wide recognition that CBTI/BBTI is the first-line recommended insomnia treatment, the limited scalability of treatment protocols, clinical workflow limitations, and scarcity of trained CBTI/BBTI providers limit the implementation of the VA/DoD clinical guideline. Educating and engaging health care providers and leadership about CBTI, augmenting CBTI-dedicated resources, and adapting clinical workflows were identified as specific strategies needed to meet the current insomnia care needs of service members. Developing protocols for scaling the availability of CBTI expertise at diverse points of care, upstream from the sleep clinics, could accelerate access to care. Establishing standardized quality measures and processes across points of care, including for external providers and self-help apps, would enhance providers' confidence in the quality of insomnia care offered to service members.
Some authors theorize that relationship attachment difficulties play an etiological role in the development of hypersexual behavior. The research in support of this theory is plagued by small sample ...sizes and analyses that are limited to averages within 4 forced-choice categories of attachment. The present study seeks to further the understanding of relationship attachment styles and hypersexual behavior by analyzing both categorical and dimensional measures of attachment among a large sample of men (N = 136) seeking treatment for excessive sexual behaviors. Many, but not all, subjects reported attachment difficulties. Using cluster analysis, 4 distinct clusters appeared to be unique on measures of attachment, demographics, and shame proneness. The utility of the categorical versus the dimensional model of attachment, as well as the assessment and treatment implications for hypersexual behavior, are discussed.
Inhibition of the acyl coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) enzyme may prevent excess accumulation of cholesteryl esters in macrophages. The ACAT inhibitor avasimibe was shown to reduce ...experimental atherosclerosis. This study was designed to investigate the effects of avasimibe on human coronary atherosclerosis.
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial assessed the effects of avasimibe at dosages of 50, 250, and 750 mg QD on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis as assessed by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). All patients received background lipid-lowering therapy if necessary to reach a target baseline LDL level <125 mg/dL (3.2 mmol/L). IVUS and coronary angiography were performed at baseline and repeated after up to 24 months of treatment. Approximately equal percentages of patients across groups received concurrent statin therapy (87% to 89%). The mean total plaque volume at baseline was approximately 200 mm3, and the least squares mean change at end of treatment was 0.7 mm3 for placebo and 7.7, 4.1, and 4.8 mm3 for the avasimibe 50, 250, and 750 mg groups, respectively (adjusted P=0.17 unadjusted P=0.057, 0.37, and 0.37, respectively). Percent atheroma volume increased by 0.4% with placebo and by 0.7%, 0.8%, and 1.0% in the respective avasimibe groups (P=NS). LDL cholesterol increased during the study by 1.7% with placebo but by 7.8%, 9.1%, and 10.9% in the respective avasimibe groups (P<0.05 in all groups).
Avasimibe did not favorably alter coronary atherosclerosis as assessed by IVUS. This ACAT inhibitor also caused a mild increase in LDL cholesterol.
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