Megan McLaughlin

Megan McLaughlin replied to "To count lost to-follow-up (LTFU) as part of adherence denominator?" in the Adherence & Retention community.

A discussion brief has been posted for this discussion. Please consider replying with your thoughts and comments. How does your program define LTFU and/or visit adherence? How do you treat LTFU and/or visit adherence in program evaluations and analyses? Do you have measures/interventions in place to re-engage with patients LTFU and do you see any differences in outcomes?

Megan McLaughlin replied to "Questions about Sputum Conversion for MDR-TB Patients" in the MDR-TB Treatment & Prevention community.

Dear All, A new peer-reviewed discussion brief is now available on the topic of reporting sputum conversion rates for MDR-TB monitoring. In this discussion, a member in Taiwan presented several cases and asked if each patient would be considered to have sputum conversion at 6 months according WHO guidelines. In the dialogue that followed, moderators and members clarified the meaning of “culture conversion at 6 months,” date of sputum conversion and time to conversion, but ...

Megan McLaughlin started a discussion "Summary: "Factors influencing performance of Global Fund-supported tuberculosis grants."" in the MDR-TB Treatment & Prevention community.

Article Summary and Takeaways for Implementers Factors influencing performance of Global Fund-supported tuberculosis grants. Katz I, Aziz MA, Olszak-Olszewski M, Komatsu R, Low-Beer D, Atun R. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2010; 14(9): 1097-1103. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iuatld/ijtld/2010/00000014/00000009/art00006 (Closed-access article) Introduction: The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) was established in 2002 as a performance-based funding mechanism, in which continued disbursements are contingent upon a country’s ability to demonstrate progress in grant implementation. ...

Megan McLaughlin started a discussion "Patient Retention in Antiretroviral Therapy Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review" in the Adherence & Retention community.

Abstract Background Long-term retention of patients in Africa's rapidly expanding antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs for HIV/AIDS is essential for these programs' success but has received relatively little attention. In this paper we present a systematic review of patient retention in ART programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods and Findings We searched Medline, other literature databases, conference abstracts, publications archives, and the “gray literature” (project reports available online) between 2000 and 2007 for reports on the proportion ...

Megan McLaughlin started a discussion "Measuring adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy: Implications for research and practice (closed access)" in the Adherence & Retention community.

Abstract Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has radically changed the course of HIV disease, producing substantial reductions in both HIV-related morbidity and mortality. However, the complexity of the typical daily HAART regimen is substantial, and high levels of adherence are essential for complete and long-term viral suppression and the avoidance of drug resistance. The complexity of HAART has made the assessment of medication adherence of paramount importance. Even though various methods are in use, each ...