BACKGROUND Prompt entry into HIV care is often hindered by personal and structural barriers. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of self-perceived barriers to health care on 1-year mortality among newly diagnosed HIV-infected individuals in Durban, South Africa. METHODS Before HIV testing at 4 outpatient sites, adults (≥18 years) were surveyed regarding perceived barriers to care includi...

In this paper we construct an information-theoretic model of architectural drawings. This model is then used to quantify and measure the complexities and similarities of drawings. The approach is applied within a linear qualitative shape representation but can be generalized to other types of representation. The descriptive and analytic power of the proposed methods are demonstrated by studying...

Introduction: Most modern medical issues are inherently complicated and accurate decisions are not always likely to be made based on logical reasons. Furthermore, the huge volume of information relevant to a simple diagnostic area makes this decision making even more troublesome. Hence, with the advent of technology, there is an ever increasing need for the Clinical Decision Support System (CDS...

Clinical trials provide the foundation on which advances in cancer therapies are built. Yet, relatively few in the eligible adult population participate, 3% to 5%,1 and much of the research is based on data collected from samples lacking racial and economic diversity.2 Though the research community recognizes the importance of having diverse clinical trial participants, barriers to recruitment ...

INTRODUCTION Attention to the negative effects of structural barriers on HIV efforts is increasing. Reviewing national legal and policy environments with attention to the international human rights commitments of states is a means of assessing and providing focus for addressing these barriers to effective HIV responses. METHODS Law and policy data from the 171 countries reporting under the De...

BACKGROUND Fatalism has been identified as a dominant belief among Latinos and is believed to act as a barrier to cancer prevention. However, controversy exists over the utility of the construct in explaining health disparities experienced by disadvantaged populations above the influence of structural barriers such as low socioeconomic status (SES) and limited access to health care. PURPOSE T...

U.S. Army soldiers with mental disorders report a variety of barriers to initiating and continuing treatment. Improved understanding of these barriers can help direct mental health services to soldiers in need. A representative sample of 5,428 nondeployed Regular Army soldiers participating in the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers completed a self-administered questionn...

OBJECTIVE Access to substance abuse treatment among historically disadvantaged communities (HDCs) in Cape Town, South Africa is limited, despite a growing demand for services. Although research has reported on structural barriers to treatment access, nonstructural factors remain largely unexplored. The aim of this paper is to describe two nonstructural influences on the use of substance abuse t...