Charlotte

This research aims to understand how the Safe Dates for Young Parents SDYP program influences sexual and reproductive health behaviors, attitudes about healthy relationships, and intimate partner violence IPV prevention in adolescent and young adult females who are pregnant or parenting. Researchers want to see if the SDYP intervention changes these behaviors and beliefs compared to those who do not receive the program. Participants in the SDYP group will take part in ten 50-minute group sessions involving interactive discussions, role-plays, games, brainstorming, and creative activities like poster contests and theatrical plays. The control group will receive standard services such as case management and comprehensive sex education but without the IPV or healthy relationship content included in SDYP. Referrals to additional services will be available for all participants as needed. During the study, participants will complete interviews at three, six, and twelve months to assess sexual behaviors like condomless vaginal or anal sex, experiences of sexual and reproductive coercion, negotiation of contraception use, IPV occurrences, and attitudes toward healthy relationships. Researchers will monitor changes over time to evaluate the programs impact. The total participation lasts about one year, with ongoing contact information collection and verbal consent obtained for enrollment.

Researchers are comparing the rates of surgical and minimally invasive interventions, as well as any harms, in Medicare beneficiaries treated with the MILD procedure versus those treated with interspinous process decompression IPD for lumbar spinal stenosis with neurogenic claudication. This observational study uses Medicare claims data to follow patients for 24 months after their initial procedure starting from January 1, 2017. The purpose is to evaluate outcomes between these two types of procedures without requiring prior patient enrollment or consent. The study includes two groups patients who received MILD, which is a percutaneous image-guided lumbar decompression performed under fluoroscopic guidance through a dorsal approach to the spine, and patients who received IPD, a different device-based decompression procedure. Data on reoperations and complications will be collected for both groups over a 24-month follow-up period using Medicare claims. Enrollment continues until the sponsor decides to stop. Participants involvement is passive as the study uses existing Medicare claims data. Researchers will monitor rates of harms related to the initial procedure and subsequent surgical or minimally invasive interventions over two years. No direct patient visits or interventions are conducted, and the study is exempt from institutional review board oversight. The total study duration extends to December 2026, covering cases treated since early 2017.