Clinical Epidemiology Basel

Costs and coverage of community health worker-led hypertension and diabetes screening in rural Lesotho (ComBaCaL): cost–consequence analysis of a cohort study CHWs, by use of a clinical decision support application run on an electronic tablet, provided high hypertension and diabetes screening coverage at moderate costs. Our findings support the integration ...

The #ComBaCaL project in Lesotho shows that empowering community health workers to diagnose hypertension and diabetes isn't just feasible — it delivers high population coverage at moderate cost: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

We thank Krebsliga beider Basel and @snsf.ch for the support of the study. 🤝

The study protocol for the process evaluation substudy of the #LIQPLAT trial, which evaluates the use of ctDNA in decision-making for advanced solid cancers, is now published in #BMJOpen.

🔗 Full article: lnkd.in/eFWBhtze

ℹ️ More information on the LIQPLAT trial: liqplat.com

👏 Congratulations to all co-authors

🙏 Many thanks to all participants, SHCS physicians, research personnel, and funders who made this innovation possible!

@snsf.ch @FAG Basel

Implementing a randomization consent to enable Trials within Cohorts in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study – A mixed-methods study Trials within Cohorts (TwiCs) is a promising design to make randomized trials more efficient. Cohort participants are asked for consent to be randomiz…

Our mixed-methods study explored the barriers and facilitators of this implementation process.

🧩 Full open-access article @jclinepi.bsky.social : www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Trials within Cohorts (#TwiCs) is an innovative study design that embeds randomized trials directly within ongoing cohort studies.

The Swiss HIV Cohort Study (#SHCS) — a well-established, nationwide cohort — has now implemented the TwiCs design for the first time in Switzerland.

Nonregistration, Discontinuation, and Nonpublication of Randomized Trials This systematic review describes the percentages of randomized clinical trials approved in 2016 that are unregistered, prematurely discontinued, or unpublished.

Here the full story: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Well presented Johannes👏

Today at #PRC10: Analysis of 347 RCTs in Europe and Canada in 2016

Co-author @schwenkej.bsky.social found industry-sponsored trials were more often completed and available.

🔗 Read the study: ja.ma/41I2etz

@peerreviewcongress.bsky.social

Nonregistration, premature discontinuation due to poor recruitment, and nonpublication of #RCT results remain major challenges, especially for nonindustry trials
@schwenkej.bsky.social @clinepi-basel.bsky.social
@unibas.ch @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social
#OpenScience #MetaResearch #PeerReview

📝 New study: Mental health & substance use among adolescents in Lesotho🇱🇸

Older teens (15–17) most affected: girls → more mental health issues, boys → more substance use.
Yet only 17% accessed care.
Urgent need for youth-friendly services.

Read more:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

ART works — but strong monitoring & infant care are key to ending vertical HIV transmission.

Full article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The challenge? Only 44% of cases had viral load monitoring in line with guidelines. Infant testing & prevention were also inconsistent.

In a study of 353 pregnancies among people living with HIV, vertical transmission was just 1% — far below the ~33% expected without treatment.

🤰🤱 New data from Lesotho: Antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy & breastfeeding is preventing infants from HIV. But there’s still more to do. 🧵

ComBaCaL also powers Trials within Cohorts, testing community-led interventions to boost treatment & control for NCDs. More here: bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/7...

Findings show heavy burdens:

Hypertension: 17%
Diabetes: 4%
HIV: 15%

🚨New publication!

📝 Community-Based chronic Care Lesotho (ComBaCaL) cohort profile

a cohort of 14,700+ people in rural Lesotho, uncovering the intersection of chronic disease, poverty, & care access.

Hair salons as a promising space to provide HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for young women in Lesotho: a citizen scientist mixed-methods study - BMC Public Health Introduction Adolescent girls and young women in southern Africa are disproportionately affected by HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) challenges. There is a need for more accessible and de-...

💇🏾‍♀️ New publication from our team: Hair Salons as a promising space to provide HIV & Sexual and SRH services for young women in Lesotho

💭 The team is currently looking for funding to implement a pilot - ideas welcome!

Read more here: bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

🥁Now publication on the availability of trial protocols!

🔗Check out the link for the open access paper:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@jclinepi.bsky.social @unibas.ch @dkf.unibas.ch @snsf.ch

Grace Yoon, Natalie Johnson, Moleboheng Mokebe, Palesa Mahlatsi, Malebanye Lerotholi, Niklaus Labhardt, Nadine Tschumi, Alastair van Heerden, Jennifer M. Belus, Irene Falgas-Bague

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

💡 New study on behavioral health for people with HIV in Lesotho 🇱🇸: Phone-based care has pros & cons, but trusted individuals are key for support & accountability. From Butha-Buthe and Mokhotlong. 🧑‍⚕️📞👥
Read more 👉

🌞 ClinEpi Summer Event 2025

We just wrapped up an unforgettable summer event featuring fun quizzes & games and ending off with an exciting cooking challenge 🍴 A huge thank you to everyone who joined, competed and organised this event, we are already looking forward to the next one!

Grateful to all collaborators@snsf.ch @unibas.ch @dkf.unibas.ch @ox.ac.uk and to all participating journals from the @bmj.com! 🤝

Our secondary analysis of 533 peer reviewer reports found that reminders about reporting guidelines increased reviewer attention—but the effect diminished due to article rejections and limited implementation by authors.

🔗Full publication@jclinepi.bsky.social : www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Drivers of chronic depressive and harmful alcohol use symptoms among adults living with HIV in Lesotho: pathways for integrated interventions Mental health problems are prevalent among people with HIV (PWH) in Southern Africa. However, mental health problems are substantially under-diagnosed…

New publication from our team: Drivers of chronic depressive and harmful alcohol use symptoms among adults living with HIV in Lesotho: pathways for integrated interventions

🔗: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🚀 Join us for Geneva Digital Health Day 2025! 🌍💻

Felix Gerber will give a short presentation on digital innovation in low- and middle-income countries.

📅 Date: Thursday, 22 May 2025
🕘 Time: 09:00–17:30 CET
📍 Location: Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland
🔗 Register here: gdhub.org/25gdhd/

Clinical trial budgeting approaches in Switzerland—a meta-research study - Trials Background Conducting clinical trials is resource demanding. Mirroring challenges experienced elsewhere, clinical trials conducted in Switzerland often face overoptimistic budget estimations and insuf...

🚀 New study out

Clinical trials often face overoptimistic budgets and funding shortfalls, leading to costly trial discontinuations. We reviewed Swiss budgeting tools and found untested, inconsistent methods without prespecified cost ranges.

Article: trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Congratulations to @alainamstutz.bsky.social et al. to this work!

Effects of Janus kinase inhibitors in adults admitted to hospital due to COVID-19: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials This IPDMA of RCTs in adults admitted to hospital due to COVID-19 found that JAK inhibitors reduced mortality across all levels of respiratory support, independent of dexamethasone or tocilizumab, and...

With over 96% of global trial data on this topic included, this #IPDMA, published in @lancetrespirmed.bsky.social and initiated by #EU-RESPONSE, provides the most comprehensive analysis for JAK inhibitors for adults hospitalized due to #COVID19.

Full article: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...