Disclosure Rates Research Articles

The impact of IFRS-8, segment reporting, on the disclosure practices of Polish listed companies

Segment-reporting standards are an important element of financial reporting for public companies and require that a company’s segment disclosures be consistent with that of management’s internal reporting structure. While studies have examined the impact of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS)-8 in a number of different countries, none have focused on Poland. We focus on the benefits articulated in the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)’s Basis-for-Conclusion and provide comprehensive evidence concerning the impact of IFRS-8 on the quality of segment information disclosed in the annual reports of 275 of the largest companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. We then extend our research by analyzing segment disclosure changes post-adoption for a subset of companies following clarifications issued by the IASB to IFRS-8 arising from the post-implementation review. Findings indicate that although the overall implementation of IFRS-8 resulted in several improvements in segment disclosures by Polish companies, disclosure rates are persistently low, particularly in the areas of reconciliations and geographic segments, indicating there are still areas that need further improvement. Our results have significant implications for both policy makers (i.e., IASB, US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and Polish standard setters) and other stakeholders interested in assessing the impact of the principle-based IFRS-8 standard and the measurement of segment information quality.

The Nature and Scope of Educator Misconduct in K-12.

Educator sexual misconduct is a serious problem in the United States (U.S.), with a 2004 Department of Education report estimating that 9.6% of K-12 students in the U.S. had experienced either verbal, visual, or physical educator misconduct at some point during their school career. However, since that report almost 20years ago, there have been few large-scale studies examining the extent of the problem. As such, the current study, which uses a large sample from recent high school graduates in four U.S. states, offers updated data on the nature and scope of sexual misconduct in educational settings. Overall, 11.7% of the 6632 participants reported having experienced at least one form of educator sexual misconduct during Grades K-12, with 11% reporting sexual comments and less than 1% reporting other forms of sexual misconduct (e.g., receiving sexual photos/messages, being kissed, touched sexually, or engaging in sexual intercourse/oral sex). Those who reported misconduct showed significantly more difficulties in current psychosocial functioning than those who did not report educator misconduct. Academic teachers most often perpetrated the abuse (63%), followed by coaches and gym teachers (20%). Educators who engaged in sexual misconduct were primarily male (85%), whereas students who reported experiencing educator misconduct were primarily female (72%). Rates of disclosure to authorities were very low (4%) and some sexual grooming behaviors like gift giving (12%) and showing special attention (29%) were reported. These findings will be discussed as they pertain to the prevention of sexual misconduct within educational settings.

Predictors and consequences of HIV status disclosure to adolescents living with HIV in Eastern Cape, South Africa: a prospective cohort study.

IntroductionThe World Health Organization recommends full disclosure of HIV‐positive status to adolescents who acquired HIV perinatally (APHIV) by age 12. However, even among adolescents (aged 10–19) already on antiretroviral therapy (ART), disclosure rates are low. Caregivers often report the child being too young and fear of disclosure worsening adolescents’ mental health as reasons for non‐disclosure. We aimed to identify the predictors of disclosure and the association of disclosure with adherence, viral suppression and mental health outcomes among adolescents in sub‐Saharan Africa.MethodsAnalyses included three rounds (2014–2018) of data collected among a closed cohort of adolescents living with HIV in Eastern Cape, South Africa. We used logistic regression with respondent random‐effects to identify factors associated with disclosure, and assess differences in ART adherence, viral suppression and mental health symptoms between adolescents by disclosure status. We also explored differences in the change in mental health symptoms and adherence between study rounds and disclosure groups with logistic regression.ResultsEight hundred and thirteen APHIV were interviewed at baseline, of whom 769 (94.6%) and 729 (89.7%) were interviewed at the second and third rounds, respectively. The proportion aware of their HIV‐positive status increased from 63.1% at the first round to 85.5% by the third round. Older age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.27; 1.08–1.48) and living in an urban location (aOR: 2.85; 1.72–4.73) were associated with disclosure between interviews. There was no association between awareness of HIV‐positive status and ART adherence, viral suppression or mental health symptoms among all APHIV interviewed. However, among APHIV not aware of their status at baseline, adherence decreased at the second round among those who were disclosed to (N = 131) and increased among those not disclosed to (N = 151) (interaction aOR: 0.39; 0.19–0.80). There was no significant difference in the change in mental health symptoms between study rounds and disclosure groups.ConclusionsAwareness of HIV‐positive status was not associated with higher rates of mental health symptoms, or lower rates of viral suppression among adolescents. Disclosure was not associated with worse mental health. These findings support the recommendation for timely disclosure to APHIV; however, adherence support post‐disclosure is important.

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: assessment of acceptability among members of HIV serodiscordant/serostatus unknown couples.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective in preventing HIV infection but is not yet widely available in resource-limited settings such as the Dominican Republic. We aimed to ascertain PrEP acceptability among people living with HIV in the Dominican Republic who are part of HIV serodiscordant partnerships and understand relationships between PrEP acceptability, HIV stigma, and intimate partner violence.Methods: A cross-sectional survey of people in care for HIV infection included acceptability-related questions and assessments of HIV stigma and intimate partner violence. We also explored the expected impact of PrEP on HIV disclosure rates and fertility intentions.Results: Of the 100 participants, 74% had been in their current partnership for >1year; 38% had not disclosed to their partner; 29% reported condomless sex, and 23% reported sex with multiple partners. PrEP was highly acceptable with 84% of participants saying they were "very likely" to offer PrEP to their partner if available and 21% stating it would allow them to have more children. Of those who had not disclosed to their partner, 71% stated PrEP would help them do so. No relationship was found between PrEP acceptability, HIV stigma, and intimate partner violence. However, higher than expected rates of PrEP acceptability limited the power of these analyses.Conclusion: Pre-exposure prophylaxis was considered to be highly acceptable among people living with HIV in the Dominican Republic who are part of serodiscordant partnerships.

A Grey BP Neural Network-Based Model for Prediction of Court Decision Service Rate.

The judgment service rate is an important index to reflect the fairness of the judgment of legal cases in a certain area, which is of great significance to verify the accuracy of a court judgment. In this paper, a grey neural network model combining grey system theory and BP neural network algorithm is proposed to predict the index. Analyze the judgment service rate of the court judgment system, and build a prediction system based on the completion rate, completion rate, plaintiff satisfaction, defendant satisfaction, litigation time, property preservation cycle, document delivery time, implementation information disclosure rate, and other key indicators. Through example analysis, it is proved that the combined model of the grey prediction model and BP neural network has a small error and good simulation effect on the prediction of court decision-making service rate, which can better promote the development of court and society.

A Revisit to Etiopathogenesis and Therapeutic Strategies in Alzheimer's Disease.

Dementia is a cluster of brain abnormalities that trigger progressive memory deficits and other cognitive abilities such as skills, language, or executive function. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the foremost type of age-associated dementia that involves progressive neurodegeneration accompanied by profound cognitive deficits in advanced stages that severely hamper social or occupational abilities with or without the involvement of any other psychiatric condition. The last two decades witnessed a sharp increase (~123%) in mortality due to AD type dementia, typically owing to a very low disclosure rate (~45%) and hence, the prophylactic, as well as the therapeutic cure of AD, has been a huge challenge. Although understanding of AD pathogenesis has witnessed a remarkable growth (e.g., tauopathy, oxidative stress, lipid transport, glucose uptake, apoptosis, synaptic dysfunction, inflammation, and immune system), still a dearth of an effective therapeutic agent in the management of AD prompts the quest for newer pharmacological targets in the purview of its growing epidemiological status. Most of the current therapeutic strategies focus on modulation of a single target, e.g., inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, glutamate excitotoxicity (memantine), or nootropics (piracetam), even though AD is a multifaceted neurological disorder. There is an impedance urgency to find not only symptomatic but effective disease-modifying therapies. The present review focuses on the risk / protective factors and pathogenic mechanisms involved in AD. In addition to the existing symptomatic therapeutic approach, a diverse array of possible targets linked to pathogenic cascades have been re-investigated to envisage the pharmacotherapeutic strategies in AD.

To “tell or not to tell”—Exploring disclosure about medicine use by people living with sleep disorders

ObjectiveTo explore the difference in rates and reasons for disclosure of either conventional or complementary medicine (CM) to healthcare practitioners between people living with sleep disorders (SDs) and those without SDs. MethodsA cross-sectional survey (N = 2019 adults) that measured sociodemographic characteristics, health status, health service utilisation, health literacy and health communication (medicine disclosure) of a representative sample of Australians was conducted. Data from participants reporting an SD (n = 265) were compared to those not reporting an SD to assess measures of health communication and disclosure about medicine use. ResultsOverall, rates of medicine disclosure to both conventional and CM practitioners were high, in respondents with (70%) and without an SD (57%). Those reporting an SD had higher expectations of their conventional health practitioner’s knowledge of CM, associated clinical decision-making skills, and approval of CM use, and held a higher degree of concern about drug interactions (P < 0.05). The main reasons cited for disclosing CM use to conventional health practitioners and conventional medicine use to CM practitioners were “I want them to fully understand my health status” and “I was concerned about drug interactions with the CMs used.” ConclusionThe high rate of medicine use disclosure by people with SDs is driven by an intention to inform their healthcare practitioner about their health status and concerns about potential medicine interactions. Therefore, research about the expectations that people with an SD have of their conventional healthcare practitioners’ knowledge of CM and CM-drug interactions requires further examination. Likewise, further examination of CM practitioner’s conventional medicine knowledge is encouraged.

Accounting Information Disclosure and Financial Crisis Beforehand Warning Based on the Artificial Neural Network

With the continuous development of China’s market economy, market competition has become increasingly fierce. In this context, enterprises will face more and more problems. Among them, the financial crisis is undoubtedly the most significant and the biggest problem that threatens the survival and development of enterprises, and it is an unavoidable problem for all enterprises. Irregular accounting information disclosure is an important factor that leads to the financial crisis of enterprises. Because accounting information contains a lot of important financial information within the enterprise, if the information is not disclosed in compliance with the norm, it will cause immeasurable financial crisis to the enterprise. Therefore, it is of great significance to establish an effective financial crisis beforehand warning system and avoid the noncompliant disclosure of accounting information in order to avoid and control the occurrence of financial crisis in enterprises that threaten the survival and development of enterprises. At present, artificial neural network technology is constantly developing and improving with the development of science and technology, and it has been proven that it has remarkable performance for handling nonlinear data, which provides new ideas and technical support for enterprises’ financial crisis beforehand warning. This article is aimed at studying accounting information disclosure and financial crisis beforehand warning based on an artificial neural network. Based on the BP learning algorithm of the artificial neural network, an accounting information disclosure test and financial crisis beforehand warning model were constructed, and with the help of this model, the accounting information disclosure test and financial crisis beforehand warning experiment with H company as an example were carried out, and the conclusions were drawn: the accounting information disclosure test and financial crisis beforehand warning model based on the artificial neural network BP learning algorithm reduce the company’ s financial loss by 8% by reducing the company’ s noncompliant accounting information disclosure rate, and the accuracy rate of the company’ s financial crisis beforehand warning is also increased by 35%.

The Influence Of The Responsibility Sharia Supervisory Board, Sharia Compliance, Issuance Of Sharia Securities, And The Size Of The Board Of Commissioners On The Level Of Disclosure Of Islamic Social Reporting Islamic Bank In Indonesia

This research aims to test the effect of the responsibilities of the Sharia Supervisory Board, Sharia Compliance, issuance of Sharia securities, and the size of the Board of Commissioners on the level of disclosure of Islamic Social Reporting at Islamic Banks in Indonesia. This study used descriptive and correlational quantitative methods. The method of data collection is to use secondary data sources, and in terms of the way the data collection method in this study uses data collection techniques with documents in the form of annual financial statements and GCG reports. The data analysis method in this study uses descriptive statistics and classical assumption tests consisting of normality tests, multicollinearity tests, and heteroplasticity tests. The population in this study is Sharia Commercial Bank in Indonesia for the period 2016-2020 which amounted to 14 Islamic Banks. The sample determination technique was carried out using purposive sampling techniques with criteria: Sharia Commercial Bank which publishes annual reports and GCG reports and lists the results of GCG Self Assessment in 2016-2020, from these criteria, a sample of 13 Islamic Banks was obtained. The results of this study showed that partially the variables of the Responsibilities of the Sharia Supervisory Board, Sharia Compliance variables, and the Board of Commissioners Size variables had no effect on the ISR Disclosure Rate at Islamic Banks in Indonesia for the period 2016-2020, it can be concluded that H1, H2, and H4 were rejected. While on the variable issuance of Islamic securities shows that partially the Issuance of Sharia Securities affects the Level of ISR Disclosure at Islamic Banks in Indonesia for the period 2016-2020, it can be concluded that H3 is accepted. Simultaneously the variables of the Responsibilities of the Sharia Supervisory Board, Sharia Compliance, Issuance of Sharia Securities, and the Size of the Board of Commissioners have a significant effect on the Level of ISR Disclosure on Islamic Banks in Indonesia for the period 2016-2020, it can be concluded that H5 is accepted.

The nexus between CSR disclosure, effective tax rate, corruption, and sustainable business performance: evidence from ASEAN countries

Sustainable business performance is the foremost requirement for the organization and could be affected by many factors that gained the attention of recent studies and regulators. Therefore, the present study is also examining the impact of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) disclosure, the effective rate of tax, and corruption on the sustainable business performance of the ASEAN country's listed firms. The data has been gathered by using the quantitative method and using the secondary source of data collection. The data has been extracted from the financial statement along with CSR disclosure reports of the listed firm of ASEAN countries from 2015 to 2019. This study has executed the fixed effect model (FEM) and generalized method of moments (GMM) to examine the relationships among the variables. The results revealed that CSR disclosure and tax-effective rate, along with control variables such as leverage and firm size, have a positive association with the sustainable business performance of firms in ASEAN countries. The results also exposed that corruption has a negative association with the sustainable business performance of firms in ASEAN countries. These outcomes are suitable for the regulators who want to formulate policies related to CSR and sustainable business performance.

A survey of parental perceptions and attitudes related to disclosure in hypospadias repair

Boys with hypospadias often undergo reconstructive surgery to improve cosmetic appearance and functional outcomes. While the ethics of physician-patient disclosure of illness are clear, parent-child disclosure is more ambiguous. There is a paucity of research regarding the parental disclosure of past urological procedures, specifically hypospadias repair. Our objective was to determine the rate of parental disclosure in boys undergoing hypospadias repair, and to evaluate the parental perspectives regarding concerns and amount of support in relation. A web-based questionnaire was distributed to parents of 240 hypospadias patients at our pediatric urology outpatient clinic over 12 months. The questionnaire assessed intent to disclose, decisional regret, and cosmetic perception. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses. Two hundred and twenty-three survey responses were collected. The majority of respondents were urban dwellers (72.2%), and the mothers of the child (80.9%). Distal hypospadias was the most common variant of condition (62.7%). When asked if they plan to disclose the repair to their child, 93% said "yes", and of those, the optimal mean age of disclosure was 7.49±4.30 years. Ninety percent reported that they were not offered guidance on how/when to disclose, and 43% thought they would benefit from support on this. There was a significant difference in nervousness to disclose if the condition was distal versus proximal (χ2=15.19, p=<0.01), with proximal being more nervous. A significant difference was also observed regarding disclosure support with proximal being more likely to want formal support (χ2=4.55, p=0.03). As hypothesized, the majority of parents intended to disclose their son's surgery to them, but no statistically significant difference was seen between those with a distal vs. proximal repair. Additionally, demographic characteristics which were hypothesized to influence this decision (e.g., parents' level of education and relationship to the child) did not discriminate parental intent to disclose. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate perceptions and attitudes around disclosure in patients with hypospadias and their families. The majority of respondents were planning to disclose the operation to their child, and were not offered any guidance or support as to the optimal way to disclose. Half of those parents thought they could benefit from resources to help them with this process. Further research is required to understand the impact of disclosure and to create tools to help caregivers with this responsibility.

Patient Perspectives on the Development of a Novel Mobile Health (mHealth) Application for Dietary Supplement Tracking and Reconciliation-A Qualitative Focus Group Study.

BackgroundMore than 170 million adults use dietary supplements (DS) in the United States, which can have both benefit and harm to patient health. DS use is often poorly documented in the medical record and can pose health risks if not properly communicated with providers. Reasons for poor DS documentation include low disclosure rates, time constraints of clinical encounters, and providers’ failure to inquire about DS use. This study was conducted to assess patients’ views on the facilitators and barriers to using a mobile health (mHealth) application (app) to collect and share DS information with their healthcare providers.MethodsUtilizing a theory-based conceptual model, we conducted 7 patient focus groups (FGs) to assess opinions on DS safety, provider communication, comfort with technology use, and our proposed mHealth app. Participants were recruited from the general public and through patient advisory groups. Patient views will inform the creation of an mHealth app to improve DS patient-provider communication and tracking and reconciliation in the electronic medical record (EMR).ResultsOverall, participants believe their DS information is inaccurately represented in the EMR, leading to safety concerns and negatively impacting overall quality of care. Participants desired an app designed with (1) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance; (2) ease of use for a variety of technical efficacy levels; (3) access to reliable DS information, including a DS-drug interaction checker; and (4) integration with the EMR.ConclusionAn app to simplify and improve DS entry and reconciliation was of interest to patients, as long as it maintained health autonomy and privacy and possessed key valuable features.

Taxation as a Strategy for Circular Economy through Sustainability Reporting: The Agency Theory Perspective

Greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage have grown because of increasing awareness of sustainability reporting, more concerns about climate change, and new laws and levies. Audit committees, management, internal auditors, external auditors, and other stakeholders may all have a role in sustainability reporting. This article examines the potential impact of agency cost (AC) from a tax perspective on sustainability reporting (SR) in a global context. This study uses data from 693 companies from 54 countries. This study uses its model to estimate the interaction of AC and GRI to assess SR. The results show that the lowest tax rate is in the countries of the Middle East and Africa. Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Estonia, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso recorded the lowest disclosure rate. These results reflect that taxes describe the reporting of sustainability information. This study provides a new perspective on AC; Also, the results add to our understanding of other predictors of SR quality that demonstrate more explicit approaches to predicting its efficiency. Finally, the article presents some conclusions, as well as more research possibilities. Our findings point to the need for effective monitoring. According to agency theory, there is no single explanation that thoroughly explains our results.

Traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) usage and its association with Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) among individuals with metabolic syndrome in primary care

BackgroundTraditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM) is widely used particularly among patients with chronic diseases in primary care. However, evidence is lacking regarding TCM use among patients with Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and its association with patients’ experience on chronic disease conventional care that they receive. Therefore, this study aims to determine the prevalence and pattern of TCM use, compare the patients’ experience of chronic disease care using the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care - Malay version (PACIC-M) questionnaire between TCM users and non-users and determine the factors associated with TCM use among patients with MetS in primary care.MethodologyA cross-sectional study was conducted at a university primary care clinic. Patients aged 18 to 80 years old with MetS were recruited. Socio-demographic characteristic, clinical characteristics and information on TCM use and its pattern were recorded in a proforma. Patient’s experience of chronic disease conventional care was measured using PACIC-M questionnaire. The comparison of PACIC-M mean score between TCM users and non-users was measured using independent t-test. The factors associated with TCM use were determined by simple logistic regression (SLogR), followed by multiple logistic regression (MLogR).ResultsOut of 394 participants, 381 (96.7%) were included in the final analysis. Of the 381 participants, 255 (66.9%) were TCM users (95% CI 62.7, 71.7). Only 36.9% of users disclosed about TCM use to their health care providers (HCP). The overall mean PACIC-M score was 2.91 (SD ± 0.04). TCM users had significantly higher mean PACIC-M score compared to non-users (2.98 ± 0.74 vs 2.75 ± 0.72, p = 0.01). The independent factors associated with TCM use were being female (Adj. OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.55, 4.06), having high education level (Adj. OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.37, 3.41) and having high overall PACIC-M mean score (Adj. OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.10, 2.03).ConclusionTCM use was highly prevalent in this primary care clinic. However, the disclosure rate of TCM use to HCP was low. Females, those with high education and high PACIC-M mean score were more likely to use TCM. Further research should explore the reasons for their TCM use, despite having good experience in conventional chronic disease care.

Gender Diversity Effect on Tax Avoidance and Firm Risk

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of gender diversity on firm risk with tax avoidance as a mediating variable in manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). This study used SPSS version 20.0 to process the data. The sample of this research is 51 manufacturing companies listed on the IDX using multiple regression panel data. This study uses financial statement data for the 2015 – 2019 period. The findings of this study are (1) there is a negative effect of gender diversity on tax avoidance; (2) there is a negative effect of gender diversity on firm risk; (3) there is a positive effect of tax avoidance on firm risk; (4) Gender diversity has an influence on firm risk through tax avoidance. The limitations of this study are as follows: the research sample is only in manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange with a limited number of samples because during the observation period there are companies that are losing, suspending, and delisting. Therefore, this research suggests that (1) Further research can expand the scope of the research sample or compare it with companies in other industrial sectors. (2) Further research can increase the number of other variables, such as Corporate Social Responsibility by using the Blau-Index measurement (1975) so that the measurement can be more detail and constructive. (3) Further research can use other samples in Asean countries by comparing the success rate of anti-corruption disclosure in ASEAN countries. The practical implications include the following: (1) the role of gender diversity in the company is very necessary for implementing Good Corporate Governance (GCG) thus a healthy company will be created so that the company's risk does not occur in the future. (2) the role of the government is needed in making policies so that companies do not do tax evasion. The originality of the research includes this study, which is the first to analyze gender diversity on firm risk through tax avoidance.

Signalling of internal audit effectiveness

The internal audit function is increasingly recognised as an important internal governance mechanism and consequently factors that contribute to its effectiveness are now an area of great interest to researchers and practitioners. This study draws on signalling theory to fill a gap in the internal audit effectiveness (IAE) literature by investigating which IAE signals are sent by large South African companies in their company reports. Using a self-developed IAE signalling frame, a content analysis was performed on the integrated reports and other annual reports of the top 100 listed companies in South Africa over a five-year period. Thereafter a multiple correspondence analysis was used to extract IAE signals. The results revealed that IAE disclosure patterns of South African listed companies follow the normative dictates of the King Code and the Companies Act. The study also discovered a low average IAE disclosure rate linked to non-mandatory disclosure requirements. Disclosing more detail on IAE represents a missed opportunity to signal superiority through voluntary communication of the IAE signals especially on internal aspects such as management support for internal audit recommendations and the continuous professional development of internal auditors.

Predictors Associated With HIV Status Non-Disclosure in Korea.

BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disclosure provides personal support to people living with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (PLWH). In addition, it has important implications for disease prevention and treatment. Research on disclosure has been conducted worldwide; however, data from South Korea are insufficient. The purpose of this study was to examine whether certain demographic, medical, and psychosocial factors act as predictors of HIV serostatus non-disclosure among PLWH in South Korea.MethodsParticipants consisted of 147 PLWH who visited the outpatient infection clinic between June 2020 and January 2021. Demographics, medical factors, HIV-related stigma, and depressive and anxiety symptoms were measured.ResultsThe overall disclosure rate among participants was 61.2%. Logistic regression analysis showed that lower depression (odds ratio [OR], 0.918; P = 0.021) and higher disclosure concerns (OR, 1.133; P = 0.004) were significant predictors of non-disclosure. Further, married state was a major predictor of non-disclosure when single referred (OR, 3.002; P = 0.024); however, divorce, separation, and widowed status had no significant consequences.ConclusionIn South Korea, the rate of HIV disclosure is lower than in other countries. The higher disclosure concerns, lower depression and married state were suggested to be important predictors of HIV non-disclosure. High level of perceived stigma and experienced discrimination of PLWH may have affected the results. The social atmosphere linking sexual promiscuity and disease may also have influenced these results. Nationwide efforts should continue to reduce the overall stigma and create a social environment where PLWH can feel safe to disclose their disease conditions.

HIV status disclosure among adults attending care and treatment clinic in Kilombero district, South-Eastern Tanzania

BackgroundDisclosing HIV serostatus is important for HIV prevention and in reducing HIV transmission among communities. The present study assessed HIV disclosure patterns and its associated factors among adults in Kilombero district, Tanzania. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among people living with HIV who visited Care and Treatment Clinic in Ifakara Town Council from September 2018-February 2019. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data, and the analysis was done by SPSS Version 20. ResultsA total of 102 participated into this study, 63 (61.8%) females and 39 (38.2%) males. The mean age (±SD) of participants was 34.37 (±10.9) years and people living with HIV were mostly (68%) in age group between 18 and 38. Despite the high rate of HIV disclosure 81 (79.4%) only 58% had disclosed their HIV results to their partners. In addition, most partcipants delayed the disclosure for six months and above. HIV disclosure was significantly higher in married participants than in single individuals (81.8% vs 68.5%; p < 0.001), and in participants aged 39–59 years (p = 0.06). The major reasons for non-disclosure include fear of losing their partners, felt ashamed of being HIV positive and fears of stigma. ConclusionAlthough the disclosure of HIV serostatus among the participants was high, the disclosure to their sex partners was moderate. Moreover, the study observed negative attitudes and delayed disclosure longer than six months. Interventions to promote disclosure of HIV and discouraging stigma and discriminations should be given priority.

Mandatory Financial Information Disclosure and Credit Ratings

Mandatory Financial Information Disclosure and Credit Ratings

Rates and predictors of substance use in pediatric primary care clinics

Background: Screening for substance use within pediatric primary care provides a unique opportunity to identify adolescents in need of intervention. Methods: This study analyzed screening data collected across 13 Federally Qualified Health Centers over the course of an 18-month project designed to implement Screening Brief Intervention Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for adolescents aged 12–21. A mixed-effects modeling strategy was used to describe associations between demographic, procedural, and clinical factors and adolescent reports of substance use. Results: In total, 10,813 adolescents were screened between December 2017 and May 2019, with 17% reporting past year use, including 11% at lower risk and 6% at high risk of a substance use disorder. Females, Hispanic, Black/African American, heterosexual, non-primary English speakers, and patients who did not have a co-occurring mental health disorder were all less likely to report past year substance use. While rates of disclosing any past year substance use were equivalent between patients screened by a staff member and those who completed self-administered screens, patients who were screened by a staff member were associated with reporting overall greater frequencies of use. Patients who were screened by a staff member with a parent present were less likely to disclose any past year substance use. Conclusion: While overall rates of disclosure of any past year substance use (17.2%) were lower than reported in research settings, a substantial proportion (6.3%) had screen results indicating a high risk for substance use disorder.