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Background: To accelerate progress toward Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) goals, the government of India focused on improving the quality of intrauterine device (IUD) services. EngenderHealth, an international sexual and reproductive health and rights organization, has been supporting the governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan since 2014 through the Expanding Access to IUD Services in India (EAISI) project by building the capacity of service providers, monitoring compliance with standard practices, and strengthening health systems. This study sought to assess whether EAISI-trained providers offer higher quality IUD services than non-EAISI-trained providers, as indicated by a reduction in confirmed IUD complications. Methods: The study team conducted an analytical cross-sectional study of secondary data collected from follow-up registers at 176 intervention facilities (38 in Gujarat and 138 in Rajasthan) during Phase I of the EAISI project. The analysis included follow-up clients who returned to the same facility between April 2018 and March 2019. We performed a multivariate logistic regression to determine factors associated with IUD complications. Results: During the period of assessment, 56,733 clients received IUD insertions, and 10,747 (18.9%) clients returned for follow-up services. Of the returning clients, 49.4% (N=5,305) had received IUDs from EAISI-trained providers, while 50.6% (N=5,442) had received IUDs from non-EAISI-trained providers. A total of 4.0% (N=432) of all returning clients experienced complications (expulsion: 1.3%, missing strings: 1.7%, infection: 1.1%). Clients who received IUDs from non-EAISI-trained providers were 55.5% more likely (95% CI [26.2%, 91.5%], p<0.0005) to have experienced complications than clients who received insertions from EAISI-trained providers. The type of IUD, the timing of the insertion, and the timing of the follow-up visit also affected complication prevalence. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that intensive, practical clinical skills training for IUD insertion can reduce the prevalence of complications.

Background: For accelerating its progress towards FP2020 goals, the Government of India has focused on improving the quality of intrauterine device (IUD) services. EngenderHealth has supported the Governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat since 2014 through its Expanding Access to IUD Services in India (EAISI) project by building the capacity of service providers, monitoring their compliance with standard practices, and strengthening health systems. This study sought to assess whether EAISI trained providers provide a better quality of IUD services as compared to non-EAISI trained providers, as indicated by a reduction in confirmed IUD complications? Methods: This study was an analytical cross-sectional study of secondary data collected from the follow-up registers of 176 intervention facilities (138 in Rajasthan and 38 in Gujarat) during Phase I of EAISI project. The analysis included clients who returned between April 2018 and March 2019 to the same facility for a follow-up visit. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine factors associated with IUD complications. Results: A total of 56,733 IUD insertions were conducted, and 10,747 (18.9%) client follow-ups were documented. Of these, 49.4% (N=5,305) clients received IUDs from EAISI-trained providers, while 50.6% (N=5,442) received IUDs from non-EAISI trained providers. A total of 4.0% (N=432) of clients experienced complications (Expulsion: 1.3%, Missing Strings: 1.7%, Infection: 1.1%). Clients who received IUDs from non-EAISI-trained providers were 55.5% more likely [95% CI (26.2%, 91.5%), p<0.0005] to have complications compared to clients who received insertions from EAISI-trained providers. Other significant factors include the type of IUD, timing of the follow-up visit and timing of the insertion. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that intensive, hands-on training of providers to improve clinical skills for IUD insertions can have a positive impact on the reduction of post-insertion complications.

Background: To accelerate progress toward Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) goals, the government of India focused on improving the quality of intrauterine device (IUD) services. EngenderHealth, an international sexual and reproductive health and rights organization, has been supporting the governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan since 2014 through the Expanding Access to IUD Services in India (EAISI) project by building the capacity of service providers, monitoring compliance with standard practices, and strengthening health systems. This study sought to assess whether EAISI-trained providers offer higher quality IUD services than non-EAISI-trained providers, as indicated by a reduction in confirmed IUD complications. Methods: The study team conducted an analytical cross-sectional study of secondary data collected from follow-up registers at 176 intervention facilities (38 in Gujarat and 138 in Rajasthan) during Phase I of the EAISI project. The analysis included follow-up clients who returned to the same facility between April 2018 and March 2019. We performed a multivariate logistic regression to determine factors associated with IUD complications. Results: During the period of assessment, 56,733 clients received IUD insertions, and 10,747 (18.9%) clients returned for follow-up services. Of the returning clients, 49.4% (N=5,305) had received IUDs from EAISI-trained providers, while 50.6% (N=5,442) had received IUDs from non-EAISI-trained providers. A total of 4.0% (N=432) of all returning clients experienced complications (expulsion: 1.3%, missing strings: 1.7%, infection: 1.1%). Clients who received IUDs from non-EAISI-trained providers were 55.5% more likely (95% CI [26.2%, 91.5%], p<0.0005) to have experienced complications than clients who received insertions from EAISI-trained providers. The type of IUD, the timing of the insertion, and the timing of the follow-up visit also affected complication prevalence. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that intensive, practical clinical skills training for IUD insertion can reduce the prevalence of complications.

Background: For accelerating its progress towards FP2020 goals, the Government of India has focused on improving the quality of intrauterine device (IUD) services. EngenderHealth has supported the Governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat since 2014 through its Expanding Access to IUD Services in India (EAISI) project by building the capacity of service providers, monitoring their compliance with standard practices, and strengthening health systems. This study sought to assess whether EAISI trained providers provide a better quality of IUD services as compared to non-EAISI trained providers, as indicated by a reduction in confirmed IUD complications? Methods: This study was an analytical cross-sectional study of secondary data collected from the follow-up registers of 176 intervention facilities (138 in Rajasthan and 38 in Gujarat) during Phase I of EAISI project. The analysis included clients who returned between April 2018 and March 2019 to the same facility for a follow-up visit. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine factors associated with IUD complications. Results: A total of 56,733 IUD insertions were conducted, and 10,747 (18.9%) client follow-ups were documented. Of these, 49.4% (N=5,305) clients received IUDs from EAISI-trained providers, while 50.6% (N=5,442) received IUDs from non-EAISI trained providers. A total of 4.0% (N=432) of clients experienced complications (Expulsion: 1.3%, Missing Strings: 1.7%, Infection: 1.1%). Clients who received IUDs from non-EAISI-trained providers were 55.5% more likely [95% CI (26.2%, 91.5%), p<0.0005] to have complications compared to clients who received insertions from EAISI-trained providers. Other significant factors include the type of IUD, timing of the follow-up visit and timing of the insertion. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that intensive, hands-on training of providers to improve clinical skills for IUD insertions can have a positive impact on the reduction of post-insertion complications.

Companies that consistently make detailed, timely, and informative disclosures face lower costs of public equity and debt capital. The study reported here investigated whether such companies also face lower interest costs on private debt contracts. Examination of a sample of 173 new private debt issues during the 1989-93 period suggests that, after company- and loan-specific factors and market conditions have been controlled for, loan spreads are negatively associated with a measure of companies' overall disclosure quality. That is, companies with consistently high ratings for voluntary disclosures pay lower interest on their private debt (bank loan) contracts.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the synchronous bilateral breast irradiation radiotherapy technique using a single isocenter. Materials and Methods: Six patients of synchronous bilateral breast were treated with single isocenter technique from February 2011 to June 2016. All the patients underwent a CT-simulation using appropriate positioning device. Target volumes and critical structures like heart, lung, esophagus, thyroid, etc., were delineated slice by slice in the CT data. An isocenter was placed above the sternum on the skin and both medial tangential and lateral tangential of the breast / chest wall were created using asymmetrical jaws to avoid the beam divergence through the lung and heart. The field weighting were adjusted manually to obtain a homogenous dose distribution. The planning objectives were to deliver uniform doses around the target and keep the doses to the organ at risk within the permissible limit. The beam energy of 6 MV or combination of 6 MV and 15 MV photons were used in the tangential fields according to the tangential separation. Boluses were used for all the mastectomy patients to increase the doses on the chest wall. In addition to that enhanced dynamic wedge and field in field technique were also used to obtain a homogenous distribution around the target volume and reduce the hot spots. The isocenter was just kept on the skin, such that the beam junctions will be overlapped only on the air just above the sternum. Acute toxicity during the treatment and late toxicity were recorded during the patient’s follow-up. Results: During the radiotherapy treatment follow-up there were no acute skin reactions in the field junctions, but one patient had grade 1 esophagitis and two patients had grade 2 skin reactions in the chest wall. With a median follow-up of 38.5 months (range: 8 - 49 months), no patients had a local recurrence, but one patients with triple negative disease had a distant metastases in brain and died after 28 months. Conclusions: We were able to successfully treat the synchronous bilateral breast using single isocenter radiotherapy while keeping the lung and heart doses within the acceptable dose limits. During the treatment follow-up there were no symptoms of acute skin reactions in the field junction.

Aim: To compare the dosimetric advantage of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for localized lung tumor between deep inspiration breath hold technique and free breathing technique. Materials and methods: We retrospectively included ten previously treated lung tumor patients in this dosimetric study. All the ten patients underwent CT simulation using 4D-CT free breathing (FB) and deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) techniques. Plans were created using three coplanar full modulated arc using 6 MV flattening filter free (FFF) bream with a dose rate of 1400 MU/min. Same dose constraints for the target and the critical structures for a particular patient were used during the plan optimization process in DIBH and FB datasets. We intend to deliver 50 Gy in 5 fractions for all the patients. For standardization, all the plans were normalized at target mean of the planning target volume (PTV). Doses to the critical structures and targets were recorded from the dose volume histogram for evaluation. Results: The mean right and left lung volumes were inflated by 1.55 and 1.60 times in DIBH scans compared to the FB scans. The mean internal target volume (ITV) increased in the FB datasets by 1.45 times compared to the DIBH data sets. The mean dose followed by standard deviation (x̄ ± σx̄) of ipsilateral lung for DIBH-SBRT and FB-SBRT plans were 7.48 ± 3.57 (Gy) and 10.23 ± 4.58 (Gy) respectively, with a mean reduction of 36.84% in DIBH-SBRT plans. Ipsilateral lung were reduced to 36.84% in DIBH plans compared to FB plans. Conclusion: Significant dose reduction in ipsilateral lung due to the lung inflation and target motion restriction in DIBH-SBRT plans were observed compare to FB-SBRT. DIBH-SBRT plans demonstrate superior dose reduction to the normal tissues and other critical structures.