Michael Saheb Kashaf

University of California, San Diego | UCSD · Department of Ophthalmology

Background Trachoma is a chronic conjunctivitis caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. Repeated infections lead to trachomatous conjunctival scarring which can progress to potentially blinding trachomatous trichiasis (TT). In trachoma hyperendemic conditions, women compared to men have an increased risk of scarring and TT, which can progres...

Purpose: To determine the association between the severity of trachomatous conjunctival scarring (TS) of the upper eyelid conjunctiva and trachomatous trichiasis (TT) severity in TT surgical patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst adults with TT who were referred to surgical camps in Bahi District, Tanzania, for TT surge...

Objective To measure strain values and their association with intraocular pressure (IOP) change across five posterior eye regions in glaucoma patients. Design Cohort study. Participants Glaucoma patients who were imaged with optical coherence tomography (OCT) prior to and after laser suturelysis following trabeculectomy surgery (29 image pairs, 26...

Objective To measure biomechanical strains in the lamina cribrosa (LC) of living human eyes with intraocular pressure lowering. Design Cohort study. Participants Glaucoma patients underwent imaging before and after laser suturelysis following trabeculectomy surgery (29 image pairs, 26 persons). Intervention Non-invasive imaging of the eye. Main...

Background Trachoma, a chronic conjunctivitis caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. Trachoma has been targeted for elimination as a public health problem which includes reducing trachomatous inflammation—follicular prevalence in children and reducing trachomatous trichiasis prevalence in adults. Th...

Background As the prevalence of trachoma declines worldwide, it is becoming increasingly expensive and challenging to standardize graders in the field for surveys to document elimination. Photography of the tarsal conjunctiva and remote interpretation may help alleviate these challenges. The purpose of this study was to develop, and field test an I...

Background Post-surgical follow-up is a challenge in low- and middle-income countries. Understanding barriers to trachomatous trichiasis (TT) surgical follow-up can inform program improvements. In this study, patient perceived barriers and enabling factors to follow-up after TT surgery are identified. Methods A longitudinal study was carried out i...

PURPOSE : To characterize and compare patient-reported recovery of function after cataract or glaucoma surgery using a novel visual analog scale. DESIGN : Prospective observational cohort study METHODS : Daily for two weeks and weekly thereafter, patients recovering from trabeculectomy, tube shunt implantation, or cataract extraction (CE) complet...

Background Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness. Repeated or persistent ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis in childhood leads to conjunctival scarring, usually in adulthood but often earlier in areas with greater disease burden. There are limited longitudinal data examining change in scarring in children, especially where...

Context: The influence of food and beverage labeling (food labeling) on consumer behaviors, industry responses, and health outcomes is not well established. Evidence acquisition: PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines were followed. Ten databases were searched in 2014 for studies published after 19...

Background: The Institute of Medicine Report and Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2020 Initiative have called for steps to address health disparities facing sexual minorities. Aim: We sought to characterize the practice patterns of sexual health specialists as they relate to men who have sex with men (MSM). Methods: Surve...

Objective . Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease which necessitates the development of a therapeutic alliance between patient and provider. This review systematically examines the association between treatment shared decision-making (SDM) and outcomes in diabetes. Methods . A range of bibliographic databases and gray literature sources was searche...

Background Five-year survival is an important metric for progress in cancer control broadly used both in the cancer literature and by the public. In order to assess its validity and relation to other common metrics, we analyzed the relationship between 5-year survival, incidence and mortality using publicly available cancer registry data from Engla...

Background: School procurement policies - e.g., free/reduced price provision of healthful foods/beverages, quality standards for competitive foods/beverages, or quality standards for school meals - are increasingly being used to promote healthy diets in kids. However, their effectiveness has not been systematically evaluated. Methods: We used MOOSE...

Poor diet is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease in the USA and globally. Evidence-based policies are crucial to improve diet and population health. We reviewed the effectiveness for a range of policy levers to alter diet and diet-related risk factors. We identified evidence to support benefits of focused mass media campaigns (especially fo...

The growing consensus espousing the use of shared decision making (SDM) in cancer treatment has coincided with the rise of health care evaluation paradigms that emphasize quality of life (QOL) as a central outcome measure. This review systematically examines the association between treatment SDM and QOL outcomes in cancer. A range of bibliographic...

Objectives: To evaluate medical students' knowledge of HPV and HPV related diseases and assess their attitudes towards HPV vaccination. Methods: A total of 605 medical undergraduates from Chongqing Medical University in China were surveyed using a structured and pretested questionnaire on HPV related knowledge. Results: Some 68.9% of the medic...