Annals of family medicine
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
Number needed to benefit from information (NNBI): proposal from a mixed methods research study with practicing family physicians.
We wanted to describe family physicians' use of information from an electronic knowledge resource for answering clinical questions, and their perception of subsequent patient health outcomes; and to estimate the number needed to benefit from information (NNBI), defined as the number of patients for whom clinical information was retrieved for 1 to benefit. ⋯ The NNBI may be used in further experimental research to compare electronic knowledge resources. A low NNBI can encourage clinicians to search for information more frequently. If all searches had benefits, the NNBI would be 1. In addition to patient benefits, learning and knowledge reinforcement outcomes are frequently reported.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
Multimorbidity in patients attending 2 Australian primary care practices.
Multiple chronic conditions in a single patient can be a challenging health burden. We aimed to examine patterns and prevalence of multimorbidity among patients attending 2 large Australian primary care practices and to estimate disease severity burden using the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS). ⋯ Multimorbidity is a significant problem in men and women across all age-groups, and the moderate severity index increases with age. The musculoskeletal domain was most commonly affected. Mild and moderate severity index categories may underrepresent disease burden. Severity burden assessment in the primary care setting needs to take into account the severity index, as well as levels of domain severity within the index categories.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
Relationship quality and patient-assessed quality of care in VA primary care clinics: development and validation of the work relationships scale.
Efforts to better understand the impact of clinic member relationships on care quality in primary care clinics have been limited by the absence of a validated instrument to assess these relationships. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale assessing relationships within primary care clinics. ⋯ The WRS shows promising validity as a measure assessing the quality of relationships in primary care settings; moreover, primary care clinics with lower WRS scores received poorer patient quality ratings for both individual clinicians and overall health care. Relationships play an important role in shaping care delivery and should be assessed as part of efforts to improve patient care within primary care settings.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
The enduring impact of what clinicians say to people with low back pain.
The purpose of this study was to explore the formation and impact of attitudes and beliefs among people experiencing acute and chronic low back pain. ⋯ Health care professionals have a considerable and enduring influence upon the attitudes and beliefs of people with low back pain. It is important that this opportunity is used to positively influence attitudes and beliefs.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
Testing to prevent colon cancer: how rural community members took on a community-based intervention.
Participatory research can elevate research relevance and effectiveness. The literature contains few first-hand descriptions of community members engaged in research. ⋯ CAC members participated in all aspects of the research including intervention messaging, survey design, recruitment, implementation, analysis and interpretation of data, and dissemination of results including presentations at national venues and coauthoring manuscripts. Our experience attests to the power of participatory research in efforts to improve health outcomes.