Annals of family medicine
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Annals of family medicine · Sep 2018
Review Historical ArticleTop 20 POEMs of the Past 20 Years: A Survey of Practice-Changing Research for Family Physicians.
POEMs (patient-oriented evidence that matters) are studies that address a relevant clinical question, demonstrate improved patient-oriented outcomes, and have the potential to change practice. For 20 years the authors of this article have reviewed more than 100 English language clinical journals monthly to identify POEMs in the medical literature relevant to primary care practice. ⋯ They include POEMs that recommend a novel, effective intervention, a second group that recommends abandoning an ineffective practice, and a third group that recommends abandoning a potentially harmful practice. The top POEMs of the past 20 years illustrate the breadth of practice change in primary care and the need for family physicians to have a systematic approach to keeping up with the medical literature, such as that in POEMs, especially because many of these important articles did not appear in the primary care literature.
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Annals of family medicine · Jul 2018
Influence of a New Diabetes Diagnosis on the Health Behaviors of the Patient's Partner.
When a person is given a diagnosis of diabetes, the changes in his or her health behaviors may influence the behaviors of his or her partner. The diabetes diagnosis may affect household members' perceptions of their own health risks, which could trigger behavioral change. The purpose of this study was to assess whether partners of persons with newly diagnosed diabetes changed their health behaviors compared with partners of persons without diabetes. ⋯ There were small but significant differences in health-related behavioral changes among partners of persons with newly diagnosed diabetes compared with partners of persons without diabetes, even when no intervention occurred. This finding suggests a diabetes diagnosis within a family may be a teachable moment to improve health behaviors at the household level.
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Annals of family medicine · Jul 2018
Physicians' Views of Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Not on Insulin.
This qualitative study examines to what extent and why physicans still prescribe self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in patients with non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetes (NITT2D) when the evidence shows it increases cost without improving hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), general well being, or health-related quality of life. Semistructured phone interviews with 17 primary care physicians indicated that the majority continue to recommend routine self-monitoring of blood glucose due to a compelling belief in its ability to promote the lifestyle changes needed for glycemic control. Targeting physician beliefs about the effectiveness of self-monitoring of blood glucose, and designing robust interventions accordingly, may help reduce this practice.