JAMA internal medicine
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JAMA internal medicine · Mar 2016
A National Profile of Family and Unpaid Caregivers Who Assist Older Adults With Health Care Activities.
Family and unpaid caregivers commonly help older adults who are at high risk for poorly coordinated care. ⋯ Family caregivers providing substantial assistance with health care experience significant emotional difficulty and role-related effects, yet only one-quarter use supportive services.
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JAMA internal medicine · Mar 2016
Examining Variation in Hospice Visits by Professional Staff in the Last 2 Days of Life.
In the final days of life, symptoms are exacerbated and often families need both education and emotional support from hospice professional staff. The Medicare Hospice Benefit provides a per-diem payment with no requirements on the frequency of patient visits. ⋯ Hospice visits in the last 2 days of life by professional staff vary by race, hospice program, and geographic region of the country. Visits were less likely when the Medicare beneficiary was black, dying on a Sunday, and receiving care in a nursing home.
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JAMA internal medicine · Mar 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEffectiveness of Remote Patient Monitoring After Discharge of Hospitalized Patients With Heart Failure: The Better Effectiveness After Transition -- Heart Failure (BEAT-HF) Randomized Clinical Trial.
It remains unclear whether telemonitoring approaches provide benefits for patients with heart failure (HF) after hospitalization. ⋯ Among patients hospitalized for HF, combined health coaching telephone calls and telemonitoring did not reduce 180-day readmissions.
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JAMA internal medicine · Feb 2016
Multicenter StudyAssociation of Asymptomatic Bradycardia With Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
Bradycardia has been associated with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in selected populations. There is a paucity of information available about heart rate (HR) less than 50 beats per minute (bpm) among middle-aged or older adults. ⋯ In a contemporary, community-based cohort, bradycardia was generally not associated with incident CVD or mortality except for a potential adverse association between bradycardia among those taking HR-modifying drugs.