JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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To describe the performance of alcohol screening questionnaires in female patients. ⋯ The CAGE questionnaire was relatively insensitive in predominantly white female populations. The TWEAK and AUDIT questionnaires have performed adequately in black or white women, using lower cut points than usual.
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Cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine, is a marker of exposure to tobacco smoke. Previous studies suggest that non-Hispanic blacks have higher levels of serum cotinine than non-Hispanic whites who report similar levels of cigarette smoking. ⋯ To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence from a national study that serum cotinine levels are higher among black smokers than among white or Mexican American smokers. If higher cotinine levels among blacks indicate higher nicotine intake or differential pharmacokinetics and possibly serve as a marker of higher exposure to cigarette carcinogenic components, they may help explain why blacks find it harder to quit and are more likely to experience higher rates of lung cancer than white smokers.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Effect of prolonged methylprednisolone therapy in unresolving acute respiratory distress syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.
No pharmacological therapeutic protocol has been found effective in modifying the clinical course of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and mortality remains greater than 50%. ⋯ In this study, prolonged administration of methylprednisolone in patients with unresolving ARDS was associated with improvement in lung injury and MODS scores and reduced mortality.
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There is little information on the extent of persistent pain across cultures. Even though pain is a common reason for seeking health care, information on the frequency and impacts of persistent pain among primary care patients is inadequate. ⋯ Persistent pain was a commonly reported health problem among primary care patients and was consistently associated with psychological illness across centers. Large variation in frequency and the inconsistent relationship between persistent pain and disability across centers suggests caution in drawing conclusions about the role of culture in shaping responses to persistent pain when comparisons are based on patient samples drawn from a limited number of health care settings in each culture.