Journal of general internal medicine
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Comparative Study
HIV-seropositive individuals' optimistic beliefs about prognosis and relation to medication and safe sex adherence.
The study objective was to characterize respondents' prognostic perceptions of HIV infection and to explore how perceptions might affect medication and safe sex nonadherence. ⋯ Seropositive individuals, including persons of color (adjusted) as well as women and drug users (unadjusted), self-reported optimistic beliefs about their prognosis. Those with more optimism about their prognosis were significantly more likely to report medication and safe sex nonadherence. A better understanding of seropositive patients' prognostic beliefs and the factors determining them is warranted.
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Comparative Study
Racial, ethnic, and affluence differences in elderly patients' use of teaching hospitals.
To understand the role of race, ethnicity, and affluence in elderly patients' use of teaching hospitals when they have that option. ⋯ The use of teaching hospitals is more complex that heretofore appreciated. Understanding why some groups do not go to teaching hospitals could be important for the health of those groups and of teaching hospitals.
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To characterize U.S. physicians' practices regarding influenza vaccine, particularly regarding the capacity to identify high-risk patients, the use of reminder systems, and the typical period of administration of vaccine. ⋯ Over three quarters of U.S. internists and family physicians routinely administer influenza vaccine, but few continue immunization efforts past the typical national peak of influenza activity. Many physicians may be limited by their practice data systems' capacity to identify high-risk patients. Despite the known effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of reminder systems, few physicians use reminders for influenza vaccination efforts. These findings raise concerns about meeting domestic influenza vaccination goals-especially for individuals with chronic illness and during periods of delayed vaccine availability-and the possibility of increased morbidity and mortality attributable to influenza as a result.