Journal of general internal medicine
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To assess the roles of socioeconomic status, social stability, social stress, health beliefs, and illicit drug use with nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy. ⋯ Although our sample size was limited and variables that are not significant in subgroup analysis may still be associated with adherence, our results suggest that correlates of nonadherence are HIV risk factor specific. Strategies to increase antiretroviral adherence in HIV-infected patients should include social support interventions targeted at different risk factors for different patient groups.
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We analyzed the HIV Costs and Service Utilization Study data to determine the association of violence, assessed at baseline, with utilization of and access to health care at follow-up, among gay/bisexual male, heterosexual female, and heterosexual male HIV/AIDS patients. In multivariate analyses, male gay/bisexual violence victims had increased odds of reporting emergency department visits (odds ratio [OR], 1.74; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.20 to 2.52), going without needed medical care because of expense (OR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.06 to 3.18), and having poor ability to access medical specialists (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.05 to 3.67). Further research is required to understand the association of violence with health care among gay/bisexual men with HIV/AIDS.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Diabetes control improved when inner-city patients received graphic feedback about glycosylated hemoglobin levels.
To develop and test an inexpensive visual tool to help patients with diabetes improve glycemic control. ⋯ A graph linking GHb and self-care activities shows promise for improving glycemic control.
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African Americans and Latinos use services that require a doctor's order at lower rates than do whites. Racial bias and patient preferences contribute to disparities, but their effects appear small. ⋯ Research has shown that doctors have poorer communication with minority patients than with others, but problems in doctor-patient communication have received little attention as a potential cause, a remediable one, of health disparities. We evaluate the evidence that poor communication is a cause of disparities and propose some remedies drawn from the communication sciences.
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To examine if delayed transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) after physiologic deterioration is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. ⋯ Slow transfer to the ICU of physiologically defined high-risk hospitalized patients was associated with increased risk of death. Slow response to physiologic deterioration may explain these findings.