Journal of general internal medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Depression and suicidal behaviors in Medicare primary care patients under age 65.
To examine suicidal behavior and depression prevalence among a group of Medicare patients under age 65 with functional impairment and recent significant health care services use. ⋯ These levels of suicidal ideation and behaviors and of depression are far higher than those found in studies of nonelderly American adults, and may indicate the need for routine screening in this population.
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While the majority of adults are attempting weight loss at any given time, few engage in optimal diet and exercise. We examined factors associated with being in advanced stages of behavior change for weight loss, diet, and exercise. ⋯ A large proportion of primary care patients are at advanced stages of readiness to lose weight, improve diet, and increase exercise. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of primary care interventions to help patients optimize weight-related behavior.
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Multicenter Study
Perceived preparedness to provide preventive counseling: reports of graduating primary care residents at academic health centers.
To assess the perceived preparedness of residents in adult primary care specialties to counsel patients about preventive care and psychosocial issues. ⋯ Physicians completing residencies in adult primary care did not feel very well prepared to counsel patients about preventive and psychosocial issues. Significant differences exist among specialties, even after adjusting for differences in time spent in ambulatory settings. Increasing residency time in ambulatory settings may not alone be sufficient to ensure that residents emerge with adequate counseling skills.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Recruiting ethnically diverse general internal medicine patients for a telephone survey on physician-patient communication.
Limited evidence exists on the effectiveness of recruitment methods among diverse populations. ⋯ Household contact and individual response rates differed by ethnic-language group, highlighting the importance of tracking losses by stage and subpopulation. Careful attention to recruitment yielded acceptable response rates among all groups.
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Multicenter Study
A survey of health care practitioners' knowledge of the QT interval.
To assess health care practitioners' ability to correctly measure the QT interval, and to identify factors and medications that may increase the risk of QT-interval prolongation and torsades de pointes. ⋯ The majority of health care practitioners cannot correctly measure the QT interval and cannot correctly identify factors and medications that can prolong the QT interval. Our findings suggest that greater attention to the QT interval is warranted to ensure safer use of QT prolonging medications.