Journal of general internal medicine
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Little research investigates the role of patient-physician communication in understanding racial disparities in depression treatment. ⋯ This study reveals racial disparities in communication among primary care patients with high levels of depressive symptoms. Physician communication skills training programs that emphasize recognition and rapport building may help reduce racial disparities in depression care.
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Racial-ethnic minorities receive lower quality and intensity of health care compared with whites across a wide range of preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic services and disease entities. These disparities in health care contribute to continuing racial-ethnic disparities in the burden of illness and death. ⋯ This paper serves as a blueprint for translating principles for the elimination of racial-ethnic disparities in health care into specific actions that are relevant for individual clinical practices. We describe what is known about reducing racial-ethnic disparities in clinical practice and make recommendations for how clinician leaders can apply this evidence to transform their own practices.
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To evaluate patient-provider agreement on whether weight and related behaviors were discussed during routine visits. ⋯ Patients and providers disagreed about whether or not weight issues were discussed in a large number of primary care encounters in this study. Physicians may be able to improve care for their obese patients by focusing discussions on specific details of diet and physical activity behaviors, and by clarifying that patients perceive weight-related information has been shared.
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Despite the availability of effective hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia therapies, target levels of systolic blood pressure (SBP), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-c), and hemoglobin A1c control are often not achieved. ⋯ Both nonadherence and lack of treatment intensification occur frequently in patients above target for CVD risk factor levels; however, lack of therapy intensification was somewhat more common. Quality improvement efforts should focus on these modifiable barriers to CVD risk factor control.
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With positive results from diabetes prevention studies, there is interest in convenient ways to incorporate screening for glucose intolerance into routine care and to limit the need for fasting diagnostic tests. ⋯ RPG values should be considered by health care providers to be an opportunistic initial screening test and used to prompt further evaluation of patients at risk of glucose intolerance. Such "serendipitous screening" could help to identify unrecognized diabetes and prediabetes.