Journal of general internal medicine
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Multimorbidity (≥ 2 chronic diseases) is associated with greater disability and higher treatment burden, as well as difficulty coordinating self-management tasks for adults with complex multimorbidity patterns. Comparatively little work has focused on assessing multimorbidity patterns among patients seeking care in community health centers (CHCs). ⋯ CHCs are increasingly seeing more complex multimorbidity patterns over time; these most often involve mental health morbidity and advanced cardiometabolic-renal morbidity.
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Persistent tinnitus is common, disabling, and difficult to treat. High-dose aspirin may precipitate tinnitus, but longitudinal data on typical dose aspirin and other analgesics are scarce. ⋯ The risk of developing persistent tinnitus was not elevated among frequent low-dose aspirin users. Among younger women, frequent moderate-dose aspirin use was associated with higher risk. Frequent NSAID use and frequent acetaminophen use were associated with higher risk of incident persistent tinnitus among all women, and the magnitude of the risks tended to be greater with increasing frequency of use. Our results suggest analgesic users are at higher risk for developing tinnitus and may provide insight into the precipitants of this challenging disorder, but additional investigation to determine whether there is a causal association is needed.
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The diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) is challenging among hospitalized older adults, particularly among those with altered mental status. ⋯ Our findings demonstrate that PCT has limited value in the diagnosis of UTI among hospitalized older adults. Clinicians should be cautious using PCT for the diagnosis of UTI in hospitalized older adults.