International journal of psychiatry in medicine
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Int J Psychiatry Med · Jan 2015
Depression: An important factor associated with disability among patients with chronic low back pain.
The study aimed to compare the associations of pain indices, depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms with disability among outpatients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). ⋯ Depression was the most powerful factor associated with disability of CLBP among depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. Depression should be evaluated when investigating disability among patients with CLBP.
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Int J Psychiatry Med · Jan 2015
Designing and implementing a resiliency program for family medicine residents.
Family medicine residents are at risk for burnout due to extended work hours, lack of control over their work schedule, and challenging work situations and environments. Building resiliency can prevent burnout and may improve a resident's quality of life and health behavior. This report describes a program designed to build resiliency, the ability to bounce back from stress, in family medicine residents in a medium sized U. ⋯ These changes included increasing the availability of fresh fruits in the conference and call room, purchasing an elliptical exercise machine for the on call room, and offering a few minutes of mindfulness meditation daily to the inpatient residents. Results to date show excellent acceptance of the program by trainees, increased consumption of nutritious foods, more personal exercise, and self-reported decreased overreactions to stress. Resiliency programs can effectively serve to meet accreditation requirements while fostering residents' abilities to balance personal and professional demands.
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Int J Psychiatry Med · Jan 2015
Associations between comorbid anxiety, diabetes control, and overall medical burden in patients with serious mental illness and diabetes.
While previous work has demonstrated elevation of both comorbid anxiety disorders and diabetes mellitus type II in individuals with serious mental illness, little is known regarding the impact of comorbid anxiety on diabetes mellitus type II outcomes in serious mental illness populations. We analyzed baseline data from patients with serious mental illness and diabetes mellitus type II to examine relationships between comorbid anxiety, glucose control as measured by hemoglobin A1c score, and overall illness burden. ⋯ One in three people with serious mental illness and diabetes mellitus type II had anxiety. Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with Hb1Ac levels while anxiety symptoms had no relation to hemoglobin A1c; this is consistent with previously published work. More studies are needed to better understand the relationship between depression, anxiety, and health management in people with serious mental illness and diabetes mellitus type II.
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Int J Psychiatry Med · Jan 2015
Psychosocial correlates, psychological distress, and quality of life in patients with medically unexplained symptoms: a primary care study in Karachi, Pakistan.
To examine the psychosocial correlates and association of psychological distress and quality of life (QOL) in patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) compared to those with medically explained symptoms (MES) in a primary care setting in Karachi, Pakistan. ⋯ Our findings confirm that even in the developing world, patients with MUS are common among primary care attendees. However, patients with MUS in urban Karachi, Pakistan may differ from Western MUS subjects in the role of stress, support, and anxiety in their presentation, and may be reflective of a conceptually different group of difficulties.
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Int J Psychiatry Med · Jan 2015
Preparing family physicians for the care of patients with severe and persistent mental illness: Examples from two U.S. residency programs.
Individuals with severe and persistent mental illness have increased morbidity and mortality and significant barriers to accessing health care. Although primary care providers deliver most health care for this population, residency training programs generally lack specialized training in this area. ⋯ Residents educated in these programs gain experience with an underserved population, practice advanced skills in managing complex medical and psychiatric illness, and increase knowledge from collaborative work in unique care settings. Further implementation of programs like these, and rigorous study of such programs, could have significant benefits for family medicine education and the care of patients with severe and persistent mental illness.