Arch Intern Med
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Although cocaine use and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have been linked with clinical cardiovascular disease, the effects of cocaine use and HIV infection, especially the combination of the 2, on subclinical disease have rarely been reported. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether cocaine use alone, HIV infection alone, or a combination of the 2 is associated with coronary calcification, a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. ⋯ These results suggest that HIV infection alone, cocaine use alone, or the 2 combined may contribute to early subclinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
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Many physicians receive financial incentives to limit their ordering of expensive tests and procedures. While Medicare mandates disclosure of incentives, it is not clear how to inform patients without undermining trust. ⋯ The public wants information about physician financial incentives. Specific communication styles enhance how this information is conveyed to patients, increasing trust and supporting the physician-patient relationship.
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Comparative Study
Use of clinical prediction rules in detecting osteoporosis in a population-based sample of postmenopausal women.
Osteoporosis clinical prediction rules attempt to identify the postmenopausal women in whom, on the basis of individual risk factors, bone densitometry will detect low bone mass. We assessed and compared the diagnostic properties of the following 3 osteoporosis clinical prediction rules: the Simple Calculated Osteoporosis Risk Estimation, Osteoporosis Risk Assessment Instrument, and National Osteoporosis Foundation practice guidelines. ⋯ Our results suggest that these clinical prediction rules do not perform well as a general screening method to identify postmenopausal women who are more likely to have osteoporosis; however, the Osteoporosis Risk Assessment Instrument and Simple Calculated Osteoporosis Risk Estimation may be useful in identifying some women who need not undergo testing, especially younger postmenopausal women.
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Heart failure is a condition for which both palliative care and hospice care can be appropriate. The disease's increasing prevalence and predilection for elderly patients with significant comorbidity underscore the need to integrate these modes of care with the acute care approach that has dominated heart failure treatment. ⋯ A transition of the focus to palliative care rather than mortality reduction should occur over time, when clinical status deteriorates and advanced therapeutic options become inappropriate or ineffective. Failure to respond to the need for palliative care puts at risk the mandate to treat the patient with heart failure during the entire course of illness.