Annals of Family Medicine articles from November 2006

Annals of Family Medicine archives from November 2006

In this issue: prescribing drugs: what do patients and pharmaceutical companies really want?(Editorial)
November 1, 2006... In this issue we present research, methodology, and commentary with important implications for policy as well as practice. Five of these studies are from Europe, providing a clinical focus that is underrepresented in US primary care research...

A new look at an old problem: inappropriate antibiotics for acute respiratory infections.(Editorial)
November 1, 2006... Key words: Family practice; antibiotics; respiratory tract infections; practice-based research; physician's practice patterns; physician-patient relations; patient expectations Upper respiratory tract infection, bronchitis, pharyngitis,...

Predicting prognosis and effect of antibiotic treatment in rhinosinusitis.(Clinical report)
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE In evaluating complaints suggestive of rhinosinusitis, family physicians have to rely chiefly on the findings of a history, a physical examination, and plain radiographs. Yet, evidence of the value of signs, symptoms, or...

Are sore throat patients who hope for antibiotics actually asking for pain relief?
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE Antibiotics are still overprescribed for self-limiting upper respiratory tract infections such as acute sore throat, and physicians mention patient's desire for antibiotics as a driving force. We studied patients' concerns...

What general practitioners find satisfying in their work: implications for health care system reform.
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE We sought to explore general practitioners' satisfaction with their patient visits and the congruity between this satisfaction and new models of practice, such as those implicit in the new general medical services contract...

All in the family: headaches and abdominal pain as indicators for consultation patterns in families.
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE Headaches and abdominal pain are examples of minor ailments that are generally self-limiting. We examined the extent to which patterns of visits to family physicians for minor ailments, such as headaches or abdominal pain,...

Discovery of breast cancers within 1 year of a normal screening mammogram: how are they found?(Clinical report)
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE We sought to determine how breast cancers that occur within 1 year after a normal mammogram are discovered. METHODS Using population-based mammography registry data from 2000-2002, we identified 143 women with interval...

Perspectives on confidential care for adolescent girls.
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE We wanted to obtain perspectives of mothers and daughters on facilitators of and barriers to with adolescent girls' timely access to risk-appropriate reproductive care. METHODS We conducted 5 separate focus groups with...

Conceptual models of treatment in depressed Hispanic patients.
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE Though patient variables are likely to play an important role in the undertreatment of depression, little is known of patients' perceptions of standard depression treatments. In an effort to understand their perspective,...

Improving influenza vaccination rates of high-risk inner-city children over 2 intervention years.
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE Influenza immunization rates among children with high-risk medical conditions are disappointingly low, and relatively few data are available on raising rates, particularly over 2 years. We wanted to determine whether...

Impact of the 2004 influenza vaccine shortage on repeat immunization rates.
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE We assessed the impact of the severe influenza vaccine shortage of 2004 on individual physicians' immunization performance. METHODS Using 1998-2004 Medicare claims data, we monitored the physician continuity rate...

Measuring continuity of care in diabetes mellitus: an experience-based measure.
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT PURPOSE Continuity is an important attribute of health care, but appropriate measures are not currently available. We developed an experience-based measure of continuity of care in type 2 diabetes. METHODS A 19-item measure of...

BiDil: assessing a race-based pharmaceutical.(REFLECTION)
November 1, 2006... ABSTRACT Isosorbide and hydralazine in a fixed-dose combination (BiDil) has provoked controversy as the first drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration marketed for a single racial-ethnic group, African Americans, in the treatment...

On TRACK: challenges and insights.(ON TRACK)(complaints on night sweats)(medical decision making)(future of health centers)
November 1, 2006... In the recent TRACK discussion of articles, readers provided new information, challenged our ways of thinking, and reflected on where family medicine has been and is going. INSIGHTS Clinicians 'don't want to ask about things for which...

Correction.(ON TRACK)(Correction notice)
November 1, 2006... Ann Fam Med 2006;4:563. DOI: 10.1370/afm.662. Alfred O. Berg and Thomas E. Norris: A workforce analysis informing medical school expansion, admissions, support for primary care, curriculum, and research. Ann Fam Med. 2006;4(Suppl...

STFM proudly announces its new Predoctoral Directors Development Institute.(Family Medicine Updates)(Society of Teachers of Family Medicine)
November 1, 2006... The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine's (STFM) Education Committee and the Group on Predoctoral Education have developed an exciting new fellowship program for current and aspiring predoctoral directors. The Predoctoral Directors...

Difficult choices in medical student education.(Family Medicine Updates)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Medical student education faces major fiscal and organizational challenges, and departments must make difficult choices in the near future. Departments of family medicine have 2 student educational mandates. One is the general education of all...

Clinical and Translational Science Awards: a potential source of support for primary care research.(Family Medicine Updates)
November 1, 2006... Primary care researchers have long recognized the tremendous difficulties in translating research findings into practice. The huge gaps between what is theoretically possible and what is actually delivered in our health care system have been...

Collaborate, don't compete, say FPS, pediatricians.(Family Medicine Updates)
November 1, 2006... A new article in Pediatrics written by staff members in the AAFP's Robert Graham Center in Washington notes that family physicians provide a medical home to about one third of the country's children "but face shrinking panels of children."...

2006 Pisacano scholars.(Family Medicine Updates)
November 1, 2006... The Pisacano Leadership Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), recently selected its 2006 Pisacano Scholars. These 5 medical students follow in the footsteps of 58 scholar alumni who are practicing...

Antibiotics for common respiratory infections.(ANNALS JOURNAL CLUB)
November 1, 2006... The Annals of Family Medicine encourages readers to develop the learning community of those seeking to improve health care and health through enhanced primary care. You can participate by conducting a RADICAL journal club, and sharing the...