JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Black patients hospitalized with heart failure reportedly receive poorer quality of care and have worse outcomes than white patients. Because previous studies have been based on selected patient populations treated more than a decade ago, it is unclear if racial differences in quality of care and outcomes currently exist in the United States. ⋯ Black Medicare patients hospitalized with heart failure received comparable quality of care and had slightly higher rates of readmission but had lower mortality rates up to 1 year after hospitalization than did white patients.
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Meta Analysis
Health outcomes associated with various antihypertensive therapies used as first-line agents: a network meta-analysis.
Establishing relative benefit or harm from specific antihypertensive agents is limited by the complex array of studies that compare treatments. Network meta-analysis combines direct and indirect evidence to better define risk or benefit. ⋯ Low-dose diuretics are the most effective first-line treatment for preventing the occurrence of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Clinical practice and treatment guidelines should reflect this evidence, and future trials should use low-dose diuretics as the standard for clinically useful comparisons.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Active neck muscle training in the treatment of chronic neck pain in women: a randomized controlled trial.
Active physical training is commonly recommended for patients with chronic neck pain; however, its efficacy has not been demonstrated in randomized studies. ⋯ Both strength and endurance training for 12 months were effective methods for decreasing pain and disability in women with chronic, nonspecific neck pain. Stretching and fitness training are commonly advised for patients with chronic neck pain, but stretching and aerobic exercising alone proved to be a much less effective form of training than strength training.
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Geographic variations in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and associated risk factors have been recognized worldwide. However, little attention has been directed to potential differences in hypertension between Europe and North America. ⋯ Despite extensive research on geographic patterns of CVD, the 60% higher prevalence of hypertension in Europe compared with the United States and Canada has not been generally appreciated. The implication of this finding for national prevention strategies should be vigorously explored.