Journal of general internal medicine
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To determine if type of hospital ownership is associated with preventable adverse events. ⋯ Patients in for-profit and minor teaching or nonteaching government-owned hospitals were more likely to suffer several types of preventable adverse events. Further research is needed to determine how these events could be prevented.
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Multicenter Study
Patients' perceptions of physicians' recommendations for comfort care differ by patient age and gender.
To determine patient characteristics associated with patient and proxy perceptions of physicians' recommendations for life-prolonging care versus comfort care, and with acceptance of such recommendations. ⋯ Among patients with advanced illness, perceived comfort care recommendations were related to patient age and gender, raising concern about possible gender and age bias in physicians' recommendations. Although all patients and proxies gave significant decision-making authority to physicians, older individuals were more likely to give physicians decision-making authority, making them more vulnerable to possible physician bias.
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Comparative Study
Breast cancer screening use by African Americans and Whites in an HMO.
To examine racial differences in breast cancer screening in an HMO that provides screening at no cost. ⋯ In this HMO, African-American and white women obtained breast cancer screening at similar rates. Comparisons with national data showed much higher screening rates in this HMO for both white and African-American women.
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To increase understanding of body image among rural, African-American women through open-ended interviews. ⋯ The pressure to be self-accepting often conflicted with these obese women's dissatisfaction with their own appearance and weight. Although the respondents believed they could lose weight "if [they] put [their] mind to it," those women wanting to lose weight found that they lacked the necessary social support and resources to do so. The conflicts stemming from social pressures and their own ambivalence may result in additional barriers to the prevention of obesity, and an understanding of these issues can help health care providers better address the needs of their patients.