Journal of general internal medicine
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Prior to introduction of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, the Seattle-Puget Sound and Connecticut Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) areas had similar prostate cancer mortality rates. Early in the PSA era (1987-1990), men in the Seattle area were screened and treated more intensively for prostate cancer than men in Connecticut. ⋯ Among men aged 65 or older, more intensive prostate cancer screening early in the PSA era and more intensive treatment particularly with radical prostatectomy over 15 years of follow-up were not associated with lower prostate cancer-specific mortality.
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Psychiatric illness is associated with increased medical morbidity and mortality. Studies of primary care utilization by patients with psychiatric disorders have been limited by nonrepresentative samples and confounding by medical co-morbidity. ⋯ Patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or drug use disorders use less primary care than patients without these disorders. Interventions are needed to increase engagement in primary care by these vulnerable groups.
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African-American women have the highest breast cancer death rates of all racial/ethnic groups in the US. Reasons for these disparities are multi-factorial, but include lower mammogram utilization among this population. Cultural attitudes and beliefs, such as fear and fatalism, have not been fully explored as potential barriers to mammography among African-American women. ⋯ Fear of breast cancer screening among low-income African-American women is multi-faceted, and reflects shared experiences within the health care system as well as the psychosocial context in which women live. This study identifies a prominent role for clinicians, particularly primary care physicians, and the health care system to address these barriers to mammogram utilization within this population.