Journal of general internal medicine
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Discussions of empathy in health care offer important ways of enabling communication and interpersonal connection that are therapeutic for the patient and satisfying for the physician. While the best of these discussions offer valuable insights into the patient-physician relationship, many of them lack an action component for alleviating the patient's suffering and emphasize the physician's experience of empathy rather than the patient's experience of illness. ⋯ Clinical empathy can be improved by strategies that address (1) the patient's authority in providing first-person accounts of illness and disability, (2) expanding the concept of empathy to include an action component geared toward relieving patients' suffering, and (3) the potential value of extending empathy to include the social context of illness.
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Comparative Study
High prevalence of stage 3 chronic kidney disease in older adults despite normal serum creatinine.
Serum creatinine is commonly used to diagnose chronic kidney disease (CKD), but may underestimate CKD in older adults when compared with using glomerular filtration rates (eGFR). The magnitude of this underestimation is not clearly defined. ⋯ Use of serum creatinine underestimates the presence of advanced (stage 3 or greater) CKD among older adults in the US. Automated eGFR reporting may improve the accuracy of risk stratification for older adults with CKD.
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True euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis [blood glucose <200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/l)] is relatively uncommon and in type 1 diabetes can be caused by starvation of any cause in conjunction with an intercurrent illness. We report a case of euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis precipitated by starvation resulting from severe depression in a patient with type 1 diabetes. ⋯ This case involves the complex interplay among type 1 diabetes, depression, ketoacidosis, and starvation physiology resulting in glucose concentrations in keeping with euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis. The case also highlights that even in the absence of hyperglycemia, acid/base status should be assessed in an ill patient with diabetes, and in cases of euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis, the diagnosis of depression should be considered as a cause for suppressed appetite and anorexia.
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Comparative Study
Behavioral indices in medical care outcome: the working alliance, adherence, and related factors.
The working alliance has been shown to be a consistent predictor of patient outcome and satisfaction in psychotherapy. This study examines the role of the working alliance and related behavioral indices in predicting medical outcome. ⋯ Psychological and interpersonal dimensions of medical care are related to patient adherence and satisfaction. Medical care providers may be able to use these dimensions to target and improve health care outcomes.