Journal of general internal medicine
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Symptom burden, depression, and spiritual well-being: a comparison of heart failure and advanced cancer patients.
A lower proportion of patients with chronic heart failure receive palliative care compared to patients with advanced cancer. ⋯ Patients with symptomatic heart failure and advanced cancer have similar needs for palliative care as assessed by symptom burden, depression, and spiritual well-being. This implies that heart failure patients, particularly those with more severe heart failure, need the option of palliative care just as cancer patients do.
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Comparative Study
Early identification of co-occurring pain, depression and anxiety.
Depression and anxiety frequently co-occur with pain and may affect treatment outcomes. Early identification of these co-occurring psychiatric conditions during routine pain screening may be critical for optimal treatment. ⋯ VA patients with moderate-severe pain are at high risk for psychological distress, which often goes unrecognized. Providers need to be more vigilant to mental health problems in patients experiencing high pain levels. Targeted screening for co-occurring conditions is warranted.
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Comparative Study
Can improved prescription medication labeling influence adherence to chronic medications? An evaluation of the Target pharmacy label.
Prescription medication labels contain valuable health information, and better labels may enhance patient adherence to chronic medications. A new prescription medication labeling system was implemented by Target pharmacies in May 2005 and aimed to improve readability and understanding. ⋯ We found no changes in adherence of chronic medication in new users, and small and likely clinically unimportant changes in prevalent users after implementation of the new label. While adherence may not be improved with better labeling, evaluation of the effect of labeling on safety and adverse effects is needed.
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Review Meta Analysis
Obesity and mammography: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Obese women experience higher postmenopausal breast cancer risk, morbidity, and mortality and may be less likely to undergo mammography. ⋯ Morbidly obese women are significantly less likely to report recent mammography. This relationship appears stronger in white women. Lower screening rates may partly explain the higher breast cancer mortality in morbidly obese women.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Mood, side-effects and smoking outcomes among persons with and without probable lifetime depression taking varenicline.
Varenicline may be associated with greater mood disturbance and side-effects among smokers with psychiatric history, but empirical evidence is limited. Differential treatment effectiveness by psychiatric history may also exist. ⋯ While some group differences were noted, DH+ smokers did not report qualitatively worse neuropsychiatric symptoms, more new/worsening mood disturbance, or differential abstinence rates compared to DH- smokers.