The European journal of general practice
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Letter Multicenter Study
Patients with irritable bowel syndrome in Swedish primary care.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Retrospective evaluation of palliative care in Romania: the perspective of the involved professionals.
Palliative care at home is a new service provision in Romania. This study evaluated retrospectively, after the patient's death, the provision of care at home from the perspective of professionals directly involved in the care process. The evaluation included assessment of the role of the professional, the functioning of the team, communication with patients and family, and overall judgment. The study is part of the development of palliative care at home, by multidisciplinary teams in Romania. ⋯ The patients who received palliative care and died, were treated well according to the professionals who evaluated the care process. Improvement of palliative care services at home may be achieved by provision of additional information on (acute) complications. Since palliative care at home is a new phenomenon in Romania, professionals working closely with the patient have to learn to cope with the emotional burden certain cases may include.
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Multicenter Study
Straightforward consultation or complicated condition? General practitioners' perceptions of low back pain.
Low back pain is a common condition in general practice and represents a significant part of a general practitioner's workload. However, despite guidelines, back pain still presents considerable challenges to clinicians. ⋯ GPs adopt a bio-mechanistic approach to LBP which appears to work well for the majority of patients, as the natural history of low back pain dictates that most patients will recover. However, this approach to low back pain fails at the margins and this is evident by the significant minority of persistent sufferers and the GP's reaction to them. Expanding patient-centredness to explore psychological and social dimensions in relation to low back pain presents an ongoing challenge in general practice.