J Am Board Fam Med
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Non-visit-based cancer screening using a novel population management system.
Advances in information technology (IT) now permit population-based preventive screening, but the best methods remain uncertain. We evaluated whether involving primary care providers (PCPs) in a visit-independent population management IT application led to more effective cancer screening. ⋯ Involving PCPs in a visit-independent population management IT application resulted in similar cancer screening rates compared with an automated reminder system, but fewer patients were sent reminder letters. This suggests that PCPs were able to identify and exclude from contact patients who would have received automated reminder letters but not undergone screening.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized controlled trial of two interventions to improve medication reconciliation.
Medication errors can be caused by lack of agreement between what physicians believe patients are taking and what patients actually take. There has been little systematic research to find the best way to reconcile medication lists in primary care. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of 2 interventions on agreement between electronic medical record medication lists and what patients report actually taking. ⋯ While neither intervention alone improved medication list agreement, these interventions may have value in a multistep protocol to improve the agreement of medication lists in primary care offices. Baseline agreement was much higher than expected, possibly reflecting a Hawthorne effect.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Do physicians' implicit views of African Americans affect clinical decision making?
Total knee replacement (TKR) is a cost-effective treatment option for severe osteoarthritis (OA). While prevalence of OA is higher among blacks than whites, TKR rates are lower among blacks. Physicians' implicit preferences might explain racial differences in TKR recommendation. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the magnitude of implicit racial bias predicts physician recommendation of TKR for black and white patients with OA and to assess the effectiveness of a web-based instrument as an intervention to decrease the effect of implicit racial bias on physician recommendation of TKR. ⋯ Physicians possessed explicit and implicit racial biases, but those biases did not predict treatment recommendations. Clinicians' biases about the medical cooperativeness of blacks versus whites, however, may have influenced treatment decisions.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Validation of the Insomnia Severity Index in primary care.
Although insomnia is a prevalent complaint with significant consequences on quality of life, health, and health care utilization, it often remains undiagnosed and untreated in primary care settings. Brief, reliable, and valid instruments are needed to facilitate screening for insomnia in general practice. This study examined psychometric indices of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) to identify individuals with clinically significant insomnia in primary care settings. ⋯ These findings suggest that the ISI is a valid screening instrument for detecting insomnia among patients consulting in primary care settings.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Five-year trend in hydrogenated vegetable oil consumption among northern Iranian families.
The main aim of this study was to assess the trends in hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) consumption and some related factors among northern Iranian families from 2006 to 2010. ⋯ HVO consumption decreased during the 5-year study (2006 to 2010), but HVO is still used extensively in northern Iran. Preventive early intervention strategies are needed to target uneducated and poor families, with an emphasis on the Sisstanish ethnic group, to increase awareness about the negative consequences of HVO consumption.