J Natl Med Assoc
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Atrial fibrillation among African Americans, Hispanics and Caucasians: clinical features and outcomes from the AFFIRM trial.
The Atrial Fibrillation Follow-Up Investigation of Rhythm Management (AFFIRM) study concluded that rate control with anticoagulation was equivalent overall to rhythm control with cardioversion for long-term survival and that anticoagulation reduced the risk of stroke. We compared baseline and follow-up data for three ethnic groups: Caucasians (n=3,599), African Americans (n=265) and Hispanics (n=132). Caucasians were older and more likely male, African Americans were more likely female and hypertensive, and Hispanics had higher prevalence of cardiomyopathy. Survival was better for rate control than rhythm control in Caucasians, equivalent in African Americans and better for rhythm control in Hispanics. Outcomes may be influenced by differential baseline characteristics, but low numbers of African Americans and Hispanics warrant caution in data interpretation. ⋯ Different survival rates were found for rate-control versus rhythm-control in African-American and Hispanic patients, compared to Caucasian. These findings may be influenced by differences in baseline characteristics, but must be interpreted with caution because of the small sample sizes for African-American and Hispanic participants.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
The pediatric resident training on tobacco project: interim findings.
The Pediatric Residency Training on Tobacco Project is a four-year randomized prospective study of the efficacy of training pediatric residents to intervene on tobacco. At the start of the study (baseline), the pediatric residents uniformly agreed that environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and tobacco use pose serious threats to the health of young people, and pediatricians should play a leadership role in the antismoking arena. However, very few went beyond advising patients and parents to modify their behavior by providing actual assistance, and many of them lacked necessary tobacco intervention skills and knowledge. We hypothesized that both standard training and special training programs would yield positive changes in intervention skills and activities, although the changes would be greater in residents exposed to the special training condition. In the present report, we present two-year outcome data from the resident tobacco surveys and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) administered to independent waves of third-year residents in each experimental condition at baseline and year 2. ⋯ The two-year findings from the pediatric tobacco project are encouraging and suggest that the special training program is efficacious, although aspects of the program in need of improvement were identified.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Preparing African-American men in community primary care practices to decide whether or not to have prostate cancer screening.
This study was a randomized trial to test the impact of an informed decision-making intervention on prostate cancer screening use. ⋯ Prostate cancer screening use may be influenced by exposure to decision education and the influence of screening-related primary care practice factors.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effectiveness of physicians-in-training counseling for smoking cessation in African Americans.
This study examined the effectiveness of smoking cessation counseling by physicians-in-training (residents) with African-American patients. One hundred fifty-eight family and internal medicine residents at a large urban public general hospital participated in the study; two thirds of the residents underwent a 2-hour smoking cessation training program. Ninety-two of the trained physicians counseled from 1 to 18 patients. ⋯ Losses to follow-up were high at both 3 and 12 months (38% and 40% respectively). Implications for future trials in minority populations are discussed. A brief physician-based smoking cessation message does not appear to be an effective strategy for use with African-American smokers in a large urban public general hospital.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The effects of calcium supplementation on ambulatory blood pressure in African-American adolescents.
This longitudinal trial investigated the effects of calcium supplementation on the mean 24-hour blood pressure in African-American adolescents. Subjects were self-identified African-American adolescents from a high school in a suburb of Los Angeles, California. The subjects were randomly placed in a placebo or treatment group (placebo versus 1.5 g of calcium/day x 4 weeks). ⋯ Relative to the placebo group, the net change in ABP was -1.7 mm Hg for systolic blood pressure and -0.5 mm Hg for the diastolic blood pressure. There was no statistically significant effect of calcium supplementation on the 24-hour mean ABP. The net effect of supplementation on ABP during waking and sleeping hours also was not significant.