Clinical cornerstone
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Clinical cornerstone · Jan 2004
ReviewIssues in achieving compliance with antihypertensive treatment in the Latino population.
Latino Americans are the largest growing ethnic minority group in the United States. The level of awareness and control of hypertension among Latino Americans has remained virtually unchanged in the past 20 years. Untreated hypertension often progresses and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. ⋯ Clinicians can work to increase compliance by developing a basic understanding of the social, demographic, and historical conditions that affect Latino Americans. Language proficiency, cultural scripts, and health beliefs and attitudes influence patient-clinician communication in specific ways among Latino patients. Health care systems and plans should work on creating culturally competent health care programs to serve the needs of this diverse population.
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Despite the efficacy of hypertension treatment, knowledge and compliance remain poor in Hispanic patients because of language barriers, low educational levels, and cultural differences. Yet effective physician-patient communication is crucial to patient compliance, satisfaction, and understanding of medical issues. ⋯ Various strategies such as mnemonic devices can help practitioners communicate with Hispanic patients. National initiatives and research studies continue to address the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate health care.
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The Hispanic population in the United States comprises different and distinct cultures and genetic backgrounds. Most of the data on hypertension in this community are specific to Mexican Americans, in whom studies consistently show a lower prevalence of the disease compared with non-Hispanic whites and blacks. ⋯ Hispanic Americans of Caribbean descent have a prevalence of hypertension similar to that in the black community. The reasons for the lack of awareness of hypertension in the Hispanic community and for the low rates of control with antihypertensive drugs are discussed.
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The occurrence of insomnia in women is influenced in great part by the complex hormonal cycles they undergo. Patterns of insomnia in younger women may be physiologically different on a hormonal basis from those found in older women. Although significant objective sleep disturbances have been difficult to demonstrate across the menstrual cycle in normal women, the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD) includes premenstrual insomnia and premenstrual hypersomnia as sleep disorders within the category of menstrual-associated sleep disorder. ⋯ The off-label, first-line use of antidepressants for treating insomnia in the absence of depression is now considered debatable. The long-term efficacy and safety of the newer benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRAs) for insomnia, whether taken nightly or episodically, are supported by existing clinical experience. US Food and Drug Administration guidelines limiting the use of hypnotics to only a few weeks predate the newer generation BZRAs, and, as such, the guidelines may no longer be truly appropriate for these new agents.
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Clinical cornerstone · Jan 2004
ReviewAwareness of hypertension and diabetes in the Hispanic community.
Major barriers to awareness and control of hypertension and diabetes in Hispanic Americans include poor language comprehension, poor physician-patient communication, cultural differences, low educational level, and lack of health insurance. To better communicate the concerns about the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, physicians could use patient-education materials that include illustrations, familiarize themselves with their Hispanic patients and their preferences regarding communication (e.g., formality, close proximity, appropriately used touch), and advocate government action to make health insurance more affordable. An increase in Spanish-speaking physicians would help alleviate some of the confusion that Hispanic patients experience in their interactions with health care providers.