Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Rapid malaria tests improve health outcomes in practice

A new study, carried out in primary care units in Zanzibar and published in this week's issue of PLoS Medicine, evaluates the impact of rapid malaria tests on prescribing practice and clinical outcomes.

30 Apr 2009

Arterial disease of the leg frequently overlooked in patients with heart disease

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) of the legs, in which the arteries become blocked with plaque and blood supply to the legs is reduced, affects eight million people in the U.S. Early detection of PAD is important because it can limit the ability to walk and exercise, it may place patients at greater risk for limb loss and it increases the chance of having a heart attack or stroke.

30 Apr 2009

Generics less effective than branded counterparts in treating lower urinary tract symptoms

Men taking generic drugs may be more likely to have less effective results and more adverse events than if they were using branded medications, according to new data from researchers in New York.

26 Apr 2009

PDAs, more education help doctors follow cholesterol treatment guidelines

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine suggests that patients with high cholesterol receive better care when physicians use a variety of tools to learn and apply a clinical practice guideline for treating the condition.

22 Apr 2009

Medicare recipients see declines in continuity of care

According to a study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, elderly Medicare recipients transitioning from outpatient to hospital settings were more likely to experience lapses in continuity of care in 2006 than 1996.

22 Apr 2009

Potential genetic cause of congenital defect colonic atresia

In a finding that helps resolve a long-standing question in developmental biology, Klaus H. Kaestner, PhD, Professor of Genetics, and colleagues report in the journal Developmental Cell this week about how the mammalian gut forms. Mice were genetically engineered to lack the protein Cdx2 in the cells that normally go on to form the stomach and intestine.

22 Apr 2009

Continuity of care for older adults from outpatient to hospital is low, and decreasing

The proportion of Medicare patients experiencing continuity of care between outpatient and inpatient settings decreased substantially between 1996 and 2006, with decreases occurring in all areas of the country and in all types of hospitals, according to a study in the April 22/29 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 Apr 2009

A link found between health literacy, happiness

A new University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) study published in the advanced online edition of the journal Social Indicators Research suggests a link between the ease with which older adults can access and understand health information and their happiness.

21 Apr 2009

Psoriasis increases risk for developing diabetes and hypertension in women

Women with psoriasis appear to have an increased risk for developing diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure), according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Dermatology.

21 Apr 2009

New drug use screening tools for physicians

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, today unveiled its first comprehensive Physicians' Outreach Initiative, NIDAMED, which gives medical professionals tools and resources to screen their patients for tobacco, alcohol, illicit, and nonmedical prescription drug use.

20 Apr 2009

Penn's online survivorship care plans empower cancer survivors, caregivers

An online tool that provides cancer survivors and their family members with an easy-to-follow roadmap for managing their health as they finish treatment and transition to life as a survivor got high marks from users, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research which will be presented this weekend at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 100th Annual Meeting 2009 in Denver.

20 Apr 2009

Risks from colorectal cancer

Although the presenting features of colorectal cancer are well known, the risks they confer are less well defined.

16 Apr 2009

A good midwife makes giving birth at home as safe as in hospital

Researchers in the Netherlands say giving birth at home with a midwife is as safe as doing so in hospital.

16 Apr 2009

Home teeth whiteners slightly reduce enamel strength

New research shows that human teeth lost some enamel hardness after the application of several different products used in the home to whiten teeth.

14 Apr 2009

Oral etoricoxib provides pain relief after surgery

Oral etoricoxib is at least as effective as other drugs commonly used for pain relief after surgery.

14 Apr 2009

Nerve shock implant device may help bladder control in urinary incontinence

For people with urinary incontinence who have run out of options, an electrical device might help, according to a new Cochrane Library review.

14 Apr 2009

Sharp increase in hospital admissions for children's dental care

Researchers from Peninsula Dental School and the UCL Eastman Dental Institute have used data from the Hospital Episodes Statistics resource to identify a marked increase in the number of hospital admissions for children with caries and other dental conditions, between 1997 and 2006.

12 Apr 2009

Many skin cancer patients do not receive sentinel lymph node biopsy

Although clinical practice guidelines recommend sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy for many patients with clinically node-negative melanoma, a new analysis from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has found approximately half of patients do not receive recommended evaluation of their lymph nodes and that the type of health insurance a patient has, the type of hospital delivering treatment, and the hospital's geographic region are all associated with provider compliance with those guidelines.

9 Apr 2009

Cognitive behavior therapy helps seniors with generalized anxiety disorder

Older adults with generalized anxiety disorder who received cognitive behavior therapy had greater improvement on measures of worry, depression and mental health than patients who received usual care, according to a study in the April 8 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

8 Apr 2009

Reducing sugar and increasing fiber intake may improve diabetes risk factors in Latino teens

Reducing sugar intake by the equivalent of one can of soda per day and increasing fiber intake by the amount equivalent to one half cup of beans per day appears to improve risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes in Latino adolescents, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

6 Apr 2009