[Top 5 Research Studies of the month for Italian Primary Care Physicians: March 2024.] / La Top 5 di marzo 2024. Gli studi clinici che vale la pena conoscere se lavori nelle cure primarie in Italia.

This monthly article provides a collection of summaries of the most relevant studies identified as POEMs (patient-oriented evidence that matters) for Italian primary care physicians. 1) A simple, well-validated risk score can help clinicians counsel patients with atrial fibrillation regarding the use of DOACs to prevent stroke. The score shares its name with the drug class (the "DOAC" score). 2) Presumably by perturbing the intestinal microbiome, antibiotic treatment is associated with an increase in the likelihood of the development of irritable bowel disease; this is especially true with multiple courses of antibiotics. 3) Patients with uncomplicated gallstones can be managed over time with analgesia and monitoring, though approximately 25% will eventually undergo cholecystectomy over the next 18 months. Still, there appears to be no need to rush to surgery without evidence of common bile duct blockage or acute pancreatitis. 4) Delivering bad news (e.g. a cancer diagnosis) by telephone does not affect levels of anxiety, depression, or satisfaction with care as compared with delivering the news in person. 5) An updated high quality systematic review found that, in conjunction with psychosocial interventions, oral naltrexone (50 mg/day) and oral acamprosate have the strongest evidence for being effective in the treatment of alcohol use disorder.

Becoming a Phronimos: Evidence-Based Medicine, Clinical Decision Making, and the Role of Practical Wisdom in Primary Care.

There has been much discussion about the overmedicalization of human experience and the problems incurred by overzealous action-oriented medical care. In this paper we describe the Aristotelean virtue of phronesis, or practical wisdom, and discuss how it can be developed by interested clinicians. We argue that becoming a phronimos requires conscious attention to one's practice by using feedback to continually improve. But there must also be judicious adherence to clinical practice guidelines and advocacy for people-as-patients at individual, community, and national levels.

Implementing Whole Person Primary Care: Results from a Year-Long Learning Collaborative.

PURPOSE: The National Academies of Medicine report on Implementing High-Quality Primary Care calls for a transformation of the primary care to a "whole person" model that is person-centered, relationship-based and takes into account the social, spiritual, emotional and behavioral aspects of health. However, our current delivery tools, such as the SOAP Note, do not sufficiently capture and organize the delivery of these elements in practice. To explore how to remedy this, an Integrative Health Learning Collaborative (IHLC) was established to implement and test new tools for changing primary care practices toward whole person care. METHODS: The IHLC comprised primary care practices committed to changing to a whole person care model of care along with a panel of experts in integrative health and change management. The IHLC met virtually monthly. Representatives from each practice and an assigned expert met to strategize and adapt the tools to their environment and practice. The practices used previously developed tools (the HOPE Note toolkit), change management tools, and quality improvement techniques to introduce, implement, and evaluate the changes. RESULTS: Sixteen clinics completed the process after 1 year. Overall, practices used the HOPE Note tools in 942 patients. Participants reported changes on the effectiveness of the collaborative (1) on clinical practice, (2) on the skills and attitudes of participants; and (3) the support in change management. CONCLUSIONS: This online learning collaborative supported practices implementing a whole person care model in primary care and improved the understanding, skills, and delivery ability of whole person care in all clinics completing the program.

Indicators of the dimensions of trust (and mistrust) in early primary care practice: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Trust occurs when persons feel they can be vulnerable to others because of the sincerity, benevolence, truthfulness and sometimes the competence they perceive. This project examines the various types of trust expressed in written reflections of developing healthcare clinicians. Our goal is to understand the roles trust plays in residents' self-examination and to offer insight from relationship science to inform the teaching and clinical work for better trust in healthcare. METHODS: We analyzed 767 reflective writings of 33 residents submitted anonymously, to identify explicit or implicit indicators attention to trust or relationship development. Two authors independently coded the entries based on inductively identified dimensions. Three authors developed a final coding structure that was checked against the entries. These codes were sorted into final dimensions. RESULTS: We identified 114 written reflections that contained one or more indicators of trust. These codes were compiled into five code categories: Trust of self/trust as the basis for confidence in decision making; Trust of others in the medical community; Trust of the patient and its effect on clinician; Assessment of the trust of them exhibited by the patient; and Assessment of the effect of the patient's trust on the patient's behavior. DISCUSSION: Broadly, trust is both relationship-centered and institutionally situated. Trust is a process, built on reciprocity. There is tacit acknowledgement of the interplay among what the residents do is good for the patient, good for themselves, and good for the medical institution. An exclusive focus on moments in which trust is experienced or missed, as well as only on selected types of trust, misses this complexity. CONCLUSION: A greater awareness of how trust is present or absent could lead to a greater understanding and healthcare education for beneficial effects on clinicians' performance, personal and professional satisfaction, and improved quality in patients' interactions.