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Unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity along with lack of access to quality healthcare contribute to the marked health disparities in chronic diseases among African-Americans. Faith-based public health conferences offer a potential opportunity to improve health literacy and change health behaviors through health promotion within this population, thereby reducing health disparities. This study examined the self-reported health behaviors and preventive healthcare utilization patterns of 77 participants at a predominantly African-American faith-based public health conference, Healthy Churches 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a sample of attendees to assess their health behaviors (diet and physical activity), preventive healthcare utilization (annual healthcare provider visits), and health-promoting activities at their places of worship. The results indicate that attendees of a faith-based public health conference have adequate preventive healthcare utilization, but suboptimal healthy behaviors. Our findings support the need for ongoing health-promoting activities with an emphasis on diet and physical activity among this population.
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Negro ou Afro-Americano , Comportamentos Relacionados com a Saúde/etnologia , Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde/etnologia , Promoção da Saúde , Disparidades em Assistência à Saúde , Aceitação pelo Paciente de Cuidados de Saúde/etnologia , Serviços Preventivos de Saúde , Religião , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Distribuição de Qui-Quadrado , Clero , Estudos Transversais , Dieta Saudável , Exercício Físico , Comportamento Alimentar , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Autorrelato , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Introduction: African Americans (AA) are widely underrepresented in plasma biomarker studies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and current diagnostic biomarker candidates do not reflect the heterogeneity of AD. Methods: Untargeted proteome measurements were obtained using the SomaScan 7k platform to identify novel plasma biomarkers for AD in a cohort of AA clinically diagnosed as AD dementia (n=183) or cognitively unimpaired (CU, n=145). Machine learning approaches were implemented to identify the set of plasma proteins that yields the best classification accuracy. Results: A plasma protein panel achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.91 to classify AD dementia vs CU. The reproducibility of this finding was observed in the ANMerge plasma and AMP-AD Diversity brain datasets (AUC=0.83; AUC=0.94). Discussion: This study demonstrates the potential of biomarker discovery through untargeted plasma proteomics and machine learning approaches. Our findings also highlight the potential importance of the matrisome and cerebrovascular dysfunction in AD pathophysiology.
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A dementia friendly community allows people with dementia and their care partners to remain engaged in their community well into the disease. This study presents the results of primary research aimed at exploring perceptions regarding building a dementia friendly community in an African American neighborhood in northeast Florida. Twelve focus groups and five interviews were conducted with people living with dementia, informal and formal care partners, community stakeholders and neighborhood residents, and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Three main themes emerged from the analyses, including (1) perceived needs, (2) facilitators and barriers to being dementia friendly, and (3) opportunities for the community to become more dementia friendly. Study findings highlight the unique needs of a single African American neighborhood and the importance of culturally tailoring the dementia friendly model to diverse communities.
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Negro ou Afro-Americano , Demência , Humanos , Demência/terapia , Cuidadores , Grupos Focais , Características de ResidênciaRESUMO
Background: For individuals living with chronic conditions like diabetes mellitus and obesity, there is a need for sustainable behavioral strategies and physiologic tools. These tools support identifying and addressing barriers to healthy eating, reducing body mass index (BMI), and building increased physical resilience in real time. Objective: To evaluate whether a 12-week learning management system designed to combine nutritional intervention with education and coaching on improving emotional intelligence (EI) could alter cardiometabolic outcomes. Methods: This pre-post prospective study enrolled 37 adult volunteers with BMI greater than 25 to participate in a 12-week learning management system. Primary (BMI, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein [LDL], high-density lipoprotein, and fasting glucose levels) and secondary self-reported outcomes were assessed at baseline, 12 weeks, and 6 months after enrollment using Short Form-36, Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQi), and Whole Health Index (WHI). Linear mixed-effects regression models with random effect were used to estimate changes in primary and secondary outcomes. We adjusted for multiple testing using Holm step-down method. Results: BMI and LDL were the only primary endpoints lower at program completion and 6-month follow-up compared to baseline levels (-1.63 and -17.77 mg/dL, respectively; P < .001). Secondary outcomes showing statistically significant improvement from baseline to 6-month follow-up included energy/fatigue (Short Form-36), self-regard (EQi), decision-making (EQi), impulse control (EQi), stress management (EQi), Whole Brain - Form A (WHI), Whole Food - Form C (WHI), and Whole Body - Form D (WHI). Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence that lifestyle programs combining nutritional interventions and EI can have a significant impact on BMI and LDL. Our study highlights the potential importance of both nutrition and EI in programs targeting diet and lifestyle modification.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recent advances in blood-based biomarkers offer the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer disease (AD), but additional research in diverse populations is critical. We assessed the profiles of blood-based AD biomarkers and their relationships to cognition and common medical comorbidities in a biracial cohort. METHODS: Participants were evaluated through the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Alzheimer Disease Research Center and matched on age, sex, and cognitive status. Plasma AD biomarkers (ß-amyloid peptide 1-42 [Aß42/40], plasma tau phosphorylated at position 181 [p-tau181], glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP], and neurofilament light) were measured using the Quanterix SiMoA HD-X analyzer. Cognition was assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination. Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to assess for differences in plasma biomarker levels by sex. Linear models tested for associations of self-reported race, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and vascular risk factors with plasma AD biomarker levels. Additional models assessed for interactions between race and plasma biomarkers in predicting cognition. RESULTS: The sample comprised African American (AA; N = 267) and non-Hispanic White (NHW; N = 268) participants, including 69% female participants and age range 43-100 (median 80.2) years. Education was higher in NHW participants (median 16 vs 12 years, p < 0.001) while APOE ε4 positivity was higher in AA participants (43% vs 34%; p = 0.04). We observed no differences in plasma AD biomarker levels between AA and NHW participants. These results were unchanged after stratifying by cognitive status (unimpaired vs impaired). Although the p-tau181-cognition association seemed stronger in NHW participants while the Aß42/40-cognition association seemed stronger in AA participants, these findings did not survive after excluding individuals with CKD. Female participants displayed higher GFAP (177.5 pg/mL vs 157.73 pg/mL; p = 0.002) and lower p-tau181 (2.62 pg/mL vs 3.28 pg/mL; p = 0.001) levels than male participants. Diabetes was inversely associated with GFAP levels (ß = -0.01; p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: In a biracial community-based sample of adults, we observed that sex differences, CKD, and vascular risk factors, but not self-reported race, contributed to variation in plasma AD biomarkers. Although some prior studies have reported primary effects of race/ethnicity, our results reinforce the need to account for broad-based medical and social determinants of health (including sex, systemic comorbidities, and other factors) in effectively and equitably deploying plasma AD biomarkers in the general population.
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Doença de Alzheimer , Disfunção Cognitiva , Adulto , Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Doença de Alzheimer/diagnóstico , Doença de Alzheimer/epidemiologia , Proteínas tau , Peptídeos beta-Amiloides , Cognição , Biomarcadores , Disfunção Cognitiva/psicologiaRESUMO
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to conduct an initial evaluation of the quantitative and qualitative outcomes of the African American Alzheimer's Caregiver Training and Support Project 2 (ACTS2). Quantitative objectives focused on assessing changes in caregiver depression and health status, as well as the severity of caregiving and self-care problems from pre- to postintervention. Secondary quantitative analyses examined posttreatment changes in social support and caregiver burden. Qualitative objectives included examining caregivers' perceptions of the effectiveness of in-session training activities, quality of relationships among group participants and their facilitator, and appraisals of spiritual elements of the program. RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN: Nine African American family caregivers of older adults with dementia completed the ACTS2 lay pastoral care facilitator-led, telephone cognitive-behavioral intervention. The 12-week training program included seven skills-building groups and five individual problem-solving sessions. RESULTS: Significant improvements were found on the majority of dependent measures, including caregiver depression, health status, problem severity, and social support. Qualitative analysis highlighted the value caregivers placed on relationships with coparticipants and group facilitators, the role of spirituality in the program, and the importance of goal setting for improving caregiver distress and self-care. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Convergence was found between quantitative and qualitative findings, particularly improvements in caregiver distress, health status, and social support. Overall, the findings of the pilot study were promising. Replication using a randomized controlled design with a larger sample size is needed to test the reliability of the findings. The benefits of tailoring intervention to caregivers' sociocultural preferences and spiritual values are also addressed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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Doença de Alzheimer , Cuidadores , Humanos , Idoso , Projetos Piloto , Negro ou Afro-Americano , Reprodutibilidade dos TestesRESUMO
African Americans experience a significantly greater burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) compared to non-Hispanic White Americans. Raising awareness and increasing knowledge of AD within African American communities is an important step towards addressing these disparities. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of two approaches to sharing AD knowledge with community residents. Using a quasi-experimental design, African American participants were recruited through community partners and local resources in two comparable neighborhoods in Duval County, Florida, which formed the intervention and the comparison groups for this study. The identical 40-min educational lecture was provided to both groups. In the intervention community, the lecture was followed by focus group sessions modeled after the Dementia Friendly America toolkit. In the comparison community, the lecture was followed by a social event where participants could interact informally with the speaker and dementia outreach staff. A brief quantitative survey assessing AD knowledge was administered to participants in both groups before the education session, immediately after the lecture, and 2 months later. Results indicate that both groups improved their knowledge scores at immediate post-test. Scores for both groups declined at 2-month follow-up, but the comparison group's scores declined more precipitously than the intervention group's scores (p = 0.0.21). These results suggest that conducting focus groups and interviews following a lecture on AD may help better retain AD knowledge over time.
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Doença de Alzheimer , Negro ou Afro-Americano , Humanos , Florida , População Branca , EscolaridadeRESUMO
Cutaneous larva migrans is typically reported in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. However, cutaneous larva migrans cases are spreading and should now be recognized even in urban, nontropical settings.
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There is a movement in the United States to transform family medicine practices from single physician-based patient care to team-based care. These teams are usually composed of multiple disciplines, including social workers, pharmacists, registered nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and physicians. The teams support patients and their families, provide holistic care to patients of all ages, and allow their members to work to the highest level of their training in an integrated fashion. Grouping care team members together within visual and auditory distance of each other is likely to enhance communication and teamwork, resulting in more efficient care for patients. This grouping is termed colocation. The authors describe how the use of colocation can lead to clearer, faster communication between care team members. This practice style has the potential to be expanded into various clinical settings in any given health system and to almost all clinical specialties and practices.
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Medicina de Família e Comunidade , Equipe de Assistência ao Paciente , Instituições de Assistência Ambulatorial , Humanos , Assistência Centrada no Paciente , Farmacêuticos , Estados UnidosRESUMO
Scores on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) are frequently lower for African American when compared with Caucasian adults. Although demographically based norms can mitigate the impact of this discrepancy on the likelihood of erroneous diagnostic impressions, a growing consensus suggests that group norms do not sufficiently address or advance our understanding of the underlying psychometric and sociocultural factors that lead to between-group score discrepancies. Using item response theory and methods to detect differential item functioning (DIF), the current investigation moves beyond comparisons of the summed total score to examine whether the conditional probability of responding correctly to individual BNT items differs between African American and Caucasian adults. Participants included 670 adults age 52 and older who took part in Mayo's Older Americans and Older African Americans Normative Studies. Under a two-parameter logistic item response theory framework and after correction for the false discovery rate, 12 items where shown to demonstrate DIF. Of these 12 items, 6 ("dominoes," "escalator," "muzzle," "latch," "tripod," and "palette") were also identified in additional analyses using hierarchical logistic regression models and represent the strongest evidence for race/ethnicity-based DIF. These findings afford a finer characterization of the psychometric properties of the BNT and expand our understanding of between-group performance.
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Negro ou Afro-Americano/psicologia , Cognição/fisiologia , Avaliação Geriátrica , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Avaliação de Resultados em Cuidados de Saúde/métodos , População Branca/psicologia , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Modelos Psicológicos , Análise de Componente Principal , Fatores SocioeconômicosRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Although patient timeliness and appointment flow are highly important for patients and practices, the impact of technology on improving these aspects of healthcare delivery are not widely studied. We evaluated the satisfaction and acceptability of using a handheld internet-enabled tablet computer (the Mobile Patient Communicator (MPC)) that uses interactive maps, and visual and written instructions to direct patients from waiting rooms to exam rooms independently of medical personnel. METHODS: At the time of appointment check-in, eligible patients attending their healthcare appointments at a family medicine practice received the MPC that provided them an online orientation about its use and function. The MPC directed patients to their assigned exam rooms. Patients completed pre-/post-visit surveys. We used Wilcoxon rank-sum tests for numeric variables and Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables. RESULTS: Among 200 participated patients, the median level of satisfaction was 9 (1=not at all, 10= very much satisfied), 177 (91%) were successful in finding their room, and 147 (76%) thought the device should be used in the future. Prior to using the MPC, patients ≥65 years old were less comfortable with using the device (median 7 vs. 9; P=0.001), expected to have more problems operating the device (yes 6% vs. 1%; P=0.002), and were less likely to use a computer daily (yes 51% vs. 91%; P<0.001) vs. <65 years old. After using the MPC, patients ≥65 years old were less satisfied with using the device (median 8 vs. 10; P=0.001) but were more likely to watch the video on the device (yes 70% vs. 54%; P=0.04) vs. <65 years old. Conclusion: The pilot results show evidence that using this technology for self-rooming by patients is highly acceptable regardless of age and sex. The findings also indicate this technology was helpful in delivering health care-related information before face-to-face appointments.
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The influence of education on cognition has received a great deal of attention in the literature. Although there is general consensus regarding the importance of education on cognitive functioning, the extent to which self-reported level of education corresponds to true educational attainment remains unclear, especially in ethnic minority populations where equal access to education has not always been available. Several investigators have suggested that reading skill may serve as a quantitative estimate of true education experience. Among African-Americans, however, research has shown that self-reported educational level consistently over predicts estimated reading level. The current study analyzed the discrepancy between self-reported years of education completed and estimated reading level in a sample of community-dwelling, elderly African-Americans participating in Mayo's Older African Americans Normative Studies (MOAANS) (Lucas, J.A., Ivnik, R.J., Willis, F.B., Ferman, T.J., Smith, G.E., Parfitt, F.C., Petersen, R.C., & Graff-Radford, N.R. (2005). Mayo's Older African Americans Normative Studies: Normative data for commonly used clinical neuropsychological measures. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 19, 162-183). In this sample, 29% of the participants read at a level that was 3 or more years below what would be expected based on self-report of education attained. This study also sought to evaluate the extent to which this discrepancy fluctuated as a function of demographic variables such as location of schooling (urban, suburban, rural; North vs. South), parental education and literacy, and percentage of segregation in schooling. Implications of these results are discussed, as are areas for further inquiry.
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Negro ou Afro-Americano/psicologia , Escolaridade , Avaliação Geriátrica , Leitura , Características de Residência , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Coleta de Dados , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Testes NeuropsicológicosRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: The primary objectives of the present study were: (a) to develop the African American Dementia Caregiver Problem Inventory (DCPI-A) that assesses the types and frequency of problems reported by African American dementia caregivers seeking cognitive-behavioral intervention, (b) to evaluate the intercoder reliability of the DCPI-A, and (c) to measure the perceived severity of common problems reported by this caregiver population. METHOD: The development of the DCPI-A was divided into 3 major steps: (a) creating an initial sample pool of caregiver problems derived from 2 parent randomized clinical trials, (b) formulating a preliminary version of the DCPI-A, and (c) finalizing the development of the DCPI-A that includes 20 problem categories with explicit coding rules, definitions, and illustrative examples. RESULTS: The most commonly reported caregiver problems fell into 5 major categories: (a) communication problems with care recipients, family members, and/or significant others, (b) problems with socialization, recreation, and personal enhancement time; (c) problems with physical health and health maintenance, (d) problems in managing care recipients' activities of daily living; and (e) problems with care recipients' difficult behaviors. Intercoder reliability was moderately high for both percent agreement and Cronbach's kappa. A similar positive pattern of results was obtained for the analysis of coder drift. CONCLUSIONS: The descriptive analysis of the types and frequency of problems of African American dementia caregivers coupled with the outcomes of the psychometric evaluation bode well for the adoption of the DCPI-A in clinical settings. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Doença de Alzheimer/etnologia , Doença de Alzheimer/psicologia , Negro ou Afro-Americano/psicologia , Cuidadores/psicologia , Efeitos Psicossociais da Doença , Psicometria/estatística & dados numéricos , Inquéritos e Questionários , Atividades Cotidianas/psicologia , Adulto , Idoso , Doença de Alzheimer/terapia , Terapia Cognitivo-Comportamental , Comunicação , Feminino , Florida , Humanos , Masculino , Transtornos Mentais/psicologia , Transtornos Mentais/terapia , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Variações Dependentes do Observador , Recreação , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , SocializaçãoRESUMO
PURPOSE: The demand for comprehensive primary health care continues to expand. The development of team-based practice allows for improved capacity within a collective, collaborative environment. Our hypothesis was to determine the relationship between panel size and access, quality, patient satisfaction, and cost in a large family medicine group practice using a team-based care model. METHODS: Data were retrospectively collected from 36 family physicians and included total panel size of patients, percentage of time spent on patient care, cost of care, access metrics, diabetic quality metrics, patient satisfaction surveys, and patient care complexity scores. We used linear regression analysis to assess the relationship between adjusted physician panel size, panel complexity, and outcomes. RESULTS: The third available appointments (P < .01) and diabetic quality (P = .03) were negatively affected by increased panel size. Patient satisfaction, cost, and percentage fill rate were not affected by panel size. A physician-adjusted panel size larger than the current mean (2959 patients) was associated with a greater likelihood of poor-quality rankings (≤25th percentile) compared with those with a less than average panel size (odds ratio [OR], 7.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13-51.46). Increased panel size was associated with a longer time to the third available appointment (OR, 10.9; 95% CI, 1.36-87.26) compared with physicians with panel sizes smaller than the mean. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated a negative impact of larger panel size on diabetic quality results and available appointment access. Evaluation of a family medicine practice parameters while controlling for panel size and patient complexity may help determine the optimal panel size for a practice.
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Medicina de Família e Comunidade/estatística & dados numéricos , Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Satisfação do Paciente/estatística & dados numéricos , Atenção Primária à Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Qualidade da Assistência à Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Agendamento de Consultas , Diabetes Mellitus/terapia , Medicina de Família e Comunidade/economia , Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde/economia , Humanos , Atenção Primária à Saúde/economia , Qualidade da Assistência à Saúde/economia , Estudos Retrospectivos , Inquéritos e QuestionáriosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: The association between Alzheimer disease (AD) and genotypes at the apolipoprotein E (APOE) locus has been confirmed in numerous populations worldwide, but appears to be inconsistent in African American subjects. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between APOE genotypes and AD in elderly African American subjects. DESIGN: Clinic-based, multicenter case-control study and a family study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 338 African American probands meeting criteria for probable or definite AD, 301 cognitively healthy, elderly unrelated control subjects (spouses and community volunteers), and 108 siblings of 88 AD probands. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Odds of AD according to APOE genotype. RESULTS: Compared with individuals with the APOEepsilon3/epsilon3, the odds of having AD were significantly increased among those with 1 or more copies of the epsilon4 allele; the odds ratio (OR) for the epsilon3/epsilon4 genotype was 2.6 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8-3.7), and the OR for the epsilon4/epsilon4 genotype was 10.5 (95% CI, 5.1-21.8). These risks decreased substantially after 68 years of age. The risk for AD was lower among individuals with the epsilon2/epsilon3 genotype (OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.22-0.79). The patterns of association were similar in men and women. These results obtained from comparisons of unrelated AD patients and controls were bolstered by results of analysis of family data that showed preferential transmission of the epsilon4 allele to demented siblings (P<<.001) and of the epsilon2 allele to nondemented siblings (P=.005). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of 1 or 2 epsilon4 alleles is a determinant of AD risk in African American subjects. The age-related risk for decline associated with the epsilon4 allele and the apparent protective effect of the epsilon2 allele are similar to patterns observed in white subjects.
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Doença de Alzheimer/epidemiologia , Doença de Alzheimer/genética , Apolipoproteínas E/genética , População Negra/genética , Negro ou Afro-Americano/estatística & dados numéricos , Distribuição por Idade , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Alelos , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Feminino , Genótipo , Humanos , Masculino , Razão de Chances , Estados Unidos/epidemiologiaRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether demographic (age and education) adjustments for the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) attenuate mean score discrepancies between African-American and Caucasian adults and whether demographically adjusted MMSE scores improve the diagnostic classification accuracy of dementia in African-American adults over unadjusted MMSE scores. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Community-dwelling adults participating in the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Patient Registry and Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. PARTICIPANTS: Three thousand two hundred fifty-four adults (2,819 Caucasian, 435 African American) aged 60 and older. MEASUREMENTS: MMSE score at study entry. RESULTS: African-American adults had significantly lower unadjusted MMSE scores (23.0 ± 7.4) than Caucasian adults (25.3 ± 5.4). This discrepancy persisted despite adjustment of MMSE scores for age and years of education using established regression weights or newly derived weights. Controlling for dementia severity at baseline and adjusting MMSE scores for age and quality of education attenuated this discrepancy. In African-American adults, an age- and education-adjusted MMSE cut score of 23/24 provided optimal dementia classification accuracy, but this represented only a modest improvement over an unadjusted MMSE cut score of 22/23. The posterior probability of dementia in African-American adults is presented for various unadjusted MMSE cut scores and prevalence rates of dementia. CONCLUSION: Age, dementia severity at study entry, and quality of educational experience are important explanatory factors in understanding the existing discrepancies in MMSE performance between Caucasian and African-American adults. These findings support the use of unadjusted MMSE scores when screening older African Americans for dementia, with an unadjusted MMSE cut score of 22/23 yielding optimal classification accuracy.
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Negro ou Afro-Americano , Demência/diagnóstico , Entrevista Psiquiátrica Padronizada , População Branca , Fatores Etários , Idoso , Estudos Transversais , Escolaridade , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Reprodutibilidade dos TestesRESUMO
UNLABELLED: End-of-life (EOL) decision making is an integral component of high-quality health care. Factors influencing individual primary care physicians (PCPs) can affect their perspectives and referral preferences for EOL care. Numerous barriers have been cited, including patient and family readiness, physicians' comfort with discussing death, and the pursuit of a cure. This study explores another barrier by examining physician ethnicity and comparing the attitudes toward hospice referral between African American and white American primary care providers (PCPs). Training PCPs to efficiently transition from a curative model of care to a palliative model of care has the potential to increase the level of appropriate EOL care, increase hospice referral, and enhance patient and provider satisfaction; it is also fiscally prudent. This preliminary study aims to compare attitudes toward hospice referral and physicians' personal experiences with hospice between African American and white American PCPs. METHODS: The survey tool was developed by PCPs at the Mayo Clinic Florida after a full literature review and consultation with hospice physicians, oncology specialists, and primary care colleagues from the residency programs at Mayo Minnesota and Mayo Arizona, with input from the Mayo Survey Office, and distributed to all physicians and residents in the departments of Family Medicine at via Mayo's intranet; Mayo's Midwest Regional Practices (245 physicians) received the survey via standard mail. The survey consisted of 17 questions regarding attitudes toward hospice referral and the one question regarding physicians' personal experience with hospice. The final sample size consisted of 167 white American physicians and 46 African American physicians. Responses were compared using a Wilcoxon rank sum test. P values ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant. All statistical analyses were performed using the SAS software package (SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina). RESULTS: The distributions of physician age, specialty, board certification, and years practicing medicine were similar between African American and white American physicians, while male gender was more common in white American physicians than African American physicians. Statistically significant differences in attitudes toward hospice between African American and white American physicians were observed for five of the 17 survey questions. There was a dramatic difference in the distribution of patient race between African American and white American physicians, raising the possibility that any differences between white American and African American physicians could be attributed to patient race, rather than physician race. Due to survey limits, larger studies involving more African American physicians are needed to address this topic. CONCLUSION: The results of our preliminary study suggest that certain attitudes toward hospice referral may differ between African American and white American PCPs. If validated, further insight into this issue could lead to educational programs for PCPs that correct misperceptions.
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Atitude , Negro ou Afro-Americano/psicologia , Cuidados Paliativos na Terminalidade da Vida , Médicos de Atenção Primária/psicologia , Encaminhamento e Consulta , População Branca/psicologia , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Coleta de Dados , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Meio-Oeste dos Estados UnidosRESUMO
The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is one of the most widely used self-rated mood questionnaires for older adults. It is highly correlated with clinical diagnoses of depression and has demonstrated validity across different patient populations. However, the reliability of the GDS among African American older adults remains to be firmly established. In a baseline sample of 401 African American adults age 51 and over, the GDS-15 item short form demonstrates good internal consistency (KR20=.71). Stability over a 15-month interval in a retest sample of 51 adults is deemed adequate (r=.68). These findings support the use of the GDS-15 item short form as a reliable mood questionnaire among African American older adults.
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Sleep apnea is a common disorder associated with obesity and related health problems. Although treatment of sleep apnea may relieve some autonomic symptoms, it is currently unknown whether treatment of sleep apnea is specifically associated with the resolution of orthostatism and syncope. Herein we describe a 73-year-old man who had recurrent episodes of syncope. An extensive work-up, including cardiac and neurologic consultations, failed to identify the cause. An objective sleep evaluation led to the diagnosis of sleep apnea. Accordingly, the patient was treated with continuous positive airway pressure, which resolved the syncopal episodes. This case report generates a potentially important hypothesis that recurrent syncope may be effectively treated, in part, by correcting apnea. In patients with recurrent syncope of unknown etiology, a diagnosis of sleep apnea should be considered.
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Pressão Positiva Contínua nas Vias Aéreas/métodos , Frequência Cardíaca/fisiologia , Síndromes da Apneia do Sono/terapia , Síncope/fisiopatologia , Idoso , Eletrocardiografia , Seguimentos , Humanos , Masculino , Polissonografia , Síndromes da Apneia do Sono/complicações , Síndromes da Apneia do Sono/fisiopatologia , Síncope/complicaçõesRESUMO
Disparities in minorities' representation in cancer clinical trials have been shown only in adult populations, which suggest that the main causes of these disparities relate to health system-based barriers, including issues of poverty (lack of insurance), poor access to trials, and an inadequate number of clinical trials. Initiatives that increase the participation of community physicians in cancer clinical research trials and increase low socioeconomic status patients' access to cancer trials will likely ameliorate this problem.