Improving Advance Care Planning in a Resident Primary Care Clinic.

INTRODUCTION: Two-thirds of chronically ill patients do not have an advance directive. The primary aim of this study was to develop an intervention to increase the documentation of advance directives in elderly adults in an internal medicine resident primary care clinic. The secondary aims were to improve resident confidence in discussing advance care planning and increase the number of discussions. METHODS: The study was a pre- and postintervention study. The study intervention was a 30-minute educational session on advance care planning. Study participants were patients aged 65 years and older who were seen in an internal medicine residency primary care clinic over a 6-month period and internal medicine residents. Clinic encounters were reviewed for the presence of advance care planning discussions before and after the intervention. Resident confidence was measured on a Likert scale. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety-five eligible patients were seen in the clinic from January 1, 2017, to June 30, 2017, and included in the analysis performed between 2017 and 2018. The mean number of documented advance care planning discussions increased from 2.24 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0-4.9) during the preintervention period to 8.94 (95% CI: 5.94-13.24]) during the postintervention period (P = .0011). Following the intervention, residents overall reported increased confidence in discussing advance care planning. CONCLUSION: A relatively modest intervention to increase advance care planning discussions is feasible in an internal medicine primary care clinic and can improve the confidence of residents with end-of-life discussion.

Incident invasive breast cancer, geographic location of residence, and reported average time spent outside.

There have been reports of greater breast cancer incidence and mortality at northern compared with southern latitudes postulated to be related to vitamin D exposure. Among 71,662 participants in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHIOS) free of cancer at baseline (1993-1998), associations were explored between incident invasive postmenopausal breast cancer (n = 2,535), over approximately 8.6 years follow-up, and the following: (a) region of residence at birth, age 15 years, age 35 years; (b) region of residence at WHIOS baseline; and (c) clinic center solar irradiance. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for breast cancer were estimated after adjustment for individual level confounders. There was no difference in breast cancer risk by region of earlier life, baseline residence, or solar irradiance measured in Langelys (gm-cal) per cm(2). There was an observed 15% decreased risk among women residing in areas of low versus high solar irradiance measured in Watts per m(2) (95% CI, 2-26%). However, the associated P(trend) of 0.20 was not significant. Conversely, women who reported spending on average <30 minutes versus >2 hours outside in daylight year round at WHIOS year 4 follow-up (n = 46,926), had a 20% (95% CI, 2-41%; P(trend) = 0.001) increased risk of breast cancer. In conclusion, region of residence and geographic solar irradiance are not consistently related to risk of breast cancer and may not be sufficient proxy measures for sunlight/vitamin D exposure. The observed association between time spent outside and breast cancer risk support the hypothesis that vitamin D may protect against breast cancer.

Alcohol and folate intake and breast cancer risk in the WHI Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol increases breast cancer risk. Epidemiological studies suggest folate may modify this relationship. OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship among breast cancer, alcohol and folate in the Women's Health Initiative-Observational Study (WHI-OS). METHODS: 88,530 postmenopausal women 50-79 years completed baseline questionnaires between October 1993 and December 1998, which addressed alcohol and folate intake and breast cancer risk factors. Cox proportional hazards analysis examined the relationship between self-reported baseline alcohol and folate intake and incident breast cancer. RESULTS: 1,783 breast cancer cases occurred over 5 years. Alcohol was associated with increased risk of breast cancer (RR = 1.005, 95%CI 1.001-1.009). Risk increased with consumption of alcohol (up to 5 g/d, adjusted HR = 1.10, 95%CI 0.96-1.32; >5-15 g/d HR = 1.14, 95%CI 0.99-1.31; and >15 g/d HR = 1.13 95%CI 0.96-1.32). We found no significant interaction between alcohol and folate in our adjusted model. CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence for folate attenuating alcohol's effect on breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. Our results may be due to misclassification of folate intake or the relatively short follow-up period.

Health maintenance and screening in breast cancer survivors in the United States.

BACKGROUND: The general health maintenance and follow-up of breast cancer survivors has not been well-studied. In a population-based sample we sought to investigate the health practices of breast cancer survivors and to compare rates of screening to women with no history of breast cancer. METHODS: Subjects were participants of the medical expenditure survey in the years 1996 and 1998, years for which information on screening were available. We used a matched cohort design. Breast cancer survivors aged 40 and older were matched (on age and race/ethnicity) to women with no breast cancer history. We performed logistic regression to estimate the odds of receiving appropriate health care services in breast cancer survivors versus women with no breast cancer history. In addition, we examined demographic and socioeconomic differences between breast cancer survivors who reported appropriate screening and survivors who had inadequate screening. RESULTS: A small minority of breast cancer survivors report inadequate mammography (18%) and clinical breast exam (12%) follow-up. A significant portion of breast cancer survivors report inadequate screening for Pap smear (40%), general physical exam (GPE) (30%) and flu shot (33%). The odds of receiving appropriate screening were higher in survivors versus matched women for mammography, clinical breast and cholesterol screening. There were no differences for other screening. Across all health maintenance and screening practices, breast cancer survivors who did not receive appropriate screening were less likely to have private insurance, to be married and to be above the mean income level, though these differences were non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: Although survivors report high levels of screening, a small minority of women report inadequate mammography and clinical breast exam follow-up which is concerning given their risk of recurrence and second primary breast cancer. Additionally, a significant portion of survivors report inadequate screening for general health maintenance issues. Demographic and socioeconomic factors were associated with lower screening rates. However, the deficits in screening among breast cancer survivors appears to be smaller compared to women in the general population.

Discussions regarding reproductive health for young women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: Young women who undergo chemotherapy for breast cancer face serious consequences to their reproductive health. Research in this area has previously focused on men, or on childhood cancer survivors. We sought to explore self-report of reproductive health counseling in young women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 166 premenopausal women aged < or = 50 years were recruited from oncology offices in academic and private practices in four northeastern states, as part of a randomized controlled clinical trial aimed at stress reduction. Women were asked a variety of questions regarding diagnosis and treatment, including whether they received any counseling regarding early menopause and fertility issues. RESULTS: Sixty-eight percent and 34% of women reported recalling a discussion with a physician regarding early menopause or fertility, respectively. In multivariate analysis, hormonal therapy and early stage of disease were associated with significantly increased odds of recall of a discussion regarding menopause. Difficulty communicating with medical team was associated with increased odds of recalling a discussion regarding fertility, whereas older age and anxiety in medical situations were associated with decreased odds. CONCLUSION: Many women fail to recall discussions regarding the reproductive health impact of chemotherapy. Demographic, psychological, and disease-related variables are related to recalling such discussions. Counseling about premature menopause and fertility changes is an overlooked aspect of preparation for adjuvant chemotherapy in young premenopausal women with breast cancer. Future research should explore this issue further.