ABSTRACT
Background: Little is known about patient preference regarding the physical exam in non-urgent primary care settings.Objective: To determine the differences between a patient's expectations of the physical exam and the actual components of the physical examination performed during a non-urgent visit.Design: A total of 452 surveys administered in the waiting room of a VA primary care clinic in West Haven, CT.Key results: The response rate was 91.6% (n = 414). For 15 of 16 maneuvers on the survey, more respondents believed a reasonable provider should conduct it than received it at their annual physical exam; for 7 of them (breast, axillary, rectal, pelvic, total body skin exam, electrocardiogram, and stress test), over twice as many respondents believed they should be done than received them. There was an association between a patient's perception of their primary care provider and the number of maneuvers recalled at their annual exam (P < 0.001), and a gap in the number of maneuvers expected from a reasonable provider by nonwhite and white patients (P < 0.001).Limitations: Convenience sample, response bias (healthy patients are more likely to respond) and recall bias.Conclusion: Patient perception of their primary care provider is strongly associated with the number of maneuvers recalled during an annual physical. Furthermore, the number of maneuvers expected by a patient is influenced by race, with nonwhite patients desiring more. This suggests the need for further research on the role of race in the expectations of healthcare providers.
Subject(s)
Patient Preference , Physical Examination , Primary Health Care/methods , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Physical Examination/methods , Physical Examination/psychology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
Objective: The Department of Veterans Affairs trained primary-care providers to deliver Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA), a subset of auricular acupuncture, to patients. However, little is known about BFA effectiveness in group or individual sessions or repeated administrations versus singular use. The aim of this study was to examine the use and effectiveness of BFA for back pain and four pain-comorbid conditions in group and individual sessions at a large Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the West Haven VA Medical Center, in West Haven CT. Between October 2016 and December 2017, 284 veterans with pain received BFA. The BFA was administered in group clinics or in individual encounters. The Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale was used to assess self-reported pain immediately before and after each BFA administration. Results: Over the study period, an average of 57 (range: 50-66) new patients per month received BFA. Of 753 total patient encounters, an immediate decrease in self-reported pain occurred in 616 (82.0%) patients, no change occurred in 73 (9.7%) patients, and an increase occurred in 62 (8.3%) patients. Decreases in pain were common in the group and individual settings, even in patients with originally high pain scores, and the effectiveness remained with repeated uses. Conclusions: BFA can be effective for immediate relief of pain-whether the BFA is administered in a group or individual setting-for the overwhelming majority of veterans and, as such, holds promise as a nonpharmacologic pain-management intervention.
