"I wanted to know what was hurting so much": a qualitative study exploring patients' expectations and experiences with primary care management.

BACKGROUND: The management of shoulder pain is challenging for primary care clinicians considering that 40% of affected individuals remain symptomatic one year after initial consultation. Developing tailored knowledge mobilization interventions founded on evidence-based recommendations while also considering patients' expectations could improve primary care for shoulder pain. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore patients' expectations and experiences of their primary care consultation for shoulder pain. METHODS: In this qualitative study, participants with shoulder pain and having consulted a primary care clinician in the past year were interviewed. All the semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim, and inductive thematic analysis was performed to identify themes related to the participants' expectations and experiences of primary care consultations for shoulder pain. RESULTS: Thirteen participants with shoulder pain were interviewed (8 women, 5 men; mean age 50 ± 12 years). Eleven of them initially consulted a family physician or an emergency physician, and two participants initially consulted a physiotherapist. Four overarching themes related to patients' expectations and experiences were identified from our thematic analysis: 1) I can't sleep because of my shoulder; 2) I need to know what is happening with my shoulder; 3) But… we need to really see what is going on to help me!; and 4) Please take some time with me so I can understand what to do!. Several participants waited until they experienced a high level of shoulder pain before making an appointment since they were not confident about what their family physician could do to manage their condition. Although some participants felt that their physician took the time to listen to their concerns, many were dissatisfied with the limited assessment and education provided by the clinician. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing evidence-based recommendations while considering patients' expectations is important as it may improve patients' satisfaction with healthcare. Several participants reported that their expectations were not met, especially when it came to the explanations provided. One unexpected finding that emerged from this study was the waiting period between the onset of shoulder pain and when patients decided to consult their primary care clinician.

The Effect of Bleeding Risk and Frailty Status on Anticoagulation Patterns in Octogenarians With Atrial Fibrillation: The FRAIL-AF Study.

BACKGROUND: Older adults are at increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), its thromboembolic complications, and bleeding. A significant percentage of octogenarians do not receive anticoagulation therapy. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of thromboembolic risk, bleeding risk, and frailty on the anticoagulation status of octogenarians hospitalized with AF. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 682 hospitalized patients aged 80 years and older with AF or atrial flutter in Montreal, Québec. Consumption of warfarin or a new oral anticoagulant was documented. Medical record data were used to determine each patient's frailty status using the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and to evaluate the risk of stroke (CHADS2 [Congestive Heart Failure, Hypertension, Age, Diabetes, Stroke/Transient Ischemic Attack]) and bleeding (HAS-BLED [Hypertension, Abnormal renal/liver function, Stroke, Bleeding history or predisposition, Labile international normalized ratio, Elderly (> 65 years) Drugs/alcohol concomitantly]). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine the effect of frailty status and the risk of stroke and bleeding on the probability of receiving anticoagulation therapy. RESULTS: Seventy percent of octogenarians with AF received anticoagulation therapy (n = 475). A high risk of stroke (CHADS2 = 3 compared with CHADS2 = 1, odds ratio [OR], 3.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-11.77), and the absence of severe frailty (CFS < 7; OR, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.84-6.33) were independently associated with anticoagulant use in multivariable analyses. A high risk of bleeding (HAS-BLED score ≥ 3; OR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.12-0.86) was associated with the absence of anticoagulation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests a higher prevalence of appropriate anticoagulation among octogenarians with AF than reported in previous studies. Further work is needed to develop and disseminate tools to optimize the use of anticoagulants in this high-risk population.

Adaptation of the Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review (CAMPHOR) into French-Canadian and English-Canadian.

BACKGROUND: The Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review (CAMPHOR) is the first disease-specific instrument for assessing patient-reported symptoms, functioning and quality of life (QoL) in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). OBJECTIVES: To create and validate French-Canadian (FC) and English-Canadian (EC) language versions of the CAMPHOR. METHODS: A translation panel (for the FC version) and lay panels (for both versions) were convened to adapt the questionnaires (dual-panel methodology). Subsequently, these new questionnaires were field-tested in 15 FC PAH and 15 EC PAH patients. Finally, in a postal validation study, the new language versions of the CAMPHOR underwent psychometric evaluation in 41 FC and 52 EC PAH patients to test for reliability and validity. RESULTS: The FC and EC field-test interview participants found the questionnaires relevant, comprehensible and easy to complete. Psychometric analyses showed that the FC and EC adaptations were successful. High test-retest coefficients for the scales after controlling for change in respondent's QoL (FC: 0.92 to 0.96; EC: 0.85 to 0.99) indicated a high degree of reliability. The FC and EC CAMPHOR scales had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficients 0.90 to 0.92 and 0.88 to 0.92, respectively). Predicted correlations with the Nottingham Health Profile provided evidence of the construct validity of the FC and EC scales. The FC and EC adaptations also showed known groups validity. CONCLUSIONS: The FC and EC adaptations of the CAMPHOR have been shown to be reliable and valid for measures of health-related QoL and QoL in PAH, and thus can be recommended for use in clinical studies and routine practice in PAH.