[Physician-assisted suicide in university hospital: are we ready?]. / Assistance au suicide en hôpital de soins aigus: sommes-nous prêts?

Assisting people to commit suicide has generated a passionate public debate. In exceptional situations, access to this support can be granted to the demanders in a hospital environment. So did the CHUV and the academic hospitals of Geneva draw up a procedure permitting, in principle, the access to an assistance to commit suicide. Two recent clinical situations experienced in the CHUV's Service of internal medicine have created a lot of discussions, doubts and revealed, sometimes, divergent positions. By the light of this clinical cases, we wished to share the perspective of the internist in charge of the ethician, of the chaplain, of the medical director, of the psychiatrist and of the palliative care responsible. Theses complex situations illustrate the deep ambivalence felt by the clinicians confronted to situations which require a multidisciplinary approach.

[Migration without borders, but...barriers of meaning]. / Migrations sans frontières mais...barrières des représentations.

Immigration, a political, economic, demographic, social and ethic, as well as a medical issue, continues. Among migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and undocumented immigrants are characterised by their vulnerability, particularly related to their health status. Western physicians are more and more frequently confronted to "colorful" and often vulnerable patients. They face diseases related to international migrations; and at the same time have to integrate the differences in representations and meanings given to illness by patients of diverse origins. A bio-psychosocial and spiritual approach coupled with an evaluation of pre-migration, migration and post-migration trajectories is therefore useful for the clinician; these complementary approaches have all been integrated in the learning of cultural competencies.

[Human cost of low back pain: a multi-disciplinary approach]. / Approche multidisciptinaire des coûts humains des lombalgies.

The valuation of human costs is a necessity, but this task poses many problems of method. A team made of a philosopher, a psychologist and a physician has been working with economist researchers in order to look into the meaning that the preferences announced at the time of the inquiries on human costs by QALY methods could assume. These methods are often used to obtain a valuation of the impact of a health attack on people's quality of life. The methods--in the frame of the argument assumed by the economic theory on well-being--hypothesize that people's choices depend mainly on cognitive work. The qualitative interviews show that the psychological construction process for the announced preferences largely overlap this frame. In this paper the authors hastily tackle the factors which have an effect on the preferences. They conclude that the QALY methods don't seem to be able to assess the quality of life nori to valuate the damage that the quality of life could include.

Perception of the damaging effects of smoking, and brief cessation counselling by doctors.

An open prospective study was conducted among the patients visiting an urban medical policlinic for the first time without an appointment to assess whether the immigrants (who represent more than half of our patients) are aware of the health effects of smoking, whether the level of acculturation influences knowledge, and whether doctors give similar advice to Swiss and foreign smokers. 226 smokers, 105 Swiss (46.5%), and 121 foreign-born (53.5%), participated in the study. 32.2% (95% CI [24.4%; 41.1%]) of migrants and 9.6% [5.3%; 16.8%] of Swiss patients were not aware of negative effects of smoking. After adjustment for age, the multivariate model showed that the estimated odds of "ignorance of health effects of smoking" was higher for people lacking mastery of the local language compared with those mastering it (odds ratio (OR) = 7.5 [3.6; 15.8], p < 0.001), and higher for men (OR = 4.3 [1.9; 10.0], p < 0.001). Advice to stop smoking was given with similar frequency to immigrants (31.9% [24.2%; 40.8%] and Swiss patients (29.0% [21.0%; 38.5%]). Nonintegrated patients did not appear to receive less counselling than integrated patients (OR = 1.1 [0.6; 2.1], p = 0.812). We conclude that the level of knowledge among male immigrants not integrated or unable to speak the local language is lower than among integrated foreign-born and Swiss patients. Smoking cessation counselling by a doctor was only given to a minority of patients, but such counselling seemed irrespective of nationality.

[What is behind the hidden agenda?]. / Que cache l'agenda caché?

The physicians often forget to ask their patients if they would like to discuss other complaints or topics. It is sometimes quite difficult to explore the patient's complaints; while the physicians tend to focus on the immediate problem, the patients may have not only one, but several hidden agendas during a visit. In a caring relation there is a clear advantage to clarify the implicit. The search for the hidden agenda is to improve the care of i) biomedical problems ii) the social quest presented to the physicians. The sentence "Oh, by the way, doctor..." should not be only understood as an information but also as a relational expression and a reaction to the imminent separation from the physician.

Patients who attend a private practice vs a university outpatient clinic: how do they differ?

BACKGROUND: Although interpersonal continuity is commonly assumed to be essential for care, some patients prefer to attend a university outpatient clinic where physicians change regularly and interpersonal continuity of care is not ensured. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this exploratory study was to evaluate the differences between patients attending a university outpatient clinic and patients frequenting a private practice, explore their patterns of care-seeking and their understanding of continued care. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients attending the university medical outpatient clinic (OC) in Lausanne, Switzerland and ten randomly selected private general practices (PP). Eligible patients were >30 years, Swiss nationals or long term residents, with one or more chronic conditions and attending the same practice for >3 years. They were asked to complete a questionnaire on sociodemographic data, use of medical resources and reasons for choosing and remaining at the same practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a randomly selected subset of 26 patients to further explore their preferences. RESULTS: 329 patient questionnaires were completed, 219 by PP and 110 by OC patients. OC patients tended to be of lower socioeconomic status than PP patients. The main reason for choosing a PP were personal recommendation, while a higher percentage of patients chose the OC because they could obtain a first appointment quickly. A higher percentage of PP patients accorded importance to physician communication skills and trust, whereas a higher percentage of OC patients favoured investigation facilities. Qualitative data suggested that although OC and PP patients reported different reasons for consulting, their expectations on the medical and relationship level were similar. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the two groups of patients belong to different social backgrounds, have different patterns of care-seeking and attach importance to different aspects of care continuity. However, patients' expectations and perceptions of the physician-patient relationship are similar.

"INTERMED": a method to assess health service needs. II. Results on its validity and clinical use.

The validity and clinical use of a recently developed instrument to assess health care needs of patients with a physical illness, called INTERMED, is investigated. The INTERMED combines data reflecting patients' biological, psychological, and social characteristics with information on health care utilization characteristics. An example of a patient population in which such an integral assessment can contribute to the appropriateness of care, are patients with low back pain of degenerative or unknown origin. It supports the validity and the clinical usefulness of the INTERMED when clinically relevant subgroups in this heterogeneous population can be identified and described based on their INTERMED scores. The INTERMED was utilized in a group of patients (N = 108) having low back pain who vary on the chronicity of complaints, functional status, and associated disability. All patients underwent a medical examination and responded to a battery of validated questionnaires assessing biological, psychological, and social aspects of their life. In addition, the patients were assessed by the INTERMED. It was studied whether it proved to be possible to form clinically meaningful groups of patients based on their INTERMED scores; for this, a hierarchical cluster analysis was performed. In order to clinically describe them, the groups of patients were compared with the data from the questionnaires. The cluster analysis on the INTERMED scores revealed three distinguishable groups of patients. Comparison with the questionnaires assessing biological, psychological, and social aspects of disease showed that one group can be characterized as complex patients with chronic complaints and reduced capacity to work who apply for a disability compensation. The other groups differed explicitly with regard to chronicity, but also on other variables. By means of the INTERMED, clinically relevant groups of patients can be identified, which supports its use in clinical practice and its use as a method to describe case mix for scientific or health care policy purposes. In addition, the INTERMED is easy to implement in daily clinical practice and can be of help to ease the operationalization of the biopychosocial model of disease. More information on its validity in different patient populations is necessary.

INTERMED--an assessment and classification system for case complexity. Results in patients with low back pain.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional investigation and follow-up of patients with low back pain. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the capacity of the INTERMED--a biopsychosocial assessment and classification system for case complexity--to identify patients with a chronic, disabling course of low back pain and to predict treatment outcome. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: An impressive number of biologic and nonbiologic factors influencing the course of low back pain have been identified. However, the lack of a concise, comprehensive, reliable and validated classification system of this heterogeneous patient population hampers preventive and therapeutic progress. METHODS: The INTERMED was used to assess patients with low back pain, who participated in a functional rehabilitation program (n = 50) and patients with low back pain who applied for disability compensation (n = 50). Patients of the rehabilitation program were observed to assess the effects of treatments. RESULTS: The INTERMED distinguished between patients in different phases of disability and provided meaningful information about the biopsychosocial aspects of low back pain. In hierarchical cluster analysis two distinct clusters emerged that differed in the degree of case complexity and treatment outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: This first application of the INTERMED indicates its potential utility as a classification system for patients with low back pain.

Use of the label "litigation neurosis" in patients with somatoform pain disorder.

The use of the term "litigation neurosis"--a condition with controversial clinical significance--might correspond to the expression for a difficult physician-patient relationship. The characteristics of patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of somatoform pain disorder who had been labeled "litigation neurosis" by their physicians were explored. Among 74 patients referred to a pain clinic, 30% had been labeled litigation neurosis, and among 81 patients referred while claiming disability benefits, 19% had been thus categorized. The attribution of this label was neither correlated to actually being involved in a claim for disability benefits nor to involvement in legal action. Patients who had been designated with litigation neurosis were characterized by a lower educational level, a higher rate of DSM-III-R major depression, and a much higher frequency of personality disorders than patients who were not thus labeled. We postulate that the communication style of patients with this constellation of characteristics, in particular the presence of psychiatric comorbidity, may have engendered a difficult doctor-patient relationship, leading physicians to use the label in the absence of objective evidence of litigation or involvement in legal action. We agree that the inappropriate use of labels such as "litigation neurosis" should be questioned.

Comparison of the clientele of an anonymous HIV test centre and persons tested in the general population.

This study compares the clientele of a Swiss anonymous test centre with the general population tested. Information was obtained through similar questionnaires submitted to two samples of HIV-tested people aged from 17 to 45 years: the first administered in the context of a general population telephone survey (n = 245) and the second completed during face-to-face interviews of the clientele of an anonymous test centre (n = 250). The test centre sample has higher proportions of younger and single people. Attenders for anonymous testing were more likely to have acquired a new regular partner during the year preceding the interview (48.0% versus 14.4%). These differences remain when controlling for age and gender. Decision to test comes mostly from the respondent's own initiative, but suggestion from a doctor is more frequent in the general population (23.8% versus 0.8%), whereas suggestion from partner or friends is more frequent in the anonymous centre (44.4% versus 3.0%). The anonymous test centre clientele is not different from the general population tested except for the relational situation and origin of decision for testing. The test centre has become a place where the general population finds a response to a situation-specific need for HIV testing.

[Voluntary mercury poisoning: biological consequences and psychiatric significance]. / Intoxication volontaire au mercure: conséquences biologiques et signification psychiatrique.

A young patient suffering from schizophrenia had intense headaches and photophobia which were induced by intra-ocular injections of mercury. The clinical diagnosis was established once foreign bodies were visualized on regular X-rays of the patients skull. The mercury intoxication in combination with the secondary irreversible lesions to the eyes necessitated a bilateral enucleation and the use of a chelating treatment with sodium-dimercapto-1-propane sulfate (DMP). Automutilation is a very rare and dramatic complication of schizophrenia. The psychiatric handling and meaning of such dramatic automutilation is discussed in this case report together with a recent review of the toxicologic treatment of mercury intoxication in humans.

[Perception of anxiety in patients requesting anonymous HIV testing]. / Perception de l'anxiété chez les patients demandant un test VIH anonyme.

To determine the manifestations of anxiety in subjects seeking anonymous HIV testing and the aptitude of professionals to perceive it, we administered a semi-structured questionnaire to 481 persons, 281 before and 200 after instructing the practitioners to better decode anxiety during the consultation. The perception of anxiety by the care-givers was analyzed using the Covi scale. The results show that subjects requesting an HIV test often report stressful relational events. Their anxiety its often underestimated by the care-givers, and aptitude to recognise the patient's emotions can be improved. Prevention and quality of counselling depend on correct perception of the emotions which prompt the subject to request a test.