Sinusitis. A review for generalists.

A frequent complication of the common cold, sinusitis is one of the most prevalent problems seen in general medical and emergency department practices. In addition, nosocomial sinus infection, particularly in intensive care units, is being recognized more frequently. Decision making about managing patients with sinusitis is based primarily on the history and, to a lesser extent, the findings of the physical examination.

Role modeling in medical education.

Role models play an important part in determining how medical trainees mature professionally. Demonstrating clinical skills at the bedside is the most distinctive characteristic of an effective role model. We discuss how role modeling affects professional identity and career choice and offer several suggestions for improving medical education, including the need for leaders to change the educational climate and culture. If implemented, these changes would enhance our ability to provide medical students with positive role models.

Uncommon headaches: diagnosis and treatment.

Headaches associated with exercise, cough, and sexual activity may present a diagnostic challenge in the emergency room or primary care provider's office. The majority of these patients have no underlying intracranial pathologic condition and have a good prognosis. However, new onset of these types of headache, with or without accompanying neurologic deficit, is an indication to exclude life-threatening conditions such as subarachnoid bleeding with neuroimaging and CSF examination. Since the pathophysiology is poorly understood, treatment choices are limited. Further research is needed to elucidate the pathophysiologic mechanisms of these uncommon headaches and to assess the cost-effectiveness of various diagnostic and follow-up strategies.

Outpatients' attitudes and understanding regarding living wills.

OBJECTIVE: To assess outpatients' attitudes toward and understanding of a standard living will. DESIGN: Survey using a self-administered questionnaire that patients completed after they had read a sample living will. SETTING: General medicine clinic of a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. PATIENTS: Two hundred fourteen patients (85% of those approached) attending a continuity care clinic appointment. Eighty-seven percent were men; mean age was 60 years. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patients' attitudes toward living wills, understanding of the terminology contained in living wills, desire to discuss living wills with their doctors, and desire to prepare a living will. RESULTS: Seventy-two percent of the patients had prior knowledge of living wills, though only 53% had discussed the topic with family members and only 14% with physicians. Half felt that the living will terminology should be simplified, and 55% were unable to identify the correct definition for at least one commonly used term. Desire to prepare a living will was positively associated with better understanding of the sample document and previous knowledge of and exposure to living wills, and was negatively associated with concern about its use and revocability (all p < 0.001). Patients who reported poor understanding of the living will were more likely to want to discuss the topic with a physician (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In this ambulatory patient population attitudes toward living wills were influenced by knowledge and understanding of these documents. Primary care physicians and institutions should develop patient education strategies that enhance understanding of advance directives.

Disposable products in the hospital waste stream.

Use of disposable products in hospitals continues to increase despite limited landfill space and dwindling natural resources. We analyzed the use and disposal patterns of disposable hospital products to identify means of reducing noninfectious, nonhazardous hospital waste. In a 385-bed private teaching hospital, the 20 disposable products of which the greatest amounts (by weight) were purchased, were identified, and total hospital waste was tabulated. Samples of trash from three areas were sorted and weighed, and potential waste reductions from recycling and substituting reusable items were calculated. Business paper, trash liners, diapers, custom surgical packs, paper gowns, plastic suction bottles, and egg-crate pads were among the 20 top items and were analyzed individually. Data from sorted trash documented potential waste reductions through recycling and substitution of 78, 41, and 18 tonnes per year (1 tonne = 1,000 kg = 1.1 tons) from administration, the operating room, and adult wards, respectively (total hospital waste was 939 tonnes per year). We offer specific measures to substantially reduce nonhazardous hospital waste through substitution, minimization, and recycling of select disposable products.

Outreach health services for street youth.

A voluntary health agency operated a clinic at a drop-in center for street youth. Six hundred nine youths were seen, with an average age of 16 years, 9 months. There were 2,086 diagnoses made during 1,895 visits. Respiratory, dermatologic, and gynecologic problems represented 56% of all diagnoses. Pregnancy tests accounted for 38% of all procedures, 50% of all medications dispensed were either oral antibiotics or decongestants, and 17% of the visits resulted in referrals. This chart review revealed that street youth seen at a drop-in center sought care for common medical problems. Problems related to substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases were seen much less frequently than anticipated. Elements critical to the success of this clinic included its on-site location, hours of operation when teenagers were using other services, close working relationships between clinic and center staffs, the capability to perform a few simple laboratory procedures, and an on-site pharmacy.

Health care for the homeless in a national health program.

To assess the impact of adoption of a national health program on homeless care in the United States, care for this group in Britain's National Health Service (NHS) was evaluated. Although hospital and medication charges are eliminated, primary care for the homeless lacks central government directive, suffers from overlap of statutory agencies and mechanistic biases, is disproportionately delivered in emergency rooms, and has relied on advocacy by the non-profit sector. Disadvantages of this void in NHS provision are marginalization of the homeless and continuation of a two-class care system. Removal of financial barriers to care by enactment of a national health program in the US would not solve all issues related to delivery of quality care for the homeless unless its structure addressed the special needs of disenfranchised groups.

Back pain and epidural spinal cord compression.

The physician must have a high index of suspicion to detect SCC early in patients with malignancy. Back pain is the first symptom in almost all patients, and the diagnosis should be considered for all older patients with back pain. Asking about back pain should be a routine part of the review of systems, especially for patients with known malignancies. Clinically, it is impossible to tell whether or not a patient who has back pain and cancer has epidural SCC. Patients may be stratified as to the likelihood of SCC using the history and physical examination, but the diagnosis relies on radiographic visualization of the spinal cord. It may be acceptable to closely follow patients with normal neurologic examinations and normal plain films, but even this is controversial and includes only a minority of patients. Myelography remains the test of choice. MRI will play an increasingly important role in the future, but has not yet been systematically evaluated. The best therapeutic approach is not clear, but standard treatment is only about 50% effective in all cases. At present, radiation therapy is the treatment of choice for many patients, in particular those who are ambulatory at diagnosis. Anterior resection with vertebral body reconstruction is an exciting approach and may substantially improve the prognosis for patients who are paraparetic or paraplegic. It is important to attempt to choose for each patient the diagnostic and therapeutic options offering the best chance for comfort and preservation of function. The decision of how or even whether to treat is multifactorial and is more complicated than the determination of simply whether or not compression is present.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Physician house call services for medically needy, inner-city residents.

To increase access to services, a non-profit, voluntary health agency was developed to provide on-site services to residents of hotels and night shelters in the Skid Road area of Portland, Oregon. From a hotel-based clinic site, volunteer physicians, nurses, and medical students make house calls. During the first 18 months, 1,184 evaluations were made, and 21 hotels and two shelters visited. Volunteers were well accepted by residents and served as members of case management teams. The additional benefits of such a program vis-a-vis extension of local government's mission and student education are discussed.

Low back pain.

Low back pain is one of the most common and costly afflictions of our Society. The majority of adults will have at least one episode of acute low back pain that will likely resolve regardless of treatment. Lumbar spine radiographs are overused and there is little scientific support for many of the therapeutic interventions advocated. Even for those patients with symptomatic herniated disc, only a small fraction will ultimately require surgical intervention.