Review Article

Pirfenidone and Nintedanib for Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is one of the most common entities of the family of disorders known as the interstitial lung diseases. It is a chronic, progressive, and often-fatal disease with a median survival time of 3 to 5 years. In 2014 the US Food and Drug Administration approved pirfenidone and…

Original Article

Do Mixed-Flora Preoperative Urine Cultures Matter?

Objectives: To determine whether mixed-flora preoperative urine cultures, as compared with no-growth preoperative urine cultures, are associated with a higher prevalence of postoperative urinary tract infections (UTIs). Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. Women who underwent urogynecologic surgery were included if their preoperative clean-catch urine culture result was mixed…

Original Article

Dissemination Approaches to Participating Primary Care Providers in a Quality Improvement Program Addressing Opioid Use in Central Appalachia

Objectives: Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) have been described as new clinical laboratories for primary care research and dissemination. PBRNs, however, have struggled to disseminate research results in a meaningful way to participating providers and clinics. Methods: The Central Appalachia Inter-Professional Pain Education Collaborative was developed to work with PBRN clinics…

Original Article

Effect of Diet Liberalization on Bowel Preparation

Objectives: Precolonoscopy dietary regimens often are restricted to clear liquids; however, the superiority of a clear liquid diet (CLD) for bowel preparation quality is ambiguous. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing bowel preparation outcomes between a low-residue diet (LRD) or regular diet (RD) compared with a CLD. Methods:…

Letter to the Editor

Can Computers Be Made to Respect the Art of Medicine?

To the Editor: One of the common criticisms of the application of automated medical decision pathways is that although they may yield the correct answer in the case of straightforward clinical presentations, they fail to capture the nuances of more complex scenarios in which human clinical judgment and the art…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Effects of a 12-Month Educational Intervention on Clinicians’ Attitudes/Practices Regarding the Screening Spiritual History”

The interventional study by Koenig and colleagues charts the change in physician habits and perceived importance of taking a screening spiritual history (SSH) for patients.1 Two important findings bear further attention. First, physicians who “always/often” took an SSH increased from 17% to 35%, and, second, exposure to SSH training during…

Original Article

Effects of a 12-Month Educational Intervention on Clinicians’ Attitudes/Practices Regarding the Screening Spiritual History

Objectives: Patients’ spiritual values, beliefs, and preferences are identified in outpatient medical settings by the taking of a screening spiritual history (SSH). We report the impact of an educational/training program on the attitudes/practices of physicians (MDs) and midlevel practitioners (MLPs). Methods: A convenience sample of 1082 MDs or MLPs in…

Original Article

Colon Cancer Screening in Concierge Practice

Objectives: This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Center for Executive Medicine (CEM) concierge primary care practice on preventive colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates relative to local and national comparator data. Methods: We performed an electronic medical record search encompassing our entire patient population who are between the ages of…

Original Article

Association of White Matter Lesions, Cerebral Atrophy, Intracranial Extravascular Calcifications, and Ventricular-Communicating Hydrocephalus with Delirium Among Veterans

Objectives: The literature regarding the underlying neuropathogenesis of delirium on head computed tomography (CT) is limited. The aim of this research was to investigate, using case–control retrospective chart review, the association of white matter lesions (WML), cerebral atrophy, intracranial extravascular calcifications, and ventricular-communicating hydrocephalus in older adult military veterans with…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Do Mixed-Flora Preoperative Urine Cultures Matter?”

Urogynecologic and urologic surgeons routinely diagnose and treat postoperative urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women. Often already uncomfortable from surgical pain, these patients can be frustrated upon receiving a diagnosis of a UTI. As such, it would be optimal if surgeons could identify those patients at risk for postoperative UTI…

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