ISRN Family Medicine

Objective. Currently, an overview of the management of knee pain in general practitioner's offices is not available. The main concern of this study was to evaluate the consultation prevalence of knee pain, accompanying symptoms, the frequency of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and results of encounters of patients suffering from knee pain. Methods. For the SESAM 2 study cross-sectional data was collected from randomly selected patients during one year and compared with publicly available data from the Dutch Transition Project...

Background. Key factors for the effective chronic disease management (CDM) include the availability of practical and effective computer tools and continuing professional development/education. This study tested the effectiveness of a computer assisted chronic disease management tool, a broadband-based service known as cdmNet in increasing the development of care plans for patients with chronic disease in general practice. Methodology. Mixed methods are the breakthrough series methodology (workshops and plan-do-study-act cycles) and semistructured interviews...

Background. Primary healthcare (PHC) renewal gives rise to important challenges for policy makers, managers, and researchers in most countries. Evaluating new emerging forms of organizations is therefore of prime importance in assessing the impact of these policies. This paper presents a set of methods related to the configurational approach and an organizational taxonomy derived from our analysis. Methods. In 2005, we carried out a study on PHC in two health and social services regions of Quebec that included urban, suburban, and rural areas...

The purpose of this study was to explore the continuing impact of growing up with an ill sibling on well siblings' late adolescent functioning. Forty late adolescents (M age = 18.78, SD = 0.83), who identified themselves as growing up with an ill sibling, completed a semistructured interview, demographic questionnaire, Personality Assessment Screener, and My Feelings and Concerns Sibling Questionnaire. Participants reported clinically significant problems on some PAS scales, and gender differences were found for acting out and alienation...

In Australia, type 2 diabetes and prediabetes are more prevalent in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities than mainstream Australians. Purpose. To develop, implement, and evaluate culturally sensitive peer-supported diabetes education program for the prevention of type 2 diabetes in high-risk middle-aged Turkish- and Arabic-speaking people. Methods. A two-day training program was developed. Ten bilingual peer leaders were recruited from existing health and social networks in Melbourne and were trained by diabetes educators...

Context. Binge drinking (more than five drinks on one occasion) is a major public health problem among teenagers in the US, Canada, and Europe. Negative outcomes to binge drinking include alcohol related injuries and accidental death. Family physicians are the main point of contact between binging adolescents and the health care system. Design and Setting. This study was based on a secondary analysis of 6,607 respondents aged 15-17 from the regionally representative data acquired through the Canadian Community Health Survey 1...

The family practitioner plays an important role in the prevention, diagnosis, and early management of chronic pain. He/she is generally the first to be consulted, the one most familiar with the patients and their medical history, and is likely the first to be alerted in case of inadequate pain control or safety and tolerability issues. The family practitioner should therefore be at the center of the multidisciplinary team involved in a patient's pain management. The most frequent indications associated with chronic pain in family practice are of musculoskeletal origin, and the pain is often multimechanistic...

Health literacy affects caregivers' ability to engage in preventive health care behaviors for themselves and their children. Studies suggest that health literacy among low-income families needs improvement, and this possibly contributes to disparities in preventive health care rates. Additionally, parents and caregivers may not be able to provide or seek preventive health care for their children because of lack of knowledge and skills to do so effectively. This study designed and piloted an intervention that delivered to parents of young children (1) health literacy information in an experiential manner and (2) practical skills to engage their families in healthy lifestyle choices...