Management of common musculoskeletal problems: a survey of Ontario primary care physicians.

BACKGROUND: In Canada, primary care physicians manage most musculoskeletal problems. However, their training in this area is limited, and some aspects of management may be suboptimal. This study was conducted to examine primary care physicians' management of 3 common musculoskeletal problems, ascertain the determinants of management and compare management with that recommended by a current practice panel. METHODS: A stratified computer-generated random sample of 798 Ontario members of the College of Family Physicians of Canada received a self-administered questionnaire by mail. Respondents selected various items in the management of 3 hypothetical patients: a 77-year-old woman with a shoulder problem, a 64-year-old man with osteoarthritis of the knee and a 30-year-old man with an acutely hot, swollen knee. Scores reflecting the proportion of recommended investigations, interventions and referrals selected for each scenario were calculated and examined for their association with physician and practice characteristics and physician attitudes. RESULTS: The response rate was 68.3% (529/775 eligible physicians). For the shoulder problem, all of the recommended items were chosen by the majority of respondents. However, of the items not recommended, ordering blood tests was selected by almost half (242 [45.7%]) as was prescribing an NSAID (236 [44.7%]). For the knee osteoarthritis the majority of respondents chose the recommended items except exercise (selected by only 175 [33.1%]). Of the items not recommended, tests were chosen by about half of the respondents and inappropriate referrals (chiefly for orthopedic surgery) were chosen by a quarter. For the acutely hot knee, the majority of physicians chose all of the recommended items except use of ice or heat (selected by only 188 [35.6%]). Although most (415 [78.5%]) of the respondents selected the recommended joint aspiration for this scenario, 84 (15.9%) omitted this investigation or referral to a specialist. The selection of recommended items was strongly associated with training in musculoskeletal specialties during medical school and residency. INTERPRETATION: Primary care physicians' management of 3 common musculoskeletal problems was for the most part in accord with panel recommendations. However, the unnecessary use of diagnostic tests, inappropriate prescribing of NSAIDs, low use of patient-centred options such as exercise, and lack of diagnostic suspicion of infectious arthritis are cause for concern. The results point to the need for increased exposure to musculoskeletal problems during undergraduate and residency training and in continuing medical education.     

Quality of care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis

CONTEXT: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at risk for substantial morbidity because of their arthritis and premature mortality due to comorbid diseases. However, little is known about the quality of the health care that these patients receive. OBJECTIVE: To assess the quality of the health care that rheumatoid arthritis patients receive for their arthritis, comorbid diseases, and health care maintenance and to determine the effect of patterns of specialty care on quality. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Historical cohort study of 1355 adult rheumatoid arthritis patients enrolled in the fee-for-service or discounted fee-for-service plans of a nationwide US insurance company. Patients were identified and followed up through administrative data between 1991 and 1995. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Quality scores for arthritis, comorbid disease, and health care maintenance were developed from performance on explicit process measures that related to each of these domains and described the percentage of indicated health care processes performed within each domain during each person-year of the study. RESULTS: During 4598 person-years of follow-up, quality scores were 62% (95% confidence interval [CI], 61%-64%) for arthritis care, 52% (95% CI, 49%-55%) for comorbid disease care, and 42% (95% CI, 40%-43%) for health care maintenance. Across domains, care patterns including relevant specialists yielded performance scores 30% to 187% higher than those that did not (P<.001) and 45% to 67% of person-years were associated with patterns of care that did not include a relevant specialist. Presence of primary care without specialty care yielded health care maintenance scores that were 43% higher than those for patterns that included neither primary nor relevant specialty care (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: In this population, health care quality appears to be suboptimal for arthritis, comorbid disease, and health care maintenance. Patterns of care that included relevant specialists were associated with substantially higher quality across all domains. Patterns that included generalists were associated with substantially higher quality health care maintenance than patterns that included neither a generalist nor a relevant specialist. The optimal roles of primary care physicians and specialists in the care of patients with complex conditions should be reassessed. JAMA. 2000;284:984-992     

关于痛风诊治决策的调查及相关因素分析

目的 了解国内医生诊治痛风的决策并对相关因素进行分析。方法 对197名医生进行了关于痛风诊治决策的现场问卷调查,同时收集答卷人的个人资料,通过双变量分析和多重Logistic回归分析模型,分析影响决策的相关因素。结果 一共收回120份有效答卷。在诊断痛风时,94名医生（78．3％）认为应该检查患者的关节滑液。在治疗急性痛风发作时,如果患者肾功能良好,83名医生（69．2％）首选口服秋水仙碱;如果患者肾功能不全,50名医生（41．7％）首选皮质激素或促皮质激素。在降血尿酸治疗时,99名医生（82．5％）选择的指征不当,107名医生（89．2％）治疗开始得太早,92名医生（76．7％）用药的时间不够长。另外,在开始降血尿酸治疗的同时,仅有17名医生（14．2％）预防急性痛风的发作。多重Logistic回归分析发现痛风继续教育是医生采取正确诊断方法的相关因素。结论 国内医生诊治痛风的决策与目前国际较为公认的意见并不一致,高质量的医学继续教育有可能提高医生诊治痛风的决策水平。     

Attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide among physicians in Vermont

BACKGROUND: Legislation on physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is being considered in a number of states since the passage of the Oregon Death With Dignity Act in 1994. Opinion assessment surveys have historically assessed particular subsets of physicians. OBJECTIVE: To determine variables predictive of physicians' opinions on PAS in a rural state, Vermont, USA. DESIGN: Cross-sectional mailing survey. PARTICIPANTS: 1052 (48% response rate) physicians licensed by the state of Vermont. RESULTS: Of the respondents, 38.2% believed PAS should be legalised, 16.0% believed it should be prohibited and 26.0% believed it should not be legislated. 15.7% were undecided. Males were more likely than females to favour legalisation (42% vs 34%). Physicians who did not care for patients through the end of life were significantly more likely to favour legalisation of PAS than physicians who do care for patients with terminal illness (48% vs 33%). 30% of the respondents had experienced a request for assistance with suicide. CONCLUSIONS: Vermont physicians' opinions on the legalisation of PAS is sharply polarised. Patient autonomy was a factor strongly associated with opinions in favour of legalisation, whereas the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship was strongly associated with opinions in favour of not legislating PAS. Those in favour of making PAS illegal overwhelmingly cited moral and ethical beliefs as factors in their opinion. Although opinions on legalisation appear to be based on firmly held beliefs, approximately half of Vermont physicians who responded to the survey agree that there is a need for more education in palliative care and pain management.     

Relationships between knowledge and experience in the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic agents. A study of primary care practitioners

The timely dissemination of new medical information is a complex and often faulty process. We surveyed primary care physicians to determine their knowledge and use of disease-modifying antirheumatic agents for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Only 26.2% of patients hospitalized for rheumatoid arthritis had been treated with disease-modifying antirheumatic agents in the past, and 13.9% were presently receiving them. When responding to a clinical vignette on rheumatoid arthritis, only 12% (10/84) of practitioners would implement therapy with disease-modifying antirheumatic agents, while the majority would refer the patient to a rheumatologist. Experience with similar patients was clearly the factor that led to initiation of therapy. While 73% of practitioners were aware of the value of disease-modifying antirheumatic agents, only 14% prescribed them in the last year. These findings suggest that dissemination of information concerning disease-modifying antirheumatic agents has been successful, but the problems inherent in their use result in referral rather than initiation of therapy.     

The University of North Carolina Arthritis Center.

The University of North Carolina Arthritis Center combines the broadly-based research agenda of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center with comprehensive interdisciplinary clinical programs in rheumatology, orthopaedics, and pediatric rheumatology. In keeping with the University's long tradition of service to the people of North Carolina, a primary aim of the Center is to provide the citizens of this state with the best available arthritis care and prevention strategies. The approach here is twofold. New knowledge is created by laboratory investigation of basic disease mechanisms, by clinical studies of new therapies, by social and behavioral research to better understand how patients and their families cope and adjust to chronic arthritis, and by health services research that examines arthritis from a societal perspective. This information, together with advances in rheumatology and related fields from Duke and other institutions, is then applied to optimum clinical and educational services for North Carolina patients and their physicians.     

Impact of patient care appraisal on physician behaviour in the office setting

The effect of patient care appraisal on physicians' management of patients' problems was assessed. Sixteen family physicians were involved. The eight in the experimental group helped in the selection of two of the five disease conditions to be audited and in the generation of optimal criteria of care for two of the conditions. Participation in the generation of optimal criteria was followed by a significant improvement in the physicians' behaviour, but involvement in the selection of the conditions to be audited caused no change. The patient care appraisal did not lead to significant improvement of physicians' management of the conditions. In a second analysis, in which only essential criteria of care were considered, the physicians who participated in the patient care appraisal significantly improved their management of patients' problems. However, participation in the selection of the conditions and in the generation of the criteria of care had no effect on their performance. Patient care appraisal is an effective tool in continuing medical education and leads to improvement in the quality of care, provided the process focuses on essential criteria of care.     

The ethical problem of false positives: a prospective evaluation of physician reporting in the medical record

OBJECTIVE: To determine if the medical record might overestimate the quality of care through false, and potentially unethical, documentation by physicians. DESIGN: Prospective trial comparing two methods for measuring the quality of care for four common outpatient conditions: (1) structured reports by standardised patients (SPs) who presented unannounced to the physicians' clinics, and (2) abstraction of the medical records generated during these visits. SETTING: The general medicine clinics of two veterans affairs medical centres. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty randomly selected physicians (10 at each site) from among eligible second and third year internal medicine residents and attending physicians. Main measurements: Explicit criteria were used to score the medical records of physicians and the reports of SPs generated during 160 visits (8 cases x 20 physicians). Individual scoring items were categorised into four domains of clinical performance: history, physical examination, treatment, and diagnosis. To determine the false positive rate, physician entries were classified as false positive (documented in the record but not reported by the SP), false negative, true positive, and true negative. RESULTS: False positives were identified in the medical record for 6.4% of measured items. The false positive rate was higher for physical examination (0.330) and diagnosis (0.304) than for history (0.166) and treatment (0.082). For individual physician subjects, the false positive rate ranged from 0.098 to 0.397. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that the medical record falsely overestimates the quality of important dimensions of care such as the physical examination. Though it is doubtful that most subjects in our study participated in regular, intentional falsification, we cannot exclude the possibility that false positives were in some instances intentional, and therefore fraudulent, misrepresentations. Further research is needed to explore the questions raised but incompletely answered by this research.     

Early combination disease modifying antirheumatic drug treatment for rheumatoid arthritis

Most people presenting with rheumatoid arthritis today can expect to achieve disease suppression, can avoid or substantially delay joint damage and deformities, and can maintain a good quality of life. Optimal management requires early diagnosis and treatment, usually with combinations of conventional disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). If these do not effect remission, biological DMARDs may be beneficial. Lack of recognition of the early signs of rheumatoid arthritis, ignorance of the benefits of early application of modern treatment regimens, and avoidable delays in securing specialist appointments may hinder achievement of best outcomes for many patients. Triage for recognising possible early rheumatoid arthritis must begin in primary care settings with the following pattern of presentation as a guide: involvement of three or more joints; early-morning joint stiffness of greater than 30 minutes; or bilateral squeeze tenderness at metacarpophalangeal or metatarsophalangeal joints.     

类风湿关节炎患者血清缺氧诱导因子-1α的检测及与关节滑膜病变的相关性

目的探讨类风湿关节炎（RA）患者血清缺氧诱导因子-1α（HIF-1α）水平与关节滑膜病变的关系。方法采用酶联免疫吸附法检测18名健康人、20例骨关节炎（OA）患者及63例RA患者血清中HIF-1α的水平。RA组根据疾病活动评分确定活动组与稳定组,活动组中再根据病程分为早期活动组及中晚期活动组,其中早期活动组22例,中晚期活动组21例,稳定组20例,并分析血清HIF-1α水平与RA关节滑膜病变及病情活动指标的相关性。结果RA组血清HIF-1α水平（064±1．90）ng／ml显著高于OA组（O13±0．01）ng／ml及健康对照组（O．12±0．01）ng／ml,早期活动组RA组血清HIF-1α水平（1．54±3．25）ng／ml显著高于中晚期活动组（0．35±0．35）ng／ml、稳定组患者（0．17±0．09）ng／ml及OA组（013±001）ng／ml;RA患者血清HIF-1α水平与存在滑膜增厚的关节个数计数、28个滑膜增厚的总积分、采集到能量信号的关节个数计数呈正相关,而与存在关节积液的关节个数计数、28个关节积液的总积分、每个关节的滑膜点评分最高的点所得的分数和各关节滑膜内动脉的阻力指数总和、CRP、血沉、血清抗环瓜氨酸抗体、关节肿胀数、关节压痛数、疾病活动度DAS28评分无明显相关性。结论HIF-1α与RA初期滑膜组织增厚相关,检测其血清水平有助于早期诊断RA。     

Effect of nonmedical factors on family physicians' decisions about referral for consultation.

OBJECTIVES: To identify nonmedical factors perceived by family physicians (FPs) and consultants as important influences on decisions about referral for consultation, to determine the relative frequency with which such factors are cited and to identify those factors ranked as most important by the FPs and consultants. DESIGN: Survey with semistructured interview between July 1989 and April 1990. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 41 FPs and 20 consultants who were practising or had practised previously in Nova Scotia. INTERVENTIONS: The questionnaire comprised 10 questions: 4 were nondirective "probes" designed to elicit responses without suggesting possible answers, 2 asked the participants to rank such responses in order of importance, and 4 were "prompts" that asked for comments about a list of factors based on a review of the literature. RESULTS: A total of 4845 discrete items were mentioned as being capable of influencing FPs' decisions about referral for consultation. Aggregation of related items resulted in a list of 35 nonmedical factors, of which 11 were identified by at least half the respondents and 14 by less than half but more than 10. These 25 factors fell into three categories: patient and family factors (e.g., patient's wishes), FP and consultant factors (e.g., FP's capabilities), and other influences (e.g., style of practice). On the basis of both frequency of identification and priority scores "patient's wishes" emerged as the most important factor. Two medical factors that were consistently cited--type of problem and age of patient--were thought to interact with the other factors. CONCLUSION: Certain nonmedical considerations may substantially affect physicians' referral practices.     

Physicians'' perceptions of the effect on clinical services of an alternative funding plan at an academic health sciences centre

BACKGROUND: In July 1994 an alternative funding plan for clinical services (global funding instead of fee-for-service payment) was established at the Southeastern Ontario Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. This study describes the perceptions of the referring physicians and consultants of the effects of the alternative funding plan 2.5 years after it was initiated. METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to all physicians in the Kingston area in November 1996. Information was collected on demographics, referring physicians' perceptions of the funding plan's impact on their practices, consultants' perceptions of its impact on their activities, perceptions of referring and consultant physicians of its impact on services provided by consultants, and attitudes toward alternative funding in the context of the Ontario health care system. RESULTS: Of the 772 physicians 531 (68.8%) returned a completed questionnaire (323 referring physicians and 208 consultants). A sizeable proportion of the referring physicians (126 [39.0%]) indicated that they were referring fewer patients to consultants at the study centre. They did not think that their practice volume had increased, but they did report spending more time on complex cases and on patient care after referral or hospital stay, and more time coordinating community care after hospital stay. Of the consultants 81 (38.9%) believed that their time spent on patient care had increased. No consistent impact on time spent on research or teaching activities was perceived. A total of 54 (26.0%) of the consultants were concerned about the impact of the alternative funding plan on quality of care. A significant proportion of the respondents (399 [75.1%]) believed that outpatient waiting times had increased, and 116 (35.9%) of the referring physicians believed that consultants were not as available by telephone. Most (220 [68.1%]) of the referring physicians believed that the funding change had had a negative effect on health care services in the region, and 87 (41.8%) of the consultants agreed. Nevertheless, the respondents believed that other factors such as funding cuts, hospital bed closures and staff layoffs were much more responsible than the alternative funding plan for their negative perceptions. INTERPRETATION: The alternative funding plan appears to have had an impact on the practices of individual physicians. However, it was not the focus for significant opposition or support from either consultants participating in the funding plan or referring physicians.     

综合护理干预方式对改善类风湿关节炎患者焦虑及抑郁状态的影响

目的探讨综合干预护理方式对改善类风湿关节炎患者焦虑及抑郁状态的有效性。方法将60例人住南京市六合区人民医院的类风湿关节炎患者按就诊顺序分为干预组和对照组,每组各30例。对照组给予常规护理;干预组在常规护理的基础上实施综合干预,包括建立患者个人康复档案,针对患者情况进行集体健康教育,个别心理十预,指导进行关节功能锻炼以及娱乐疗法等。两组在十预前后分别应用Zung自评抑郁量表（SDS）和自评焦虑量表（SAS）评定患者情绪,并比较护理十预前后的分值。结果与国内常模[SDS：（33．46±8．55）分,SAS：（29．78±10．07）分1相比,本研究患者SDS[（44．35±4．11）分1、SAS得分[（42．68±3．46）分1较高,差异有高度统计学意义（P〈0．01）,说明本组患者存在明显的抑郁及焦虑心理。干预组干预后患者的SDS[（36．12±3．62）分]、SAS得分[（34．07±4．74）分]明显低于对照组[SDS：（43．15±3．76）分,SAS：（41．62±3．65）分1,差异有高度统计学意义（P〈0．01）,说明干预组患者焦虑及抑郁状态改善。结论对类风湿关节炎患者实施综合干预能有效改善其焦虑抑郁心理,对提高生命质量有积极作用。     

Factors affecting physicians' decisions on caring for an incompetent elderly patient: an international study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine what treatment decisions physicians will make when faced with a hypothetical incompetent elderly patient with life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding and to examine the relative importance of physician characteristics and factors (legal and ethical concerns, hospital costs, level of dementia, patient's age, physician's religion, patient's wishes and family's wishes) in making those decisions. DESIGN: Survey. SETTING: Family practice, medical and geriatrics rounds in academic medical centres and community hospitals in seven countries. PARTICIPANTS: Physicians who regularly cared for incompetent elderly patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A self-administered questionnaire describing the elderly patient. Respondents were asked to choose one of four levels of care and to identify the level of importance factors had in making that decision. Older physicians, those less concerned about litigation, those for whom the level of dementia was important and those for whom the patient's age was important were expected to give less aggressive care than the other physicians. MAIN RESULTS: Supportive care was chosen by 8.1% of the respondents, limited therapeutic care by 41.5%, maximum therapeutic care without admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) by 32.2% and maximum care with admission to the ICU by 18.2%. The patient's wishes were reported by 91.0% as being extremely or very important in choosing the treatment. Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that the following variables independently predicted the level of treatment: level of dementia, country of residence, duration of practice, legal concerns, patient's age and ethical concerns. These factors were significantly correlated with the physicians' treatment choices (p less than 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The importance that the physicians placed on the level of dementia was the strongest predictor of the level of care that would be provided. A societal consensus on the influence of cognitive function on the appropriate level of care as well as training of physicians in ethical issues are required.     

Use of adult psychiatric services by primary care physicians in midwestern cities

Primary care physicians in the tri-state area of Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota were surveyed concerning their baseline practices in requesting psychiatric consultations, and their recommendations for improvement in psychiatric consultation. A two-page questionnaire was used to collect data. The information obtained was analyzed by tetrachoric correlations. Our results indicate that most primary care physicians refer patients to psychiatrists and prescribe psychotropic medications. It was generally noted that the respondents do not do psychotherapy themselves. In contrast to studies from other areas, our research showed that the symptoms which prompted psychiatric referral the most are psychosis and depression. Suggestions for improvement in psychiatric consultations included that psychiatrists need to be more available to the primary care practitioner. It was also indicated that financial constraints, social stigma and psychiatric shortage were problems in referral of patients to psychiatrists.     

药物联合物理疗法治疗类风湿关节炎48例疗效观察

目的比较药物联合物理治疗与单纯药物治疗类风湿关节炎（RA）的短期临床疗效。方法随机双盲平行试验,纳入72例活动性RA患者,按2：1的比例被随机分配到试验组48和对照组24例。试验组为传统药物（来氟米特20 mg,1次/d＋甲氨蝶呤10 mg,1次/周＋非甾类抗炎药）联合物理治疗（超声波＋微波＋电疗）组,对照组为单纯传统药物（来氟米特＋甲氨蝶呤＋非甾类抗炎药）治疗组。受试者在试验第1周和第2周随访,评价疗效。同时比较两组患者的压痛和肿胀关节数、晨僵时间、疼痛视觉模拟评分（VAS评分）、健康评估问卷（HAQ）以及实验室炎症指标红细胞沉降率（ESR）、C-反应蛋白（CRP）。结果治疗1周及2周后试验组患者ACR20、ACR50缓解的比例都显著高于对照组（P〈0.05）;试验组患者疗效指标均较治疗前水平明显降低（P〈0.01）;两组患者的实验室炎症指标ESR、CRP均较治疗前水平显著降低（P〈0.05）。结论药物联合物理治疗RA的短期疗效明显优于单纯药物治疗,可1周内明显改善各项临床症状、体征,降低实验室炎症指标,提高患者生活质量。     

类风湿关节炎中医证候量表条目筛选简

目的：制定类风湿关节炎中医证候量表,应用多种统计学方法筛选并优化条目。方法：采用横断面调查法,对符合纳入标准的201名类风湿关节炎患者实施问卷调查,运用频数分析法、因子分析法、相关系数法、逐步回归分析、克朗巴赫系数法和重复测量等筛选方法对资料数据进行分析。结果：通过多种方法的联合应用,最终保留了35个四诊条目,构成了类风湿关节炎中医证候量表。结论：条目的筛选,可综合运用多种统计学方法,掌握保留条目的尺度,才能保证量表有良好的信效度。     

Effect of medicolegal liability on patterns of general and family practice in Canada.

As part of the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Review on Liability and Compensation Issues in Health Care, in 1988 we surveyed Canadian general practitioners and family physicians to determine the effect of liability concerns on their practices in the previous 5 years. Questionnaires were sent to a random, stratified national sample of 1295 physicians, with a response rate of 64.6%. However, a high proportion of the returned questionnaires were ineligible because the physicians were not in general or family practice, were not involved in direct patient care, or had died or moved; thus, the corrected response rate was 50.8%. The newsletter of the Canadian Medical Protective Association was the source of information on liability most frequently cited (by 88.1% of the physicians) and most influential (to 62.4%). Only 15.5% of the physicians cited personal involvement with medicolegal issues as a source of information; the rate was higher for Ontario physicians and those in urban areas generally. A total of 74.6% of the respondents had altered their style of practice in the previous 5 years, and 56.3% reported changes in the scope of their practice. Concern about litigation was the most important reason for changing style of practice and reducing or eliminating administration of anesthesia, whereas lifestyle and other issues along with liability concerns most influenced decisions to reduce obstetric care and emergency department work. Our findings suggest that physicians' perceptions of liability issues have had a profound influence on primary care practice in Canada in the past several years.     

动静结合康复疗法在早中期类风湿关节炎中的应用

目的探讨动静结合康复疗法对早中期类风湿关节炎（RA）患者的康复效果。方法将早中期（关节功能障碍分级在Ⅲ级及以下者）RA患者63例随机分为干预组33例和对照组30例。对照组采用药物、理疗常规治疗法，而干预组则在此基础上采用动静结合康复疗法，用视觉模拟评分法比较两组疼痛改善效果，评价两组晨僵时间、关节功能障碍改善程度。结果治疗后干预组关节疼痛评分低于对照组，两组比较差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05），治疗后干预组关节晨僵时间短于对照组，两组比较差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。干预组及对照组治疗后关节功能障碍程度均有改善，但对照组效果不及干预组，两组比较差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。结论动静结合康复疗法能明显改善早中期RA患者病情，具有良好的康复效果。