The impact of neighborhoods and friendships on interracial anxiety among medical students and residents: A report from the medical student CHANGES study

Objective

To examine the experience of interracial anxiety among health professionals and how it may affect the quality of their interactions with patients from racially marginalized populations. We explored the influence of prior interracial exposure—specifically through childhood neighborhoods, college student bodies, and friend groups—on interracial anxiety among medical students and residents. We also examined whether levels of interracial anxiety change from medical school through residency.

Data Source

Web-based longitudinal survey data from the Medical Student Cognitive Habits and Growth Evaluation Study.

Study Design

We used a retrospective longitudinal design with four observations for each trainee. The study population consisted of non-Black US medical trainees surveyed in their 1st and 4th years of medical school and 2nd and 3rd years of residency. Mixed effects longitudinal models were used to assess predictors of interracial anxiety and assess changes in interracial anxiety scores over time.

Principal Findings

In total, 3155 non-Black medical trainees were followed for 7 years. Seventy-eight percent grew up in predominantly White neighborhoods. Living in predominantly White neighborhoods and having less racially diverse friends were associated with higher levels of interracial anxiety among medical trainees. Trainees' interracial anxiety scores did not substantially change over time; interracial anxiety was highest in the 1st year of medical school, lowest in the 4th year, and increased slightly during residency.

Conclusions

Neighborhood and friend group composition had independent effects on interracial anxiety, indicating that premedical racial socialization may affect medical trainees' preparedness to interact effectively with diverse patient populations. Additionally, the lack of substantial change in interracial anxiety throughout medical training suggests the importance of providing curricular tools and structure (e.g., instituting interracial cooperative learning activities) to foster the development of healthy interracial relationships.     

Rapid cation-exchange high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure for the separation and quantitation of hemoglobins S, C, and O Arab in cord blood samples

A rapid method for separating and quantitating hemoglobin (Hb) variants in cord blood samples using cation high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The procedure is a modification of a previously published method, and uses a weak cation-exchange Brownlee-3CM column and Bis-Tris-KCN-Na acetate developers. A chromatogram can be completed in 10 minutes. The slow-moving variants, Hbs S, C, and O Arab, can be completely separated from each other and are identified by their elution times relative to Hb A. Hb E elutes as a shoulder on the descending side of Hb A, which is characteristic for this variant in this procedure. Differentiation between heterozygous, homozygous, and Hb X-beta+-thalassemia conditions is easily made.     

Long-term course of epilepsy in a large cohort of intellectually disabled patients.

This study was designed to describe the course of epilepsy (in terms of seizure frequency) and to assess the variables (antiepileptic therapy regimens and others) correlated to improvement. Seizure frequency (categories: seizure free, more than one seizure/year, monthly seizures, weekly seizures and daily seizures) and antiepileptic medication were retrospectively compared between 1992 and 2002 in a large cohort of 550 inpatients with chronic epilepsy and different degrees of intellectual disability or multiple handicaps. RESULTS: Seizure frequency decreased significantly (p<0.001). 218 of the 394 patients (55.3%) not seizure free in 1992 improved (changed into a better frequency category). The improvement rate was marginally higher in patients who had undergone a medication change (p=0.08). A high seizure frequency in 1992 (p=0.016) and older age (p=0.006), but not epilepsy syndrome or degree of intellectual disability, were predictors for improvement (stepwise logistic regression analysis). 56.4% of the improved patients were on combinations of two AEDs (17.4%, monotherapy; 20.2%, triple therapy). The most frequent therapy regimens in the improved patients were lamotrigine/valproate (48 patients), carbamazepine/phenobarbital (21) and carbamazepine only (19). Lamotrigine/valproate was effective in all kinds of epileptic syndromes. Most patients on lamotrigine had serum concentrations above 10microg/ml, approximately one half had dosages above 200mg/day. The rate of seizure freedom increased from 28.4 to 37.6%. The 84% of the patients seizure free in 1992 remained seizure free. Predictors for seizure freedom in 2002 were higher age (stepwise logistic regression, p<0.0005) and seizure freedom in 1992 (p<0.0005). CONCLUSIONS: Substantial improvement can be achieved even in intellectually disabled patients with chronic epilepsy. Although the rate of seizure freedom is reduced in comparison with a non-ID population, once seizure freedom has been achieved it is most likely to continue. For a majority of this patient population, monotherapy may not be sufficient. Lamotrigine/valproate appears to be a major therapeutic innovation.     

Experiences with psychotherapy for depression in routine care: a naturalistic patient survey in Germany

The present survey assessed consumer satisfaction of patients having undergone psychotherapy for depression as well as service characteristics including treatment access, communication of diagnosis and treatment rationale, quality assurance and adverse events. The study was conducted in the form of a 15‐item questionnaire that was published in one of Germany's leading health magazines. 473 persons responded (81.5% women, age range 17–83). 49.8% of the respondents reported substantial or reasonable improvement; two out of three patients stated they had been satisfied with their therapy. Improvement and satisfaction were greater in those patients who had been informed about diagnosis and treatment; they were lower when unpleasant experiences were reported. Methodological restrictions of the study are outlined and hypotheses about potential strengths and deficits in the delivery of psychotherapy for depression in Germany are proposed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Review of determinants of patients' preferences for adjuvant therapy in cancer.

PURPOSE: Many studies have determined cancer patients' preferences for adjuvant therapy, for example, by asking patients the extent of benefit they would need in order to accept the therapy. However, little is known about the determinants that influence these preferences. Our research goal was to explore which determinants underlie patients' preferences by means of a literature review. METHODS: PubMed searches were conducted to identify studies in which cancer patients' preferences for adjuvant therapy had been elicited by means of a treatment preference instrument. Twenty-three papers were evaluated with regard to reported relationships between preferences and potential determinants. A total of 40 determinants were recorded and classified into one of seven categories: (1) treatment-related determinants, (2) sociodemographic characteristics and current quality of life, (3) clinical characteristics, (4) measurement instrument-related determinants, (5) time-related determinants, (6) cognitive/affective determinants, and (7) specialist-related determinants. Results: The benefit and toxicity of treatment, experience of the treatment, and having dependents (eg, children) living at home were important determinants of patients' preferences. Furthermore, qualitative data suggested that cognitive/affective and specialist-related determinants might have a large impact on patients' treatment preferences. CONCLUSION: Our results show that patients' preferences cannot fully be explained on the basis of treatment-related determinants and patient and clinical characteristics. More research is needed in the area of cognitive/affective and specialist-related determinants because of the lack of quantitative results. Furthermore, we recommend carrying out larger studies in which the (internal) relationships between determinants and preferences are assessed in the context of a cognitive cost-benefit model.     

Characterization of normal and infarcted rat myocardium using a combination of small-animal PET and clinical MRI.

The combination of small-animal PET and MRI data provides quantitative in vivo insights into cardiac pathophysiology, integrating information on biology and morphology. We sought to determine the feasibility of PET and MRI for the quantification of ischemic injury in the rat model. METHODS: Fourteen healthy male Wistar rats were studied with 18F-FDG PET and cine MRI. Myocardial viability was determined in a transmural myocardial infarction model in 12 additional rats, using 18F-FDG PET and delayed-enhancement MRI with gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid. All PET was acquired with a dedicated small-animal PET system. MRI was performed on a 1.5-T clinical tomograph with a dedicated small-animal electrocardiographic triggering device and a small surface coil. RESULTS: In normal rats, 18F-FDG uptake was homogeneous throughout the left ventricle. The lowest mean uptake of the 18F-FDG was found in the apical regions (79% +/- 6.0% of maximum) and the highest uptake was in the anterior wall (93% +/- 4.3 % of maximum). Myocardial infarct size as determined by histology correlated well with defects of glucose metabolism obtained with 18F-FDG PET (r = 0.89) and also with delayed-enhancement MRI (r = 0.91). Left ventricular ejection fraction in normal rats measured by cine MRI was 57% +/- 5.4% and decreased to 38% +/- 12.9% (P < 0.001) in the myocardial infarction model. CONCLUSION: Integrating information from small-animal PET and clinical MRI instrumentation allows for the quantitative assessment of cardiac function and infarct size in the rat model. The MRI measurements of scar can be complemented by metabolic imaging, addressing the extent and severity of ischemic injury and providing endpoints for therapeutic interventions.     

Impact of a region-wide approach to improving systems for heart attack care: the West Midlands thrombolysis project.

OBJECTIVE: To describe changes in delay to administration of thrombolytic therapy associated with a region-wide audit. DESIGN: Observational study of patients admitted with suspected myocardial infarction (MI) based on continuous audit. SUBJECTS: 18877 patients admitted to 23 hospitals with suspected MI between April 1995 and March 1998. RESULTS: Of 11232 patients with a discharge diagnosis of definite MI, 8802 (46.6%) received thrombolytic therapy during hospitalisation, with 5155 patients eligible for treatment on admission to hospital on the basis of established indications. Call-to-needle time for those eligible for treatment on admission fell from median 105 min in the first year of the project to 85 min in year 3 (P<0.001), and door-to-needle time fell from 45 to 35 min (P<0.001). Forty percent of eligible patients were treated within the then current national standard of 90 min from time of call for help, with nearly 49% in the final year and 20% being treated within the new national standard of 60 min, by the third year. CONCLUSION: The proportion of eligible patients receiving thrombolysis within 1 h of the call for help doubled during the 3-year project but the majority of patients still wait longer than 60-min 'call-to-needle'. New systems to reduce delays to administration of thrombolysis to within 60 min of call for help are required, including consideration of pre-hospital treatment.