May 15, 2010

Family physicians often lead the interdisciplinary team responsible for the care of nursing home residents. Nursing home care is a complex process that includes ongoing clinical assessment, communication among numerous health care professionals, advance care planning, and…

Nursing home care often includes specific clinical issues, such as nutrition, frailty, chronic pain, and deteriorating physical function and cognition. Understanding the differences between addressing these issues in the nursing home compared with the community setting is…

Acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection should be considered in patients presenting with unexplained, nonspecific symptoms, such as fever and malaise. HIV RNA viral load is the preferred diagnostic test for acute infection. After diagnosis, physicians should educate…

In addition to cancer recurrence, adult survivors of childhood cancer are at an increased risk of long-term morbidities from adverse effects of cancer treatment. Their care plan should be individualized based on each patient's risk factors for future morbidity, including…

AAFP Board Adopts CMSS Code of Standards for Business Interactions | MedPAC Report Addresses Medical Malpractice Reform Approaches | FDA Issues Final Rule to Phase Out All Chlorofluorocarbon Inhalers | IOM Report Says Average Sodium Intake Is Too High and Urges FDA to Set…

It has been demonstrated that the presence of a certified medical director is an independent predictor of nursing home quality.1 Medical leadership and expertise are critical given the complex medical care of persons living in nursing homes and other long-term care settings.

Which antidepressants should be used for the initial treatment of depression? This quality multiple-treatment meta-analysis gives physicians a good starting point for choosing an antidepressant. Sertraline and escitalopram should be considered first-line agents whereas…

Advisory committees perform pivotal tasks at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), informing funding decisions, helping establish research priorities, and contributing to the vision for the nation's biomedical research agenda. Family medicine has not had a substantial role…

What are the effects of interventions at the end of life in persons with delirium caused by underlying terminal illness?

Photo Quiz presents readers with a clinical challenge based on a photograph or other image.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends interventions during pregnancy and after birth to promote and support breastfeeding.

Case study: L.M. is a 19-year-old woman who is pregnant for the first time. During her first prenatal visit, you ask what she has heard about breastfeeding.

Diagnosis of GERD may be clinical (presentation with typical symptoms, such as heartburn); physiologic (evidence of abnormal pH levels in the distal esophagus); anatomic (evidence of esophagitis on endoscopy); or functional (clinical response to antacid medications). However…

Febuxostat more effectively lowers serum uric acid to goal levels than does allopurinol; however, this benefit is offset by a slightly higher incidence of adverse effects and treatment discontinuation. Until superiority for patient-oriented outcomes is shown in comparative…

The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation has released evidence-based guidelines for the evaluation and management of hoarseness. The goals of the guidelines are to improve diagnostic accuracy; reduce inappropriate medication and imaging use; and…

Letter

Almost 12,000 American children are diagnosed with cancer every year, although most survive if they get treatment. When these children become adults, the cancer they had is called childhood cancer.