Articles
Apophysitis and Osteochondrosis: Common Causes of Pain in Growing Bones
Apophysitis is responsible for a large percentage of visits by school-aged children to a health care professional each year for a sports injury. The age of onset can vary, but these disorders are notable during episodes of growth when bone lengthening outpaces lengthening of…
Depression and Anxiety Disorders: Benefits of Exercise, Yoga, and Meditation
Many people with depression or anxiety turn to nonpharmacologic and nonconventional interventions, including exercise, yoga, meditation, tai chi, or qi gong. As an adjunctive treatment, exercise seems most helpful for treatment-resistant depression, unipolar depression, and…
Lice and Scabies: Treatment Update
Pruritus is the most common presenting symptom of lice and scabies. Diagnosis of a lice infestation requires the visualization of at least one live louse. The presence of nits does not necessarily signify an active infestation. Treatments include insecticides and…
Editorials
What Evidence Do We Need Before Recommending Routine Screening for Social Determinants of Health?
Social determinants have a large effect on patients' health and well-being. Primary care clinicians need more evidence about their role in addressing social determinants of health, and community resources and public health support are needed to help patients with unmet social…
AFP Clinical Answers
Postoperative Pain, Acute Stroke, Hormone Therapy, Diet to Improve Cardiovascular Risk, Ovarian Cancer
Key clinical questions and their evidence-based answers directly from the journal’s content, written by and for family physicians.
STEPS
Glycopyrrolate (Lonhala Magnair) for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Glycopyrrolate is a safe alternative to long-acting muscarinic antagonists delivered by metered-dose inhaler for patients with moderate to severe COPD.
Putting Prevention Into Practice
Screening for Intimate Partner Violence, Elder Abuse, and Abuse of Vulnerable Adults
A.F., a 32-year-old woman, presents for a health maintenance visit. It has been more than a year since she was last seen. She has no significant medical history and has never used tobacco, alcohol, or any other substances.
Photo Quiz
Unpleasant Foot Odor and Skin Changes
A woman presented with several months of increasingly problematic foot odor. Physical examination revealed small pits in the skin on her soles and a slight scale over the plantar surface of both feet.
Practice Guidelines
Chronic Cough After Acute Viral Bronchiolitis: Suggestions from the ACCP
To address the high prevalence of bronchiolitis, the effects of chronic cough on patients' quality of life, and adverse effects from inappropriate use of medications, an expert panel from the American College of Chest Physicians performed systematic reviews to develop several…
POEMs
FIT Has Similar Yield as Colonoscopy for Colorectal Cancer and Advanced Adenoma Over 10 Years
Over a 10-year period, the rates of detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) and advanced adenomas using FIT are similar to those seen in studies of screening colonoscopy. This does not prove that FIT reduces morbidity and mortality due to CRC as effectively as colonoscopy.
Limited Data: Deprescribing Is Safe, But at the Risk of Symptom Recurrence
The limited rigorous data on deprescribing suggest that many patients can safely stop unnecessary medication, but symptom relapse is significant.
Risk of GI Bleeding Highest with Rivaroxaban, Lower with Apixaban, and Lowest with PPI Cotherapy
Among patients using oral anticoagulants alone, the risk of hospitalization for upper GI tract bleeding is highest with rivaroxaban (Xarelto) and lowest with apixaban (Eliquis).
Simple Clinical Prediction Rule Determines Risk of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction
A simple clinical prediction rule using noninvasive data can identify patients at low, moderate, and high risk for HFPEF.
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
Screening for Intimate Partner Violence, Elder Abuse, and Abuse of Vulnerable Adults: Recommendation Statement
The USPSTF recommends that clinicians screen for intimate partner violence (IPV) in women of reproductive age and provide or refer women who screen positive to ongoing support services.
Information from Your Family Doctor
Lice and Scabies
Lice are small parasites (bugs) that live on hair-covered skin. They are often connected to the base of the hair on the scalp or in the pubic area. When you have lice, it is called pediculosis (say: puh-DIK-yuh-LOW-sis).
