OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of a cholesterol-lowering intervention designed to facilitate the management of hypercholesterolemia by primary care clinicians. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial, with randomization of clinician-patient groups. SETTING: Twenty-one community and rural health centers in North Carolina and Virginia. PARTICIPANTS: Primary care clinicians (n = 42, 71% physicians) and the patients they enrolled with high cholesterol (n = 372). Twenty-two clinicians were randomized to give the special intervention (184 patients) and 20 to give usual care (188 patients). Two thirds of participating patients were women, 40% were African American, and 11% were Native American. INTERVENTION: A 90-minute tutorial to train clinicians how to use a structured assessment and treatment program (Food for Heart Program) consisting of a brief dietary assessment and three 5- to 10-minute dietary counseling sessions given by the primary care clinician, referral to a local dietitian if the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) remained elevated at 4-month follow-up, and a prompt for the clinician to consider lipid-lowering medication based on the LDL-C at 7-month follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in total and LDL cholesterol at 4-month follow-up and averaged over a 1-year follow-up period (4-, 7-, and 12-month follow-up). RESULTS: At 4-month follow-up, total cholesterol decreased 0.33 mmol/L (12.6 mg/dL) in the intervention group and 0.21 mmol/L (8.3 mg/dL) in the control group: the difference was 0.11 mmol/L (4.2 mg/dL) (90% confidence interval [CI], -0.02 to 0.24 mmol/L [-0.7 to 9.1 mg/dL]). The average reduction during the 1-year follow-up period was 0.09 mmol/L (3.6 mg/dL) greater in the intervention group (90% CI, -0.01 to 0.19 mmol/L [-0.3 to 7.5 mg/dL]). Eight percent of intervention patients were taking lipid-lowering medication at follow-up visits compared with 15% of control patients. In a subgroup analysis restricted to the 89% of returnees who were not taking lipid-lowering medication, the reduction in total cholesterol at 4-month follow-up was 0.14 mmol/L (5.5 mg/dL) greater in the intervention group (95% CI, 0.01 to 0.28 mmol/L [0.3 to 10.7 mg/dL]); averaged over 1 year, it was 0.14 mmol/L (5.3 mg/dL) greater (95% CI, 0.03 to 0.24 mmol/L [1.2 to 9.4 mg/dL]). Changes in LDL-C were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Total cholesterol and LDL-C decreased more in the intervention group than in the control group. Overall, the difference in lipid reduction between groups was modest and of borderline statistical significance; among participants who did not take lipid-lowering medication during follow-up, the difference in lipid reduction between groups was larger. We conclude that primary care clinicians can be trained to give a cholesterol-lowering intervention to low-income patients that results in modest, short-term reductions in total cholesterol and LDL-C.

Cholesterol, LDL↗

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Fresh vs preserved stool specimens for detection of parasites.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Feces↗

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Efficient means of studying ancillary questions in clinical trials.

Ancillary questions in clinical trials can often be answered by studying subcohorts of the participants. If the question compares responses between treatment groups, a subcohort that preserves the randomization can be used. However, if the question can be answered by analysis within a treatment group or by combining treatment groups, efficient methods developed for observational studies can be used. These methods include case-control and case-cohort methods.

Case-Control Studies↗

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The admission urinalysis: impact on patient care.

Although urinalysis is one of the most frequently ordered tests in primary care, its usefulness in screening has not been demonstrated. A retrospective review of 1,607 admission urinalyses for inpatients in a referral/community hospital identified 861 as clinically indicated and 746 as routine. Routine urinalyses were abnormal less frequently than clinically indicated urinalyses (18.1% vs 39.6%) and when abnormal, were responded to less often (33.3% vs 75.4%). Forty-five (6.0%) of the routine urinalyses yielded an abnormality that led to diagnostic action. Of these, 18 were normal on repeat testing and 17 were considered unlikely to represent significant disease. Therefore, only ten (1.3%) of the routine urinalyses affected patient therapy. In eight of these cases, the abnormality was pyuria, of which six proved to be asymptomatic bacteriuria. The admission urinalysis as a routine test had little impact on patient care in the authors' institution.

Adolescent↗

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Malassezia fungemia in neonates and adults: complication of hyperalimentation.

Until recently, Malassezia furfur was thought to be a pathogen only in tinea versicolor. More recently, this lipophilic yeast has been recovered from sick neonates with catheter-related infections. Malassezia fungemia was studied in seven patients, and the salient features of this infection in patients described in the literature were reviewed. Major risk factors include prolonged hospitalization, the presence of central venous catheters, and the use of intravenous fat emulsions. It is difficult to identify specific manifestations of fungemia in these complex cases occurring in patients with severe underlying disease; however, neonates often present with the signs and symptoms of sepsis and thrombocytopenia, whereas fever may be the only manifestation in adults. Some patients are asymptomatic. When symptoms are present, they resolve upon removal of the colonized catheter. The role of the lipophilic nature of Malassezia in the pathogenesis of infection is apparent from the ability of intravenous fat emulsions to support the growth of the fungus in vitro. A special solid medium that can be used to determine the true prevalence of malassezia fungemia has been devised. M. furfur must be considered in the differential diagnosis of opportunistic infections in patients receiving central hyperalimentation and should be sought by the culture of blood on appropriate medium.

Agar↗

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Cost-effective quality assurance of rented medical equipment.

The Biomedical Engineering Department (BME) at the University Medical Center, Tucson, Arizona, noted a sharp increase in the use of rented medical equipment. To increase efficiency, control costs, and provide effective quality assurance for rented equipment, a Medical Equipment Rental Vendor (MERV) program was formulated. The program increases efficiency by placing the burden of verifying safety and performance on the MERVs. Performance requirements were developed for the MERVs. The vendors who agreed to the requirements were compiled into a list of preferred vendors to be the primary suppliers of rental medical equipment to UMC. These preferred vendors were given preapproval from BME to deliver equipment directly to the requesting clinical department. All other vendors must continue to submit their equipment to BME for inspection. Policies were written to outline the responsibilities of the clinical departments and BME relative to the MERVs. Frequency of sampling, means of documentation, and assurance of user training were included. Response from the vendors and clinical departments has been positive. Communication between the vendors, clinical departments, and BME has improved through the development and implementation of this program. Vendor and equipment quality have been maintained or improved since compliance with the performance requirements is necessary to maintain preferred vendor status.

Arizona↗

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Managing the replacement cycle of laser inventory.

Medical lasers are quickly moving into the replacement phase of technology management. Barnes Hospital (St. Louis, MO) is using its laser team to define a process of planned laser replacement using the experience gained from traditional medical equipment replacement cycles, quality improvement principles and tools, and other formalized interdisciplinary teams. The process described in this paper has six basic steps: (1) A decision is made to request a replacement laser. (2) An appropriation request form is completed and submitted with the clinical and/or technical justifications. (3) Those requests initiated outside of the Clinical Engineering Department are reviewed by the Clinical Engineer/Medical Laser Safety Officer (CE/MLSO). (4) The CE/MLSO presents the requests to the hospital Laser Committee, and (5) then to the Laser Users' Group. (6) Finally, an Expenditure Authorization Committee reviews all capital expense requests, including those for replacement lasers, and allocates funds for the next fiscal year. This paper illustrates and evaluates the process, using an example from the review process for 1993 equipment purchases at Barnes Hospital.

Capital Expenditures↗