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Biomedical subjects

D J Bain

Publications and source records attributed to D J Bain.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

The content of physician/patient communication in family practice.

Observation of a series of office visits by patients to family physicians provide information on physician-patient communication. During interaction on medical matters, the physicians instigated 80 percent of the interview. By way of contrast, when discussion of matters beyond the strictly medical situation occurred, 70 percent of the conversation was initiated by the patients. Irrespective of diagnoses, there were significant differences in the overall content of communications for patients from different socioeconomic groups, with more verbal exchange occurring with upper social class patients than with lower social class patients. Other patient factors which led to an increase in verbal interaction were chronic illness, emotional disorders, and ill-defined conditions. The analysis of categories of verbal interaction between physicians and patients proved to be a practical method of studying the physician-patient relationship, and provided guidelines for those seeking to make objective measurements of communication in family practice.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Acute otitis media in children: diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas.

Otitis media is still a condition with a level of diagnostic confidence lower than physicians fresh from hospital training are accustomed to. Even with improved diagnostic criteria, there will still be other influences which will affect the physician's prescribing habits, especially in the treatment of early signs of otitis media. This study shows that the determinants of prescribing behavior by ambulatory care physicians are more complex than traditional teaching of students implies. The appropriate use of antibiotics is discussed, and the importance of limiting additional medication is stressed. It is the author's contention that the outcome of care is frequently being measured without attempting to examine closely the dilemmas facing ambulatory care physicians in their day-to-day decisions. Otitis media has been used as the model in this report, but the complexities of clinical judgment are equally applicable to other common infections presenting to the primary care physician.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1977

Methods used by general practitioners in developmental screening of preschool children.

A study of the methods used by 20 general practitioners to perform developmental screening examinations of preschool children showed that routine physical examination was adequately performed but at the expense of additional tests of child development. A total of 348 children were examined by either a doctor (144 cases) or a health visitor (90), or both (114). The degree of participation by health visitors suggests that developmental screening need not necessarily be the sole responsibility of doctors, and health visitors should have training opportunities as they have an important contribution to make in this area of child care. Some omissions in testing hearing, vision, and language were clearly due to conflicting demands on the general practitioners' time, but some tests were not performed because the doctors doubted their value. Nevertheless, too many children still enter school with hearing, visual, and speech handicaps that could have been easily identified. If preventive medicine is to become an increasing component of general practice, the methods used by doctors and health visitors must be scrutinised before attempting to evaluate the outcome of large-scale screening programmes.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed1977

Child care in the new towns in the UK.

New towns with large populations of children present ideal opportunities to study and implement extended primary care services for children. It appears that workload in most new towns is higher than in established communities. Often, the demanding nature of new town practice seems to have precluded innovations in primary care services for children. This report, which is general-practice orientated, can only indicate some aspects of child care in new towns which require further scrutiny. General practitioners are strongly divided in their views as to how they can act most effectively in child health, but there is no doubt that there is a chance in our new towns to nurture the idea of expanding the general practitioner's role in child care.

Child↗
PubMed1976

Doctor-patient communication in general practice consultations.

Detailed study of a series of tape-recorded interviews enabled the author to carry out a critical self-audit of his consultations. The analysis of categories of verbal interaction in doctor-patient consultations proved to be a practical and reliable method of studying the doctor-patient relationship. The methods and techniques used in this research could, with advantage, be employed in the fields of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Since a satisfactory doctor-patient relationship is of great value, study in depth of the verbal interaction between doctor and patient in general practice consultations can provide guide lines to those who seek an improvement in doctor-patient communication.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

A year's study of drug prescribing in general practice using computer-assisted records.

A year's drug prescribing by five family doctors working in a new town is reviewed. The records were computerised and some of the problems which this involved are mentioned.The range of different preparations which were used over the year was high but 76 per cent of prescriptions were accounted for by 117 preparations; 30 per cent of total prescribing was for antibiotics and psychotropic drugs. The lessons to be learned from ;self-audit' have been shown and areas for future study are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Prescribing psychotropic drugs for children.

The prescribing of psychotropic drugs was studied in a Scottish general practice of five doctors and 8,300 patients; one third of the patients were aged 12 years or less. In 1971, 336 prescriptions for psychotropic drugs were issued to 172 children and 2,583 to the adults. Most children were given only one prescription, but some needed up to ten in one year.The drugs consisted of sedatives (43 per cent), tranquillisers (41 per cent), and hypnotics (17 per cent). Most were given for behaviour disorders and enuresis. The analysis of drugs given by each doctor showed that one had given about one third of the total. This demonstration of comparative over-prescribing was useful in discussing self-audit.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1975

Going to the doctor--attendances by members of 100 families in their first year in a new town.

A study of 100 families' first year in a new town has shown that consulting rates are high, especially for psychiatric illness. Some reasons for this are discussed. If mobility has an effect on the health of individuals, with a consequent increase in the workload of general practitioners, then this must be taken into account in planning primary medical care services.

Adolescent↗