FAMILY PATTERNS OF MORTALITY AND LIFE SPAN.
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Changes in health insurance and concomitant changes in quality of life in patients receiving long-term home parenteral nutrition care were explored. A decrease in quality of life and increase in depression were significantly associated with a change of insurance providers. Knowing the importance of health insurance as a family economic resource, nurses working in these settings may be alert for potential socio-emotional problems when health insurance providers change or coverage is less. Policymakers also have an opportunity to ease the financial burden of long-term disease management by expanding coverage for prescription drugs in Medicare benefits.
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The failings of the American Health Care System in meeting the comprehensive needs of the seriously and terminally ill have led to both professional and public efforts to improve end-of-life care. Following a discussion of the shortcomings of end-of-life in America, this article describes the goals and philosophy of palliative care, while highlighting current innovative programs in end-of-life needs and insure quality of life for patients and families experiencing incurable, progressive illness. Health care professionals are called to respond to the challenges and opportunities of end-of-life care as individual health care providers, as members of professions, and as members of interdisciplinary teams committed to improving the care of the dying in America.
Some persons at risk for Huntington disease (HD) seek predictive testing under the protection of anonymity to reduce the risk of insurance discrimination for themselves and their families. While Canadian and European health care systems seem to limit insurance discrimination to life and disability insurance, U.S. residents do not have national health insurance and are concerned about health insurance discrimination. Two persons residing outside Canada requested predictive testing anonymously. Their primary reason for doing so was to avoid the risks of medical insurance discrimination. After a detailed preparatory session and agreement to counselling and to receipt of results in person, we agreed to provide anonymous testing to these persons. One participant, whose psychological assessment was unremarkable, coped well with the predictive testing process and did not have the CAG expansion. The other participant had considerable emotional problems prior to testing, which necesitated postponement of discussion of results and referral for psychiatric assessment and support. Both participants had difficulty maintaining anonymity. The provision of anonymous predictive testing raises several problems. With anonymous testing, clinicians cooperate with participants to exclude insurance companies from information. This may invalidate the contract with insurance companies. A policy response by insurance companies or a universal health care system to protect individuals is preferable. Individuals who request anonymous testing may be precisely those most vulnerable and in need of additional support and counselling. However, the preservation of anonymity is a burden to participants and may frustrate the clinicians' ability to establish rapport in counselling and to provide appropriate follow-up typically available through genetic counselling in predictive testing programs.
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The authors identified 100 adults who survived cancer who were diagnosed and treated in childhood between 1945 and 1975. Using standardized interviews, each survivor and matched same-sex sibling was asked about life and health including questions about insurance. Compared with their same-sex siblings, childhood cancer survivors had significantly more difficulty in securing life insurance (P less than 0.001), in having life insurance in force (P less than 0.004), and in obtaining health insurance because of health reasons (P less than 0.001). Survivors were significantly less likely than siblings to be covered by health insurance (P less than 0.04). Cure of childhood cancer has become more common, allowing thousands of survivors to enter adult life. This study suggests that childhood cancer survivors have an unmet need in respect to life and health insurance.
OBJECTIVE: To study patient dropout and its impact on crude and cumulative pregnancy rates (PRs) after assisted reproductive technology (ART). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: University hospital-based tertiary care fertility clinic. PATIENT(S): Two hundred two couples applying for their first ART treatment cycle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Drop-out rate and PR per cycle, cumulative drop-out rate and cumulative PR. RESULT(S): After three treatment cycles, the cumulative drop-out rate was 126 of 202 (62.4%); 13.9% (n = 28) was due to active censoring. Active censoring was shown to flatter cumulative PRs by life-table analysis. CONCLUSION: Dropout from ART is high, even when ART costs are covered by health cost insurance. Life-table analysis overestimates cumulative PRs in ART.
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