The comprehensive diagnostic study is suggested as a design to model the diagnostic process

AbstractObjectivesThe classical diagnostic cross-sectional study has a focus on one disease only. Generalist clinicians, however, are confronted with a wide range of diagnoses. We propose the “comprehensive diagnostic study design” to evaluate diagnostic tests regarding more than one disease outcome.Study Design and SettingWe present the secondary analysis of a data set obtained from patients presenting with chest pain in primary care. Participating clinicians recorded 42 items of the history and physical examination. Diagnostic outcomes were reviewed by an independent panel after 6-month follow-up (n = 710 complete cases). We used Shannon entropy as a measure of uncertainty before and after testing. Four different analytical strategies modeling specific clinical ways of reasoning were evaluated.ResultsAlthough the “global entropy” strategy reduced entropy most, it is unlikely to be of clinical use because of its complexity. “Inductive” and “fixed-set” strategies turned out to be efficient requiring a small amount of data only. The “deductive” procedure resulted in the smallest reduction of entropy.ConclusionWe suggest that the comprehensive diagnostic study design is a feasible and valid option to improve our understanding of the diagnostic process. It is also promising as a justification for clinical recommendations

Promoting physical activity in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Promoting physical activity is an important part of patient care in primary care and has been investigated in many studies with a wide range of intervention characteristics often including external support. It is unclear, however, if promoting physical activity is effective. Aim: To investigate the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions to promote physical activity in primary care. Design and Setting: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate physical activity promotion in a primary care setting. Method: Embase, Medline, PsycInfo and the Joanna Briggs Institute Database were searched for ‘physical activity’, ‘interview’, ‘motivation’, ‘primary care’ and equivalent words to identify randomized controlled trials with physical activity as outcome at patient level. Results: The review identified 23 eligible studies. The quality appraisal showed that most studies reported insufficient details regarding randomization, group allocation, blinding and fidelity of intervention delivery. The included studies reported a wide range of interventions with varying numbers of follow-up visits or phone calls. The overall effect size for interventions with a 6 months follow-up interval was 0.04 (95% CI -0.05 to 0.13), for interventions with a 12 months follow-up interval 0.2 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.36). Only one intervention based on three motivational interviewing sessions achieved a moderate effect. Conclusion: Counselling to promote physical activity in primary care has a limited effect on patients’ behaviour and might not be, on its own, enough to change physical activity behaviour

Psychological risk and protective factors for disability in chronic low back pain - a longitudinal analysis in primary care

Background: Utilizing psychological resources when dealing with chronic low back pain might aid the prevention of disability. The observational study at hand examined the longitudinal impact of resilience and coping resources on disability in addition to established risk factors. Methods: Four hundred eighty four patients with chronic low back pain (>3 months) were recruited in primary care practices and followed up for one year. Resilience, coping, depression, somatization, pain and demographic variables were measured at baseline. At follow-up (participation rate 89%), data on disability was collected. We first calculated bivariate correlations of all the predictors with each other and with follow-up disability. We then used a multiple regression to evaluate the impact of all the predictors on disability together. Results: More than half of the followed up sample showed a high degree of disability at baseline (53.7%) and had suffered for more than 10 years from pain (50.4%). Besides gender all of the predictors were bivariately associated with follow-up disability. However in the main analysis (multiple regression), disability at follow up was only predicted by baseline disability, age and somatization. There was no relationship between resilience and disability, nor between coping resources and disability. Conclusions: Although it is known that there are cross-sectional relationships between resilience/coping resources and disability we were not able to replicate it in the multiple regression. This can have several reasons: a) the majority of patients in our sample were much more disabled and suffered for a longer time than in other studies. Therefore our results might be limited to this specific population and resilience and coping resources might still have a protective influence in acute or subacute populations. b) We used a rather broad operationalization of resilience. There is emerging evidence that focusing on more concrete sub facets like (pain) self-efficacy and acceptance might be more beneficial

Causes of chest pain in primary care – a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim To investigate the frequencies of different and relevant underlying etiologies of chest pain in general practice. Methods We systematically searched PubMed and EMBASE. Two reviewers independently rated the eligibility of publications and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. We extracted data to calculate the relative frequencies of different underlying conditions and investigated the variation across studies using forest plots, I2, tau2, and prediction intervals. With respect to unexplained heterogeneity, we provided qualitative syntheses instead of pooled estimates. Results We identified 11 eligible studies comprising about 6500 patients. The overall risk of bias was rated as low in 6 studies comprising about 3900 patients. The relative frequencies of different conditions as the underlying etiologies of chest pain reported by these studies ranged from 24.5 to 49.8% (chest wall syndrome), 13.8 to 16.1% (cardiovascular diseases), 6.6 to 11.2% (stable coronary heart disease), 1.5 to 3.6% (acute coronary syndrome/myocardial infarction), 10.3 to 18.2% (respiratory diseases), 9.5 to 18.2% (psychogenic etiologies), 5.6 to 9.7% (gastrointestinal disorders), and 6.0 to 7.1% (esophageal disorders). Conclusion This information may be of practical value for general practitioners as it provides the pre-test probabilities for a range of underlying diseases and may be suitable to guide the diagnostic process

Study protocol: Transition from localized low back pain to chronic widespread pain in general practice: identification of risk factors, preventive factors and key elements for treatment--a cohort study

Background Chronic localized pain syndromes, especially chronic low back pain (CLBP), are common reasons for consultation in general practice. In some cases chronic localized pain syndromes can appear in combination with chronic widespread pain (CWP). Numerous studies have shown a strong association between CWP and several physical and psychological factors. These studies are population-based cross-sectional and do not allow for assessing chronology. There are very few prospective studies that explore the predictors for the onset of CWP, where the main focus is identifying risk factors for the CWP incidence. Until now there have been no studies focusing on preventive factors keeping patients from developing CWP. Our aim is to perform a cross sectional study on the epidemiology of CLBP and CWP in general practice and to look for distinctive features regarding resources like resilience, self-efficacy and coping strategies. A subsequent cohort study is designed to identify the risk and protective factors of pain generalization (development of CWP) in primary care for CLBP patients. Methods/Design Fifty-nine general practitioners recruit consecutively, during a 5 month period, all patients who are consulting their family doctor because of chronic low back pain (where the pain is lasted for 3 months). Patients are asked to fill out a questionnaire on pain anamnesis, pain-perception, co-morbidities, therapy course, medication, socio demographic data and psychosomatic symptoms. We assess resilience, coping resources, stress management and self-efficacy as potential protective factors for pain generalization. Furthermore, we raise risk factors for pain generalization like anxiety, depression, trauma and critical life events. During a twelve months follow up period a cohort of CLBP patients without CWP will be screened on a regular basis (3 monthly) for pain generalization (outcome: incident CWP). Discussion This cohort study will be the largest study which prospectively analyzes predictors for transition from CLBP to CWP in primary care setting. In contrast to the typically researched risk factors, which increase the probability of pain generalization, this study also focus intensively on protective factors, which decrease the probability of pain generalization

MediQuit, an Electronic Deprescribing Tool for Patients on Polypharmacy: Results of a Feasibility Study in German General Practice

Background!#!Deprescribing is an important task for general practitioners (GPs) in the face of risky polypharmacy. The electronic tool 'MediQuit' was developed to guide GPs and patients through a deprescribing consultation that entails a drug-selection phase, shared decision making, and advice on safe implementation.!##!Objectives!#!A pilot study was conducted to determine the target group of patients that is selected for consultation and to assess the impact, patient involvement, and feasibility of the tool.!##!Methods!#!This was an uncontrolled pilot study. GPs from two German regions were invited to use MediQuit in consultations with a view to deprescribing one drug, if appropriate. They selected patients on the basis of broad inclusion criteria. Collected data entailed participants' characteristics, patients' medication lists, deprescribed drugs, and feasibility assessments. Patients were contacted shortly after the consultation and again after 4 weeks.!##!Results!#!In total, 16 GPs agreed to participate, of whom ten actually performed deprescribing consultations. They selected 41 predominately older patients on excessive polypharmacy. Deprescribing was achieved in 70% of consultations in agreement with patients. Drugs deprescribed were symptom-lowering and preventive drugs (mainly anatomical therapeutic chemical classes A and C). GPs found MediQuit useful in initiating communication on this issue and enhancing deliberations for a deprescribing decision. The median consultation length was 15 min (interquartile range 10-20). At follow-up, GPs and patients infrequently disagreed on which drug(s) was discontinued, and GPs rated patient involvement higher than did patients themselves.!##!Discussion!#!MediQuit assists in identifying concrete deprescribing opportunities, patient involvement, and shared decision making. The three-step deprescribing procedure is well-accepted once initial organizational efforts are overcome. After revision, further studies are needed to enhance the quality of evidence on acceptance and effectiveness

Even worse — risk factors and protective factors for transition from chronic localized low back pain to chronic widespread pain in general practice

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) at primary care setting. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to identify predictors for transition from localized CLBP to chronic widespread pain in general practice. In contrast to the typically investigated risk factors, this study also focuses intensively on protective factors, which decrease the probability of chronic widespread pain. For this, we investigated the resources resilience and coping strategies, which are suspected as potential protective factors for incident chronic pain syndromes. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: In primary care, about a quarter of patients with CLBP experience chronic widespread pain (CWP). METHODS: Patients experiencing localized CLBP were included and evaluated after a 6- and 12-month follow-up period regarding the development of CWP. Potential risk factors (sociodemographic data, pain characteristics, depression, anxiety, somatization), protective factors (resilience, coping strategies), and sample characteristics were assessed at baseline. Predictor identification was done by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The 1-year incidence for the onset of CWP among patients with CLBP was 23.8%. We identified the 3 risk factors, female sex, long duration of back pain, and a high rate of psychosomatic symptoms, for the onset of CWP among patients with CLBP. Coping resources and resilience had no impact on the transition from CLBP to CWP. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that CWP is no independent entity but rather a particularly negative occurrence on a continuum of chronic pain. Processes of somatization play a major role in the development of this extreme. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2