Patients' and Observers' Perceptions of Involvement Differ. Validation Study on Inter-Relating Measures for Shared Decision Making

OBJECTIVE: Patient involvement into medical decisions as conceived in the shared decision making method (SDM) is essential in evidence based medicine. However, it is not conclusively evident how best to define, realize and evaluate involvement to enable patients making informed choices. We aimed at investigating the ability of four measures to indicate patient involvement. While use and reporting of these instruments might imply wide overlap regarding the addressed constructs this assumption seems questionable with respect to the diversity of the perspectives from which the assessments are administered. METHODS: The study investigated a nested cohort (N = 79) of a randomized trial evaluating a patient decision aid on immunotherapy for multiple sclerosis. Convergent validities were calculated between observer ratings of videotaped physician-patient consultations (OPTION) and patients' perceptions of the communication (Shared Decision Making Questionnaire, Control Preference Scale & Decisional Conflict Scale). RESULTS: OPTION reliability was high to excellent. Communication performance was low according to OPTION and high according to the three patient administered measures. No correlations were found between observer and patient judges, neither for means nor for single items. Patient report measures showed some moderate correlations. CONCLUSION: Existing SDM measures do not refer to a single construct. A gold standard is missing to decide whether any of these measures has the potential to indicate patient involvement. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Pronounced heterogeneity of the underpinning constructs implies difficulties regarding the interpretation of existing evidence on the efficacy of SDM. Consideration of communication theory and basic definitions of SDM would recommend an inter-subjective focus of measurement. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN25267500

Evaluating the Effect of Beauty on Labor Market Outcomes: A Review of the Literature.

An important underlying determinant of wage discrimination, as well as the gender wage gap is the way the labor market rewards individual physical attractiveness. This article surveys the extensive empirical literature of the effect of physical attractiveness on labor market outcomes. Particular attention is given to the channels through which attractiveness may affect individual labor market outcomes and the way attractiveness affects gender wage differentials. Further research is needed on the effect of attractiveness within occupations in order to provide more evidence on its productivity-enhancing channel of transmission and the effect this has on the gender wage gap

Health-related quality of life and symptom profiles of female survivors of sexual abuse

OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between severity of sexual abuse and psychiatric or medical problems in a sample of female patients from primary care medical settings and to assess the relationship between sexual abuse severity and health-related quality of life before and after controlling for the effects of a current psychiatric or medical diagnosis. DESIGN: Structured interview and self-report questionnaire. SETTING: Three family practice outpatient clinics. SUBJECTS: A total of 252 women selected by somatization status using a screen for unexplained physical symptoms. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient assessment after administering the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey and self-report medical problems questionnaire; the quality-of-life scale developed by Andrews and Withey; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised, diagnoses and symptom counts from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule; the Dissociative Experiences Scale; and the modified Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule. RESULTS: A history of sexual abuse is associated with substantial impairment in health-related quality of life and a greater number of somatized symptoms (P \u3c .001), medical problems (P \u3c .01), and psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses (P \u3c .001). In regression analyses, sexual abuse severity was a significant predictor of high scores on 6 of the 8 subscales of the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey (P \u3c .05) and all of the quality-of-life subscales developed by Andrews and Withey (P \u3c .01), with average decrements of up to 0.41 SDs for moderately abused women and 0.56 SDs for severely abused women. Furthermore, sexual abuse severity remained a significant predictor of high scores on the subscales mental health (P \u3c .05), social functioning (P \u3c .05), and quality of life (P \u3c .05), even after adjusting for the presence of several common psychiatric diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Female primary care patients with a history of sexual abuse have more physical and psychiatric symptoms and lower health-related quality of life than those without previous abuse. In addition, a linear relationship exists between the severity of sexual abuse and impairment in health-related quality of life, both before and after controlling for the effects of a current psychiatric diagnosis

Complex posttraumatic stress disorder: evidence from the primary care setting

Sexual abuse is a common problem among female primary care medical patients. There is a wide spectrum of long-term sequelae, ranging from mild to the complex symptom profiles consistent with the theories of a posttraumatic sense of identity. Generally, the latter occurs in the context of severe, chronic abuse, beginning in childhood and often compounded by the presence of violence, criminal behavior, and substance abuse in the family of origin. In this study we search for empirical evidence for the existence of a complex posttraumatic stress syndrome in 99 women patients at 3 family practice outpatient clinics who report a history of sexual abuse. A structured interview was administered by trained female interviewers to gather data on family history and psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses. Empirical evidence from cluster analysis of the data supports the theory of a complex posttraumatic syndrome. The severity gradient based on symptoms roughly parallels the severity gradient based on childhood abuse and sociopathic behavior and violence in the family of origin, with the most severely abused subjects characterized by symptom patterns that fit the description of a complex posttraumatic stress syndrome

A randomized clinical trial of a care recommendation letter intervention for somatization in primary care

PURPOSE: This paper describes the impact of a care recommendation (CR) letter intervention on patients with multisomatoform disorder (MSD) and analysis of patient factors that affect the response to the intervention. METHODS: One hundred eighty-eight patients from 3 family practices, identified through screening of 2,902 consecutive patients, were classified using somatization diagnoses based on the number of unexplained physical symptoms from a standardized mental health interview. In a controlled, single-crossover trial, patients were randomized to have their primary care physician receive the CR letter either immediately following enrollment or 12 months after enrollment. The CR letter notified the physician of the patient\u27s somatization status and provided recommendations for the patient\u27s care. Patients were followed for 24 months with assessments of functional status at baseline, 12, and 24 months. RESULTS: Longitudinal analysis revealed a 12-month intervention effect for patients with multisomatoform disorder (MSD) of 5.5 points (P \u3c .001) on the physical functioning (PCS) scale of the SF-36. Analysis of scores on the MCS scale of the SF-36 found no significant effect on mental functioning. The intervention was more effective for patients with 1 or more comorbid chronic physical diseases (P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: The CR letter has a favorable impact on physical impairment of primary care patients with MSD, especially for patients with comorbid chronic physical disease. Multisomatoform disorder appears to be a useful diagnostic classification for managing and studying somatization in primary care patients

The somatization in primary care study: a tale of three diagnoses

Somatization is a common phenomenon that has been defined in many ways. The two most widely used diagnoses, Somatization Disorder (SD) and Abridged Somatization Disorder (ASD), are based on lifetime unexplained symptoms. However, reports indicate instability in lifetime symptom recall among somatizing patients. Multisomatoform disorder (MSD) is a new diagnosis based on current unexplained symptoms. To understand how knowledge about SD and ASD translates to MSD, we examined the diagnostic concordance, impairment and health care utilization of these groups in a sample from the Somatization in Primary Care Study. The diagnostic concordance was high between MSD and SD, but lower between MSD and ASD. All three groups reported considerable physical impairment (measured using the PCS subscale of the SF-36). The mental health (MCS) scores for the three groups were only slightly lower than those of the general population. Over the course of one year, physical functioning fell significantly for all three groups. Mental functioning did not change significantly for any of the three groups over this period. Utilization patterns were very similar for the three groups. The high prevalence, serious impairment, and worsening physical functioning over the course of one year suggest the importance of developing interventions in primary care to alleviate the impaired physical functioning and reduce utilization in somatizing patients. MSD should be a useful diagnosis for targeting these interventions because it identifies a sizable cohort of somatizing patients reporting impairment of comparable severity to full SD, using a more efficient diagnostic algorithm based on current symptoms

Storylines of family medicine IV: perspectives on practice—lenses of appreciation

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'IV: perspectives on practice-lenses of appreciation', authors address the following themes: 'Relational connections in the doctor-patient partnership', 'Feminism and family medicine', 'Positive family medicine', 'Mindful practice', 'The new, old ethics of family medicine', 'Public health, prevention and populations', 'Information mastery in family medicine' and 'Clinical courage.' May readers nurture their curiosity through these essays.William B Ventres, Leslie A Stone, Radeeb Akhtar, Jeffrey M Ring, Lucy M Candib, Erick Messias, Ronald M Epstein, Marc Tunzi, Amy L Lee, Christopher P Morley, Carina M Brown, David Slawson, Jill Konkin, David G Campbell, Ian Couper, Susan Williams, Robert Brooks, Lucie Walter