Attitudes of medical students, clinicians and sports scientists towards exercise counseling

We compared the amount of exercise undertaken by medical students, clinicians, and sport scientists with the National Australian Physical Activity (NAPA) Guidelines. A second aim was to compare attitudes to exercise counseling as preventive medicine between university- and clinic-based professionals. The research setting was a university medical school and a sports science sports medicine centre. A 20-item questionnaire was completed by 216 individuals (131 medical students, 43 clinicians and 37 sports scientists). Self-reported physical activity habits, exercise counseling practices and attitudes towards preventive medicine were assessed. The physical activity undertaken by most respondents (70%) met NAPA Guidelines. General practitioners had significantly lower compliance rates with NAPA Guidelines than other professionals. More than half of clinicians and medical students (54%) were less active now compared with levels of activity undertaken prior to graduate training. Most physicians (68%) reported they sometimes discuss physical activity with patients. In contrast, the majority of non-medically qualified respondents (60%) said they never discuss physical activity with their doctor. Most respondents (70%) had positive attitudes to exercise counseling. Sports scientists and respondents who were highly active in childhood had more positive attitudes to exercise counseling than others. Health professionals in this study were more active than the general population; however healthy exercise habits tend to deteriorate after the commencement of medical training. Despite the important role of doctors in health promotion, the degree of exercise counseling to patients is low

A self-reported questionnaire for quantifying illness symptoms in elite athletes

PURPOSE: To develop and evaluate a questionnaire that quantifies the self-reported frequency, duration and severity of illness symptoms in highly-trained athletes. We examined whether runners had more symptoms than recreationally-active individuals, and whether runners more prone to illness were undertaking more strenuous training programs. METHODS: A daily illness questionnaire was administered for three months during the summer to quantify the type, frequency, duration, and severity of illness symptoms as well as the functional impact on the ability to undertake exercise performance. A total of 35 participants (12 highly-trained runners living in a community setting and 23 recreationally-active medical students) completed the questionnaire. RESULTS: Runners had a similar frequency of illness (2.1 ± 1.2 vs. 1.8 ± 2.3 episodes, mean ± SD, P = 0.58), but substantially longer duration (5.5 ± 9.9 vs 2.8 ± 3.1 days, P < 0.01) and illness load (7.7 ± 16.2 vs 4.5 ± 4.8 units, P = 0.001) than age- and sex-matched recreationally-active individuals respectively. Runners more prone to illness symptoms had marginally higher training loads. CONCLUSIONS: The athlete illness questionnaire is useful for quantifying the pattern of self-reported symptoms of illness in field settings. Highly-trained runners experience longer episodes of illness with a greater impact on daily activity than recreationally-active individuals

Lessons Learned: Kieran J. Fallon

Lieber, Matthew A. (2022) Lessons Learned: Kieran J. Fallon, Journal of Financial Crises: Vol. 4 : Iss. 3, 198-201. Available at: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/journal-of-financial-crises/vol4/iss3/

YPFS Lessons Learned Oral History Project: An Interview with Kieran J. Fallon

Suggested Citation Form: Fallon, Kieran. 2022. “Lessons Learned Interview by Matthew A. Lieber, August 13, 2020. Yale Program on Financial Stability Lessons Learned Oral History Project. Transcript. https://ypfs.som.yale.edu/library/ypfs-lesson-learned-oral-history-project-interview-kieran-fallo

Patients' Attitudes and Experiences of Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Spondyloarthritis: A Qualitative Synthesis

Objective.Nonadherence to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDS) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondy-loarthritis (SpA) results in increased disease activity and symptoms and poorer quality of life. We aimed to describepatients’ attitudes and experiences of DMARDs in RA and SpA to inform strategies to improve medication adherence.Methods.Databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and CINAHL) were searched to January 2016. Thematic synthesiswas used to analyze the findings.Results.From 56 studies involving 1,383 adult patients (RA [n=1,149], SpA [n=191], not specified [n=43]), we identified 6themes (with subthemes): intensifying disease identity (severity of sudden pharmacotherapy, signifying deteriorating health,daunting lifelong therapy), distressing uncertainties and consequences (poisoning the body, doubting efficacy, conflictingand confusing advice, prognostic uncertainty with changingtreatment regimens), powerful social influences (swayed byothers’ experiences, partnering with physicians, maintaining roles, confidence in comprehensive and ongoing care, valuingpeer support), privilege and right of access to biologic agents (expensive medications must be better, right to receive a biologicagent, fearing dispossession), maintaining control (complete ownership of decision, taking extreme risks, minimizing life-style intrusion), and negotiating treatment expectations (miraculous recovery, mediocre benefit, reaching the end of the line).Conclusion.Patients perceive DMARDs as strong medications with alarming side effects that intensify their disease iden-tity. Trust and confidence in medical care, positive experiences with DMARDS among other patients, and an expectationthat medications will help maintain participation in life can motivate patients to use DMARDs. Creating a supportive envi-ronment for patients to voice their concerns may improve treatment satisfaction, adherence, and health outcomes