Patient-initiated second opinions during acute hospital care

Second opinions are used in medicine in order to make better-informed decisions. Only a few studies have examined patient-initiated second opinions, and even fewer have examined it in the context of acute hospitalization. It is not clear whether patients and families are aware of this right and how often they exercise it during acute hospitalization. The objective of this paper is to identify factors associated with the awareness and utilization of patient-initiated second opinions. A survey was conducted among 92 neurosurgical patients who completed a questionnaire that included information regarding: awareness of second opinion consultations, reasons for not seeking a second opinion, satisfaction from the second opinion and sharing the results of the second opinion with the first physician. Multivariate Logistic Regression analysis was performed to identify potential confounders associated with awareness and seeking a second opinion. Findings revealed that 79% percent of the participants were aware of their right to receive a second opinion; however, only 31% opted to receive a second opinion before/during the hospitalization. Fifty-eight percent received a second opinion related to previous medical conditions. Fifty-four percent did not inform the first physician about the results. The Logistic Regression showed that health insurance, education, religiosity and gender predicted awareness and utilization of second opinions. Current findings indicate that although patients are aware of their right to a second opinion and many have used it in the past, they rarely use it during acute hospitalization. Encouraging health professionals in hospitals to refer their patients to a second opinion as part of shared decision-making, may improve the liability and efficacy of patients\u27 care. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Quality & Clinical Excellence lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

The Relationships between Adolescents’ Obesity and the Built Environment: Are They City Dependent?

There is evidence that the built environment can promote unhealthy habits which may increase the risk for obesity among adolescents. However, the majority of evidence is from North America, Europe and Australia, and less is known about other world regions. The purpose of this study was to examine how the number of overweight and obese adolescents may vary in relation to the built environment, area socioeconomic status (SES), physical activity (PA) and nutritional home environment. We performed a telephone survey of 904 adolescents ages 15−18 from three different cities in Israel. The questionnaire included: reported PA, sedentary behaviors and nutritional home environment. Body Mass Index (BMI) was attained from records of Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS). The built environment measures were calculated by Geographic Information System (GIS). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify variables associated with adolescents’ overweight and obesity. The highest level of overweight and obese adolescents was in Beer Sheva (29.2%). The three cities did not differ in built environment characteristics, PA and sedentary behaviors. In Haifa, a more positive nutritional home environment was reported (p = 0.001). Boys, in all three cities presented higher rates of overweight and obesity (29%). After adjusting for covariates, adolescents’ overweight and obesity was associated with built environment measures only in a low SES peripheral city (OR = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.56−0.92), and positively associated with higher level of sedentary behavior in the total sample (OR = 1.23; 95% CI:1.03−1.47). This may imply a much more complex causal pathway between the built environment, SES and obesity than suggested in previous literature

Additional file 1: of A national survey of ethnic differences in knowledge and understanding of supplementary health insurance

Health Insurance Questionnaire. (DOC 109 kb