Background: Chronic osteoarthritis (OA) pain impacts health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). Objective: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and compare HR-QOL outcomes following treatment with once-daily push-pull Osmotic controlled-Release Oral delivery System (OROS) hydromorphone...

Background: Medical visits are initiated by patients in search of symptom relief. The extent to which obesity independently increases the risk of common symptoms is unknown. Objectives: To assess how obesity affects symptom burden among family medicine patients, after adjustment for severity of...

DOI: 10.2165/1312067-200801030-00001

Objective: To determine whether different utilities for prostate cancer screening outcomes for couples, and husbands and wives separately, lead to incongruent screening recommendations. Methods: We evaluated survey results of 168 married couples from three family practice centers in Texas, USA....

Alcoholism has the potential to impact on the quality of life (QOL) of an `alcoholic,' their family, and friends in both the short and long term. Consequently, increasing significance has been placed on understanding health issues from the patient's perspective, evaluating the patient's...

Background: The need to assess quality of life (QOL) in patients with a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) has been well documented. However, no appropriate instrument was available for the Chinese population. Objective: The Diabetic Foot Ulcer Scale - Short Form (DFS-SF) is a reliable and valid 29-item...

The rapid expansion of disease management continues. A multitude of stakeholders and marketplaces are now involved in providing cost-effective quality healthcare for individuals and populations. To help you keep up-to-date with the very latest developments in disease management, this section of...

Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) comprising acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina pectoris are prevalent causes for patient admission to hospital. Research has disclosed variations in the quality of in-hospital care of such patients as measured by levels of adherence to evidence-based...

The heightened awareness of substantial racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes has major implications for how healthcare providers effectively manage health conditions among diverse populations. This report identifies five dimensions that address the major causes of disparities that...

The recent implementation of the Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD)/Pediatric End-stage Liver Disease (PELD) system for the allocation of cadaveric liver organs in the US represents a dramatic change in organ allocation policy. Previous allocation algorithms used a categorical...