The evaluation of outcome of management of patients with angina pectoris is now inextricably linked with an assessment of quality of life. Angina pectoris, as a manifestation of coronary heart disease, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in many countries. Optimal management of patients...

Depression remains under-recognised and under-treated despite it being more disabling than any other medical disorder and the availability of effective protocol-based psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy treatments. Prevailing psychotherapy seldom employs evidence-based treatments, continuing...

Smoking cessation continues to be one of the most cost-effective preventive measures for work-site disease management. The US Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline, entitled `Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence,' provides guidance for evaluating and choosing smoking cessation...

Background: Osteoporosis is an exceedingly common, morbid, and potentially fatal disease. Efforts to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis in people living in Central Pennsylvania were instituted in 1996 by the Geisinger Health System. With a catchment of over 2 million...

Migraine is a highly prevalent, nonfatal disorder typically characterized by recurrent episodes of headache associated with such symptoms as nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia and impaired functioning. The attacks may be infrequent and relatively mild; more often they are frequent, severe...

Individuals with diabetes mellitus and their providers view the world from their own perspectives and bring these different perspectives to the clinical encounter. Because individuals with diabetes enact the day-to-day management of their disease, their perspective will, therefore, largely...

Proactive approaches to chronic disease management need to complement passive-reactive treatment of acute diseases. Such programmes need to be applied across the continuum of care from wellness to prevention to early detection to secondary prevention and to chronic care. Proactive recruitment to...

Introduction: Disease management programs often strive to enhance patient outcomes through improvements in the process of care. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of diabetes care process measures with self-rated health and patient satisfaction among managed care...

Health-status and preference-based approaches to assessing health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in osteoporosis are reviewed. Osteoporosis-targeted health-status instruments [i.e. Osteoporosis Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (OQLQ), Osteoporosis Assessment Questionnaire (OPAQ), Quality-of-Life...

The symptoms of onychomycosis and their impact on personal appearance are important determinants of patients' perceptions of their own health. The effect of onychomycosis is greater on psychosocial than physical functioning and is directly related to the extent of nail involvement. This review...