Background: Primary care providers may refer their patients to a variety of weight loss programs and diet plans. However, the relative effectiveness of the available options is not well understood. This retrospective study compared weight loss in an intensive structured (IS) program using health...

Many health plans and providers rely on return on investment (ROI) to determine the value of a disease management programme. ROI, however, is not the most meaningful measure of the true value of a programme. Depending on the methods used to calculate costs and determine the size of the...

The over-the-counter (OTC) conversion of loratadine was approved in the US in December 2002 for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, representing the first second-generation antihistamine (SGA) to be made available as an OTC product. This review examines the current evidence regarding the impact...

Parent training can be an effective strategy for assisting children and their families to cope with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), particularly when it is used as part of a multimodal approach in combination with stimulant medication. The benefits of parent training include:...

The utility of antibacterials in the management of acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB) and the related lung pathology, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has been debated for decades. Data presented in this article document that more expensive antimicrobials may be...

Stroke is a heterogeneous cerebrovascular disorder that is a major cause of death and disability in the industrialised world. Anecdotal clinical evidence and expert opinion has suggested that organised stroke care results in better patient outcomes compared with care provided in general medical...

Health plans have generally elected to build their own disease management programmes using their own resources. In addition to the widespread belief among health plans that their mission includes active management of chronically ill members despite their lack of background in that area, the...

Patient compliance and techniques used with inhalation devices can strongly influence the effectiveness of inhaled medications but these issues are often poorly recognized and may be neglected when these products are prescribed. The extent of these problems and the success of differing education...

Introduction: Men are less likely to use preventive services than women, perhaps because of a perceived lack of timely access to healthcare. This paper reports the results of the Men's Health Screening Program offered by Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems in Marietta, Georgia, USA. Methods:...