7 News – The epidemic of back pain
Back pain has almost reached epidemic levels in this country with a quarter of us suffering through it and spending millions of dollars trying to manage it. Now, there are some bold new ideas.
The Conversation – Five warning signs of overdiagnosis
We’ve had it drummed into us over decades that early detection is key to treating diseases early, before they have a chance to turn into something really nasty. But we’ve since learnt the flip-side of this is overdiagnosis, where people are diagnosed with diseases that [...]
Undisclosed financial ties between guideline writers and pharmaceutical companies: a cross-sectional study across 10 disease categories – Ray Moynihan et. al.
There is global concern about the nature and extent of financial ties between pharmaceutical companies and health professionals, including those who develop influential clinical practice guidelines.3 In 2009, a landmark Institute of Medicine report on conflicts of interest acknowledged the importance of collaboration with industry, but [...]
Health-Related Quality of Life After Diagnosis and Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer and Association With Type of Surgical Treatment – Brooke Nickel et. al.
What health-related quality of life outcomes are associated with diagnosis and treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer and do they vary by type of surgery received? In this content analysis of survey responses of 1005 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer, 775 (77.1%) reported issues in their [...]
Recognizing the Potential for Overdiagnosis: Are High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin Assays an Example? – Katy Bell et. al.
Overdiagnosis occurs when persons are labeled with a technically correct diagnosis that does not improve health outcomes. It is a common unintended consequence of early disease detection in asymptomatic persons but also takes place in persons with mild or ambiguous symptoms. Despite initiatives to prevent [...]
Citizens’ juries can bring public voices on overdiagnosis into policy making – Chris Degeling et. al.
Unnecessary and harmful interventions from overdiagnosis challenge the social and ethical contract that underpins healthcare. Strategies to tackle overdiagnosis from population screening should engage with the public and consider its values and concerns. Most high income countries develop evidence based policies to guide population screening using [...]
Is the “Heart Age” Concept Helpful or Harmful Compared to Absolute Cardiovascular Disease Risk? An Experimental Study – Carissa Bonner et. al.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention guidelines are generally based on the absolute risk of a CVD event, but there is increasing interest in using ‘heart age’ to motivate lifestyle change when absolute risk is low. Previous studies have not compared heart age to 5-year absolute risk, [...]
Reducing Inappropriate Polypharmacy The Process of Deprescribing – Ian A Scott et. al.
Inappropriate polypharmacy, especially in older people, imposes a substantial burden of adverse drug events, ill health, disability, hospitalization, and even death. The single most important predictor of inappropriate prescribing and risk of adverse drug events in older patients is the number of prescribed drugs. Deprescribing [...]
A decision aid to support informed choices about bowel cancer screening among adults with low education: randomised controlled trial – Sian Karen Smith et. al.
Tailored decision support information can be effective in supporting informed choices and greater involvement in decisions about faecal occult blood testing among adults with low levels of education, without increasing anxiety or worry about developing bowel cancer. Using a decision aid to make an informed [...]
Developing Verbal Health Literacy with Adult Learners Through Training in Shared Decision-Making – Danielle M Muscat et. al.
Health literacy skills are often assessed in relation to written health materials; however, many important communications are in other formats, especially verbal communication with health care providers.