Publications by authors named "A L Falls"

Objective: Many have found racial differences in clinician-patient communication using validated codebooks that represent effective communication. No codebooks used for examining racial differences, however, have included patient input. In this paper, we describe creating codebook with Black patient advocates to determine if we could reliably code discriminatory/valuing communication and assess racial differences in these behaviors.

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Objective: Many have reported racial disparities in self-reported trust in clinicians but have not directly assessed expressions of trust and distrust in physician-patient encounters. We created a codebook to examine racial differences in patient trust and distrust through audio-recorded cardiologist-patient interactions.

Methods: We analyzed data from a randomized controlled trial of audio-recorded outpatient cardiology encounters (50 White and 51 Black patients).

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Article Synopsis
  • Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is often marked by positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and Raynaud's phenomenon, but a case is presented of a patient with severe, rapidly progressive SSc despite negative ANA and absent RP.
  • The patient experienced serious complications including scleroderma renal crisis, leading to dialysis and a kidney transplant, as well as significant gastrointestinal issues requiring specialized feeding methods.
  • Successful treatment involved multiple medications and resulted in improved skin condition and positive follow-up outcomes, highlighting the need to recognize diverse manifestations of SSc to reduce mortality risks.
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Background/objective: To examine rates of counseling on driving for individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) and/or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and evaluate the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) as a screening tool for further driving evaluation.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was completed by individuals recruited via ResearchMatch (a national web-based recruitment tool) between March 5 and April 20, 2020. Individuals with a current US driver's license, ≥18 years old, with self-reported OA and/or RA diagnosis were surveyed about driving difficulty and vehicle modification and completed a HAQ-DI assessment.

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