The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and relationship with fracture risk in older women presenting in Australian general practice.

Aim: To investigate vitamin D status among older women and to explore relationships between vitamin D and fracture risk and vertebral fractures.

Methods: A total of 267 general practitioners recruited 2466 women aged >70 years with no known osteoporosis or fragility fracture. Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D), bone mineral density by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and vertebral fracture on thoracolumbar X-ray were determined.

In patients with chronic stable angina, secondary prevention appears better in the very old compared to younger patients: the Coronary Artery Disease in gENeral practiCE (CADENCE) Substudy.

Background: With our aging communities and the increased prevalence of coronary heart disease (CAD) with age, the impact of this disease in the very old warrants further investigation.

Objective: To assess health outcomes and the attainment of guideline-based secondary prevention targets in the very old (>80 years, n=482) as compared to young (<65 years, n=582) and elderly (between 65 and 80 years, n=932) patients, all of whom had chronic stable angina.

Design: The coronary artery disease in general practice (CADENCE) study was a cluster-stratified cross-sectional survey.

Cardiovascular risk management in chronic kidney disease in general practice (the AusHEART study).

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common and increasing in prevalence. Adverse outcomes of CKD can be prevented through early detection and treatment. There is limited data on the awareness of CKD and the quality of care offered to patients with CKD in the primary care setting.

Disparities between prescribing of secondary prevention therapies for stroke and coronary artery disease in general practice.

Background: Extensive evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of secondary prevention measures in patients with cardiovascular disease.

Aim: We aimed to examine the management and risk perceptions of cardiovascular events in people with established cardiovascular disease.

Methods: We analyzed data on 1453 patients, ≥55 year old, with a history of cardiovascular disease, from the Australian Hypertension and Absolute Risk Study.

Quality of life of patients with peripheral arterial disease and chronic stable angina.

The Coronary Artery Disease in gENeral practiCE (CADENCE) study examined chronic stable angina (CSA). This further analysis examined atherosclerotic risk factors, symptomatic status, clinical management, and quality of life in patients with CSA with and without peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The CADENCE study involved 207 Australian general practitioners (GPs) recruiting 10 to 15 consecutively presenting patients with CSA (n = 2031).

Gender differences in patients with stable angina attending primary care practices.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to assess gender differences in the health status of patients with chronic stable angina using the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ). Potential contributing clinical factors were also examined.

Methods: Gender disparities in 2005 stable angina patients (712 females) were determined from general practitioner clinical evaluations and patient-completed questionnaire (SAQ).

Gender disparities in the assessment and management of cardiovascular risk in primary care: the AusHEART study.

Aims: Studies indicate ongoing gender-based differences in the prevention, detection and management of cardiovascular disease. The aims of this study were to determine whether there are differences in general practitioners' (GPs') perceptions of a patient's cardiovascular risk compared with the patient's estimated risk and in the patient's subsequent medical management according to patient sex.

Methods: The Australian Hypertension and Absolute Risk Study (AusHEART) was a nationally representative, cluster-stratified, cross-sectional survey among 322 GPs.

Simplifying screening for osteoporosis in Australian primary care: the Prospective Screening for Osteoporosis; Australian Primary Care Evaluation of Clinical Tests (PROSPECT) study.

Objective: Although bone density by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the standard measure for the diagnosis of osteoporosis, as a screening tool, it has significant cost and availability of DXA is not universal. Prospective Screening for Osteoporosis; Australian Primary Care Evaluation of Clinical Tests (PROSPECT) was a national study undertaken to establish an effective prescreening protocol to be used in primary care facilitating targeted radiological investigation for osteoporosis in older women.

Methods: Two hundred sixty-seven primary care physicians recruited 2,466 women 70 years and older who had no previous diagnosis of osteoporosis in a community-based cross-sectional study.

Cardiovascular risk perception and evidence--practice gaps in Australian general practice (the AusHEART study).

Objective: To examine the perception and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in Australian primary care.

Design, Setting And Participants: The Australian Hypertension and Absolute Risk Study (AusHEART) was a nationally representative, cluster-stratified, cross-sectional survey of 322 general practitioners. Each GP was asked to collect data on CVD risk factors and their management in 15-20 consecutive patients aged >or= 55 years who presented between April and June 2008, and to estimate each patient's absolute risk of a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years.

The prevalence of weekly angina among patients with chronic stable angina in primary care practices: The Coronary Artery Disease in General Practice (CADENCE) Study.

Background: Angina, the cardinal symptom of coronary artery disease (CAD), is amenable to a range of therapies, and its routine assessment is considered a performance measure of quality. However, the prevalence of frequent angina among outpatients with CAD is unknown.

Methods: The Coronary Artery Disease in General Practice (CADENCE) Study utilized a cluster-stratified, cross-sectional design to examine angina frequency in patients with stable angina attending Australian primary care practices.

Nonalbuminuric renal impairment in type 2 diabetic patients and in the general population (national evaluation of the frequency of renal impairment cO-existing with NIDDM [NEFRON] 11).

OBJECTIVE Most diabetic patients with impaired renal function have a urinary albumin excretion rate in the normal range. In these patients, the etiology of renal impairment is unclear, and it is also unclear whether this nonalbumunuric renal impairment is unique to diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In this study, we examined the frequency and predictors of nonalbumunuric renal impairment (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] <60 ml/min per 1.

The management of diabetes in indigenous Australians from primary care.

Background: Indigenous Australians have high rates of diabetes and its complications. This study examines ethnic differences in the management of patients with type 2 diabetes in Australian primary care.

Methods: Diabetes management and outcomes in Indigenous patients enrolled in the NEFRON study (n = 144) was systematically compared with that in non-Indigenous patients presenting consecutively to the same practitioner (n = 449), and the NEFRON cohort as a whole (n = 3893).

The use of oral antidiabetic agents in primary care.

Background: Guidelines and regulatory documents reflect the potential for chronic kidney disease to impact the efficacy and safety profiles of antidiabetic regimens. We describe the influence of impaired kidney function and its perception by practitioners on the pattern of antidiabetic use in Australian primary care.

Methods: Antidiabetic agent prescribing was documented for 3893 patients with type 2 diabetes from the National Evaluation of the Frequency of Renal impairment cO-existing with Noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NEFRON) study.

The assessment of kidney function by general practitioners in Australian patients with type 2 diabetes (NEFRON-2).

Objective: To examine factors influencing the identification of kidney impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes in Australian primary care.

Design, Setting And Participants: 348 general practitioner investigators were asked to estimate kidney function and its severity in 10-15 consecutively presenting patients with type 2 diabetes (n = 3893). They were then asked, for each patient, whether they routinely estimated kidney function.

The burden of chronic kidney disease in Australian patients with type 2 diabetes (the NEFRON study).

Objective: To estimate the frequency of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in a clinic-based sample of patients with type 2 diabetes in the setting of Australian primary care.

Design, Setting And Participants: Expressions of interest were invited from all registered general practitioners in Australia: 500 GP investigators were randomly selected from each stratum (state and urban versus rural location), proportional to the census population, and asked to recruit and provide data for 10-15 consecutively presenting adults with type 2 diabetes between April and September 2005.

Main Outcome Measures: Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) less than 60 mL/min/1.

The glucose intolerance induced by caffeinated coffee ingestion is less pronounced than that due to alkaloid caffeine in men.

Although acute alkaloid caffeine (CAF) ingestion results in an impaired glucose tolerance, chronic coffee (RCOF) ingestion decreases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This study examines the hypothesis that CAF ingestion impairs glucose tolerance to a greater extent than RCOF and that the ingestion of decaffeinated coffee (DECAF) results in a positive effect. Eleven healthy males underwent 4 double-blinded randomized trials.