Old, Nonagenarians, and Centenarians in Cilento, Italy and the Association of Lifespan with the Level of Some Physicochemical Elements in Tap Drinking Water.

Longevity, as a complex life-history trait, shares an ontogenetic relationship with other quantitative traits, such as epigenetic and environmental factors. Therefore, it is important to identify environmental factors that may modify the epigenome to establish healthy aging. This study explored the association between tap drinking water and longevity in Cilento, Italy, to understand whether trace elements in local drinking water may have an influence on old, nonagenarian, and centenarian people and promote their health and longevity.

Clinical Status, Nutritional Behavior, and Lifestyle, and Determinants of Community Well-Being of Patients from the Perspective of Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Study of Young Older Adults, Nonagenarians, and Centenarians in Salerno and Province, Italy.

Longevity is rightly considered one of the greatest achievements of modern society. Biomedical research has shown that aging is the major risk factor for many diseases, so to find the right answers to aging it is necessary to identify factors that can positively influence longevity. This study investigated the clinical status, nutritional behavior, lifestyle, and social and community determinants of the well-being of young older adults and nonagenarians/centenarians in Salerno and province through the judgment of their physicians.

An Algorithmic Approach to the Physical Exam for the Pain Medicine Practitioner: A Review of the Literature with Multidisciplinary Consensus.

Background: Increased utilization of telemedicine has created a need for supplemental pain medicine education, especially for the virtual physical assessment of the pain patient. Traditional clinical training utilizes manual and tactile approaches to the physical examination. Telemedicine limits this approach and thus alternative adaptations are necessary to acquire information needed for sound clinical judgement and development of a treatment plan.

Extreme Longevity: Analysis of the Direct or Indirect Influence of Environmental Factors on Old, Nonagenarians, and Centenarians in Cilento, Italy.

Longevity is rightly considered one of the greatest achievements of modern society, an achievement understood as the possibility of increasing the healthy part of life and not only its full duration. This study investigated the phenomenon of regional longevity in Cilento by analyzing the association between longevity indicators and some environmental factors, in order to understand if factors such as altitude, climate, UNESCO protected areas, and hinterland can directly or indirectly influence the measure of healthy living and lead to longevity. Demographic and environmental data were collected through the Archives of the Cilento municipalities, the National Institute of Statistics, the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, and the Italian National Commission for UNESCO.

The effect of Humanitude care methodology on improving empathy: a six-year longitudinal study of medical students in Japan.

Background: Empathy, which involves understanding another person's experiences and concerns, is an important component for developing physicians' overall competence. This longitudinal study was designed to test the hypothesis that medical students' empathy can be enhanced and sustained by Humanitude Care Methodology, which focuses on perception, emotion and speech.

Methods: This six-year longitudinal observational study examined 115 students who entered Okayama University Medical School in 2013.

Patient Satisfaction in Academic Pain Management Centers: How Do We Compare?

Purpose Of Review: The aim of the study was to investigate patient satisfaction amongst academic pain management centers and associated factors.

Recent Findings: Approximately 25% of pain management centers perform better than other practices on Press Ganey surveys. The majority of respondents (96%) indicated that pain management practices were uniquely positioned to receive poorer scores on patient satisfaction surveys.

Preparing for the MD: How Long, at What Cost, and With What Outcomes?

Purpose: To assess educational and professional outcomes of an accelerated combined bachelor of science-doctor of medicine (BS-MD) program using data collected from 1968 through 2018.

Method: Participants of this longitudinal study included 2,235 students who entered medical school between 1968 and 2014: 1,134 in the accelerated program and 1,101 in the regular curriculum (control group)-matched by year of entrance to medical school, gender, and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores. Outcome measures included performance on medical licensing examinations, academic progress, satisfaction with medical school, educational debt, first-year residency program directors' ratings on clinical competence, specialty choice, board certification, and faculty appointments.

Predicting risk of hospitalisation: a retrospective population-based analysis in a paediatric population in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

Objectives: Develop predictive models for a paediatric population that provide information for paediatricians and health authorities to identify children at risk of hospitalisation for conditions that may be impacted through improved patient care.

Design: Retrospective healthcare utilisation analysis with multivariable logistic regression models.

Data: Demographic information linked with utilisation of health services in the years 2006-2014 was used to predict risk of hospitalisation or death in 2015 using a longitudinal administrative database of 527 458 children aged 1-13 years residing in the Regione Emilia-Romagna (RER), Italy, in 2014.

Can communication skills training improve empathy? A six-year longitudinal study of medical students in Japan.

Background: Empathy is an important component of overall clinical competence; thus, enhancing empathy in medical education is essential for quality patient care.

Aim: This longitudinal study was designed to address the following questions: 1. Can a targeted educational program in communication skills training enhance empathy in medical students? and 2.

Patient Perceptions of Clinician's Empathy: Measurement and Psychometrics.

The prominence of reciprocal understanding in patient-doctor empathic engagement implies that patient perception of clinician's empathy has an important role in the assessment of the patient-clinician relationship. In response to a need for an assessment tool to measure patient's views of clinician empathy, we developed a brief (5-item) instrument, This review article reports evidence in support of the validity and reliability of the JSPPPE.

What Matters More About the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Jefferson Scale of Empathy? Their Underlying Constructs or Their Relationships With Pertinent Measures of Clinical Competence and Patient Outcomes?

In their study published in this issue of Academic Medicine, Costa and colleagues confirmed the underlying constructs of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) in medical students. The authors of this Commentary propose that in comparing two instruments that both purport to measure empathy, researchers or test users must pay close attention to the target populations, the conceptualizations of empathy, and the validity evidence in relation to pertinent criterion measures. The Commentary's authors draw attention to the fact that the IRI was developed for administration to the general population, whereas the JSE was developed specifically for administration to students and practitioners of health professions.

Eleven Years of Data on the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Medical Student Version (JSE-S): Proxy Norm Data and Tentative Cutoff Scores.

Objective: This study was designed to provide typical descriptive statistics, score distributions and percentile ranks of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Medical Student version (JSE-S) of male and female medical school matriculants to serve as proxy norm data and tentative cutoff scores.

Subjects And Methods: The participants were 2,637 students (1,336 women and 1,301 men) who matriculated at Sidney Kimmel (formerly Jefferson) Medical College between 2002 and 2012, and completed the JSE at the beginning of medical school. Information extracted from descriptive statistics, score distributions and percentile ranks for male and female matriculants were used to develop proxy norm data and tentative cutoff scores.

Predicting risk of hospitalisation or death: a retrospective population-based analysis.

Objectives: Develop predictive models using an administrative healthcare database that provide information for Patient-Centred Medical Homes to proactively identify patients at risk of hospitalisation for conditions that may be impacted through improved patient care.

Design: Retrospective healthcare utilisation analysis with multivariate logistic regression models.

Data: A population-based longitudinal database of residents served by the Emilia-Romagna, Italy, health service in the years 2004-2012 including demographic information and utilisation of health services by 3,726,380 people aged ≥18 years.

Personality assessments and outcomes in medical education and the practice of medicine: AMEE Guide No. 79.

In a paradigm of physician performance we propose that both "cognitive" and "noncognitive" components contribute to the performance of physicians-in-training and in-practice. Our review of the relevant literature indicates that personality, as an important factor of the "noncognitive" component, plays a significant role in academic and professional performances. We describe findings on 14 selected personality instruments in predicting academic and professional performances.

Psychometrics of the scale of attitudes toward physician-pharmacist collaboration: a study with medical students.

Background: Despite the emphasis placed on interdisciplinary education and interprofessional collaboration between physicians and pharmacologists, no psychometrically sound instrument is available to measure attitudes toward collaborative relationships.

Aim: This study was designed to examine psychometrics of an instrument for measuring attitudes toward physician-pharmacist collaborative relationships for administration to students in medical and pharmacy schools and to physicians and pharmacists.

Methods: The Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration was completed by 210 students at Jefferson Medical College.

The relationship between physician empathy and disease complications: an empirical study of primary care physicians and their diabetic patients in Parma, Italy.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that scores of a validated measure of physician empathy are associated with clinical outcomes for patients with diabetes mellitus.

Method: This retrospective correlational study included 20,961 patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus from a population of 284,298 adult patients in the Local Health Authority, Parma, Italy, enrolled with one of 242 primary care physicians for the entire year of 2009. Participating physicians' Jefferson Scale of Empathy scores were compared with occurrence of acute metabolic complications (hyperosmolar state, diabetic ketoacidosis, coma) in diabetes patients hospitalized in 2009.

Measurement and correlates of empathy among female Japanese physicians.

Background: The measurement of empathy is important in the assessment of physician competence and patient outcomes. The prevailing view is that female physicians have higher empathy scores compared with male physicians. In Japan, the number of female physicians has increased rapidly in the past ten years.

The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy: a preliminary psychometric study and group comparisons in Korean physicians.

Background: Empathy is an important element of professionalism in medicine. Thus, evaluation and enhancement empathy in physicians is important, regardless of geographical boundaries.

Aim: This study was designed to evaluate the psychometrics of a Korean version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) among Korean physicians.

Empathic and sympathetic orientations toward patient care: conceptualization, measurement, and psychometrics.

Purpose: To develop instruments for measuring empathic and sympathetic orientations in patient care and to provide evidence in support of their psychometrics.

Method: Third-year medical students at Jefferson Medical College responded to four clinical vignettes in 2010. For each vignette, students indicated the extent of their agreement with an empathic response (conveying their understanding of patients' concerns) and with a sympathetic response (sharing patients' feelings).