Depressive symptoms and self-reported adherence to medical recommendations to prevent cardiovascular disease: NHANES 2005-2010.

Unlabelled: This study's aim was to examine the relationships between depressive symptom severity and adherence to medication and lifestyle recommendations intended to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a large, diverse sample of men and women representative of the U.S.

Population: Participants were adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2010 with a self-reported history of hypertension and/or hypercholesterolemia, but no CVD.

Phlebotomist interpersonal skill predicts a reduction in reactions among volunteer blood donors.

Background: Adverse reactions in response to blood donation negatively affect the likelihood of donor return. In this study, the interpersonal skill of phlebotomists was examined as a potential predictor of both donor reactions and returns for future donation.

Study Design And Methods: Participants were 82 phlebotomists who completed the Social Skills Inventory, a global measure of interpersonal skill.

Prescription of amiodarone through a computerized template that includes both decision support and executive functions improves the monitoring for toxicities.

The antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone causes severe side effects that warrant active monitoring. In a given patient, monitoring for amiodarone toxicities involves checking past results of five laboratory/imaging tests and reordering four of these tests every 6 to 12 month, a process that is both complex and time-consuming. We hypothesized that a software tool that automated the retrieval and ordering of these tests in a context-sensitive manner would improve the completeness of surveillance for drug toxicities.