Perspectives of Patients With Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans on Diagnostic Delays, Surgical Outcomes, and Nonprotuberance.

Importance: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) may have a deceptively benign clinical appearance, including a nonprotuberant presentation. Patients with DFSP often perceive misdiagnoses and delays in receiving a diagnosis. Use of existing, patient-designed Facebook patient support groups (FBSGs) to recruit large numbers of patients with rare diseases may be an effective novel research method.

Patterns of death in world leaders.

This study presents an analysis of the mortality patterns of people who become world leaders. Using information in the public domain, we identified 261 world leaders who died between 1965 and 1996. Of these, 118 died while in office, 44% violently, often by assassination.

Immunization practices of pediatricians and family physicians in the United States.

Objective: To assess current practices and attitudes among pediatricians and family physicians across the United States regarding immunizations.

Design: Survey of a random sample of pediatricians and family physicians.

Subjects: Fellows of the American Academy of Pediatrics (N = 746) and American Academy of Family Medicine (N = 429).

Decision rules for predicting vaccination status of preschool-age emergency department patients.

We produced and tested rules to predict undervaccination among preschool-age emergency department (ED) patients. Data were gathered on demographics, vaccination status, health status, and health care utilization from parents, ED physicians, and ED charts at an urban teaching hospital in Rochester, N.Y.

Is an emergency department visit a marker for undervaccination and missed vaccination opportunities among children who have access to primary care?

The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) whether preschool-age patients who utilize the emergency department (ED) are undervaccinated compared with patients having the same primary care provider and (2) whether reducing missed vaccination opportunities in the primary care office can potentially reduce the differences in undervaccination between the groups. This retrospective cohort study involved two groups: 583 ED patients, aged 4 to 48 months, who had primary care providers; and 583 control subjects randomly selected from primary care sites and matched according to date of birth and primary care site. The major outcome variable was the point prevalence of undervaccination, defined as more than 60 days past due for a vaccine at the time of the ED visit, and for control subjects, at the time of their matched patient's ED visit.