Effects of continuity of care and patient dispositional factors on the physician-patient relationship.

Background: We developed a questionnaire to examine the influence of physician and patient variables on the quality of the physician-patient relationship.

Methods: More than 300 family medicine patients completed self-report measures of the physician-patient relationship and variables likely to influence it.

Results: The quality of relationship was related to continuity of physician care (having a primary physician, duration of that relationship, and frequency of visits) and to patient dispositional variables (neuroticism, positive and negative affectivity) but not to demographic variables.

Hypochondriacal symptoms associated with a less therapeutic physician-patient relationship.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between hypochondriacal symptoms and the physician-patient relationship. Family medicine patients (n = 310) completed self-report measures of hypochondriacal symptoms, quality of physician-patient relationship, and variables likely to influence that relationship. These variables included physician relationship factors, such as duration of relationship and frequency of visits, as well as patient characteristics, such as neuroticism and positive and negative affectivity.

Risk factors for insomnia in a rural population.

Purpose: This study compared in one data set the relative importance of most previously examined risk factors for different symptoms of insomnia.

Methods: Data were obtained from personal interviews of 1,588 adults in a rural area. Statistical methods evaluated the association of 42 risk factors with any insomnia and each of four insomnia subtypes: difficulty with initiating sleep (DIS), difficulty maintaining sleep (DMS), early morning awakening (EMA), and restless sleep (RS).

Telehealth screen for depression in a chronic illness care management program.

Chronic illness accounts for the majority of healthcare expenditures in the United States. Innovative telemedicine programs have been developed to help lessen the chronic illness burden, yet few have been developed to address comorbidity. Programs accommodating comorbidity are needed because most older adults suffer from two or more chronic illnesses.

Exacerbation of panic disorder with rifampin therapy in a patient receiving citalopram.

Citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is used in the management of anxiety disorders. A 55-year-old man receiving citalopram for panic disorder reported a decrease in the agent's therapeutic efficacy when rifampin was started for osteomyelitis. His condition improved when the rifampin was stopped.