[Efficacy of interprofessionnality : evidence and challenges].

Skillmix is often proposed as a measure to address the growing needs of an aging population with its expected increase in chronic diseases. This article reports on a symposium on interprofessional collaboration which took place in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Reviews of the literature on interprofessional collaboration show evidence in favor of the effectiveness of having interactions between physicians, nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists.

[Community immersion in Lausanne: a different approach to teaching public health?].

Teaching community medicine represents a significant challenge for medical schools, which tend to struggle to promote interest in the issue among students. In 2009, the Lausanne medical school introduced a "community immersion" module specifically designed to address the issue. The new module requires students working in small groups under the supervision of a tutor to investigate a health question of their choice.

Talking about sexuality with the physician: are patients receiving what they wish?

Questions Under Study/principles: Little is known concerning patients' expectations regarding sexual history taking by doctors: to ascertain expectations and actual experience of talking about sexuality among male patients attending outpatient clinics, and their sexual behaviour.

Methods: Patients consecutively recruited from two outpatient clinics in Lausanne, Switzerland were provided with an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Survey topics were: patients' expectations concerning sexual history taking, patients' lifetime experience of sexual history taking, and patients' sexual behaviour.

[Integrated care: how to support a culture change?].

The primary care center at Lausanne University Hospital trains residents to new models of integrated care. The future GPs discover new forms of collaboration with nurses, pharmacists or social workers. The collaboration model includes seeing patients together or delegating care to other providers, with the aim of improving the efficiency of a patient-centered care approach.

Sexual behaviour of men that consulted in medical outpatient clinics in Western Switzerland from 2005-2006: risk levels unknown to doctors?

Background: To determine male outpatient attenders' sexual behaviours, expectations and experience of talking about their sexuality and sexual health needs with a doctor.

Methods: A survey was conducted among all male patients aged 18-70, recruited from the two main medical outpatient clinics in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2005-2006. The anonymous self-administered questionnaire included questions on sexual behaviour, HIV/STI information needs, expectations and experiences regarding discussion of sexual matters with a doctor.

Predictive ability of an early diagnostic guess in patients presenting with chest pain; a longitudinal descriptive study.

Background: The intuitive early diagnostic guess could play an important role in reaching a final diagnosis. However, no study to date has attempted to quantify the importance of general practitioners' (GPs) ability to correctly appraise the origin of chest pain within the first minutes of an encounter.

Methods: The validation study was nested in a multicentre cohort study with a one year follow-up and included 626 successive patients who presented with chest pain and were attended by 58 GPs in Western Switzerland.

[Pregraduate training in ambulatory care: a Swiss perspective].

The current lack of general practitioners in Switzerland is the result of health care policy which aimed in the past years to reduce the number of medical students and physicians in private practice. Furthermore, during the past decades, the Swiss Medical Schools emphasized on the transmission of medical care by specialists and neglected primary care medicine. The Faculty of medicine at the University of Lausanne recently decided to renew the curriculum.

Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of high blood pressure in a Swiss city general population: the CoLaus study.

Background: This study is aimed to assess the prevalence of awareness, treatment and control of high blood pressure (HBP) and associated factors in a Swiss city.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional study of 6182 participants (52.5% women) aged 35-75 years living in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Alcohol drinking and cardiovascular risk in a population with high mean alcohol consumption.

Moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with lower coronary artery disease (CAD) risk. However, data on the CAD risk associated with high alcohol consumption are conflicting. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of heavier drinking on 10-year CAD risk in a population with high mean alcohol consumption.

The impact of iron supplementation efficiency in female blood donors with a decreased ferritin level and no anaemia. Rationale and design of a randomised controlled trial: a study protocol.

Background: There is no recommendation to screen ferritin level in blood donors, even though several studies have noted the high prevalence of iron deficiency after blood donation, particularly among menstruating females. Furthermore, some clinical trials have shown that non-anaemic women with unexplained fatigue may benefit from iron supplementation. Our objective is to determine the clinical effect of iron supplementation on fatigue in female blood donors without anaemia, but with a mean serum ferritin < or = 30 ng/ml.

The Lausanne cohort Lc65+: a population-based prospective study of the manifestations, determinants and outcomes of frailty.

Background: Frailty is a relatively new geriatric concept referring to an increased vulnerability to stressors. Various definitions have been proposed, as well as a range of multidimensional instruments for its measurement. More recently, a frailty phenotype that predicts a range of adverse outcomes has been described.

Predictive accuracy and usefulness of calibration of the ESC SCORE in Switzerland.

Background: Prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the individual level should rely on the assessment of absolute risk using population-specific risk tables.

Objective: To compare the predictive accuracy of the original and the calibrated SCORE functions regarding 10-year cardiovascular risk in Switzerland.

Design: Cross-sectional, population-based study (5773 participants aged 35-74 years).

Prevalence of normal weight obesity in Switzerland: effect of various definitions.

Background: Normal weight obesity (NWO) is defined as an excessive body fat associated with a normal body mass index (BMI < 25 kg/m(2)), but its prevalence in the general population is unknown.

Aim Of The Study: To assess the prevalence of NWO in Switzerland according to different cut points used to define excess body fat.

Methods: Cross-sectional study including 3,213 women and 2,912 men aged 35-75 years.

Chest pain in daily practice: occurrence, causes and management.

Questions Under Study: We assessed the occurrence and aetiology of chest pain in primary care practice. These features differ between primary and emergency care settings, where most previous studies have been performed.

Methods: 59 GPs in western Switzerland recorded all consecutive cases presenting with chest pain.

Predictive accuracy of original and recalibrated Framingham risk score in the Swiss population.

Objective: To compare the predictive accuracy of the original and recalibrated Framingham risk function on current morbidity from coronary heart disease (CHD) and mortality data from the Swiss population.

Methods: Data from the CoLaus study, a cross-sectional, population-based study conducted between 2003 and 2006 on 5,773 participants aged 35-74 without CHD were used to recalibrate the Framingham risk function. The predicted number of events from each risk function were compared with those issued from local MONICA incidence rates and official mortality data from Switzerland.

[Towards a single society for specialists in family medicine and specialists in general internal medicine in Switzerland?].

The debate on the legimity of having two distinct medical societies and specialist degrees in Switzerland, one for family medicine and the other for internal medicine, is currently reactivated due to the rapid evolution of medical demographics and of our health system. In this paper, the academic representatives of those disciplines from the French-speaking part of Switzerland sum up the arguments for and against creating a single medical society for generalists and internists, in the perspective of education and research. They conclude that the advantages vastly outweigh the inconveniences and support this project.