Preferences for colorectal cancer screening among racially/ethnically diverse primary care patients.

Background: Incorporating patients' preferences into colorectal cancer (CRC) screening recommendations has been identified as a potential mechanism for increasing adherence. This study used conjoint analysis to describe variation in CRC screening preferences among racially/ethnically diverse primary care patients.

Methods: We recruited patients ages 50-80 of a large practice-based research network stratified by white, African American, or Hispanic race/ethnicity to complete a preference assessment instrument.

Entertainment education for prostate cancer screening: a randomized trial among primary care patients with low health literacy.

Objective: To evaluate an entertainment-based patient decision aid for prostate cancer screening among patients with low or high health literacy.

Methods: Male primary care patients from two clinical sites, one characterized as serving patients with low health literacy (n=149) and the second as serving patients with high health literacy (n=301), were randomized to receive an entertainment-based decision aid for prostate cancer screening or an audiobooklet-control aid with the same learner content but without the entertainment features. Postintervention and 2-week follow-up assessments were conducted.

Trials of decision aids for prostate cancer screening: a systematic review.

Background: Patient decision aids are used to promote informed decision making. This review examines the methods and findings of studies that have evaluated the impact of prostate cancer screening decision aids on patient outcomes.

Methods: MEDLINE, the Cochrane Registry, reference lists, and abstracts from professional meetings were searched through December 2006.

Stress perceptions in community clinic: a pilot survey of patients and physicians.

This pilot survey of 103 patients and 17 physicians in an urban family medicine clinic gathered information pertinent to the design of a feasible stress intervention for patients bothered by stress, but who did not have a psychiatric diagnosis. Among patients, 45% reported being excessively bothered by stress in the preceding month, with the chief stressors being job (70% reporting), financial worries (58%) and family concerns (50%). Patients reported a variety of problems perceived to be related to stress, such as headaches, insomnia, eating control, and gastrointestinal symptoms.

Design and validation of the Health Professionals' Attitudes Toward the Homeless Inventory (HPATHI).

Background: Recent literature has called for humanistic care of patients and for medical schools to begin incorporating humanism into medical education. To assess the attitudes of health-care professionals toward homeless patients and to demonstrate how those attitudes might impact optimal care, we developed and validated a new survey instrument, the Health Professional Attitudes Toward the Homeless Inventory (HPATHI). An instrument that measures providers' attitudes toward the homeless could offer meaningful information for the design and implementation of educational activities that foster more compassionate homeless health care.