Effect of comorbid depression on outcomes in diabetes and its relationship to quality of care and patient adherence: a statewide primary care ambulatory research and resources consortium study.

Objective: To determine whether current depression was associated with poorer quality of care and poorer patient adherence to treatment regimens and whether current depression was associated with patient diabetes outcomes independent of its relationships to quality of care and patient adherence among patients with diabetes.

Method: This study was conducted in the offices of family physicians who belong to the Statewide Primary Care Ambulatory Research and Resources Consortium from March 2006 to March 2011. Seven primary care physicians enrolled 10 to 20 English- or Spanish-speaking patients with diabetes presenting for routine follow-up visits.

Practice-based research networks (PBRNs): meeting the challenges of the future.

Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) are useful tools for conducting studies in the busy primary care setting, but their continued existence is threatened by a range of challenges. PBRNs must position themselves now to be prepared to face the challenges ahead. For example, experience with the Clinical Translational Science Awards has placed PBRNs at the center of university efforts toward greater community engagement.

Evaluation of patients presenting with knee pain: Part II. Differential diagnosis.

Knee pain is a common presenting complaint with many possible causes. An awareness of certain patterns can help the family physician identify the underlying cause more efficiently. Teenage girls and young women are more likely to have patellar tracking problems such as patellar subluxation and patellofemoral pain syndrome, whereas teenage boys and young men are more likely to have knee extensor mechanism problems such as tibial apophysitis (Osgood-Schlatter lesion) and patellar tendonitis.

Evaluation of patients presenting with knee pain: Part I. History, physical examination, radiographs, and laboratory tests.

Family physicians frequently encounter patients with knee pain. Accurate diagnosis requires a knowledge of knee anatomy, common pain patterns in knee injuries, and features of frequently encountered causes of knee pain, as well as specific physical examination skills. The history should include characteristics of the patient's pain, mechanical symptoms (locking, popping, giving way), joint effusion (timing, amount, recurrence), and mechanism of injury.

Barriers to and benefits of leisure time physical activity in the elderly: differences across cultures.

The purpose of this study was to compare ethnic differences in attitudes toward barriers and benefits of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in sedentary elderly Mexican (MAs) and European Americans (EAs). An in-home, cross-sectional survey was performed on 210 community-dwelling elders from 10 primary care practices in south Texas that are part of the South Texas Ambulatory Research Network, a practice-based research network. Analytical variables included ethnicity, age, sex, income, education, marital status, and LTPA.