What Is Included in a Mental Status Examination? 5 Categories
A mental status examination is an assessment of the patient’s behavioral and cognitive functioning, which may include the following elements. A mental status examination includes: General observations made during the clinical encounter: Appearance: Body habitus Dressing/grooming Hygiene Grooming Posture General behavior: Eye contact Cooperativeness Defensiveness Irritability Shyness Relaxed Resistant Withdrawn Level of consciousness (state of […]
Early Abortions Are Getting More Expensive
Patients paid increasingly more for medication abortion and first-trimester procedural abortion from 2017 to 2020, while the percentage of facilities accepting health insurance declined, researchers found. From 2017 to 2020, median patient charges for medication abortion rose from $495 to $560, representing a 13% increase, which was higher than healthcare inflation alone, at 8%, according […]
Home Walking Program Eases Peripheral Artery Disease Limitations
Motivating patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and intermittent claudication to start walking at home improved their exercise capacity, the MOSAIC trial showed. Six-minute walk distance improved by 16.7 m more with the physical therapist-led intervention compared with usual care alone at 3 months (from 352.9 m at baseline to 380.6 m vs 369.8 to […]
Patiromer Limits Impact of RAAS Inhibitor-Related Hyperkalemia in HF
WASHINGTON — Use of the potassium-binding agent patiromer (Veltassa) allowed more heart failure patients at risk for hyperkalemia to remain on optimal therapy with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAAS), including mineralocorticoids, the randomized DIAMOND trial showed. For the study’s revised primary endpoint, patiromer led to a significant reduction in potassium levels by study end versus placebo […]
Add-On Mavacamten Cuts Need for Septal Reduction in Obstructive HCM
WASHINGTON – Treatment with investigational mavacamten allowed patients with advanced obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) to avoid septal reduction therapies (SRT), a researcher reported. In the VALOR-HCM study among 56 patients with documented oHCM who received add-on mavacamten to maximally-tolerated medical therapy, 17.9% met the composite endpoint (decision to move to SRT by week 16 or […]
For Men on ADT, Checking Bone Density May Thwart Fractures
Bone density testing in older prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was significantly associated with a decreased risk for major osteoporotic fractures, but remains little used, a prospective population-based study found. In the cohort of nearly 55,000 men treated with ADT from 2005 to 2015, those who received dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) screening […]
Largest Ivermectin Trial Fails to Show Benefit in COVID Outpatients
Early use of ivermectin in COVID-19 patients at high-risk for severe disease failed to lower the risk of hospitalization or prolonged emergency department (ED) observation, a large randomized trial showed. In an adaptive platform trial in Brazil, an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis found that 14.7% of patients in the ivermectin group and 16.3% of patients in […]
Cannabis Linked to Less Opioid Use in Back Pain, Osteoarthritis
Medical cannabis can greatly reduce or eliminate the need for opioid painkillers in patients with chronic back pain and osteoarthritis, a pair of studies found. The studies, reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting and published in Cureus, are limited since they don’t include control groups and can’t […]
Adjuvant Chemo Disappoints in Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer
PHOENIX — Adjuvant chemotherapy was not associated with better overall survival (OS) for patients with advanced stage low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma undergoing primary cytoreductive surgery, according to an observational study presented here. There was no difference in OS between patients who did and did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy, with 4-year OS rates of 77.5% and […]
Depression May Follow Those Bedridden for COVID
Patients who had severe acute COVID-19 but avoided hospitalization saw higher risks for certain mental health conditions, according to an observational study. Among nearly 10,000 individuals, those diagnosed with COVID-19 had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms (prevalence ratio [PR] 1.18, 95% CI 1.03-1.36) and poorer sleep quality (PR 1.13, 95% CI 1.03-1.24) compared with […]