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Doctor and patient: Listening to patients living with disease

But one afternoon a month after his treatment, the patient was shocked to see, red collect urine in the urinal. After his doctors a series of tests and bladder irrigation run by a pencil size catheter, he learned that the bleeding was a complication of radiation treatment.

He recalled, hearing about this side effect three months earlier, but none of the reports he has given or collected it and once he mentioned by the fear of the emergency room and the doctor's office visits and discomfort had recovered from the clinical Arbeit-Up, he had more thoughts - be it until a few weeks later, when he started bleeding again.

By the time I met him, he was in the middle of his third visit to the hospital."I feel like I'm bound to this place," said er.Er showed me a plastic jug partially urine color of the fruit punch filled with, and he described a post-treatment life marked by fear to discover before going to the toilet and blood. "If I knew that my life would be after radiation like this," he sighed, "I would have decided the surgery."

Performed in a laboratory bench or in clinical trials has medical research long by a priority - driven the need, to finden.In of usually a cure to more modest than a search for "the most effective treatment" known, has this standard as a barometer of success and an important criterion for funding serviert.Die of most published studies are characterised by a preponderance of data to document small points of light in the laboratory values or changes to the size of spots from cancer or area of of heart muscle damage on specialized X-rays. Some studies strengthen the apparent success of their results with additional data on social effects such as treatment or number of workdays missed.

Few studies, however focus on patients experience.

The result was an almost embarrassing wealth of choice for patients with diabetes, heart disease, donated milk all this emphasis on healing infections and even some types of cancer.The increasingly demanding treatment regimens of medicine's armamentarium, that now make cast, as soon as life-threatening diseases in chronic ones, but in the process to have led a group of people that caught in the unenviable position of living with an illness that never quite goes weg.Nicht longer forced to make unique Existentialist treatment decisions, fight instead every day with the side effects of very treatments to keep you alive.

For many of these patients the most important question is "What treatment can I life?" not "what treatment allow me the longest life?", but rather

Now, the patient-centered outcomes research offer Institute, a new initiative that federal health care responsible overhaul, published a paper last month in the policy journal Health Affairs, a chance to change the prevailing winds of medical research so that the needs of this growing segment of the patient population are addressed. With a 21-member Board of individuals from public and private sector it adopted a mandate comparing treatments for common diseases on the agenda for research and to finance the most important studies.But according to paper authors, the potential of such enterprises is fully realized only if it supports initiatives and that experience strategies, the patient only front and Center in research but also in the middle of the medical mainstream smack.

""In a sense, we have conquered death,", said Dr. Albert W. Wu lead author and a general internist and Professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of public health in Baltimore.""Now we have people with chronic illnesses and experience quality of life every day is an important part of how to do and whether the treatments become worth."

Effectively to gather the patient perspective, Dr. Wu and his co-authors suggested where patients reported results more routine part of clinical studies and practice and administrative data collection in some cases, who need the information for the refund.For several months now have integration data about patients experience in routine medical practice at the Johns Hopkins University was.A dedicated portal called PatientViewpoint.org, can use, patients completing surveys on your energy levels, social functioning, mental health, nausea and pain at the suggestion of their doctors.The information is then treated like more traditional clinical trial; access is reserved for the patients and their doctors.

Currently, the site is only for patients with breast or prostate cancer diagnosed Wu but Dr. and his colleagues hope that all doctors who are able to order patient surveys that measure experiences such as levels of pain, physical work or depression, proactive identification then check the results results which are high or low, with patients.And overloaded despite initial concerns that patients could feel the questionnaires, most are thrilled.

"" Patients want to have further discussions with their doctors and other providers on these types of questions,"said Dr. Wu.""Sometimes it is difficult to all to cover this information during the medical encounter, and these surveys may be another opportunity that do."

"Not all clinicians and researchers strive however, patients reported results to umarmen.Viele have never was involved in the research methods and are skeptical, what is the value of a discipline or drill who are not familiar."This is stuff squishy, soft, ", said Dr. Wu."It is still not something can be ordered on a lab slip."

"Dr. Wu is confident however that the new patient-centered outcomes Research Institute more towards all researchers will provide while new and more comprehensive standards requiring results patients reported and quality of life.""I think we have a real chance right now and this Institute has great potential for a positive force in understanding how treatments and what effective and for whom is to be," he said.

But he also pointed out: "we have to remember, to patients umfassen.Wir want your perspective to consider when we come with evidence you can really use to better decisions about treatment and care."


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