Build it and they will use it (imaging that is)

From the New York Times article:

Federal rules allow physicians to profit from the use of machines they own or lease. But Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz, a cardiologist at Yale and an author of the paper, said financial incentives were only part of the reason the number of tests had risen so fast.

“I think the central driver is more about culture than anything else,” Dr. Krumholz said. “People use imaging instead of examining the patient; they use imaging instead of talking to the patient.

“Patients should be asking the question: ‘Do I really need this test? Is the information in this test going to help in the decision-making process?’ ”

In many cases, there is little evidence that the routine use of scans helps physicians make better decisions, especially in cases where the treatments that follow are also of questionable efficacy.

Click here to access the NYT article. Click here to access the NEJM article on this study (sub. req.). Risk/benefits, folks!

Culture and health care delivery

From the U.S. World & News Report article:

A new study finds that the high death rates from breast cancer in American Indian and Alaskan native women are linked to cultural beliefs, not barriers such as poor access to health care.

Click here to access this article.

Health beliefs

From the Reuters article:

Older African Americans more likely to rate their health as poor compared with older white Americans, even though when the two groups "are functioning extremely well, new research suggests.
...
The most likely explanation for the racial disparities seen in the current study, Spencer said, is that older African Americans have a different way of thinking about their health than do older whites. It's also possible, she added, that the accumulated affects of racism could be driving down their perception of their own health.

Click here to access.

Culture and cancer

Check out the Wall Street Journal article "In Some Cultures, Cancer Stirs Shame"; an excerpt:

In Mrs. Wong's native China, people often keep illnesses like cancer a secret. That tradition continues even here in America, where her family settled in the 1950s. Years ago, Mrs. Wong's infant daughter developed a brain tumor and her own mother insisted she tell no one. When the baby died, the grandmother tried to dissuade Mrs. Wong from attending the funeral, so great was the stigma.

Click here to access; it was published on October 4th (sub. req.).