Stool DNA testing is a new approach to colorectal cancer detection. Few data are available from the screening setting.

In 2002, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended colorectal cancer screening for adults 50 years of age or older but concluded that evidence was insufficient to prioritize among screening tests or evaluate newer tests, such as computed tomographic (CT) colonography.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force requested a decision analysis to inform their update of recommendations for colorectal cancer screening.

Update of the 2002 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation statement on screening for colorectal cancer.

Concerns exist regarding increased risk for mortality associated with some chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) medications.

Small studies of variable quality suggest that massage therapy may relieve pain and other symptoms.

Evidence comparing premixed insulin analogues (a mixture of rapid-acting and intermediate-acting insulin analogues) with other antidiabetic agents is urgently required to guide appropriate therapy.

Adiponectin and resistin are recently discovered adipokines that may provide a molecular link between adiposity and type 2 diabetes.

The proportion of the U.S. population with limited English proficiency is growing. Physicians often find themselves caring for patients with limited English proficiency in settings with limited language services. There has been little exploration of the decisions physicians face when providing care across language barriers. The authors offer a conceptual framework to aid physicians in thinking through difficult choices about language services and provide responses to common questions encountered in the care of patients with limited English proficiency. Specifically, they describe 4 factors that should inform the decision to call an interpreter (the clinical situation, degree of language gap, available resources, and patient preference), discuss who may be an appropriate interpreter, and offer strategies for when a professional interpreter is not available. The authors use a hypothetical case to illustrate how decisions about language services may evolve over the course of an interaction. This conceptual and practical approach can help clinicians to improve the quality of care provided to patients with limited English proficiency.

Seeding trials, clinical studies conducted by pharmaceutical companies that are designed to seem as if they answer a scientific question but primarily fulfill marketing objectives, have not been described in detail.

The relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH) vitamin D] concentration and hip fractures is unclear.

The act of diagnosis requires that patients be placed in a binary category of either having or not having a certain disease. Accordingly, the diseases of particular concern for industrialized countries--such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, or depression--require that a somewhat arbitrary cut-point be chosen on a continuous scale of measurement (for example, a fasting glucose level >6.9 mmol/L [>125 mg/dL] for type 2 diabetes). These cut-points do not adequately reflect disease biology, may inappropriately treat patients on either side of the cut-point as 2 homogenous risk groups, fail to incorporate other risk factors, and are invariable to patient preference. This article discusses risk prediction as an alternative to diagnosis: Patient risk factors (blood pressure, age) are combined into a single statistical model (risk for a cardiovascular event within 10 years) and the results are used in shared decision making about possible treatments. The authors compare and contrast the diagnostic and risk prediction approaches and attempt to identify the types of medical problem to which each is best suited.

Prostate cancer is the most common nonskin cancer in men in the United States, and prostate cancer screening has increased in recent years. In 2002, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that evidence was insufficient to recommend for or against screening for prostate cancer with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing.

Update of the 2002 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation statement about screening for prostate cancer.

Women with urge urinary incontinence are commonly treated with antimuscarinic medications, but many discontinue therapy.

Expanded HIV screening efforts in the United States have increased the use of rapid HIV tests in emergency departments. The reported sensitivity and specificity of rapid HIV tests exceed 99%.