Table of Contents

July 1, 2008; 149 (1)

Articles

  • Diabetes and Hearing Impairment in the United States: Audiometric Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999 to 2004

    • Kathleen E. Bainbridge,
    • Howard J. Hoffman,
    • and Catherine C. Cowie
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:1-10

    Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1994–2000, Bainbridge and colleagues found that hearing impairment was twice as prevalent in patients with diabetes than those without diabetes. This association was independent of known risk factors for hearing impairment. Physicians should be especially alert to the benefits of screening persons with diabetes for hearing impairment.

  • The Effect of Comorbid Illness and Functional Status on the Expected Benefits of Intensive Glucose Control in Older Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Decision Analysis

    • Elbert S. Huang,
    • Qi Zhang,
    • Niren Gandra,
    • Marshall H. Chin,
    • and David O. Meltzer
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:11-19

    In this decision analysis model to estimate the net benefits of treating to a hemoglobin A1c level of 7% rather than 7.9% among 60- to 80-year-old persons with several different life expectancies, net benefits of tight control ranged from 51 to 116 quality-adjusted days. Benefits decreased with advancing age and as life expectancy decreased, suggesting that the target hemoglobin A1c value can be higher in elderly people with comorbid disease.

  • Relationship of Specific Vaginal Bacteria and Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment Failure in Women Who Have Sex with Women

    • Jeanne M. Marrazzo,
    • Katherine K. Thomas,
    • Tina L. Fiedler,
    • Kathleen Ringwood,
    • and David N. Fredricks
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:20-28

    Bacterial vaginosis often persists after treatment, possibly because of bacterial vaginosis–associated bacteria (BVAB). Among 335 women who have sex with women, Clostridia BVAB1, BVAB2, or BVAB3; Peptoniphilus lacrimalis; and Megasphaera phylotype 2 at baseline and lower adherence to treatment were associated with persistent bacterial vaginosis 1 month after treatment. Microbiological analysis at the time of diagnosis may predict treatment failure.

Improving Patient Care

  • Public Reporting of Antibiotic Timing in Patients with Pneumonia: Lessons from a Flawed Performance Measure

    • Robert M. Wachter,
    • Scott A. Flanders,
    • Christopher Fee,
    • and Peter J. Pronovost
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:29-32

    The administration of antibiotics within 4 hours to patients with community-acquired pneumonia is a widely used, but often criticized, quality-of-care measure. The authors make 5 recommendations for future development of publicly reported quality measures.

Review

  • Meta-analysis: Effects of Adding Salmeterol to Inhaled Corticosteroids on Serious Asthma-Related Events

    • Eric Bateman,
    • Harold Nelson,
    • Jean Bousquet,
    • Kenneth Kral,
    • Laura Sutton,
    • Hector Ortega,
    • and Steven Yancey
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:33-42

    Many question whether adding long-acting β-agonists to treatment regimens of patients whose asthma is not controlled with inhaled corticosteroids alone is safe. In 66 GlaxoSmithKline trials involving 20 966 patients with persistent asthma, twice-daily 50-µg salmeterol plus inhaled corticosteroids did not seem to alter risk for asthma-related hospitalizations but decreased risk for severe exacerbations requiring systemic corticosteroids. One asthma-related death and 1 intubation occurred in patients receiving combination therapy.

Perspectives

  • Surrogate Decision Making: Reconciling Ethical Theory and Clinical Practice

    • Jeffrey T. Berger,
    • Evan G. DeRenzo,
    • and Jack Schwartz
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:48-53

    Many adult patients do not have the cognitive capacity to make decisions and must rely on surrogates. The basis for surrogates' decisions is typically the patients' known wishes, what the surrogate thinks the patient would decide, or the patient's supposed best interests. However, this framework has limitations. The authors review research on surrogate decision making, compare actual practice with normative standards, and offer ways to improve practice.

Clinical Guidelines

  • Screening for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Adults: Evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement

    • Kenneth Lin and
    • Kevin Fajardo
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:W-20-W-24

    Lin and Fajardo's systematic review supports the USPSTF recommendation in this issue on screening for asymptomatic bacteriuria. This article is only available at www.annals.org.

  • Screening for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Adults: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement

    • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:43-47

    The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) reaffirms their 2004 recommendation to screen for asymptomatic bacteriuria with urine culture in pregnant women at 12 to 16 weeks' gestation or at the first prenatal visit, if later (grade A recommendation). They do not recommend screening for asymptomatic bacteriuria in men and nonpregnant women (grade D recommendation).

Editorials

  • Hearing Loss and Diabetes: You Might Not Know What You're Missing

    • Keiko Hirose
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:54-55

    In this issue, Bainbridge and colleagues report that people with diabetes in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey had increased risk for hearing loss compared with nondiabetic persons. Their study opens up potential directions for future research, in terms of medical or surgical therapies that may halt the progression of diabetic cochleopathy, whether tighter glycemic control has a protective effect against the development of hearing loss, and the clinical implications of diabetes-related hearing loss.

  • Drug Safety and Salmeterol: The Controversy Continues

    • Kevin B. Weiss
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:56-57

    In this issue, Bateman and colleagues combined patient data from randomized efficacy trials to determine whether incidence of severe asthma-related events differs in persons receiving salmeterol plus inhaled corticosteroids versus inhaled corticosteroids alone. Although the study is well executed and uses sound methods, the data source has limitations. The best advice in the absence of new data may be to use combination therapy only for indications that accord with nationally accepted clinical guidelines, and to not use long-acting β-agonists as first-line treatment.

  • Taking Our Vital Signs: The Year in Review

    • The Editors
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:58-59

    The Editors review changes and accomplishments from the past year at Annals.

On Being a Doctor

On Being a Patient

Letters

  • Does the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act Still Take Care of Organs before Patients?

    • Joseph L. Verheijde,
    • Mohamed Y. Rady,
    • and Joan L. McGregor
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:63

  • Does the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act Still Take Care of Organs before Patients?

    • Michael A. DeVita and
    • Arthur L. Caplan
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:63-64

  • Association between Protein Levels and Mortality in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease

    • Tetsuji Fujita
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:64

  • Association between Protein Levels and Mortality in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease

    • Mary M. McDermott,
    • Lu Tian,
    • and Kiang Liu
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:64-65

  • Does Ascertainment Bias Affect Reports on the Incidence of Multidrug-Resistant, Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection?

    • Kenneth A. Katz,
    • Kyle T. Bernstein,
    • and Jeffrey D. Klausner
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:65

  • Does Ascertainment Bias Affect Reports on the Incidence of Multidrug-Resistant, Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection?

    • Binh An Diep and
    • Henry F. Chambers
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:66

  • Relevance of Recertification for Primary Care Physicians

    • Emilio B. Gonzalez
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:66

  • Relevance of Recertification for Primary Care Physicians

    • Edward J. Volpintesta
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:66-67

  • Benefits and Drawbacks of Universal Surveillance of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

    • Daniel Diekema
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:67

  • Benefits and Drawbacks of Universal Surveillance of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

    • Rodney B. Nelson
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:67-68

  • Benefits and Drawbacks of Universal Surveillance of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

    • Lance R. Peterson,
    • Jennifer L. Beaumont,
    • and Ari Robicsek
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:68-69

  • Cardiac JAK2 Mutation V617F in a Patient with Cardiomyopathy and Myeloproliferative Disease

    • Stefan Gattenlohner,
    • Georg Ertl,
    • Hermann Einsele,
    • Stefan Kircher,
    • Hans-Konrad Muller-Hermelink,
    • and Alexander Marx
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:69-71

  • Repeatedly False-Negative Rapid HIV Test Results in a Patient with Undiagnosed Advanced AIDS

    • Patricia Brown,
    • Joseph R. Merline,
    • Diane Levine,
    • and Lucio Román Minces
    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:71-72

Medical Notices

  • Medical Notices

    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:0

Summaries for Patients

In the Clinic

  • Acne

    Ann Intern Med July 1, 2008 149:ITC1-1

    This issue provides a clinical overview of acne, focusing on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, practice improvement, and patient information. Readers can complete the accompanying CME quiz for 1.5 credits.

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This Issue

July 1, 2008; 149 (1)
  1. Articles
  2. Improving Patient Care
  3. Review
  4. Perspectives
  5. Clinical Guidelines
  6. Editorials
  7. On Being a Doctor
  8. On Being a Patient
  9. Letters
  10. Medical Notices
  11. Summaries for Patients
  12. In the Clinic

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