Australian Family Physician March - Engaging men in health
Vol 38, (3) 81 - 176
The theme for the March issue of AFP is Engaging men in health. This
month's articles include Men and mental health, Engaging men in health
care, Men and depression,
The newly single man, Post-traumatic stress disorder – best
practice
GP guidelines, The ‘iron salute’ in haemochromatosis,
Cally’s carpal complaint and A cutaneous horn on the ear.
Not mission impossible
Jenni Parsons
Male gender is a significant risk factor for premature death
in Australia, across all socioeconomic groups, but in particular
in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Learning from UK primary care
Richard Hays
The Australian Government is wise to examine other health
care systems as it strives to improve the quality of care and
address rising costs to both governments and individuals.
Letters to the editor
The opinions expressed by correspondents in this column are in no way endorsed by either the Editors or The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
Men and mental health
Clare Bayram, Salma Fahridin, Helena Britt
Psychological problems were managed at a rate of 11.1 per
100 encounters with male patients in 2006–2008, compared
with 12.6 per 100 female encounters.
Engaging men in health care
Greg Malcher
Engaging men in health care involves a multifaceted approach
that has as its main principle the recognition that men consume
health care differently to women.
The newly single man
Darren B Russell
The newly single man may be attending a consultation for an
issue related to the end of a relationship, or he may present for a
totally unrelated physical reason.
Men and depression
Kay A Wilhelm AM
It is often reported that men have lower rates of depression
than women, but this does not necessarily signify better overall
mental health in the male population.
Post-traumatic stress disorder - Best practice GP guidelines
David Forbes, Bronwyn Wolfgang, John Cooper, Mark Creamer, David Barton
Approximately 50-65% of Australians are exposed to a traumatic event during their lifetime. Approximately 250 000 Australians suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at any given time, making it one of the most common anxiety disorders.
The ‘iron salute’ in haemochromatosis
Evange Romas
The presentation of haemochromatosis is typified by
abdominal pain, arthralgia and fatigue or weakness.
Arthropathy may be the major presenting feature.
Cally’s carpal complaint
Patrick J Phillips
Cally, 44 years of age, is a mother of three children. She is annoyed
about the ‘pins and needles’ in her thumb and first three fingers of
her right hand.
A cutaneous horn on the ear
Manuel Gil-Mosquera, Sergio Vano-Galvan, Ruth Gómez-Guerra, Pedro Jaén
A man, 64 years of age, retired and resident on the Spanish
Mediterranean coast, without family or personal history of cutaneous
tumours, requested primary medical evaluation for a lesion that had
been present for a year.
AFP in Practice
AFP in Practice questions are designed to get you started in a small group learning (SGL) activity in your practice or with colleagues. Requirements to earn 40 Category 1 CPD points for a SGL activity are: minimum of four and a maximum of 10 people, minimum of 8 hours of discussion in a year, and at least two GPs.
Clinical Challenge
Questions for this month's clinical challenge are based on articles in this issue. The style and scope of questions is in keeping with the MCQ of the College Fellowship exam. The quiz is endorsed by the RACGP Quality Assurance and Continuing Professional Development Program and has been allocated 4 CPD points per issue.
To be Superman - the male looks obsession
Natalie Knoesen, Son Thai Vo, David Castle
It is widely recognised that body image dissatisfaction is experienced
by both men and women, and in extreme cases can lead to the
onset of debilitating body image disorders such as body dysmorphic
disorder and muscle dysmorphia, the latter predominantly occurring
in men.
Failure to diagnose: prostate cancer
Sara Bird
The patient, 62 years of age, saw his general practitioner, Dr Baldwin, on 10 November 2001 for a check up. The patient had hypertension. He was obese and smoked 20 cigarettes a day.
Quadrivalent HPV vaccination reactions - More hype than harm
Robert J Douglas
The quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil was
licensed for use in June 2006. Since its approval more than 26 million
doses of the vaccine have been distributed worldwide.
Health literacy - A new concept for general practice?
Robert J Adams, Nigel P Stocks, David H Wilson, Catherine L Hill, Susan Gravier, Llona Kickbusch, Justin J Beilby
Health literacy is the ability to understand and interpret the meaning
of health information in written, spoken or digital form and how this
motivates people to embrace or disregard actions relating to health.
Book reviews
Books reviewed this month are Biting Anorexia: A first-hand account of an internal war by Lucy Howard-Taylor, The wisdom of whores: bureaucrats, brothels and the business of AIDS by Elizabeth Pisani, Murtagh's Patient Education 5th edition by John Murtagh, John Murtagh's practice tips, 5th edition by John Murtagh and Lange: 2008 Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment by Stephen J McPhee, Maxine A Papadakis, Lawrence M Tierney Jr, editors
Smoking patterns and readiness to quit - A study of the Australian Arabic community
Seham Girgis, Armita Adily, Maria-Jose Velasco, Frances L Garden, Nicholas A Zwar, Bin B Jalaludin, Jeanette E Ward
Smoking cessation interventions have typically focused on majority
populations who, in Australia, are English speaking. There has been
an overall decline in the prevalence of smoking in the Australian
community.
A cardiovascular risk clinic using home BP monitoring
Patrick D Byrnes, Geoffrey K Mitchell, Margaret V Crawford, Colleen McGoldrick
Hypertension is the most common chronic condition managed in
general practice, but blood pressure (BP) control is often suboptimal.
Home blood pressure (HBP) monitoring can be more accurate than
office based BP (OBP) monitoring, with HBP readings ~10/5 mmHg
lower than OBP in the same patients.
Paediatric vascular birthmarks - The psychological impact and the role of the GP
Gideon Sandler, Susan Adams, Claire Taylor
This study was designed to investigate the psychosocial impact on
the family of a child with a vascular birthmark and examine the role of
the general practitioner in meeting the family's needs.
Fear of needles - Nature and prevalence in general practice
Simone Wright, Michael Yelland, Kathy Heathcote, Shu-Kay Ng, Garfield Wright
The extent to which a fear of needles influences health decisions
remains largely unexplored. This study investigated the prevalence
of fear of needles in a southeast Queensland community, described
associated symptoms, and highlighted health care avoidance
tendencies of affected individuals.
