About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that a brief, digital mindfulness-based program is an easily accessible and scalable method for reducing perceptions of stress. Future work should seek to clarify mechanisms by which such interventions contribute to improvements in work-specific well-being. 

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial, implementation of the electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) monitoring system significantly enhanced patient-physician communication and the clarity of physicians’ explanations about treatment. These findings suggest that the ePRO monitoring system is capable of supporting patient-centered cardiovascular care. 

About The Study: In this survey study of U.S. adults, a substantial proportion were aware of and had already experimented with synthetic cooling agent menthol-mimicking cigarettes. These products may serve as a substitute for menthol cigarettes and reduce the public health benefits of a menthol cigarette ban in promoting smoking cessation. 

As the privatized form of Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans advertise dental, vision, and hearing benefits not covered by traditional Medicare, but a recent analysis found that Medicare Advantage beneficiaries do not typically receive more of these supplemental services than traditional Medicare beneficiaries. Additionally, out-of-pocket spending was similar for most supplemental services. The research led by a team from Mass General Brigham is published in JAMA Network Open.

Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening for osteoporosis to prevent osteoporotic fractures in women 65 years or older. The USPSTF recommends screening for osteoporosis to prevent osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women younger than 65 years who are at increased risk for an osteoporotic fracture as estimated by clinical risk assessment. The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for osteoporosis to prevent osteoporotic fractures in men. Osteoporotic fractures are associated with psychological distress, subsequent fractures, loss of independence, reduced ability to perform activities of daily living, and death. The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services and this recommendation updates the 2018 recommendation on screening for osteoporosis.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which affects about 200 million people worldwide and can result in legal blindness, impairs an area of the eye (retina) used for reading, driving and many other critical daily tasks.  A new study of large existing patient datasets indicates genetic and demographic factors that increase the risk for developing AMD. In the study, recently published in Nature Genetics, a team of scientists worked with the Million Veteran Program (MVP) of the VA Office of Research and Development, a large biobank of veterans recruited at more than 60 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers nationally, to examine demographic, lifestyle, clinical and genetic risk profiles for AMD.