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Table of Contents

August 2009

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Making the "Right" Health Care Decisions: Why Values Matter.
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In this month's Editorial the PLoS Medicine editors question the nature and effects of shared decision-making on patient care and subsequent treatment. The editors discuss the criteria for when shared decisions between patient and health care provider should be made, how different forms of data presentation can deepen a patient's understanding of possible treatment options, and how certain presentations can also prove unfairly persuasive. Linking to two research articles published this month in PLoS Medicine, both by Cheryl Carling and colleagues (e1000134 and e1000140), the editorial analyzes the best ways for health care providers to be as informative as possible, while maintaining objectivity and a respect for patients' values prior to treatment.

Image Credit: Marco Bellucci at flickr.com

Editorial

Making the “Right” Health Care Decisions: Why Values Matter

The PLoS Medicine Editors

PLOS Medicine: published August 25, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000136

Related Articles

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  2. The Effect of Alternative Graphical Displays Used to Present the Benefits of Antibiotics for Sore Throat on Decisions about Whether to Seek Treatment: A Randomized Trial

The PLoS Medicine Debate

Can We Systematically Review Studies That Evaluate Complex Interventions?

Sasha Shepperd, Simon Lewin, Sharon Straus, Mike Clarke, Martin P. Eccles, Ray Fitzpatrick, Geoff Wong, Aziz Sheikh

PLOS Medicine: published August 11, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000086

Essays

Consequences of Ongoing Civil Conflict in Somalia: Evidence for Public Health Responses

Debarati Guha-Sapir, Ruwan Ratnayake

PLOS Medicine: published August 11, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000108

Evaluating eHealth Interventions: The Need for Continuous Systemic Evaluation

Lorraine Catwell, Aziz Sheikh

PLOS Medicine: published August 18, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000126

Perspectives

Solar Water Disinfection in Household Settings: Hype or Hope?

Zulfiqar A. Bhutta

PLOS Medicine: published August 18, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000127

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  1. Solar Drinking Water Disinfection (SODIS) to Reduce Childhood Diarrhoea in Rural Bolivia: A Cluster-Randomized, Controlled Trial

Prolonged Grief Disorder: A Problem for the Past, the Present, and the Future

Stephen Workman

PLOS Medicine: published August 4, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000122

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  1. Prolonged Grief Disorder: Psychometric Validation of Criteria Proposed for DSM-V and ICD-11

Facing Up to Unpalatable Evidence for the Sake of Our Patients

Paul E. Mullen

PLOS Medicine: published August 18, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000112

Related Articles

  1. Schizophrenia and Violence: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Mexico's Health System: More Comprehensive Reform Needed

Jason Lakin

PLOS Medicine: published August 18, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000130

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  1. Twenty-Five Years of Convoluted Health Reforms in Mexico

Policy Forum

Twenty-Five Years of Convoluted Health Reforms in Mexico

Núria Homedes, Antonio Ugalde

PLOS Medicine: published August 18, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000124

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  1. Mexico's Health System: More Comprehensive Reform Needed

Student Forum

The Dawning Era of Personalized Medicine Exposes a Gap in Medical Education

Keyan Salari

PLOS Medicine: published August 25, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000138

Research Articles

Cross-National Analysis of the Associations among Mental Disorders and Suicidal Behavior: Findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys

Matthew K. Nock, Irving Hwang, Nancy Sampson, Ronald C. Kessler, Matthias Angermeyer, Annette Beautrais, Guilherme Borges, Evelyn Bromet, Ronny Bruffaerts, Giovanni de Girolamo, Ron de Graaf, Silvia Florescu, Oye Gureje, Josep Maria Haro, Chiyi Hu, Yueqin Huang, Elie G. Karam, Norito Kawakami, Viviane Kovess, Daphna Levinson, Jose Posada-Villa, Rajesh Sagar, Toma Tomov, Maria Carmen Viana, David R. Williams

PLOS Medicine: published August 11, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000123

Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study

Naresh M. Punjabi, Brian S. Caffo, James L. Goodwin, Daniel J. Gottlieb, Anne B. Newman, George T. O'Connor, David M. Rapoport, Susan Redline, Helaine E. Resnick, John A. Robbins, Eyal Shahar, Mark L. Unruh, Jonathan M. Samet

PLOS Medicine: published August 18, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000132

Solar Drinking Water Disinfection (SODIS) to Reduce Childhood Diarrhoea in Rural Bolivia: A Cluster-Randomized, Controlled Trial

Daniel Mäusezahl, Andri Christen, Gonzalo Duran Pacheco, Fidel Alvarez Tellez, Mercedes Iriarte, Maria E. Zapata, Myriam Cevallos, Jan Hattendorf, Monica Daigl Cattaneo, Benjamin Arnold, Thomas A. Smith, John M. Colford Jr

PLOS Medicine: published August 18, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000125

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  1. Solar Water Disinfection in Household Settings: Hype or Hope?

The Effect of Alternative Summary Statistics for Communicating Risk Reduction on Decisions about Taking Statins: A Randomized Trial

Cheryl L. L. Carling, Doris Tove Kristoffersen, Victor M. Montori, Jeph Herrin, Holger J. Schünemann, Shaun Treweek, Elie A. Akl, Andrew D. Oxman

PLOS Medicine: published August 25, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000134

Related Articles

  1. The Effect of Alternative Graphical Displays Used to Present the Benefits of Antibiotics for Sore Throat on Decisions about Whether to Seek Treatment: A Randomized Trial
  2. Making the “Right” Health Care Decisions: Why Values Matter

The Effect of Alternative Graphical Displays Used to Present the Benefits of Antibiotics for Sore Throat on Decisions about Whether to Seek Treatment: A Randomized Trial

Cheryl L. L. Carling, Doris Tove Kristoffersen, Signe Flottorp, Atle Fretheim, Andrew D. Oxman, Holger J. Schünemann, Elie A. Akl, Jeph Herrin, Thomas D. MacKenzie, Victor M. Montori

PLOS Medicine: published August 25, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000140

Related Articles

  1. The Effect of Alternative Summary Statistics for Communicating Risk Reduction on Decisions about Taking Statins: A Randomized Trial
  2. Making the “Right” Health Care Decisions: Why Values Matter

Prolonged Grief Disorder: Psychometric Validation of Criteria Proposed for DSM-V and ICD-11

Holly G. Prigerson, Mardi J. Horowitz, Selby C. Jacobs, Colin M. Parkes, Mihaela Aslan, Karl Goodkin, Beverley Raphael, Samuel J. Marwit, Camille Wortman, Robert A. Neimeyer, George Bonanno, Susan D. Block, David Kissane, Paul Boelen, Andreas Maercker, Brett T. Litz, Jeffrey G. Johnson, Michael B. First, Paul K. Maciejewski

PLOS Medicine: published August 4, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000121

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  1. Prolonged Grief Disorder: A Problem for the Past, the Present, and the Future
  2. Correction: Prolonged Grief Disorder: Psychometric Validation of Criteria Proposed for DSM-V and ICD-11

Schizophrenia and Violence: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Seena Fazel, Gautam Gulati, Louise Linsell, John R. Geddes, Martin Grann

PLOS Medicine: published August 11, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000120

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Decreased Bone Mineral Density in Adults Born with Very Low Birth Weight: A Cohort Study

Petteri Hovi, Sture Andersson, Anna-Liisa Järvenpää, Johan G. Eriksson, Sonja Strang-Karlsson, Eero Kajantie, Outi Mäkitie

PLOS Medicine: published August 25, 2009 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000135