There is a major shortage of doctors in rural areas in South Africa. An example is Mount Frere district, where the doctorto-population ratio is 1:30 000. About 46% of the population in South Africa live in non-urban areas. Achieving equity in the distribution of health workers between urban and rural areas is an important priority for the Department of Health. In other countries with large rura...

BACKGROUND Although family physicians have a key role in clinical management of many diseases and in community health, the accuracy of the diagnosis for congenital anomalies by family physicians still needs more investigations. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of family physicians in case detection and diagnosis of congenital anomalies in rural areas, northwest of Iran. METHOD...

A bout 218,890 new prostate cancer diagnoses were expected in the United States during 2007, with 27,050 men dying of the disease. Men have a 17 percent lifetime risk of prostate cancer, but only a 3 percent risk of dying from the disease. Black men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the world. The age-adjusted death rate from prostate cancer is 64.4 per 100,000 for black men comp...

P eripheral nerve injury in the upper extremity is common, and certain peripheral nerves are at an increased risk of injury because of their anatomic location. Risk factors include a superficial position, a long course through an area at high risk of trauma, and a narrow path through a bony canal. The anatomy and function of upper extremity nerve roots, as well as specific risk factors of injur...

R ecognition and diagnosis of tongue abnormalities require examination of tongue morphology and a thorough history, including onset and duration, antecedent symptoms, and tobacco and alcohol use. A complete head and neck examination, with careful assessment for lymphadenopathy, is essential. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the point prevalence of tongue lesion...

the pelvis and lumbar spine. Although the spondyloarthropathies are grouped together, they display distinct clinical features. It is likely that an interplay among genetic, environmental, and immunologic factors is responsible for the various clinical manifestations of these diseases. Infection with an unknown organism or exposure to an unknown antigen in a genetically susceptible patient (HLA-...

This clinical content conforms to AAFP criteria for evidence-based continuing medical education (EB CME). EB CME is clinical content presented with practice recommendations supported by evidence that has been systematically reviewed by an AAFP-approved source. P rimary dysmenorrhea, which is defined as painful menses in women with normal pelvic anatomy, usually begins during adolescence. It is ...

N onsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used to treat inflammation, pain, and fever by decreasing prostaglandin synthesis through blockage of the cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme. Table 1 lists NSAID dosages and monthly costs. There is little evidence to support differences in effectiveness for pain treatment when comparing all NSAIDs. Aspirin is used for primary and secondary pr...

T he number of adults in North America who have congenital heart disease (CHD) has steadily increased over the past 30 years. Although this increase is partly because of the growth of the adult population, it may be more attributable to improvements in surgical management, which have resulted in a greater than 90 percent 10-year survival rate in persons with CHD. Between 1979 and 1997, mortalit...