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Kossowsky, Joe

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Kossowsky

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Joe

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Kossowsky, Joe

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2014 - 20173

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Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.7825dd21-d168-4f05-9a2b-bf69389bcb3e

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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Trust in the health care professional and health outcome: A meta-analysis
    (Public Library of Science, 2017) Birkhäuer, Johanna; Gaab, Jens; Kossowsky, Joe; Hasler, Sebastian; Krummenacher, Peter; Werner, Christoph; Gerger, Heike
    Objective: To examine whether patients’ trust in the health care professional is associated with health outcomes. Study selection We searched 4 major electronic databases for studies that reported quantitative data on the association between trust in the health care professional and health outcome. We screened the full-texts of 400 publications and included 47 studies in our meta-analysis. Data extraction and data synthesis We conducted random effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions and calculated correlation coefficients with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Two interdependent researchers assessed the quality of the included studies using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. Results: Overall, we found a small to moderate correlation between trust and health outcomes (r = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.19–0.29). Subgroup analyses revealed a moderate correlation between trust and self-rated subjective health outcomes (r = 0.30, 0.24–0.35). Correlations between trust and objective (r = -0.02, -0.08–0.03) as well as observer-rated outcomes (r = 0.10, -0.16–0.36) were non-significant. Exploratory analyses showed a large correlation between trust and patient satisfaction and somewhat smaller correlations with health behaviours, quality of life and symptom severity. Heterogeneity was small to moderate across the analyses. Conclusions: From a clinical perspective, patients reported more beneficial health behaviours, less symptoms and higher quality of life and to be more satisfied with treatment when they had higher trust in their health care professional. There was evidence for upward bias in the summarized results. Prospective studies are required to deepen our understanding of the complex interplay between trust and health outcomes.
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    The Influence of the Patient-Clinician Relationship on Healthcare Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
    (Public Library of Science, 2014) Kelley, John; Kraft-Todd, Gordon; Schapira, Lidia; Kossowsky, Joe; Riess, Helen
    Objective: To determine whether the patient-clinician relationship has a beneficial effect on either objective or validated subjective healthcare outcomes. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data Sources Electronic databases EMBASE and MEDLINE and the reference sections of previous reviews. Eligibility Criteria for Selecting Studies Included studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in adult patients in which the patient-clinician relationship was systematically manipulated and healthcare outcomes were either objective (e.g., blood pressure) or validated subjective measures (e.g., pain scores). Studies were excluded if the encounter was a routine physical, or a mental health or substance abuse visit; if the outcome was an intermediate outcome such as patient satisfaction or adherence to treatment; if the patient-clinician relationship was manipulated solely by intervening with patients; or if the duration of the clinical encounter was unequal across conditions. Results: Thirteen RCTs met eligibility criteria. Observed effect sizes for the individual studies ranged from d = −.23 to .66. Using a random-effects model, the estimate of the overall effect size was small (d = .11), but statistically significant (p = .02). Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs suggests that the patient-clinician relationship has a small, but statistically significant effect on healthcare outcomes. Given that relatively few RCTs met our eligibility criteria, and that the majority of these trials were not specifically designed to test the effect of the patient-clinician relationship on healthcare outcomes, we conclude with a call for more research on this important topic.
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    Genetic variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase modifies effects of clonidine treatment in chronic fatigue syndrome
    (2016) Hall, Kathryn; Kossowsky, Joe; Oberlander, Tim F.; Kaptchuk, Ted; Saul, J. Philip; Wyller, Vegard Bruun; Fagermoen, Even; Sulheim, Dag; Gjerstad, Johannes; Winger, Anette; Mukamal, Kenneth
    Clonidine, an α2-adrenergic receptor agonist, decreases circulating norepinephrine and epinephrine, attenuating sympathetic activity. Although catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) metabolizes catecholamines, main effectors of sympathetic function, COMT genetic variation effects on clonidine treatment are unknown. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is hypothesized to result in part from dysregulated sympathetic function. A candidate gene analysis of COMT rs4680 effects on clinical outcomes in the Norwegian Study of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Adolescents: Pathophysiology and Intervention Trial (NorCAPITAL), a randomized double-blinded clonidine versus placebo trial, was conducted (N=104). Patients homozygous for rs4680 high-activity allele randomized to clonidine took 2,500 fewer steps compared to placebo (pinteraction=0.04). There were no differences between clonidine and placebo amongst patients with COMT low-activity alleles. Similar gene-drug interactions were observed for sleep (pint=0.003) and quality of life (pint=0.018). Detrimental effects of clonidine in the subset of CFS patients homozygous for COMT high-activity allele warrant investigation of potential clonidine-COMT interaction effects in other conditions.