BACKGROUND: Physician empathy is an effective therapeutic component of patient-physician communication. It is thus essential to develop and sustain it throughout medical school to equip the would be physicians with this attribute throughout their clinical careers. However, several studies have shown that empathy levels of medical students decline overtime.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the empathy score across medical school years of students in the University of the Philippines College of Medicine.

METHODOLOGY: First through fifth year medical students enrolled in the College of Medicine for the school year 2014 to 2015 and who consented to participate were included.

DESIGN: Analytical cross sectional study of medical students at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in 2014.

DATA COLLECTION: The primary measure of empathy used was the Jefferson Scales of Empathy--Student Version (JSE-S), a 20-item psychometrically validated instrument measuring components of empathy among medical students in patient care situations.

RESULTS: Mean empathy scores significantly varied across year level, sex and age group (P<0.05). The significant difference in the adjusted mean empathy scores was seen between the first and third year levels (117.0 vs. 108.1 P<0.05) and first and fifth year levels (117.0 vs. 107.1 P=0.04). The mean empathy score of female medical students as compared to male medical students was higher (114.4 vs. 109.8 P=0.002). Difference in empathy scores were noted between the less than 22 and 25-27 age groups (115.2 vs. 104.5 P=0.006). While there was a note of decrease in the empathy scores among students who chose"technology- oriented"specialties from"people-oriented"specialties, the difference was not statistically significant. (112.2 vs 113.2 P=0.942).

CONCLUSION: Empathy scores of the medical students in the University of the Philippines College of Medicine declines across year levels.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Empathy ; Personality ; Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms ; Students, Medical

BACKGROUND: Caregivers play an important role in the care of chronically ill patients. In order to be effective carers, it is essential that factors affecting their quality of life be measured.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the different factors (socio-demographic, patient, and caregiver) affecting family function and quality of life of primary caregivers of chronically-ill patients, De La Salle University Medical Center July-October 2014.

METHOD: This cross-sectional study included 104 primary caregivers of chronically-ill adult patients from the out-patient department, service and pay wards of De La Salle University Medical Center. Included in the study are primary caregivers aged 18 years and above. The days of interview with primary caregivers of chronically-ill patients at the OPD, service and pay wards were randomly selected. Three days per week were allotted for the interview. Medical charts of admitted adult patients at service and pay wards were reviewed to identify those suffering from chronic illness. All primary caregivers present during the day of interview who passed the inclusion criteria were included as participants after obtaining their consent for the study. An interview using an interview guide followed right after consent was given.

RESULTS: Among 104 primary caregivers of chronically-ill adult patients, 52.9% perceived their families as being highly functional, 28.8% moderately functional, 10.6% as being functionally at risk, 4.8% moderately dysfunctional and 2.9% severely dysfunctional. Majority (71.2%) reported to have a good quality of life. None of the caregivers screened positive for depression. Family function was found to be significantly associated with the number of household members (p-value: 0.01), relationship to patient (p-value: 0.03) and patient's age (p-value: 0.04). Quality of life was significantly associated with caregiver's age and relationship to patient. Family function and quality of life was significantly associated with each other (p-value: 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS: Majority of primary caregivers of chronically-ill adult patients perceived their families as highly functional. Among the socio-demographic, caregiver and patient factors included in the study, the only ones with significant association with family function are the number of household members, the caregiver's relationship to patient and the patient's age. Most of the primary caregivers reported to have a good quality of life. The only factors significantly associated with caregiver's quality of life are caregiver's age and relationship to patient. A significant association was found between quality of life and family function of primary caregivers. Adequacy of cohesion, as a subscale of family function, significanty improves.family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">

RECOMMENDATIONS: Knowing the factors affecting family function and quality of life, and the development of family programs that will improve family function and promote good quality of life of primary caregivers are recommended.

Human ; Quality of Life ; Caregivers ; Chronic Disease

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness and safety of Aloe vera as an adjunct treatment to Metformin in lowering Fasting Blood Glucose levels in Diabetic patients.

DESIGN: Therapeutic Clinical Trial

STUDY SUBJECTS: Patients aged 40-65 years old taking Metformin 500mg twice a day with FBS of 126mg/dL to 250mg/dL with no other co-morbidities seen at Family Medicine - Quezon City General Hospital, Out Patient Department.

METHOD: Sixty (60) out of 93 study subjects were included after baseline determination of FBS and was assigned to either of the two groups after systematic random sampling method. Both groups had 30 subjects each and were given Aloe vera and placebo on the assigned group. Repeat FBS was determined after 2 weeks. Data gathered were analyzed using Epi info 6 SPSS ver 20 and STATA 11.0 Software.

RESULTS: Sixty (60) patients completed the study. The mean height in Group A (OHA+Aloe vera) was 161.53(+/- 7.651) and Group B 159.83 (+/- 8.465). The mean height in Group A was 60.70 (+/-11.996) and Group B 59.95 (+/-10.528). The mean BMI in Group was 23.21 (+/- 4.027) and in Group B 23.557 (+/-4.481). The mean age in Group A was 52.97 (+/-­5.720) and in Group B 57.63 (+/-4.287). The Gender had a p value of 0.796; occupation p value 0.067; and education p value 0.796. The comparison of mean change in FBS within groups had a p value of 0.001. The comparison of mean change in FBS between groups in pre-treatment, p value of 0.933; post treatment p value of 0.0104. The FBS % change in both groups had a p value of 0.001. The comparison of age-adjusted percent change in the FBS between the 2 groups had a p value of 0.001. There was one patient who experienced bloatedness on the third day of treatment in Group A.

CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the use of Aloe vera as an adjunct treatment to Metforms is effective and safe.

Human ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Metformin ; Aloe ; Plants, Medicinal

BACKGROUND: The study is a post-marketing surveillance study conducted for a one month period, with two visits at two-week intervals.

METHODOLOGY: The design was prospective, open-label and observational, which included adult patients 18 years old and above, diagnosed with mild to moderate hypertension, requiring treatment with anti-hypertensive. Data collected were analyzed descriptively. Heart rate and systolic and diastolic BP were described by the total number of observations, mean and standard deviation. Efficacy and safety were determined and student's t-test was used to calculate statistical significance.

RESULTS/CONCLUSION: At the end of the study period, S(-) amlodipine was found to a have positive effect on heart rate and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and this effect is sustained over four weeks. A very low of transient adverse events were recorded, with headache still the most common.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Aged 80 and over ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Adolescent ; Amlodipine ; Safety ; Treatment Outcome ; Hypertension

Human ; Male ; Female ; Aged 80 and over ; Aged ; Ambulatory Care ; Caregivers ; Family ; Patient care ; quality of life

OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness, safety and acceptability of topical ginger oil extract with VCO and methylsalicylate in reducing pain in adult patients with osteoarthritis at the outpatient department of DLSUMC.

STUDY DESIGN: Randomized Controlled Trial

METHOD: The study included 165 patients ≥ 40 years old complaining of knee pain, screened based on the following criteria: < 30 minutes morning stiffness and crepitus on motion. Those who passed the screening were asked to sign an informed consent and were randomly allocated in the three groups: VCO + ginger extract, VCO, and methylsalicylate. Patients were followed up for 4 consecutive weeks where the assessment was based on the following tools: universal pain assessment tool, range of motion and a questionnaire. The universal pain assessment tool and range of motion were assessed weekly while the questionnaire (1 and 2) were answered on the initial and 4th week of follow up, respectively. The amount of medication that has been applied for the week was also measured weekly. All results were recorded in the patients' record sheet and were then analyzed.

RESULTS: Universal pain assessment tool and range of motion were compared to baseline values at the end of 1 month treatment of 165 patients. There was decrease in pain in VCO + ginger extract (mean difference 2.35) as compared to VCO (mean difference 1.67) and methylsalicylate (mean difference 1.9)(p 0.0066). Analysis of the secondary efficacy variable showed that VCO + ginger extract group (mean difference 18.84) had better improvement in range of motion compared to VCO group (mean difference 18.38), but methylsalicylate (mean difference 27.06) was superior to both VCO groups. Analysis of acceptability variables showed that VCO + ginger extract were more acceptable as compared to VCO, but methylsalicylate was superior to both the VCO and VCO + ginger extract group. However, acceptability as to cost and preparation was not done in this study because the treatment was provided by the researcher and so, the researcher has no means of identifying if the cost and preparation were acceptable to the patient. All treatment groups were found safe to use, no adverse effects reported to all groups.

CONCLUSION: Comparison of the efficacy, safety and acceptability as to ease of application. VCO + ginger extract was superior to VCO group, but methylsalicylate was superior to both VCO + ginger and VCO in terms of efficacy and acceptability.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Based on the efficacy, safety and acceptability, in the absence of methylsalicylate, VCO + ginger extract can be used as an alternative treatment for osteoarthritis.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Osteoarthritis ; methyl salicylate ; Plants, Medicinal ; Ginger ; Plant Extracts

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer ranks fourth among the malignancies in women worldwide and remains to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality despite being a highly preventable disease. With this alarming burden, efforts are geared towards prevention with the strengthening of opportunistic screening programs to encourage women to be assessed.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine if there will be increase in the cervical cancer screening utilization rate if an opportunistic screening program was introduced in the patients' waiting area during regular health consultation services.

SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Female patients aged 21-65 years who consulted at the University of the Philippines -- Philippine General Hospital Out-patient Department Family Medicine Clinic (UP-PGH OPD FMC) in July 2014 were included in the study.

DESIGN: The study was a before and after design. Women who were eligible to be screened were invited during the month long program implementation and those who agreed were asked to choose their preferred screening method between Pap smear and VIA.

DATA COLLECTION: Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire and recorded with the gynecological examination findings and result of the screening procedure. Utilization rates during the period of opportunistic screening was compared to that of the previous month when there was no existing program and the mean change was determined.

RESULTS: The utilization rate with the intervention was 27%, an increase by 25% from the previous month's 2% utilization rate. There were more women (166, 38%) who preferred screening through VIA over Pap smear (69,16%). Majority of the subjects were married, housewife, with high school education and multiparous. Most of the women in the study had no previous screening and were not informed about cervical cancer.

CONCLUSION: Opportunistic screening program in the Family Medicine Clinic had increased the screening uptake of women when given during waiting hours of regular health clinic consultations, and offering VIA as an option for screening procedure further increased cervical cancer screening.

Human ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Acetic Acid ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms- ; Mass Screening, diagnosis ; Papanicolaou Test

BACKGROUND: Bullying is a worldwide problem that continues to grow. Students become victims of bullying with or without the awareness of their teachers, parents or guardians. Little significant research exists on bullying at private schools, its characteristics, and its differences from public schools. Inattention to this segment of the population can lead to broad and inappropriate generalizations that what works in public schools will work in private schools.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the differences of bullying among grade school children enrolled in public and private schools.

METHODS: This is a cross sectional study participated by 156 students from Grade 4 to Grade 6 enrolled for the academic year 2014-2015 in a chosen public and private school in Iloilo City. A Stratified Random Sampling method was employed in the study sample. The Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) was used to get the period prevalence of bullying. Data was analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 19.0 software.

RESULTS: The data showed that the prevalence of bullying in the study population is 72.4%. Among the three age groups, the highest proportion is in the age group of 11 to 13 years old with 35.9% experienced bullying once or twice a month for the past couple of months. There were more female (30.7%) than male (23.5%) students who were not bullied in school for the past couple of months. The data showed that both the students from private and public schools were bullied not only by boys or girls but by both boys and girls. This was claimed by 29.3% of the private school pupils and 27.0% of the public school pupils.

CONCLUSION: There is a statistically significant difference across the different forms of bullying between the public and private schools where the public school has a significantly higher percentage of bullying in comparison with the private school.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Adolescent ; Child ; Bullying ; Schools

Human ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Abdominal Pain ; diagnosis ; Fibrosis ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) 10% cream versus Clotrimazole 1% cream in the treatment of superficial fungal skin infection.

DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial

SETTING: Quezon City General Hospital, Out-patient Department

STUDY SUBJECTS: Patients aged 17 years old and above seen at the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) Out Patient Department (OPD) Quezon City General Hospital and Medical Center.

METHOD: The study was conducted from from May-September 2013. Of 50 subjects, 49 were included in the study and assigned to either Group A (25) or Group B (24) using systematic sampling method. Patients in Group A were instructed to apply on affected areas Clotrimazole 1% cream twice a day for 2 weeks, whereas Group B applied lemon grass 10% cream twice a day for 2 weeks.

RESULTS: Forty-nine subjects completed the study. In both groups, most respondents belonged to the 15-25 age group, were males, married, unemployed and reached college level. Both groups were comparable with P values > 0.05. The mean change in the grading scale of the lesion from the baseline - 2 weeks of treatment was statistically significant for both groups (P-value 0.001 for both), hence both treatments showed improvement in the fungal lesion. The difference in the baseline grading scale for both groups was not statistically significant with P-value of 0.110, hence comparable. However, comparison of the mean difference in the grading scale of the lesion after 2 weeks of treatment was statistically significant with P-value of 0.001, meaning that Group A showed faster resolution of lesions compared to Group B. No adverse reaction was observed in Group B.

CONCLUSION: Topical application of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) 10% cream improved superficial fungal skin infection but was found to be inferior to Clotrimazole 1% cream as to the lesion resolution at 2 weeks.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Adolescent ; Cymbopogon ; CLOTRIMAZOLE