No abstract

Objective: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the evidence on the prevalence of cytochrome P450 enzyme polymorphisms as potential genetic factors influencing drug efficacy and safety in the indigenous populations of the American hemispheres. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of studies published between 1985 and 2006 using the Pubmed database. Results: We identified only 10 original research studies on CYP2A6, CYP2D6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP2E1 in 13 indigenous American populations. Interethnic differences in the frequency of CYP450 genetic variants existed both among the examined indigenous populations and in comparison with African, Asian and European populations. Conclusions: There are surprisingly few data on CYP450 enzyme polymorphisms in indigenous American populations, and it is difficult to draw any clear inferences about how these populations might be expected to respond to drugs in relation to other racial or ethnic groups. This lack of information could create a barrier to the use of pharmacogenetic testing in these populations. Collaborative partnerships between indigenous communities and researchers are needed to avail the clinical benefits of CYP450 enzyme polymorphism testing to indigenous populations.

This article investigates the discipline of public administration as it is manifested in symposium articles published during the period 1985–99. What was the field trying to accomplish? The method of investigation is narrative analysis. Using specific discourse markers (method, substantive contents, and authorial intentions), the authors found a wide variety of purposes and projects in the symposia investigated. The condition of public administration, they conclude, is distinguished by a radical pluralism—a striking absence of any singular conception of public administration scholarship.

Background The Personal Patient Profile-Prostate (P4) program is an interactive web-based decision support system that provides men with localized prostate cancer customized education and coaching with which to make the best personal treatment decision. This study assessed functionality and usability of the P4 program and identified problems in user-computer interaction in a sample of African-American men. Methods Usability testing was conducted with twelve community dwelling African-American adult men. The health status of participants was not known or collected by the research team. Each participant worked with the P4 program and provided simultaneous feedback using the “think aloud” technique. Handwritten field notes were collated and assigned to three standard coded categories. Aspects of P4 program usability was made based on common issues in the assigned categories. Summary statistics were derived for types and frequency of usability issues noted in the coded data. Results Twelve participants reported a total of 122 usability comments, with a mean of nine usability comments. The most common usability issue by participant was completeness of information content, which comprised 53 (43%) of the total issues. Comprehensibility of text and graphics was second, comprising 51 (42%) percent of the total issues. Conclusion This study provided initial inventory of usability issues for community African-American men that may potentially interfere with application of the P4 system in the community setting and overall system usability, confirming the need for usability testing of culturally appropriate Internet-based decision support system before community application.

No abstract