Australian Journal of General Practice
Formerly Australian Family Physician (AFP)
MBChB, DRANZCOG, DipGUMed, FRACGP, MPHTM, PhD, Promotional Chair, Discipline of General Practice and Rural Medicine, Mackay Clinical School, James Cook University College of Medicine and Dentistry, Mackay, Qld
Despite recent exponential growth in research on familial hypercholesterolaemia, there remains a general lack of public and health professional awareness about the disorder.
Medical research in Australia has mostly been conducted in tertiary hospital settings, but as the majority of illnesses are managed in primary care, there is a need for a change in focus.
Screening and management in general practice has the potential for substantial health benefits while requiring relatively modest investments from the health system.
The recent increased public experience with epidemiological concepts such as contact tracing offers new potential to improve detection and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia.
A study that identifies a set of general practice research priorities to guide resource allocation and to inform a research agenda that optimises best patient care.
This study provided a timely assessment of general practitioner knowledge and attitudes to prescribing pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV.
Vaccination-site pain is now a recognised adverse effect, and adequate pain management strategies should be incorporated into every vaccination.
Evidence supports some beneficial effects of antibiotics prescribed to patients with a sore throat and proven presence of group A streptococci.
Patient health literacy is a barrier to both management of familial hypercholesterolaemia and cascade testing.
Recent consensus advice on the care of patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) supports improved care of patients with FH in the primary care setting.
If a benefit of oral corticosteroids is not proven, then physicians currently prescribing it need to be advised of this finding.
The National Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy is Australia’s commitment to the health of future generations.