US Hispanics, currently the largest minority group in the country, face disparities in the recognition and treatment of major depression. This article provides an evidence-based review of the prevalence, presentation, and management of major depression in primary care in this heterogeneous ethnic group. Under-recognition of depression in adult Hispanic Americans may be related to language differences, health literacy barriers, somatic presentations, and use of cultural idioms of distress. Hispanic patients are often agreeable to treatment but as a group may tend to prefer psychotherapy or combined counseling and medication to pharmacotherapy alone. Recent studies have found both psychological and pharmacologic treatment options are efficacious in this minority group. Treatment adherence should be actively monitored to help ensure its effectiveness. To help reduce the number of depressed Hispanic patients who pass through primary care undetected or inadequately treated, family physicians should make a concerted effort to increase their awareness of the presentation of major depression in this population and actively promote adherence to effective treatments.
Introduction Sexual dysfunction in hypertensive women is an often-neglected subject despite a reported prevalence of 42.1%. Although few reviews exist, a definitive relationship between hypertension and sexual dysfunction in women has not been clearly established. Aim To review the existing literature to definitively examine sexual dysfunction in women with hypertension, in both treated and untreated subjects. Methods We performed a systematic search for published literature of 3 electronic databases (Scopus, EBSCOhost Medline Complete, and Cochrane Library) in August 2018. The search terms with relevant truncation and Boolean were developed according to a population exposure-comparator-outcome model combining pilot searches. The quality of included studies was assessed with the McMaster Critical Review Form for Quantitative Studies. Initial search, limited to the English language, included a total of 2,198 studies. 31 studies (18,260 subjects) met our inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Sexual dysfunction in these studies was measured using different tools. We extracted information of study setting, country, number of subjects, participants’ age and blood pressure, comparators, and outcome. We ran a meta-analysis on the presence of sexual dysfunction as an outcome from the following comparisons: (i) hypertensive vs normotensive (ii) treated vs untreated hypertension, and (iii) exposure vs absence of specific class of anti-hypertensive drug. Main Outcome Measures Women with sexual dysfunction and hypertension were included. Results We found significant sexual dysfunction in women with hypertension compared with the normotensive group (pooled odds ratio [OR] = 2.789, 95% CI = 1.452–5.357, P = .002). However, there was no statistical difference of sexual dysfunction in women with treated or untreated hypertension (OR = 1.229, 95% CI = 0.675–2.236, P = .5). Treatment with alpha-/beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, and diuretics resulted in no statistical difference in sexual dysfunction in hypertensive women. Clinical Implications Because sexual dysfunction is prevalent in women with hypertension, it is imperative to address the underlying medical condition to manage this important clinical problem. Strength & Limitations Many studies had to be excluded from the meta-analysis, due to unavailability and incompleteness of data. Nevertheless, results of the review are useful to derive recommendations for alerting physicians of the need to routinely assess the sexual functioning of women with hypertension. Conclusion We conclude that women with hypertension are at increased risk for sexual dysfunction, and our findings imply that evaluation for sexual dysfunction needs to be part of the clinical management guidelines for women with hypertension.
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