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Background: The determination of what makes a medical treatment inappropriate is unclear with a small likelihood of consensus. Objectives: This study aimed to explore how clinicians in cardiology perceive "inappropriate treatment" and to collate the common profiles of cardiology patients receiving likely "inappropriate treatment" as perceived by clinicians in a multiethnic Asian context. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using semistructured in-depth interviews with 32 clinicians involved in the care for cardiology patients at a large national cardiology center in Singapore. Results: Clinicians' accounts indicated that elements of potentially inappropriate treatment encompass patient-related treatment elements as well as quantitative and probability-based elements such as resource use and probability of treatment benefit. Patient prognostic profiles, characterized as likely to have received inappropriate treatment by clinicians, were organized into six categories according to demographic, clinical, and functional factors. Conclusions: The perception of inappropriateness of treatments among clinicians in cardiology was primarily focused on patient-related outcomes. Collated patient profiles may serve as meaningful indicators of patient cases receiving potentially inappropriate treatment for further research and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Modern medicine enables clinicians to save lives and prolong time to death, yet some treatments have little chance of conferring meaningful benefits for patients nearing the end-of-life. What clinicians perceive as driving futile treatment in the non-Western healthcare context is poorly understood. Aim. This study aimed to explore clinicians' perceptions of the factors that influence futile treatment at the end of life within a tertiary hospital cardiac care setting. Design. We conducted semi-structured interviews with cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, and palliative care doctors from a large national cardiology center in Singapore. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed. Results. A total of 32 clinicians were interviewed. We identified factors that contributed to the provision of potentially futile treatment in these theme areas: patient- and family-related, clinician-related, and institutional and societal factors. Family roles and cultural influences were most commonly cited by participants as affecting end-of-life decisions and altering the likelihood of futile treatment. Specialty-specific alignments within cardiology and availability of healthcare resources were also important factors underpinning futile treatment. Conclusion. Family-related factors were a primary driver for futile treatment in a non-Western, multicultural setting. Future interventions should consider a targeted approach accounting for cultural and contextual factors to prevent and reduce futile treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meat consumption has been postulated to increase the risk of breast cancer, but this association has not been consistently seen. We examined the association between consumption of different types of meat, meat mutagens and incident invasive breast cancer. Information on consumption of different meat categories and meat cooking practice behaviors was obtained from 42,012 Sister Study participants who completed a Block 1998 Food Frequency Questionnaire at enrollment (2003–2009) and satisfied eligibility criteria. Exposure to meat type and meat mutagens was calculated, and associations with invasive breast cancer risk were estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression. During follow‐up (mean, 7.6 years), 1,536 invasive breast cancers were diagnosed at least 1 year after enrollment. Increasing consumption of red meat was associated with increased risk of invasive breast cancer (HRhighest vs. lowest quartile:1.23, 95% CI: 1.02–1.48, ptrend = 0.01). Conversely, increasing consumption of poultry was associated with decreased invasive breast cancer risk (HR highest vs. lowest quartile: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.72–1.00; ptrend = 0.03). In a substitution model with combined red meat and poultry consumption held constant, substituting poultry for red meat was associated with decreased invasive breast cancer risk (HR highest vs. lowest quartile of poultry consumption: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.58–0.89). No associations were observed for cooking practices, estimated heterocyclic amines or heme iron from red meat consumption with breast cancer risk. Red meat consumption may increase the risk of invasive breast cancer, whereas poultry consumption may be associated with reduced risk. Substituting poultry for red meat could reduce breast cancer risk. What's new? Meat consumption and certain meat cooking practices may increase breast cancer risk. Few epidemiological studies, however, have examined associations between breast cancer risk and different meat types, cooking practices, and meat mutagens. In this U.S.‐ and Puerto Rico‐based prospective cohort study, these factors were examined in relation to invasive breast cancer risk, taking into account menopausal and estrogen receptor status. Increased red meat consumption was associated with increased risk of invasive breast cancer risk, whereas poultry consumption was associated with decreased risk. Breast cancer risk was unrelated to cooking practices, levels of potentially mutagenic heterocyclic amines, or heme iron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]