Volume 101, Issue 6

Many patients with arthritis are using alternative modes of therapy, including nutritional supplements, to treat their arthritis. Most patients never tell their doctors that they are taking alternative medications, and few doctors even ask about such activities. Over-the-counter supplements are expensive and consume large amounts of patients' healthcare dollars. Glucosamine has been widely touted as being an effective arthritis treatment. The authors designed and undertook a study to test the efficacy of a polymer of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (NAG), or POLY-Nag, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study in patients with osteoarthritis. Results indicate that POLY-Nag may be useful in treating patients with osteoarthritis.

The rate of international adoption in the United States has been increasing. Internationally. adopted children have various medical, psychological, and developmental issues that need to be evaluated and addressed by primary care physicians. Full histories and physical examinations, developmental assessments, and screening tests are necessary for such children. Family concerns and cultural differences between the child and the adoptive family need to be addressed as well.

The authors evaluated construct validity of scores for the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA), the examination used to evaluate osteopathic physicians for licensure. They computed correlations between students' grades in the first 2 years of osteopathic medical school and their scores on the COMPLEX-USA Level 1 (N = 187) and Level 2 (N = 86), as well as correlations between third- and fourth-year clerkship grades and the COMLEX-USA Level 2. Correlations of Level 1 scores with grades for years one, two, and the first 2 years combined were .74, .80, and .81, respectively; for Level 2, correlations were .59, .70, and .71. Correlation between clerkship grades and scores for the COMLEX-USA Level 2 was .26. The strong correlation between COMLEX-USA results and grades for the didactic curriculum in the first 2 years of medical school provides evidence for the construct validity of scores for the COMLEX-USA Levels 1 and 2.