Research Activities

November 2006, No. 315

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

New patient safety team training toolkit available for health care settings

Patient Safety and Quality

Coverage that allows interns to nap during extended shifts can increase their sleep time and decrease fatigue
Patient safety indicators are useful tools for tracking and monitoring patient safety events
Use of physical therapist assistants in place of physical therapists may result in lower quality of rehabilitation care

Disparities/Minority Health

Studies examine influence of patient race on primary care quality and hospital discharge against medical advice
Providing free blood glucose monitors to patients with diabetes initially encourages self-management, especially among blacks

Women's Health

Women's self-report of mammography use conflicts with verified reports using claims data

Child/Adolescent Health

Uninsured children's access to care is influenced by the availability and capacity of a local safety net
A continuous subcutaneous glucose monitoring system can safely lower blood sugar levels of children with type 1 diabetes
Long-term outpatient central venous catheters for bone infections cause complications in about 40 percent of children
Fungal infections in immunocompromised children dramatically increase mortality rate, length of hospital stay, and costs

Men's Health

Many men still confuse benign prostatic hyperplasia with prostate cancer, even after viewing an instructional videotape

Elderly/Long-term Care

Increasing the time that nurses spend with nursing home residents is key to improving their job satisfaction

Health Information Technology

Computerized drug alerts when ordering medications reduce inappropriate prescribing for the elderly

Acute Care/Hospitalization

Patient and hospital factors may contribute to worse outcomes for patients who suffer heart attacks
Men, young children, and elderly people are most likely to sustain traumatic brain injury from blunt head trauma
Depression among heart attack survivors can persist for a year after leaving the hospital

Outcomes/Effectiveness Research

"Off-pump" bypass surgery is associated with reduced occurrence of stroke and other complications
Oncology nurses tend to follow guidelines to alleviate post-prostatectomy symptoms
Risk models can help predict medical and surgical complications of carotid endarterectomy

Pharmaceutical Research

Faxed pharmacy alerts to doctors when patients miss their antidepressant prescription refill does not improve compliance
States with longstanding opioid prescription monitoring programs have fewer outpatient prescriptions for opioid analgesics
Many outpatients taking drugs with a narrow therapeutic range do not receive drug concentration monitoring to prevent toxicity

HIV/AIDS Research

More convenient HIV treatment can be as effective as more complex regimens

Health Care Costs and Financing

Physicians view some financial incentives as encouraging and others as discouraging services to patients
Pay-for-performance incentives were adopted by half of U.S. HMOs, but their use depends on health plan type and physician payment arrangements
HMOs do not appear to adversely affect the health of the near-elderly and may benefit those with chronic health conditions

Agency News and Notes

Fewer women are having inpatient breast cancer surgery
Scientific evidence is lacking for patients choosing among treatments for narrowed kidney arteries
Influenza is the most deadly illness for the very elderly

Announcements

AHRQ and United Health Foundation to distribute the latest clinical prevention recommendations
AHRQ launches Electronic Preventive Services Selector (ePSS) tool for primary care clinicians
New disaster-preparedness resource provides valuable information for pediatricians and emergency response planners
Research Briefs
Applications for R01 grants are transitioning to electronic submission

AHRQ Publication No. 06-0079
Current as of November 2006

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Internet Citation:

Research Activities Newsletter. November 2006, No. 315. AHRQ Publication No. 06-0079. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/nov06/

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