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Articles of Interest

January 12, 2007

This weekly compilation of articles appearing in recently released journals and newsletters includes:

Articles funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Articles mentioning or discussing AHRQ staff, activities, and publications/products.
Articles related to AHRQ-funded Evidence-based Practice Centers.
Articles related to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force or Put Prevention into Practice program.
Articles mentioning the National Healthcare Disparities Report and National Healthcare Quality Report.
Other research using AHRQ data or products.

AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles

Archives of Internal Medicine
Smetana GW, Landon BE, Bindman AB, Burstin H, et al. A comparison of outcomes resulting from generalist vs specialist care for a single discrete medical condition: a systematic review and methodologic critique. Arch Intern Med 2007 Jan 8; 167(1):10-20. [Fourth author was director of AHRQ's Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships at time of publication.]

Ong M, Bostrom A, Vidyarthi A, et al. House staff team workload and organization effects on patient outcomes in an academic general internal medicine inpatient service. Arch Intern Med 2007 Jan 8; 167(1):47-52. [Supported by grant K08 HS11416-02.]

Health Economics
Basu J, Friedman B. A re-examination of distance as a proxy for severity of illness and the implications for differences in the utilization by race/ethnicity. Health Econ 2006 Dec 27. [Epub ahead of print. Authors are researchers in AHRQ's Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships and Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets, respectively.]

Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology
Cohen SB, Ezzati-Rice T, Yu W. The impact of survey attrition on health insurance coverage estimates in a national longitudinal health care survey. Health Serv Outcomes Res Method 2006 Dec; 6(3-4):111-25. [Authors are director of and researchers in AHRQ's Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends; examines and analyzes survey processes and analytical techniques used with the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).]

JAMA
Eisenstein EL, Anstrom KJ, Kong DF, et al. Clopidogrel use and long-term clinical outcomes after drug-eluting stent implantation. JAMA 2007 Jan 10; 297(2):159-68. [Supported by contract 290-05-0032.]

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
Burroughs TE, Waterman AD, Gallagher TH, et al. Patients concerns about medical errors during hospitalization. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Jan; 33(1):5-14. [Supported by grant HS11898-01.]

Dayton E, Henriksen K. Communication failure: basic components, contributing factors, and the call for structure. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Jan; 33(1):34-47. [Authors are researchers in AHRQ's Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.]

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
Classen DC, Avery AJ, Bates DW. Evaluation and certification of computerized provider order entry systems. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2007 Jan-Feb; 14(1):48-55. [Supported by AHRQ contract, number not given.]

Ko Y, Abarca J, Malone DC, et al. Practitioners' views on computerized drug-drug interaction alerts in the VA system. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2007 Jan-Feb; 14(1):56-64. [Supported by grant U18 HS10385-05.]

Simon SR, Kaushal R, Cleary PD, et al. Correlates of electronic health record adoption in office practices: a statewide survey. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2007 Jan-Feb; 14(1):110-7. [Supported by grant 1 UC1 HS015397.]

Journal of Rural Health
Patterson PD. Emergency medical services and the federal government's evolving role: what rural and frontier emergency medical services advocates should know. J Rural Health 2006 Spring; 22(2):97-101. [Supported by grant T32 HS000032.]

Patterson PD, Probst JC, Moore CG. Expected annual emergency miles per ambulance; an indicator for measuring availability of emergency medical services resources. J Rural Health 2006 Spring; 22(2):102-11. [Supported by grant T32 HS000032.]

Prehospital Emergency Care
Patterson PD, Moore CG, Brice JH, et al. Use of ED diagnosis to determine medical necessity of EMS transports. Prehosp Emerg Care 2006 Oct-Dec; 10(4):488-93. [Supported by grant T32 HS000032.]

Psychiatric Services
Zuvekas SH, Rupp A, Norquist G. Cost shifting under managed behavioral health care. Psychiatric Serv 2007 Jan; 58(1):100-8. [First author is researcher in AHRQ's Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends.]

Womens Health Issues
Chevarley FM, Thierry JM, Gill CJ, et al. Health, preventive health care, and health care access among women with disabilities in the 1994-1995 National Health Interview Survey, Supplement on Disability. Womens Health Issues 2006 Nov-Dec; 16(6);297-312. [First author is researcher in AHRQ's Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends.]

AHRQ-Related Articles

American Journal of Psychiatry
Freedman R. 2006 in review. Am J Psychiatry 2006 Dec; 163(12):1037-40. [Reviews (as first of 9 articles) and notes the impact of article using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data by Zuvekas, Vitiello, and Norquist (Am J Psychiatry, 2006) in a retrospective review of the most important articles published in the journal in 2006.]

Archives of Internal Medicine
OMalley PG, O Malley AS. Studies comparing quality of care by specialty: valid, relevant, or neither? Arch Intern Med 2007 Jan 8; 167(1):8-9. [Comments on AHRQ-funded article by Smetana, et al. (Arch Intern Med, 2007) cited in AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles.]

JAMA
Kereiakes DJ. Does clopidogrel each day keep stent thrombosis away? JAMA 2007 Jan 10; 297(2):209-11. [Comments on AHRQ-funded article by Eisenstein, et al. (JAMA, 2007) cited in AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles.]

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
Varkey P, Natt N. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination as an educational tool in patient safety. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Jan; 33(1):48-53. [Cites case study by Kaushal, Medication Overdose, on AHRQ's Web M&M Web site.]

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
Tang PC, Ralston M, Arrigotti MF, et al. Comparison of methodologies for calculating quality measures based on administrative data versus clinical data from an electronic health record system: implications for performance measures. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2007 Jan-Feb; 14(1):10-5. [Notes that AHRQ and other quality measurement organizations should study the use of the claims-based diagnosis rule.]

McCormick KA, Delaney CJ, Brennan PF, et al. Guideposts to the future—an agenda for nursing informatics. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2007 Jan-Feb; 14(1):19-24. [Notes AHRQ's role in funding new informatics solutions for disease-outbreak- related communication and detection; first author is former AHRQ researcher.]

Gross PA, Bates DW. A pragmatic approach to implementing best practices for clinical decision support systems in computerized provider order entry systems. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2007 Jan-Feb; 14(1):25-8. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Bates, et al. (J Am Med Inform Assoc, 2003.]

Kuperman GJ, Bobb A, Payne TH, et al. Medication-related clinical decision support in computerized provider order entry systems: a review. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2007 Jan-Feb; 14(1):29-40. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Kaushal, et al. (JAMA, 2001), Bates and Gawande (N Engl J Med, 2003), Bates, et al. (JAMA, 1995 and J Am Med Inform Assoc, 2003), and many others.]

Brennan PF. CPOE; sufficient, but not perfect, evidence for taking action. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2007 Jan-Feb; 14(1):130-1. [Summarizes three AHRQ-funded articles.]

Medical Care
Vogus TJ, Sutcliffe KM. The Safety Organizing Scale: development and validation of a behavioral measure of safety culture in hospital nursing units. Med Care 2007 Jan; 45(1):46-54. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Thomas, Studdert, Burstin (former AHRQ Center director), et al. (Med Care 2000); AHRQ Technical Report, Frontline Assessment of Healthcare Culture: Safety Attitudes Questionnaire Norms and Psychometric Properties, 2004; AHRQ-funded report, Keeping Patients Safe; Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses, 2004; and cites AHRQ-funded article by Needleman, et al. (N Engl J Med, 2002).]

Goulet JL, Erdos J, Kancir S, et al. Measuring performance directly using the Veterans Health Administration electronic medical record. Med Care 2007 Jan; 45(1):73-9. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Clancy (AHRQ director) and Scully (Health Aff, 2003).]

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)/Put Prevention Into Practice (PPIP)-Related Articles

American Family Physician
Collins LG, Haines C, Perkel R, et al. Lung cancer; diagnosis and management. Am Fam Physician 2007 Jan 1; 56-63. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on lung cancer screening (Ann Intern Med, 2004, two articles).]

Bhatia SK, Bhatia SC. Childhood and adolescent depression. Am Fam Physician 2007 Jan 1; 73-80. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on screening for depression (Ann Intern Med, 2002).]

Evidence-based Practice Centers-Related Articles

Archives of Internal Medicine
Balk EM, Raman G, Tatsioni A, et al. Vitamin B6, B12, and folic acid supplementation and cognitive function: a systematic review of randomized trials. Arch Intern Med 2007 Jan 8; 167(1):21-30. [Supported by contract 290-02-0023 to Tufts-New England EPC.]

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
Bittle MJ, Charache P, Wassilchalk DM. Registration-associated patient misidentification in an academic medical center: causes and corrections. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Jan; 33(1):25-33. [Cites AHRQ Evidence Report/Technology Assessment, Making Health Care Safer: A Critical Analysis of Patient Safety Practices, 2001.]

Journal of Women's Health
Correa-de-Araujo R. Serious gaps: how the lack of sex/gender-based research impairs health. J Womens Health 2006 Dec; 15(10):1116-22. [Author is former AHRQ researcher; cites AHRQ Evidence Report/Technology Assessment summary, Results of Systematic Review of Research on Diagnosis and Treatment of Coronary Heart Disease in Women, 2003; cites AHRQ publication, Policy on the Inclusion of Priority Populations in Research, 2003, and the Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999, on AHRQ Web site.]

Flynn HA, OMahen HA, Massey L, et al. The impact of a brief obstetrics clinic-based intervention on treatment use for prenatal depression. J Womens Health 2006 Dec; 15(10):1195-1204. [Cites AHRQ Evidence Report/Technology Assessment, Perinatal Depression: Prevalence, Screening Accuracy, and Screening Outcomes, 2005, and cites article updating AHRQ guidelines on depression in primary care (Schulberg, et al., Arch Gen Psychiatry, 1998).]

National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR)/National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR)-Related Articles

American Health Line
Preventive care: not received by millions of U.S. residents. Am Health Line 2007 Jan 12; #13. [Summarizes findings from AHRQ's NHQR and NHDR, 2006.]

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
Mazza F, Kitchens J, Kerr S, et al. Eliminating birth trauma at Ascension Health. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Jan; 33(1):15-24. [Cites AHRQ's NHQR, 2004, and AHRQ publication, Patient Safety Indicators, Version 3.0a.]

Journal of Studies on Alcohol
Ponicki WR, Gruenewald PJ. The impact of alcohol taxation on liver cirrhosis mortality. J Stud Alcohol 2006 Nov; 67(6):934-8. [Cites AHRQ's NHDR, 2003.]

Journal of Womens Health
Song J, Chang RW, Manheim LM, et al. Gender differences across race/ethnicity in use of health care among Medicare-aged Americans. J Womens Health 2006 Dec; 15(10):1205-13. [Cites AHRQ's NHDR, 2004.]

Maryland Family Doctor
Evans J. Eliminating health disparities: closing the gaps. Maryland Fam Doctor 2006 Winter; 42(3):6. [Highlights findings from AHRQ's NHDR, 2004.]

Research By Others Using AHRQ Data or Products

American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A
Pont SJ, Robbins JM, Bird TM, et al. Congenital malformations among liveborn infants with trisomies 18 and 13. Am J Med Genet A 2006 Aug 15; 140(16):1749-56. [Uses data from AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) for 1988-2002 and Kids Inpatient Database (KID) for 1997 and 2000.]

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Cowan JA Jr, Dimick JB, Henke PK, et al. Epidemiology of aortic aneurysm repair in the United States from 1993 to 2003. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2006 Nov; 1085:1-10. [Uses data from AHRQ's HCUP NIS for 1993-2003.]

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Krishnan E and Hubert HB. Ethnicity and mortality from systemic lupus erythematosus in the U.S. Ann Rheum Dis 2006 Nov; 65(11):1500-5. [Uses data from AHRQ's HCUP NIS for 1993-2002.]

Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology
Bird TM, Hobbs CA, Cleaves MA, et al. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2006 Nov; 76(11):762-9. [Uses data from AHRQ's HCUP NIS for 1998, 1999, and 2001, and Kids Inpatient Database (KID) for 1997 and 2000.]

International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics
Brown HS 3rd, Pagan JA. Managed care and the scale efficiency of US hospitals. Int J Health Care Finance Econ 2006 Nov 17; [Epub ahead of print. Uses data from AHRQ's HCUP NIS for 1992-1996.]

Journal of Ambulatory Care Management
Mosen DM, Schmittdiel J, Hibbard J, et al. Is patient activation associated with outcomes of care for adults with chronic conditions? J Ambulatory Care Manage 2007 Jan-Mar; 30(1):21-9. [Uses satisfaction measure from AHRQ's Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Reporting Kit, 2002.]

Journal of General Internal Medicine
Carney CP, Jones L, Woolson RF. Medical comorbidity in women and men with schizophrenia: a population-based controlled study. J Gen Intern Med 2006 Nov; 21(11):1133-7. [Uses a modified version of the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (Elixhauser, et al., Med Care, 1998).]

Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics
Vitale MG, Goss JM, Matsumoto H, et al. Epidemiology of pediatric spinal cord injury in the United States. J Pediatr Orthop 2006 Nov-Dec; 26(6):745-9. [Uses data from AHRQ's HCUP KID for 1997 and 2000.]

Journal of Pediatric Surgery
Chisolm DJ, Pritchett CV, Nwomeh BC. Factors affecting innovation in pediatric surgery: hospital type and appendectomies. J Pediatr Surg 2006 Nov; 41(11):1809-13. [Uses AHRQ's HCUP KID for 2000.]

Journal of Perinatology
Adbullah F, Arnold MA, Nabaweesi R, et al. Gastroschisis in the United States 1988-2003; analysis and risk categorization of 4344 patients. J Perinatol 2007 Jan; 27(1):50-5. [Uses AHRQ's HCUP NIS for 1988-1996, 1998-1999, and 2001-2002, and KID for 1997, 2000, and 2003.]

Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care
Greenspan AI, Coronado VG, MacKenzie EJ, et al. Injury hospitalizations: using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. J Trauma 2006 Nov; 61(5):1234-43. [Analyzes and uses 2000 data from AHRQ's HCUP NIS.]

Neurosurgery
Cowan JA Jr, Dimick JB, Wainess R, et al. Changes in the utilization of spinal fusion in the United States. Neurosurgery 2006 Jul; 59(1):15-20. [Uses data from AHRQ's HCUP NIS for 1993-2003.]

Pediatrics
Robbins JM, Tilford JM, Bird TM, et al. Hospitalizations of newborns with folate-sensitive birth defects before and after fortification of foods with folic acid. Pediatrics 2006 Sep; 118(3):906-15. [Uses AHRQ's HCUP NIS from 1993-2002 and KID for 1997 and 2000.]

Lasser MS, Liao JG, Burd RS. National trends in the use of antireflux procedures for children. Pediatrics 2006 Nov; 118(5):1828-35. [Uses data from AHRQ's HCUP NIS for 1996-2003.]

Current as of January 2007

Internet Citation:

Articles of Interest, January 12, 2007. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/articles/art011207.htm