Articles of Interest

November 10, 2006


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


AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles

Academic Emergency Medicine
Kaji AH, Lewis RJ. Hospital disaster preparedness in Los Angeles County. Acad Emerg Med 2006 Nov; 13(11):1198-203. [Supported by grant 1 F32 HS013985.]

American Journal of Clinical Pathology
Raab SS, Vrbin CM, Grzybicki DM, et al. Errors in thyroid gland fine-needle aspiration. Am J Clin Pathol 2006 Jun; 125(6):873-82. [Supported by grant HS13321-01.]

American Journal of Managed Care
Levy DE. Employer-sponsored insurance coverage of smoking cessation treatments. Am J Manag Care 2006 Sep; 12(9):553-62. [Supported by grant T32 HS000020.]

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Levy BT, Dawson J, Hartz AJ, et al. Colorectal cancer testing among patients cared for by Iowa family physicians. Am J Prev Med 2006 Sep; 31(3):193-201. [Supported by grants R21 HS014490 and R21 HS013581.]

Annals of Surgical Oncology
Gelber RP, McCarthy EP, Davis JW, et al. Ethnic disparities in breast cancer management among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Ann Surg Oncol 2006 Jul; 13(7):977-84. [Supported by grant R24 HS11627.]

BMC Health Services Research
Stommel M, Olomu A, Holmes-Rovner M, et al. Changes in practice patterns affecting in-hospital and post-discharge survival among ACS patients. BMC Health Serv Res 2006 Oct 24; 6:140. [Supported by grant R01 HS10531 and R01 HS09514-S1.]

Family Medicine
Backer EL, Gregory P, Jaen CR, et al. A closer look at adult female health care maintenance visits. Fam Med 2006 38(5):355-60. [Supported by grant 1 R01 HS08776.]

Health Economics
Deb P, Li C, Trivedi PK, et al. The effect of managed care on use of health care services: results from two contemporaneous household surveys. Health Econ 2006 Jul; 15(7):743-60. [Supported by grant R01 HS10904-02; uses 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data.]

Journal of Clinical Oncology
Raab SS, Meier FA, Zarbo RJ, et a. The Big Dog effect: variability assessing the causes of error in diagnoses of patients with lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 2006 Jun 20; 24(18):2808-14. [Supported by grant R01 HS13321-01.]

Journal of Health Economics
Levy DE, Meara E. The effect of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement on prenatal smoking. J Health Econ 2006 Mar; 25(2):276-94. [Supported by grant T32 HS00055.]

Journal of Nursing Scholarship
Hurley AC, Lancaster D, Hayes J, et al. The Medication Administration System—Nurses Assessment of Satisfaction (MAS-NAS) scale. J Nurs Scholarsh 2006; 38(3):298-300. [Supported by grant R01 HS01453-01.]

Journal of Rural Health
Culler SD, Atherly A, Walczak S, et al. Urban-rural differences in the availability of hospital information technology applications: a survey of Georgia hospitals. J Rural Health 2006 Summer; 22(3):242-47. [Supported by grant 1 U18 HS11918.]

Medical Care
Schackman BR, Gebo KA, Walensky RP, et al. The lifetime cost of current human immunodeficiency virus care in the United States. Med Care 2006 Nov; 44(11):990-7. [Supported by contract 290-01-0012; uses HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS) data.]

Napoles-Springer AM, Stewart AL. Overview of qualitative methods in research with diverse populations: making research reflect the population. Med Care 2006 Nov; 44(11 Supp 3):S5-S9. [Supported by grant P01 HS10856.]

Napoles-Springer AM, Santoya-Olsson JJ, et al. Using cognitive interviews to develop surveys in diverse populations. Med Care 2006 Nov; 44(11 Supp 3):S21-S30. [Supported by grant R01 HS10599.]

Hayes RD, Brown J, Brown LU, et al. Classical test theory and item response theory analyses of multi-item scales assessing parents' perceptions of their childrens dental care. Med Care 2006 Nov; 44(11 Supp 3):S60-S68. [Supported by grant 5 U18 HS00924; uses survey developed as part of AHRQ's Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®).]

McHorney CA, Fleishman JA. Assessing and understanding measurement equivalence in health outcome measures. Med Care 2006 Nov; 44(11 Supp 3):S205-S210. [Second author is researcher in AHRQ Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, and deputy editor of journal.]

Statistics in Medicine
Gardiner JC, Luo Z, Bradley CJ, et al. A dynamic model for estimating changes in health status and costs. Stat Med 2006 Nov 15; 25(21):3648-67. [Supported by grant 1 R01 HS14206.]

AHRQ-Related Articles

Administration and Policy in Mental Health
Hermann RC, Chan JA, Zazzali JL, et al. Aligning measurement-based quality improvement with implementation of evidence-based practices. Adm Policy Ment Health Ment Health Serv Res 2006 Nov; 33(6):636-45. [Cites AHRQ's National Guideline Clearinghouse™ (NGC) and Quality First: Better Health Care for All Americans: Final Report of the President's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry, 1998.]

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Hammond D, Fong GT, Zanna MP, et al. Tobacco denormalization and industry beliefs among smokers from four countries. Am J Prev Med 2006 Sep; 31(3):225-39. [Cites PHS guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, 2000.]

Curry SJ, Orleans CT, Keller P. Promoting smoking cessation in the healthcare environment: 10 years later. Am J Prev Med 2006 Sep; 31(3):269-72. [Cites and discusses impacts of PHS guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, 2000.]

Annals of Family Medicine
Derose KP, Lurie N. Reliving history and renewing the health care reform debate. Ann Fam Med 2006 Sep-Oct; 4(5):388-390. [Cites AHRQ publication, The Uninsured in America, 2004: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population Under Age 65, as accessed on AHRQ Web site.]

Grzybowski S, Wallace L. Primary care research in Canada and the United States. Ann Fam Med 2006 Sep-Oct; 4(5):466-7. [Notes that U.S. federal support for PBRNs is mainly through AHRQ.]

Magill MK, Lloyd RL, Palmer D, et al. Successful turnaround of a university-owned, community-based, multidisciplinary practice network. Ann Fam Med 2006 Sep-Oct; 4 Supp1:S12-S18. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Lanier (researcher in AHRQ's Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships (Ann Fam Med, 2005).]

AORN Journal
Bariatric surgery complication rates increase over time. AORN J 2006 Sep; 84(3):400. [Briefly reports on AHRQ-authored study by Encinosa, et al. (Med Care, 2006); Bill Encinosa and Claudia Steiner, first and fourth authors, respectively, are researchers in AHRQ's Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets, and second author Didem Bernard is researcher in AHRQ's Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends.]

Using medical-error reporting to drive patient safety efforts. AORN J 2006 Sep; 84(3):406-24. [Mentions that AHRQ awarded 16 grants for studies of a wide variety of medical-error reporting systems during a three-year period, that AHRQ is the lead federal agency charged with improving the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans, and that AHRQ's budget in 2005 was $318.7 million, with 80% of these funds invested in grants and contracts focusing on improving health care.]

Enzyme inhibitor use may increase risk of birth defects; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report. AORN J 2006 Sep; 84(3):484. [Reports on AHRQ-funded study by Cooper, et al. (New Eng J Med, 2006) at the Vanderbilt University Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) on increased risk of birth defects related to first trimester use of ACE inhibitors; quotes AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy.]

Canadian Nurse
MacPhee M, Ellis J, Sanchez McCutcheon A. Nurse staffing and patient safety. Can Nurs 2006 Oct; 102(8):19-23. [Cites AHRQ publication, The Effect of Health Care Working Conditions on Patient Safety, 2003.]

Contemporary Economic Policy
Ash MA, Badgett MV. Separate and unequal: the effect of unequal access to employment-based health insurance on same-sex and unmarried different-sex couples. Contemp Econ Policy 2006 Oct; 24(4):582-99. [Cites MEPS statistical brief, Enrollment Rates for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance in the Private Sector Between 1999 and 2000, 2004.]

JAMA
Hampton T. Flawed prescribing practices revealed. JAMA 2006 Nov 8; 296(18):2191-2. [Includes recommendations from AHRQ Web site publication, Quick Tips—When Getting a Prescription, 2002.]

Journal of Nursing Scholarship
Ezenwa MO, Ameringer S, Ward SE, et al. Racial and ethnic disparities in pain management in the United States. J Nurs Scholarsh 2006; 38(3):225-33. [Notes efforts by AHRQ and other organizations to address the issue of inadequate pain management.]

NeSmith EG. Racial disparities in acute outcomes of life-threatening injury. J Nurs Scholarsh 2006; 38(3):241-6. [Cites AHRQ publication, "Heart Disease, Cancer, and Trauma Injury Top the List of the 15 Most Costly Medical Conditions in the United States," in Research Activities 2005, on AHRQ Web site.]

Medical Care
Oxman TE, Schulberg HC, Greenberg RL, et al. A fidelity measure for integrated management of depression in primary care. Med Care 2006 Nov; 44(11):1030-7. [Cites AHRQ guidelines, Depression in Primary Care and Depression in Primary Care: Vol. 2: Treatment of Major Depression, 1993.]

Medicine and Health
Survey says: HMOs actually using P4P with physicians, hospitals. Med Health 2006 Nov 6; 60(41):7-8. [Cites findings from AHRQ-funded survey of 242 HMOs by Rosenthal, et al. (N Engl J Med, 2006) and quotes AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy.]

Modern Healthcare
Conn J. For their eyes only: HHS keeping privacy meetings under wraps. Mod Healthc 2006 Nov 6; 36(44):19. [Notes that AHRQ provided $11.5 million in funding for HHS $17 million health IT project.]

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

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
McCormick DB. The dubious use of vitamin-mineral supplements in relation to cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr 2006 Oct; 84(4):680-1. [Cites USPSTF-sponsored evidence review of routine vitamin supplementation to prevent cardiovascular disease by Morris, et al. (Ann Intern Med, 2003).]

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Lafata JE, Divine G, Moon C, et al. Patient-physician colorectal cancer screening discussions and screening use. Am J Prev Med 2006 Sep; 31(3):202-9. [Cites USPSTF review methodologies in article by Harris, et al. (Am J Prev Med, 2001 and 2004).]

Annals of Family Medicine
Stange KC. In this issue: capacity for caring and generating new knowledge. Ann Fam Med 2006 Sep-Oct; 4(5):386-8. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on screening for diabetes (Ann Intern Med, 2003 and on AHRQ Web site).]

Koopman RJ, Mainous AG III, Liszka HA, et al. Evidence of nephropathy and peripheral neuropathy in US adults with undiagnosed diabetes. Ann Fam Med 2006 Sep-Oct; 4(5):427-32. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on screening for diabetes (Ann Intern Med, 2003).]

McFall SL. US men discussing prostate-specific antigen tests with a physician. Ann Fam Med 2006 Sep-Oct; 4(5):433-6. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on shared decision making (Am J Prev Med, 2004) and screening for prostate cancer (Ann Intern Med, 2002).]

Roper WL, Newton WP. The role of academic health centers in improving health. Ann Fam Med 2006 Sep-Oct; 4 Supp1:S555-S557. [Cites Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, 1996.]

Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Carter HB, Ferrucci L, Kettermann A, et al. Detection of life-threatening prostate cancer with prostate-specific antigen velocity during a window of curability. J Natl Cancer Inst 2006 Nov 1; 98(21):1521-7. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on screening for prostate cancer as posted on AHRQ Web site.]

Evidence-based Practice Centers-Related Articles

Annals of Internal Medicine
Rowe JW. Pay-for-performance and accountability: related themes in improving health care. Ann Intern Med 2006 Nov 7; 145(9):695-9. [Cites findings from AHRQ technical review, Strategies to Support Quality-based Purchasing: a Review of the Evidence, 2004.]

Research By Others Using AHRQ Data or Products

Annals of Family Medicine
Carlson MJ, DeVoe J, Wright BJ. Short-term impacts of coverage loss in a Medicaid population: early results from a prospective cohort study of the Oregon Health Plan. Ann Fam Med 2006 Sep-Oct; 4(5):391-8. [Uses CAHPS® to create survey instrument.]

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Singh-Manoux A, Martikainen P, Ferrie J, et al. What does self-rated health measure? Results from the British Whitehall II and French Gazel cohort studies. J Epidemiol Community Health 2006 Apr; 60(4):364-72. [Uses data from wave 1 of the Whitehall II study, supported by grant HS06516.]

Medical Care
Cunningham WE, Sohler NL, Tobias C, et al. Health services utilization for people with HIV infection: comparison of a population targeted for outreach with the U.S. population in care. Med Care 2006 Nov; 44(11):1038-47. [Uses study sample from HCSUS, funded by grant U01 HS08578.]


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