Research Activities

February 1997, No. 201

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

Older women are less likely to receive chemotherapy and radiation treatment after breast cancer surgery

Departments

Women's and Family Health
   Equalizing payments for cesarean and vaginal deliveries has little effect on cesarean rates
   Time of day and hospital factors affect rate of cesarean deliveries for fetal distress
   Both overtreatment and undertreatment pose problems for children with acute gastroenteritis

Patient Care/Clinical Decisionmaking
   Benefits of blood pressure medication may not outweigh risks for some patients
   Study explores relationship between leg blood flow and physical functioning in patients who have difficulty walking

Patient Outcomes/Effectiveness Research
   Patients' race, education, and preoperative functioning predict outcomes of hip replacement surgery
   PSA testing for early detection of prostate cancer provides little useful information in men with BPH
   Routine coronary angiography after heart attack is cost-effective for certain patients
   Use of stroke prevention medication may vary with physician specialty
   Type of health insurance and physician specialty influence treatment for depression
   Some eye doctors do not perform recommended tests following cataract surgery

Hospital/Health Care Financing
   One-fifth of California's nonprofit community hospitals do not provide community benefits sufficient to balance their tax subsidies

Special Populations
   Research center focuses on health of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans

AHCPR News and Notes
   President's budget includes increased funding for AHCPR in FY 1998
   AHCPR names new director for outcomes research program

Announcements
   New publications and data products are available from AHCPR and NTIS
   Calling all AHCPR Web site users
   AHCPR funds new conference grants

Research Briefs
   Large trials vs. meta-analysis of smaller trials
   Predicting in-hospital mortality for stroke patients
   The use of empiric clinical data in the evaluation of practice guidelines for unstable angina
   ON: A component-based approach to automation of protocol-directed therapy
   Simplifying the assessment of rural emergency medical service trauma transport
   Measuring the need for medical care in an ethnically diverse population

AHCPR Publication No. 97-0021
Current as of February 1997

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Internet Citation:

Research Activities newsletter. February 1997, No. 201. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/feb97/

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