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Electronic Newsletter

February 6, 2004, Issue No. 123

AHRQ News and Numbers

Between 1987 and 2001, the percentage of men and women ages 20 through 64 who were obese increased more than 75 percent. The percentage of obese men jumped from 13.3 percent in 1987 to 23.4 percent in 2001, while the percentage of obese women in those years jumped from 13.8 percent to 24.5 percent. [Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, MEPS Statistical Brief #37: Trends in Adult Obesity in the United States, 1987 and 2001: Estimates for the Noninstitutionalized Population, Age 20 to 64 (PDF Help).]

Today's Headlines:

  1. AHRQ's FY 2005 budget proposal set at $304 million
  2. HHS announces National Smoking Cessation Quitline Network
  3. 2004 Building Bridges Conference
  4. Visit the new and improved National Guideline Clearinghouse™
  5. New AHRQ publications
  6. AHRQ in the professional literature

1.  AHRQ's FY 2005 Budget Proposal Set at $304 Million

AHRQ would receive $304 million in fiscal year 2005 under President Bush's budget request for HHS, the same amount the Agency received in FY 2004. This includes $84 million for patient safety, an increase of $4.5 million over the FY 2004 level. The budget request will allow AHRQ to continue funding the $50 million for Patient Safety Health Care Information Technology Program. The budget request also maintains the FY 2004 budget level of $55.3 million for the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Select to access AHRQ's budget [PDF Help], which begins on page 44. The budget proposal now goes to Congress for review.

2.  HHS Announces National Smoking Cessation Quitline Network

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson this week announced plans to establish a new HHS toll-free telephone number that will serve as a single access point to a national network of smoking cessation quitlines. This will help provide all smokers in the United States access to the support and tools they need to quit smoking. Scientific evidence, reported in the PHS Guideline Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, shows that quitlines are an effective tool to help smokers quit. Select to read the HHS press release. The national network of smoking cessation quitlines is complemented by the HHS SmokeFree Web site, which provides access to quitline numbers currently offered by individual states and NCI. Select to access AHRQ's smoking cessation materials for clinicians and patients.

3.  2004 Building Bridges Conference

Mark your calendar! AHRQ is sponsoring the 2004 Building Bridges Conference, "Research on the Cutting Edge: Adopting Evidence for the Real World," on April 1-2 in Miami. Meet with your peers to examine the barriers to improved health and discuss what health plans, insurers, and providers need from today's researchers.

4.  Visit the New and Improved National Guideline Clearinghouse™

New features are now available on the National Guideline Clearinghouse™ Web site, an online public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Features include:

  • Enhanced summary content, such as methods used to formulate the recommendations, rating schemes for the strength of the recommendations, references supporting the major recommendations, contraindications, financial disclosures and the Institute of Medicine's National Healthcare Quality Report categories.
  • Palm-format downloadable summaries allow Pocket PCs to directly access the entire site in realtime or as downloaded Web pages.
  • An enhanced Detailed Search feature allows users to filter searches by the methodology and IOM categories.
  • A Glossary of all controlled vocabulary terms utilized in the NGC Summary.
  • Web developer tools, such as RSS feeds of the entire inventory of NGC content, and a new Search Form feature offers Web developers the ability to create their own unique search interfaces with the NGC Web site.

Select for a complete listing of new features.

5.  New AHRQ Publications

New Projects and Activities in Minority Health FY 2002: Fact Sheet

Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics: Fact Sheet

6.  AHRQ in the Professional Literature

We are providing the following hyperlinks to journal abstracts through PubMed® for your convenience. Unfortunately, some of you may not be able to access the abstracts because of firewalls or specific settings on your individual computer systems. If you are having problems, you should ask your technical support staff for possible remedies.

Glasgow RE, Davis CL, Funnell MM. Implementing practical interventions to support chronic illness self-management. Jt Comm J Qual Saf 2003 Nov;29(11):563-74. Select to access the abstract on PubMed®.

Singh-Manoux A, Britton AR, Marmot M. Vascular disease and cognitive function: evidence from the Whitehall II study. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003; Oct;51(10):1445-50. Select to access the abstract on PubMed®.

Olsen IE, Richardson KD, Schmid Ch, et al. The impact of early transfer bias in a growth study among neonatal intensive care units. J Clin Epidemiol 2003 Oct;56(10):988-1005. Select to access the abstract on PubMed®.

Lanier DC, Roland M, Burstin H, Knottnerus JA. Doctor performance and public accountability. Lancet 2003 Oct 25;362(9393):1401-8. Select to access the abstract on PubMed®.

Ray WA. Population-based studies of adverse drug effects. N Engl J Med 2003 Oct 23;349(17):1592-4. Select to access the abstract on PubMed®.

Walson PD, Cox S, Utkin I et al. Clinical use of a simultaneous HPLC assay for indinavir, saquinavir, ritonavir, and nelfinavir in children and adults. Ther Drug Monit 2003 Oct;25(5):588-92. Select to access the abstract on PubMed®.

Okada PJ, Young KD, Baren JM, et al. Neurologic outcome score for infants and children. Acad Emerg Med 2003 Oct;10(10):1034-9. Select to access the abstract on PubMed®.

Contact Information

Please address comments and questions regarding the AHRQ Electronic Newsletter to Nancy Comfort at Nancy.Comfort@ahrq.hhs.gov or (301) 427-1866.

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Current as of February 2004

Internet Citation:

AHRQ Electronic Newsletter. February 6, 2004, Issue No. 123. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/enews/enews123.htm

 
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