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Articles of Interest

November 30, 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

AORN Journal
Coopey M, Nix MP, Clancy CM. Evidence-based practice: AHRQ's role in generating and disseminating knowledge. AORN J 2007 Nov; 86(5):857-60. [First two authors are researchers in AHRQ's Center for Outcomes and Evidence, and third author is AHRQ director.]

Applied Nursing Research
Hughes RG, Clancy CM. So what? The challenge of doing need to know versus would like to know research. Appl Nurs Res 2007 Nov; 20(4):210-3. [First author is researcher in AHRQ's Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships, and second author is AHRQ director.]

Archives of Internal Medicine
Auerbach AD, Rasic MA, Sehgal N, et al. Opportunity missed: medical consultation, resource use, and quality of care of patients undergoing major surgery. Arch Intern Med 2007 Nov 26; 167(21):2338-44. [Supported by grant K08 HS11416-02.]

Fan VS, Ramsey SC, Giardino ND, Make BJ, et al. Sex, depression, and risk of hospitalization and mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Arch Intern Med 2007 Nov 26; 167(21):2345-53. [Notes participation by Carolyn Clancy (AHRQ director), Yen-Pin Chiang (researcher in AHRQ's Center for Outcomes and Evidence), and former AHRQ researchers Lynn Bosco and Harry Handelsman; notes AHRQ support of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT).]

Clinical Therapeutics
Segal JB, Dy SM, Millman EA, et al. Diffusion into use of exanatide for glucose control in diabetes mellitus: a retrospective cohort study of a new therapy. Clin Ther 2007 Aug; 29(8):1784-94. [Supported by contract 290-2005-0034-1 to the Johns Hopkins University DEcIDE network.]

Contemporary Economic Policy
Cawley J, Meyerhoefer C, Newhouse D. The correlation of youth physical activity with state policies. Contemp Econ Policy 2007 Oct; 25(4):506-17. [Second author is researcher in AHRQ's Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends

Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
Fiscella K, Holt K. Impact of primary care patient visits on racial and ethnic disparities in preventive care in the United States. J Am Bd Fam Med 2007 Nov-Dec; 20(6):587-97. [Supported by grant R01 HS013173-01A1; cites AHRQ's National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR), 2006.]

Medical Decision Making
Yu F, Houston TK, Ray MN, et al. Patterns of use of handheld clinical decision support tools in the clinical setting. Med Decis Making 2007 Nov-Dec; 27(6):744-53. [Supported by grants R18 HS11820 and T32 HS013852. Also go to AHRQ-funded article by Bravata, et al. (Stat Med, 2007), cited in Evidence-based Practice Centers-Related Articles.]

AHRQ-Related Articles

Ambulatory Pediatrics
Perrin JM. Letter from the editor: SCHIP, children, and politics. Ambul Pediatr 2007 Nov-Dec; 7(6):405-6. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Szilagyi, et al. (Ambul Pediatr 2007).]

Ethnicity and Disease
Cook CB, Hentz JG, Miller WJ, et al. Relationship of diabetes with cardiovascular disease-related hospitalization rates, length of stay, and charges: analysis by race/ethnicity, age, and sex. Ethn Dis 2007 Autumn; 17(4):714-20. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Jiang (researcher in AHRQ's Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets), et al. (Diabetes Care, 2003) and AHRQ publications, Clinical Classifications for Health Policy Research: Hospital Inpatient Statistics, 1995, HCUP-3 Research Note, 1998, and Hospitalization in the United States, 1997, HCUP Fact Book No. 1, 2000.]

Evaluation and the Health Professions
VanGeest JB, Johnson TP, Welch VL. Methodologies for improving response rates in surveys of physicians: a systematic review. Eval Health Prof 2007 Dec; 30(4):303-21. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Cummings S, et al. (Health Serv Res, 2001), and Tamayo-Sarver and Baker DW (Acad Emerg Med, 2004).]

Hospitals and Health Networks
Runy LA. Pain management: an executives' guide. Hosp Health Netw 2007 Nov; 81(11):45-52. [Notes that AHRQ's Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) asks patients about their experiences with pain management.]

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
Haggstrom DA, Bindman AB. The influence of care management tools on physician practice change across organizational settings. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Nov; 33(11):672-80. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Eisenberg (former AHRQ director) (Med Care, 2002); cites AHRQ-funded articles by Shojania, et al. (JAMA, 2006), and Rosenthal, et al. (Health Aff, 2004).]

Sexton JB, Paine LA, Manfuso J, et al. A check-up for safety culture in my patient care area. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Nov; 33(11):699-703. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Sexton, et al. (BMC Health Serv Res, 2006, Anesthesiology, 2006, and J Perinatol, 2006) and Pronovost, et al. (Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf, 2004).]

Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
Beasley JW, Starfield B, van Weel C, et al. Global health and primary care research. J Am Bd Fam Med 2007 Nov-Dec; 20(6):518-26. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Franks, Clancy (AHRQ director), and Nutting (N Engl J Med, 1992).]

Journal of Trauma
Haut ER, Noll K, Efron DT, et al. Can increased incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) be used as a marker of quality of care in the absence of standardized screening? The potential effect of surveillance bias on reported DVT rates after trauma. J Trauma 2007 Nov; 63(5):1132-7. [Cites AHRQ publication, Patient Safety Indicators Overview: AHRQ Quality Indicators, 2006, as accessed on AHRQ Web site; cites AHRQ-funded articles by Rosenthal, et al. (N Engl J Med, 2006) and Pronovost, et al. (JAMA, 2006).]

Maternal and Child Health Journal
Wang G, Watts C. Genetic counseling, insurance status, and elements of medical home: analysis of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. Matern Child Health J 2007 Nov; 11(6):559-67. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Taylor, Cohen, and Machlin (researchers in AHRQ's Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends) (Health Serv Res, 2006).]

Read D, Bethell C, Blumberg SJ, et al. An evaluation of the linguistic and cultural validity of the Spanish language version of the Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener. Matern Child Health J 2007 Nov; 11(6):568-85. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Weinick and Krauss (former AHRQ researchers) (Am J Public Health, 2000) and Weinick, et al, and Burstin (former AHRQ center director) (Med Care, 2004).]

Medical Care Research and Review
Johnson CE, Weech-Maldonado R, Jia H, et al. Characteristics of community nursing homes serving per diem veterans, 1999 to 2002. Med Care Res Rev 2007 Dec; 64(6):673-90. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Spector, Selden, and Cohen (first author is researcher in AHRQ's Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets, and second and third authors are researchers in AHRQ's Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends) (Health Econ, 1998).]

Weeks WB, Fisher ES. Characteristics of VA patients who use low-quality private-sector CABG centers in New York. Med Care Res Rev 2007 Dec; 64(6):691-705. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Birkmeyer, et al. (Ann Surg, 2006, N Engl J Med, 2002, and Health Aff, 2002), Hannan, et al. (Ann Thor Surg, 1994, and Am Heart J, 1997), and Romano and Zhu (Med Care, 2004).]

Lo Sasso AT, Seamster DG. How federal and state policies affected hospital uncompensated care provision in the 1990s? Med Care Res Rev 2007 Dec; 64(6):731-44. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Short and Banthin (researcher in AHRQ's Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends) (JAMA, 1995).]

Medical Decision Making
Hornberger J, Holodniy M, Robertus K, et al. A systematic review of cost-utility analyses in HIV/AIDS: implications for public policy. Med Decis Making 2007 Nov-Dec; 27(6):789-821. [First author reports receiving funding for various projects from AHRQ and other government agencies.]

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

Ambulatory Pediatrics
Lane WG, Dubowitz H, Feigelman S, et al. Screening for parental substance abuse in pediatric primary care. Ambul Pediatr 2007 Nov-Dec; 7(6):458-62. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on screening and behavioral counseling interventions in primary care to reduce alcohol misuse (Ann Intern Med, 2004).]

Geriatrics
Levine JP. Effective strategies to identify postmenopausal women at risk of osteoporosis. Geriatrics 2007 Nov; 62(11):22-30. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on screening for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women (Ann Intern Med, 2002).]

JAMA
Brayne C, Fox C, Boustani M. Dementia screening in primary care. JAMA 2007 Nov 28; 298(20):2409-11. [Notes that the USPSTF found no clinical trial that evaluated the efficacy, utility, and harms of dementia screening in primary care in its last review in 2005, citing USPSTF evidence review, Screening for Dementia, as accessed on AHRQ Web site.]

Maternal and Child Health Journal
Jumping-Eagle S, Sheeder J, Kelly LS, et al. Feasibility and utility of screening adolescent mothers for chlamydia at their children's health care visits. Matern Child Health J 2007 Nov; 11(6):586-94. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on screening for chlamydial infection (Am J Prev Med, 2001 {recorded as Am J Chinese Med in article citation}).]

Evidence-based Practice Centers-Related Articles

Hospital Topics
Alexander JA, Weiner BJ, Shortell SM, et al. Does quality improvement implementation affect hospital quality of care? Hosp Top 2007 Spring; 85(2):3-12. [Uses seven AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs) as dependent variables; states that the UCSF-Stanford Evidence-Based Practice Center (EPC), partners in the current investigation, employed an extensive process for identifying, refining, risk-adjusting, and testing the QIs.]

Statistics in Medicine
Bravata DM, Shojania KG, Olkin I, et al. CoPlot: a tool for visualizing multivariate data in medicine. Stat Med 2007 Oct 22. [Epub ahead of print. Supported by contract 290-02-0017.]

Research By Others Using AHRQ Data or Products

Academic Medicine
Keroack MA, Youngberg BJ, Cerese JL, et al. Organizational factors associated with high performance in quality and safety in academic medical centers. Acad Med 2007 Dec; 82(12):1178-86. [Uses AHRQ's Patient Safety Indicators and Inpatient Quality Indicators as a source of measures of preventable complications and mortality rates for selected diagnoses.]

Health and Place
Wallace LS, DeVoe JE, Bennett IM, et al. Perceptions of healthcare providers communication skills: do they differ between urban and non-urban residents? Health Place 2007 Oct 24; [Epub ahead of print; corrected proof. Uses 2002 data and six survey questions from AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).]

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
Brown PP, Houser F, Kugelmass AD, et al. Cardiovascular Centers of Excellence Program: A system approach for improving the care and outcomes of cardiovascular patients at HCA hospitals. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Nov; 33(11):647-59. [Uses the method adopted in AHRQ's Patient Safety Indicators software (Patient Safety Indicators, Version 2.1, Revision 3a, accessed from AHRQ Web site) to evaluate and compare risk-adjusted clinical outcomes; cites AHRQ-authored article by Elixhauser, Pancholi, and Clancy (Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf, 2005).]

Fitzgerald J, Kanter G, Benjamin E. Case study: preventing surgical complications at Baystate Medical Center. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Nov; 33(11):666-71. [Uses AHRQ's PSIs to derive data on comparative rates for surgical complications.]

Derose KP, Kanouse DE, Weidmer B, et al. Developing a Spanish-language consumer report for CAHPS® health plan surveys. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2007 Nov; 33(11):681-8. [Uses AHRQ's Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®).]

Medical Care Research and Review
Dy SM. Instruments for evaluating shared medical decision making: a structured literature review. Med Care Res Rev 2007 Dec; 64(6):623-49. [Uses AHRQ's evidence reports/technology assessments repository as a source for systematic reviews and published evaluations of instruments. Also go to article by Alexander, et al. (Hosp Top, 2007), cited in Evidence-based Practice Centers-Related Articles.]

Current as of November 2007

Internet Citation:

Articles of Interest, November 30, 2007. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/articles/art113007.htm