Research Activities

April 2003, No. 272

---

Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

Certain medications that can increase the risk of cardiac arrest and arrhythmias are often prescribed together

Pharmaceutical Research

Doctors are prescribing fewer and safer antiarrhythmic drugs than in the 1980s
Clinicians can maintain warfarin dose in asymptomatic patients with an INR of 3.3 or less without risk of hemorrhage
Pharmacist care and telephone peak flow monitoring can improve peak flow rates among patients with asthma and COPD
Collaborative program can reduce potential medication problem among elderly home health care patients
AHRQ-funded Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics examine the safety and effectiveness of several popular medications

Children's Health

Two-thirds of children with persistent asthma symptoms seen in primary care have uncontrolled asthma
Respiratory viruses may be the culprit in sparking seasonal peaks in children's asthma problems
Hospitalization of children for respiratory illness presents an opportunity to counsel their parents about smoking
Improvements are needed in meeting the spiritual care needs of hospitalized children and their families

Diabetes Research

Researchers focus on diabetes prevalence and control among urban black adults and diabetes understanding by the undereducated
Studies focus on depression, disease self-management, and vaccination status among people with diabetes

Clinical Decisionmaking

Use of an ECG-based diagnostic tool in the ER can help predict cardiac arrest in heart attack patients
Chest x-ray is appropriate to confirm suspected pneumonia in most patients
Use of intensive care for patients with severe pneumonia is common and expensive, but hospital ICU admission rates vary
CT scans can help physicians determine which artery is bleeding in patients with traumatic pelvic fractures
Clinical screening criteria can identify virtually all blunt trauma patients with acute thoracolumbar spine injuries
Physicians are more likely to use specialty society guidelines that are evidence-based and recently revised

Quality/Patient Safety

Certain factors increase the likelihood that sponges or instruments will be left inside a surgical patient
Interpretation errors are common during medical encounters with people who have limited English proficiency
Adequate nurse staffing and managerial support foster better patient care and reduce nurse dissatisfaction and burnout

Health Care Marketplace

Local preferences and factors other than market structure influence county differences in hospice use
More people receive oral surgery from a general dentist than an oral surgeon, especially low-income and minority individuals

Health Care Costs and Financing

Individuals who have lapses in insurance coverage are less likely to use preventive services than those with continuous coverage
Despite new critical care technologies, the proportion of Medicare spending on end-of-life care is not increasing
Most appeals to managed care health plans dispute provider choice and contractual coverage, not medical necessity
Malpractice pressure prompts unnecessary treatments and care costs without improving patient outcomes

Agency News and Notes

New AHRQ Web-based tool offers hospitals quick checkup on patient safety
AHRQ names new senior scholar in residence in primary care
New AHRQ evidence reports focus on allergic rhinitis among U.S. workers and jaundice in newborns

Announcements

AHRQ issues RFA for challenge grants on safe practices
AHRQ announces availability of the HCUP 2000 Kids' Inpatient Database
International child health research meeting scheduled
Mark your calendars now for TRIP 2003 meeting
New publications now available from AHRQ
Grant final reports now available from NTIS

Research Briefs

Current as of April 2003
AHRQ Publication No. 03-0031

---

Internet Citation:

Research Activities newsletter. April 2003, No. 272. AHRQ Publication No. 03-0031. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/apr03/

---