Research Activities

July 2008, No. 335

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

AHRQ announces guide to help patients on Coumadin®/warfarin therapy

Patient Safety and Quality

Doctors are willing to report and learn from medical mistakes, but find error-reporting systems inadequate
Most patients want doctors to disclose severe medical errors
Counting surgical sponges and instruments can prevent some being left in the patient, but better methods are needed
Intensive care nurses tend to identify patient safety practices from self-initiated tasks
Patient complaints about poor coordination of care or other services may help identify patient safety hazards
Studies examine racial/ethnic disparities and use patterns for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Hospital governing boards are actively engaged in quality oversight, especially those with a board quality committee

Disparities/Minority Health

Minority status and vulnerable early life experiences prompt physicians' engagement in reducing care disparities
Elderly Asian Americans in traditional fee-for-service Medicare receive fewer needed services than their white counterparts
Immigrants are likely to underreport a family history of cancer

Child/Adolescent Health

Children with asthma and flu are more likely to end up in the hospital
Strep throat in children carries significant societal costs
Multiple prescriptions are linked to preventable drug reactions in children
Zero tolerance of alcohol for drivers under age 21 reduces drinking and driving among college students

Access to Care

Housing instability and food insecurity among low-income children are linked to diminished access to health care
Children with private insurance have better access to specialty care than those with public and no insurance

Preventive Care

Women over 40 responded to changes in mammogram recommendations
Hundreds of patients would need to undergo spirometry to defer a single acute exacerbation of COPD
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that at-risk men and women be screened for certain sexually transmitted infections

Chronic Disease

Urban, low-income adults with high blood pressure are reasonably knowledgeable about their condition

Primary Care Research

Primary care doctors miss diagnosing two-thirds of people suffering from depression
Quality of care for patients with coronary heart disease is not strongly influenced by medical practice characteristics

Emergency Medicine

Emergency departments vary in their approach to psychiatric emergencies, underscoring the need for standards
Hospital and demographic factors influence emergency department triage of patients with mini-strokes

HIV/AIDS Research

Physician experience may influence outcomes of hospitalized patients with HIV disease more than hospital HIV experience

Health Care Costs and Financing

Children often lose Medicaid coverage when their parents do, even though they are still eligible
As parents gain a job with private health insurance coverage, their children may lose public coverage
The financial burden of health care felt by low-income families a decade ago may now affect middle-income families
Public health insurance coverage continues to play an important role for working families with children
The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit has modestly boosted drug use and reduced average out-of-pocket expenses
Emergency department bills exceed payments over 9-year period

Acute Care/Hospitalization

Patient safety problems are relatively infrequent among hospitalized children
State policies can influence the safety of hospitalized children via Medicaid payments

Agency News and Notes

Book chapter provides strategies and tips for addressing health literacy
Asian-Pacific Islanders are more likely to die from serious, but treatable, hospital complications
Hospital emergency departments treat mostly poor children
Hospitalizations for ischemic stroke drop by one-third
Most American adults have at least one chronic medical condition
One in four disabled seniors use risky or ineffective medicines
Only about 1 in 10 adult Americans have all the skills needed to manage their health
AHRQ report indicates that gene-based tests need better monitoring

Announcements

New toolkit can help improve care for patients with chronic care conditions
HCUP 2006 Kids' Inpatient Database (KID) is now available
AHRQ's HCUP 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) now available
New evidence provides clinicians with better tools to help smokers quit

Research Briefs

Research Briefs
Visit the AHRQ Patient Safety Network Web Site

AHRQ Publication No. 08-0061
Current as of July 2008

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Internet Citation:

Research Activities Newsletter. July 2008, No. 335. AHRQ Publication No. 08-0061. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/jul08/

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