Research Activities

April 2007, No. 320

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

One in four hospital patients is admitted with a mental health or substance abuse disorder

Disparities/Minority Health

Education, income, and net worth explain more U.S. racial/ethnic health disparities than health behaviors and insurance
Racial/ethnic disparities in knee replacement rates may be partly due to due to differences in preferences for surgery

Child/Adolescent Health

Use of asthma care guidelines reduces emergency visits and improves asthma care in children
Pulse oximetry and hospital observation can detect failure of amoxicillin treatment earlier in children with severe pneumonia
Tympanometric findings can indicate the probability of middle ear disease in children under age 3
Pneumonia-vaccinated children with ear infections may acquire more strains of bacteria that could affect antibiotic treatment
Visits to pediatric practice-based research network offices are representative of national pediatric outpatient visits

Patient Safety and Quality

Community health centers provide poorer quality of care to the uninsured with chronic disease
Medicare/Medicaid patients with unstable angina receive poorer quality of care than other Medicare patients

Women's Health

Gastrointestinal complaints in young women of low to normal weight may indicate possible eating disorders
Oncologists appear to communicate differently with breast cancer patients depending on women's age, race, education, and income
Model shows contribution of mammography screening and adjuvant therapy to reducing breast cancer deaths from 1975 to 2000
Clinic-based and community-based strategies can promote the use of key preventive services by Latina women

Acute Care/Hospitalization

Working conditions influence intensive care unit nurses' decision to leave their current position
Automated piggyback infusion of intravenous drugs is neither simple nor safe
Moderate to severe depressive symptoms are poorly recognized in hospitalized patients with acute coronary syndrome
Many transplant surgeons are inadequately vaccinated against the hepatitis B virus, exposing themselves and patients to infection
Patients who undergo lumbar spine surgery are likely to have another operation later

Elderly/Long-term Care

Rural nursing home residents with dementia are less likely than their urban counterparts to undergo intensive end-of-life care
Elderly people find international medical school graduates to lack in cultural competency and communication skills

Outcomes/Effectiveness Research

Diabetes increases the risk of dying for patents with suspected acute coronary syndrome
Individuals who reside in areas with higher median household income have better rates of melanoma survival
Urologists' varied use of androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer raises concerns about its appropriate use

Primary Care Research

Primary care doctors consider several factors when deciding whether to counsel a patient about obesity
Poor communication between patients taking warfarin and their doctors may place them at risk for stroke and bleeding
Primary care clinicians often fail to follow practice guidelines when treating patients with sore throats
Factors leading to gout and its management are different in women and men
Blood-sugar levels rise with age, even among people without diabetes
Rates of colorectal cancer screening increased modestly from 2000 to 2003, but still remain low
Fewer than half of rural residents in Iowa are screened for colorectal cancer

HIV/AIDS Research

High out-of-pocket costs for antiretroviral therapy are linked to more treatment failures among HIV-infected patients in Botswana
Updated pharmacy data can track whether HIV patients are maintaining enough adherence for treatment success

Pharmaceutical Research

Prescription drug coverage does not assure long-term adherence to beta-blocker therapy following a heart attack
New webliography identifies reliable prescription medication Web sites for consumers
Prior use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics boosts the risk of fluoroquinolone-resistant infections

Access to Care

Extending health insurance coverage to older working adults may substantially improve their health

Agency News and Notes

New checklists help men and women know which medical tests are needed to stay healthy ay any age
HCUP adds new interactive overview course on HCUP-US Web site
Register now for HCUP hands-on workshop at the 2007 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting

Announcements

HHS Secretary appoints new members to AHRQ National Advisory Council
Research Briefs

AHRQ Publication No. 07-0027
Current as of April 2007

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Internet Citation:

Research Activities Newsletter. April 2007, No. 320. AHRQ Publication No. 07-0027. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/apr07/

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