Research Activities

March 2001, No. 247

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

New HIV therapies have led to a decline in hospital costs for most patients

Minority Health

Racial matching of patients and physicians does not necessarily lead to better quality of care

Women's Health

Most women undergoing hysterectomy for benign conditions are satisfied with the outcome and their recovery
Community-based programs offer a way to reach disadvantaged women and encourage them to have mammograms
Increasing the quality and quantity of prenatal care may not reduce low birthweight among low-income black women

Heart Disease

Despite intensified efforts to prevent cardiovascular disease, disparities continue for some groups and regions

Patient Education

Programs that successfully reduce or prevent smoking and alter sedentary lifestyles can reduce hospital admissions
Interactive video games can motivate health behavior change in children and adolescents

Outcomes/Effectiveness Research

Researchers examine long-term outcomes of very preterm infants born in The Netherlands nearly 20 years ago
Elderly veterans who suffer heart attacks have similar clinical outcomes at VHA and non-VHA hospitals

Clinical Decisionmaking

Inappropriate prescribing of a popular heartburn drug continues despite FDA regulatory action
Veterans seeking help for postraumatic stress disorder generally admit to their abuse of drugs

Mental Health

Quality improvement programs improve primary care clinician knowledge about depression treatment over 18 months

Long-term Care

Elderly men and women are fairly accurate in predicting their need for nursing home care in the next few years

Emergency Medicine

Maryland's EMS system has effectively managed mass casualty incidents involving 10 to 40 people

Health Care Costs and Financing

AHRQ researchers examine trends in health care costs

Agency News and Notes

AHRQ steps up efforts to develop and train a talented pool of health services researchers

Announcements

Latest statistics on the uninsured from MEPS are now available
New fact sheet lists HCUP resources available from AHRQ
AHRQ announces a new online resource for measuring quality of care for children
AHRQ funds new projects

Research Briefs

Current as of March 2001
AHRQ Publication No. 01-0024

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Internet Citation:

Research Activities newsletter. March 2001, No. 247. AHRQ Publication No. 01-0024. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/mar01/

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