Research Activities

March 1999, No. 224

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

Lack of same-day access to a primary care provider prompts many HMO patients to seek more costly urgent care

Departments

Prevention
   Physicians vary widely in providing heart disease prevention services to their patients
   Researchers study screening for hemochromatosis in primary care
   Routine thyroid screening is not recommended for patients suspected of having obstructive sleep apnea

Outcomes/Effectiveness Research
   Greater blood loss during surgery is associated with postoperative delirium
   IV heparin is associated with more complications than some other therapies for preventing secondary stoke
   Elderly knee replacement patients fare better when treated in more experienced hospitals
   Low Birthweight PORT publishes recent findings
   Foreign-born Hispanic women have fewer low birthweight babies than their American-born counterparts
   Prostate studies focus on barriers to early diagnosis, candidates for conservative treatment, and urinary tract symptoms

Home Health Care
   Nearly half of home health care clients have unmet needs such as household and nutritional support

Hospitalization
   Improving communication with patients needs to be major focus for hospitalist systems

HIV/AIDS Research
   Medications comprise the third largest health care expenditure for children with HIV

AHCPR News and Notes
   AHCPR releases evidence reports on depression and sinusitis
   AHCPR announces new topics for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
   Research grant applicants may "self-assign" to review groups
   Peer review update

Announcements
   New national data set provides in-depth picture of hospital care in the United States
   New MEPS chartbook presents data on minority health
   New electronic inventory added to AHCPR's Web site
   AHCPR funds new projects
   Seven new grant final reports now available from NTIS

Research Briefs
   Using outcomes to improve quality of research and quality of care
   Otitis media and child development: Should we worry?
   Facility-level outcome performance measures for nursing homes
   Understanding articles describing clinical prediction tools
   Measuring satisfaction among low-income women: A prenatal questionnaire
   Cross-cultural use of measurements
   Linking primary care performance to outcomes of care
   Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and disease are not associated with protection against subsequent disseminated M. avium complex disease
   The design of partners in care: Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of improving care for depression in primary care

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