Research Activities

November 1996, No. 198

---

Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

Better assessment of chest pain patients in the ER could reduce unnecessary CCU admissions

Departments

Healthcare Marketplace Research
   Marketplace demand for specialists declines

Women's Health
   Uterine fibroids occur more often among black women than white women undergoing hysterectomy
   PORT researchers link bacterial infection with many preterm births
   Women who have regular checkups appear to live longer

Patient Outcomes/Effectiveness Research
   Benefits and costs weighed for specialty versus primary care for stroke patients
   PORT researchers identify risk factors for retinal detachment after cataract surgery and confirm the reliability of the VF-14 index of visual function
   Short-term improvement in carefully selected patients with sciatica and spinal stenosis appears better with surgery than other treatments
   Educating patients about prostate screening and treatment influences their medical decisions

Patient Care/Clinical Decisionmaking
   Most low-risk patients with pneumonia prefer to be treated at home, but few are given the option
   Women and the elderly are less likely to receive life-saving drugs for heart attacks

Hospital Use/Quality of Care
   Neonatal ICU admission of normal weight infants could be avoided if intensive monitoring were available elsewhere
   Race and sex influence use of hospital-based procedures in California

Elderly/Minority Health
   Elderly persons' attitudes toward nursing homes predict their future use of these facilities
   More than one-third of Mexican Americans lack health insurance

HIV/AIDS Research
   Symptoms such as fatigue and fever serve as a barometer of physical functioning in AIDS patients

AHCPR News and Notes
   Ten new members have been appointed to the National Advisory Council

Announcements
   AHCPR invites contract proposals for evidence-based centers and nominations of topics for reports and assessments
   AHCPR funds studies on hysterectomy and alternative treatments for uterine conditions
   AHCPR announces opportunity for senior nurse investigators
   Conference on minorities and cancer planned for spring 1997

Research Briefs
   Demands and opportunities or development of self-reported assessments of oral health outcomes
   A foot risk classification system to predict diabetic amputation in Pima Indians
   The effect of spectrum bias on the utility of magnetic resonance imaging and evoked potentials in the diagnosis of suspected multiple sclerosis
   Physical disability in a cohort of persons with AIDS: Data from the AIDS time-oriented health outcome study
   Measuring clinical performance to provide information for quality improvement
   Predictions of county uninsured rates: Accuracy and stability

---

Internet Citation:

Research Activities newsletter. November 1996. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/nov96/

---