February 9, 2007
This weekly compilation of articles appearing in recently released journals and newsletters includes:
- Articles funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) or authored by AHRQ researchers.
- Articles mentioning or discussing AHRQ staff, activities, and publications/products.
- Articles related to AHRQ-funded Evidence-based Practice Centers.
- Articles related to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force or Put Prevention into Practice program.
- Articles mentioning the National Healthcare Disparities Report and National Healthcare Quality Report.
- Other research using AHRQ data or products.
AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles
American Journal of Surgery
Stitzenberg KB, Thomas NE, Ollila DW. Influence of provider and practice characteristics on melanoma care. Am J
Surg 2007 Feb; 193(2):206-12. [Supported by grant T32 HS00032.]
Annals of Emergency Medicine
Kachalia A, Gandhi TK, Puopolo AL, et al. Missed and delayed diagnoses in the emergency department; a study of
closed malpractice claims from 4 liability insurers. Ann Emerg Med 2007 Feb; 49(2):196-205. [Supported by grants
HS011886-03 and K02 HS11285.]
Applied Nursing Research
Hughes RG. Research priorities. Appl Nurs Res 2006 Nov; 223-4. [Author is researcher in AHRQ's Center for
Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships.]
Best Practice and Research Clinical Rheumatology
Colon-Emeric CS, Saag KG. Osteoporotic fractures in older adults. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol 2006 Aug;
20(4):695-706. [Supported by grant U18 HS10389.]
BMC Health Services Research
Plantinga LC, Fink NE, Jaar BG, et al. Attainment of clinical performance targets and improvements in clinical
outcomes and resource use in hemodialysis care: a prospective cohort study. BMC Health Serv Res 2007 Jan 9; 7:5.
[Supported by grant R01 HS08365.]
Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice
Hartz A, Kent S, James P, et al. Factors that influence improvement for patients with poorly controlled type 2
diabetes. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2006 Dec; 74(3):227-32. [Supported by grants 5 R21 HS013581 and 5 R03 HS014410.]
Health Affairs
Slutsky JR. Moving closer to a rapid-learning health care system. Health Aff 2007 Jan 26; 26(2):w122-4.
[Author is director of AHRQ's Center for Outcomes and Evidence.]
Platt R. Speed bumps, potholes, and tollbooths on the road to panacea: making best use of data. Health Aff
2007 Jan 26; 26(2):w153-5. [Supported by grant U18 HS10391.]
Health Services Research
Clancy CM. Emergency departments in crisis: opportunities for research. Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):xiii-xx. [Author is AHRQ director.]
FitzGerald JD, Boscardin WJ, Hahn BH, et al. Impact of the Medicare Short Stay Transfer Policy on patients
undergoing major orthopedic surgery. Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):25-44. [Supported by grant K08 HS13168.]
Kahn KL, Tisnado DM, Adams JL, et al. Does ambulatory process of care predict health-related quality of life
outcomes for patients with chronic disease? Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):63-83. [Supported by grant
T32 HS00046.]
O'Malley AJ, Landon BE, Guadagnoli E. Analyzing multiple informant data from an evaluation of the Health
Disparities Collaboratives. Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):146-64. [Supported by grant 1 U01 HS13653.]
Gresenz CR, Rogoswki J, Escarce JJ. Health care markets, the safety net, and utilization of car among the
uninsured. Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):239-64. [Supported by grant P01 HS10770; uses 1996-2000
data from AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).]
Journal of Adolescent Health
Kominski GF, Varon SF, Morisky DE, et al. Costs and cost-effectiveness of adolescent compliance with treatment
for latent tuberculosis infection: results from a randomized trial. J Adolesc Health 2007 Jan; 40(1):61-8.
[Supported by grant T32 HS00046.]
Journal of Clinical Hypertension
Egan BM, Lackland KT, Igho-Pemu P, et al. Cardiovascular risk factor control in communities—update from the
ASH Carolinas-Georgia chapter, the Hypertension Initiative, and the Community Physicians' Network. J Clin Hypertens
2006 Dec; 8(12):879-86. [Supported by grant P01 HS1087.]
Journal of Surgical Oncology
Stitzenberg KB, Thomas NE, Beskow LM, et al. Population-based analysis of lymphatic mapping and sentinel
lymphadenectomy utilization for intermediate thickness melanoma. J Surg Oncol 2006 Feb 1; 93(2):100-8.
[Supported by grant T32 HS00032.]
Medical Care
Bolcic-Jankovic D, Clarridge BR, Fowler FJ, et al. Do characteristics of HIPAA consent forms affect the
response rate? Med Care 2007 Jan; 45(1):100-3. [Supported by AHRQ, no funding information available.]
Pediatrics
Feudtner C, Santucci G, Feinstein JA, et al. Hopeful thinking and level of comfort regarding providing pediatric
palliative care: a survey of hospital nurses. Pediatrics 2007 Jan; 119(1);e186-92. [Supported by grant K08 HS00002.]
Preventing Chronic Disease
Donahue KE, Mielenz TJ, Sloane PD, et al. Identifying supports and barriers to physical activity in patients at
risk for diabetes. Prev Chronic Dis 2006 Oct; 3(4);A119. [Supported by grant R21 HS13521.]
Preventive Medicine
Scholes D, Grothaus L, McClure J, et al. A randomized trial of strategies to increase chlamydia screening in
young women. Prev Med 2006 Oct; 43(4):343-50. [Supported by grant R01 HS10514. See also article by Segal JB, et al. (Ann Intern Med, 2007) cited in Evidence-based Practice Centers-Related
Articles.]
AHRQ-Related Articles
BNAs Health Care Policy Report
Day J. Value of records in clinical research explored in journal; federal funds promised. BNA Health Care Policy
Rep Feb 5; 15(5):176-7. [Cites AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancys statement at seminar that President Bush's
proposed 2008 budget will include funds to build a network allowing large medical centers to share medical data
quickly and efficiently; notes that special Health Affairs report released January 26 at seminar was partially
funded by AHRQ.]
Health Affairs
Rapid learning: getting technology into practice. Health Aff 2007 Jan 26; 26(2):w106. [Notes that publication
of papers presented at March 2006 conference was partially supported by AHRQ.]
Liang L. The gap between evidence and practice. Health Aff 2007 Jan 26; 26(2):w119-w121. [Cites AHRQ-authored
article by Tunis, Stryer, and Clancy (second and third authors are former AHRQ center director and current AHRQ
director) (JAMA, 2003).]
Tunis SR, Carino TV, Williams RD II, et al. Federal initiatives to support rapid learning about new technologies. Health Aff 2007 Jan 26; 26(2):w140-9. [Notes AHRQ's collaboration with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on studies to explore the optimal
uses of Medicare claims data and other observational data; describes the background, focus, and components of
AHRQ's Effective Health Care program, and notes that AHRQ has faced criticism for not disclosing how the program
incorporates these [public] comments into its decisionmaking; summarizes findings from three AHRQ comparative
effectiveness reviews and notes that the report on noninvasive diagnostic tests prompted a strong negative reaction
from the imaging community (citing American College of Radiology press release, AHRQ Breast Imaging Report; Confused
and Inaccurate, February 9, 2006).]
Wallace PJ. Reshaping cancer learning through the use of health information technology. Health Aff 2007 Jan 26;
26(2):w169-77. [Lists AHRQ's Centers for Education and Research in Therapeutics (CERTs) as an example of the
multisite, cancer-focused research networks participated in by regional cancer research centers.]
Stewart WF, Shah NR, Selna MJ, et al. Bridging the inferential gap: the electronic health record and clinical
evidence. Health Aff 2007 Jan 26; 26(2):w181-91. [Notes that there are 1,970 active guidelines listed in the U.S.
National Guideline Clearinghouse™ (citing NGC home page on AHRQ Web site), and that this codification of knowledge
is essential to increasing its usefulness.]
Perlin JB, Kupersmith J. Information technology and the inferential gap. Health Aff 2007 Jan 26; 26(2):w192-4.
[Cites AHRQ-authored article by Tunis, Stryer, and Clancy (second and third authors are former AHRQ center director
and current AHRQ director) (JAMA, 2003).]
Health Services Research
Ross JS, Siu AL. The importance of population-based performance measures. Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):1-6.
[Cites AHRQ-funded article by Rosenthal, et al. (N Engl J Med, 2006).]
Bynum JP, Bernal-Delgado E, Gottlieb D, et al. Assigning ambulatory patients and their physicians to hospitals; a
method for obtaining population-based provider performance measurements. Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):45-62.
[Cites AHRQ-funded article by Rosenthal, et al. (Health Aff, 2004).]
Buchmueller TC, Lo Sasso AT, Lurie I, et al. Immigrants and employer-sponsored health insurance. Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):286-310. [Compares the content and coverage of MEPS to the Survey of Income and Program
Participation (SIPP) and the Current Population Survey (CPS).]
JAMA
Woolf SH. Potential health and economic consequences of misplaced priorities. JAMA 2007 Feb 7; 297(3):523-6.
[Compares FY 2006 budget allocations to NIH and AHRQ, noting that for every dollar spend on developing treatments,
one penny was spent to ensure that patients actually receive them.]
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
McKee MD, Fletcher J. Primary care for urban adolescent girls from ethnically diverse populations: foregone care
and access to confidential care. J Health Care Poor Underserved 2006 Nov; 17(4):759-74. [Cites AHRQ-authored
article by Weinick and Krauss (former AHRQ researchers) (Am J Public Health, 2000).]
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)/Put Prevention Into Practice (PPIP)-Related Articles
Annals of Internal Medicine
Wilson JF, American College of Physicians (AFP), Physicians' Information and Education Resource (PIER), et al.
Smoking cessation. Ann Intern Med 2007 Feb 6; 146(3):ITC2-1-16. [Summarizes USPSTF recommendations on
counseling to prevent tobacco use, as posted on AHRQ Web site; cites PHS guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, 2000.]
Evidence-based Practice Centers-Related Articles
American Family Physician
AHRQ evaluates peptides as determinants for patients with heart failure. Am Fam Physician 2007 Feb 1; 75(3):422.
[Summarizes findings from AHRQ evidence report, Testing for BNP and NT-proENP in the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Heart
Failure, 2006.]
Annals of Internal Medicine
Segal JB, Streiff MB, Hofmann LV, et al. Management of venous thromboembolism: a systematic review for a practice
guideline. Ann Intern Med 2007 Feb 6; 146(3):211-22. [Supported in part by contract 290-97-0006 to Johns Hopkins
University EPC.]
Health Affairs
Neumann PJ. Challenges ahead for federal technology assessment. Health Aff 2007 Jan 26; 26(2):w150-2.
[Comments on article by Tunis, et al., cited above; notes that the initiatives of [AHRQ], stemming from Section
1013 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003, are a prime example
of federal agencies' synthesis and use of existing,secondary data sources and that AHRQ has carried out its
statutory mandate admirably, through existing infrastructure, such as the Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs),
and newly created programs; states that AHRQ for its part has striven to gingerly manage its constituencies in
an effort to minimize conflicts and controversies regarding its assessment activities.]
Research By Others Using AHRQ Data or Products
Health Services Research
Hodgkin D, Marrick EL, Horgan CM, et al. Does type of gatekeeping model affect access to outpatient specialty
mental health services? Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):104-23. [Uses AHRQ's Clinical Classification System
(CCS) to group diagnoses into categories.]
Richardson SS, Sullivan G, Hill A, et al. Use of aggressive medical treatments near the end of life: differences
between patients with and without dementia. Health Serv Res 2007 Feb; 42(1 Pt 1):183-200. [Uses AHRQ's Clinical
Classification System (CCS) to group diagnoses into categories.]
Martini EM, Garrett N, Lindquist T, et al. The boomers are coming: a total cost of care model of the impact of
population aging on health care costs in the United States by major practice category. Health Serv Res 2007 Feb;
42(1 Pt 1):201-18. [Uses 2001 MEPS data.]
Current as of February 2007
Internet Citation:
Articles of Interest, February 9, 2007. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/articles/art020907.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850