Research Activities

July 1997, No. 206

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

Ischemic Heart Disease PORT finds benefits of hormone replacement therapy far outweigh risks for most women and reaffirms link between angioplasty volume and outcomes

Departments

Outcomes/Effectiveness Research
   Higher costs of care for cardiac bypass patients do not necessarily correlate with better outcomes
   Not all heart attack patients benefit from costly angiography and angioplasty
   Better management of patients already diagnosed with heart disease is more cost effective than primary prevention
   Primary care physicians often see BPH patients, but their practices sometimes depart from treatment guidelines or urologists' practices
   Substantial differences found in the way American and British physicians care for patients at risk for stroke
   Management of cataract patients varies greatly among developed countries

Family Health
   Private practices can provide enhanced prenatal services for poor women as effectively as public clinics
   Pediatric ICU providers vary markedly in their attitudes about life-support interventions
   Childhood diabetes exacts a heavy economic toll on families, even those with health insurance

Quality of Care
   Advance directives often don't influence end-of-life patient care
   Increased use of DNR orders is concentrated on sicker patients, but varies by diagnosis, hospital, and patient's sex
   AHCPR to focus on strengthening the evidence base about proven clinical practices
   Consumers need more information to understand and use health care report cards

HIV/AIDS Research
   Better doctor-patient communication could enhance treatment compliance for HIV-infected patients

Special Populations
   Addressing health care needs among the homeless must first take into account their subsistence needs

AHCPR News and Notes
   Contracts awarded for 12 Evidence-based Practice Centers
   AHCPR and the American Academy of Nursing announce selection of second Senior Nurse Scholar

Announcements
   Five new projects focus on quality-of-life and cost-effectiveness issues
   AHCPR funds new grants
   Managed care audiotapes now available

Research Briefs
   Detection of genitourinary tract Chlamydia trachomatis infection in pregnant women by ligase chain reaction assay
   Promoting mealtime communication between adolescent mothers and their infants through videotape
   Clinic services for persons with AIDS
   The Federal and private sector roles in the development of minimum data sets and core health data elements
   Mortality and complications associated with laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A meta-analysis
   The three faces of performance measurement: Improvement, accountability, and research

AHCPR Publication No. 97-0064
Current as of July 1997

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Internet Citation:

Research Activities newsletter. July 1997, No. 206. AHCPR Publication No. 97-0064. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/jul97/

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