Research Activities

March 2002, No. 259

---

Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

AHRQ mourns the loss of John Eisenberg

Pharmaceutical Research

Aspirin use has increased in patients who have heart disease, but underuse continues to be a concern
Insurance type influences medication costs and the choice of brand-name or generic drugs

Health Care Delivery

Researchers examine why some patients with chronic kidney disease are referred late to a nephrologist

Minority Health

Racial differences in indoor allergen sensitivity are consistent with differences in asthma problems
Minority patients have increased access to elective surgeries in areas where there are more primary care physicians
Asian Americans are less satisfied with the quality of primary care they receive than any other racial/ethnic group

Children's Health

Mild or moderate asthma does not significantly impair quality of life for children
Outreach efforts are needed to enroll more poor children in Medicaid and boost their use of dental care

Women's Health

Major successes in prenatal care have been related more to preserving maternal health than improving fetal outcomes

HIV/AIDS Research

HIV suppression, smoking cessation, and selective use of medications can reduce dry mouth associated with HIV infection
Hospital use and mortality rates for people with AIDS vary substantially by race/ethnicity and location

Managed Care

State shifts to Medicaid managed care may limit poor patients' access to specialists
Rural hospitals are more likely to pursue managed care strategies in highly competitive markets
Providing patients with direct access to specialists does not necessarily increase medical expenditures
Researchers examine ways to assess the quality of care provided by preferred provider organizations

Health Care Costs and Financing

Expanding State Children's Health Insurance Programs to higher income children would not "crowd out" private insurance
Despite health care system changes during the early 1990s, use of care and financial burden for the uninsured changed very little

Evidence-Based Medicine

Private-sector experts use AHRQ evidence report as a basis for guidelines on weaning and discontinuing ventilatory support

Announcements

New MEPS materials now available from AHRQ
Grant final reports now available from NTIS

Research Briefs

Current as of March 2002
AHRQ Publication No. 02-0016

---

Internet Citation:

Research Activities newsletter. March 2002, No. 259. AHRQ Publication No. 02-0016. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/mar02/

---