Research Activities

May 1999, No. 226

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

Race and sex may influence recommendations for cardiac catheterization

Departments

Women's Health
   Practice patterns for hysterectomy changed during the early 1990s

Outcomes/Effectiveness Research
   Improvements are needed in treatment of depression in primary care and among minorities in specialty care
   Some perinatal care practices can optimize or worsen the condition of very premature newborns
   Patients with recurrent stroke have poorer outcomes and higher care costs than those with a first stroke
   International variations in cataract surgery practices may be due in part to slower diffusion of new technology in Europe

Quality of Care
   Hospital readmissions do not necessarily reflect poor quality of care
   Many costly lab tests performed in the hospital are unnecessary

Health Care Costs and Financing
   Losing health insurance coverage or changing plans often means patients will delay seeking needed care
   High costs of caring for a disabled family member may negatively affect receipt of needed care for other family members

Rural Health
   Studies document positive aspects of Medicaid coverage for poor families living in rural areas

Long-term Care
   Nursing homes are beginning to use psychotropic drugs more often for clinical reasons than for restraint of residents
   Asthma patients prefer treatment in the emergency department asthma observation unit to being hospitalized
   Use of hospitalists instead of primary care physicians to care for hospitalized patients has both pros and cons

Minority Health
   Some Latino children are more likely to have asthma than others

AHCPR News and Notes
   AHCPR seeks nominations of topics for evidence reports
   AHCPR recognizes contributions of peer reviewers

Announcements
   AHCPR announces availability of audiotapes from User Liaison Program workshops
   New projects funded

Research Briefs
   Evaluating the effect of usual source of dental care on access to dental services: Comparisons among diverse populations
   A reliability study for evaluating information extraction from radiology reports
   Screening inpatient quality using post-discharge events
   Work patterns of ambulatory care pharmacists with access to electronic guideline-based treatment suggestions
   Units of measure in clinical information systems
   Exploring heterogeneity in randomized trials via meta-analysis

AHCPR Publication No. 99-0033

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Internet Citation:

Research Activities newsletter. May 1999, No. 226. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/may99/

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