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July 1998, No. 217
Contents
About Research Activities
Feature Story
More than 10 percent of America's near-elderly population lacks public or private health insurance
Departments
Elderly Health/Long-term Care
Studies examine health care needs and access to care for people age 80 and older
New MEPS data show changing nursing home market
Use of advance care plans increases among nursing home residents
Clinical Decisionmaking
AHCPR-funded study shows how doctors can safely discharge hospitalized pneumonia patients sooner
Quinolone antibiotics reduce infections in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy
NSAIDs and muscle relaxants are often used to treat back pain in primary care
Primary Care Research
Primary care physicians may miss important patient information during initial visits with patients
Today's primary care doctors offer more time and counseling to children but also prescribe more medications
Health Insurance
Managed care organizations use several techniques to discourage referral to specialists
Insurers often do not cover physician-recommended growth hormone therapy for short-stature children
Quality of Care
Pennsylvania's pioneering effort to document quality of care for heart attack patients shows promise
Legal/Ethical Issues in Medicine
Physicians' fear of malpractice suits may contribute to frequent use of PSA screening for prostate cancer
Genetic testing for cancer susceptibility raises ethical and psychosocial dilemmas
Study examines physicians' prescribing behavior
Emergency Medicine
Alternative to traditional CPR training is simple, quick, inexpensive, and more effective
Research agenda described for emergency care
Minority Health
Missed appointments are linked to shorter breast cancer survival among black women
Latinos could benefit from culturally appropriate smoking cessation programs
Like others with type 2 diabetes, Mexican Americans make personal adjustments to their treatment regimen
HIV/AIDS Research
Survey shows that public health insurance programs cover more than half of all people diagnosed with AIDS
HIV-infected patients would benefit from more aggressive screening and treatment of AIDS-related symptoms
AHCPR News and Notes
AHCPR teams with the AAHP Foundation and HRSA to improve care for people with chronic illnesses
Gregg Meyer, M.D., to head AHCPR's Center for Quality Measurement and Improvement
AHCPR announces two clinical prevention centers
Announcements
AHCPR grantees honored
Final reports now available from NTIS
New publications catalog now available
Research Briefs
Evaluation of a "lexically assign, logically refine" strategy for semi-automated integration of overlapping terminologies
The importance of radiating leg pain in assessing health outcomes among patients with low back pain
Diagnostic coding and medical rehabilitation length of stay
Distinction between symptoms of voiding and filling in benign prostatic hyperplasia: Findings from the health professionals follow-up study
AHCPR Publication No. 98-0045
Current as of July 1998