Articles of Interest

January 23, 2004

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These articles appeared in recently released journals and newsletters. They include articles funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) or authored by AHRQ researchers; articles mentioning or discussing AHRQ; articles related to AHRQ-funded Evidence-based Practice Centers; articles mentioning the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force/Put Prevention into Practice; articles mentioning the Presidents Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry and Agency-supported activities relating to the Quality Interagency Task Force; and other research using AHRQ data.

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AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles

Academic Radiology
Zou KH, Warfield SK, Fielding JR, et al. Statistical validation based on parametric receiver operating characteristic analysis of continuous classification data. Acad Radiol 2003 Dec; 10(12):1359-68. [Supported by Grant No. R03 HS13234-01.]

American Journal of Gastroenterology
Majumdar SR, Soumerai SB, Farraye FA, et al. Chronic acid-related disorders are common and underinvestigated. Am J Gastroenterol 2003 Nov; 98(11):2409-14. [Supported by Grant No. U18 HS1039-01.]

American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy
Kowiatek JG, Weber RJ, Skledar SJ, et al. Medication safety manager in an academic medical center. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2004 Jan 1; 61(1):58-64. [Supported by Grant No. HS11926-01.]

American Journal of Medicine
Solomon DH, Schneeweiss S, Glynn RJ, et al. Determinants of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor prescribing: are patient or physician characteristics more important? Am J Med 2003 Dec 15; 715-20. [Supported by Grant No. HS10881.]

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Hartert TV, Neuzil KM, Shintani AK, et al. Maternal morbidity and perinatal outcomes among pregnant women with respiratory hospitalizations during influenza season. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2003 Dec; 189(6):1705-12. [Supported by Grant No. U18 HS10384.]

Annals of Emergency Medicine
Hayes DN, Sege R. FiGHTS: a preliminary screening tool for adolescent firearms-carrying. Ann Emerg Med 2003 Dec; 42:(6):798-807. [Supported by Grant No. T32 HS00060.]

Cosby KS. A framework for classifying factors that contribute to error in the emergency department. Ann Emerg Med 2003 Dec; 42:(6):815-23. [Supported by Grant No. HS11552.]

Annals of Surgery
Rathore SS, Epstein AJ, Volpp KG, et al. Hospital coronary artery bypass graft surgery volume and patient mortality, 1998-2000. Ann Surg 2004 Jan; 239(1):110-17. [Supported by Grant No. T32 HS00009.]

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Freburger JK, Holmes GM, Carey TS. Physician referrals to physical therapy for the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2003 Dec; 84(12):1839-49. [Supported by Grant No. T32 HS00032.]

Clinical Infectious Diseases
Mortensen EM, Kapoor WN, Chang CC, et al. Assessment of mortality after long-term follow-up of patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Clin Infect Dis 2003 Dec 15; 37(12):1617-24. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS06468.]

Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry
Miranda J, Nakamura R, Bernal G. Including ethnic minorities in mental health intervention research: a practical approach to a long-standing problem. Cult Med Psychiatry 2003 Dec; 27(4):467-86. [Supported by Grant No. 5 P01 HS10858-03.]

Health Affairs
Califf RM. Defining the balance of risk and benefit in the era of genomics and proteomics. Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):77-87. [Supported by Grant No. U18 HS10548.]

Landon BE, Reschovsky JD, Blumenthal D. Physicians' view of formularies: implications for Medicare drug benefit design. Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):218-26. [Supported by Grant No. P01 HS10803.]

Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
Coil CJ, Haukoos JS, Witt M, et al. Evaluation of an emergency department referral system for outpatient HIV testing. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2004 Jan 1; 35(1):52-5. [Supported by Grant No. F32 HS11509.]

Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Lan YT, Chang RK, Laks H. Outcome of patients with double-inlet left ventricle or tricuspid atresia with transposed great arteries. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004 Jan 7; 43(1):113-9. [Supported by Grant No. 1 R03 HS13217-01.]

Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
Plantinga LC, Fink NE, Sadler JH, et al. Frequency of patient-physician contact patient outcomes in hemodialysis care. J Am Soc Nephrol 2004 Jan; 15(1):210-18. [Supported by Grant No. R01HS08365.]

Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery
Norregaard JC, Bernth-Petersen P, Alonso J, et al. Visual functional outcomes of cataract surgery in the United States, Canada, Denmark, and Spain: Report of the International Cataract Surgery Outcomes Study. J Cataract Refract Surg 2003 Nov; 29(11):2135-42. [Supported by Grant No. HS07085.]

Journal of Investigative Medicine
Egan BM, Basile JN. Controlling blood pressure in 50% of all hypertensive patients: an achievable goal in the Healthy People 2010 report? J Investig Med 2003 Nov; 51(6):373-85. [Supported by Grant No. P01 HS1087-03.]

Medical Care
Person SD, Allison JJ, Kiefe CI, et al. Nurse staffing and mortality for Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1):4-12. [Supported by Grant Nos. HS08843 and HS09446.]

Chen AY, Escarce JJ. Quantifying income-related inequality in healthcare delivery in the United States. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1):38-47. [Supported by Grant No. P01 HS10770.]

Conrad KJ, Smith EV. nternational Conference on Objective Measurement: applications of Rasch analysis in health care. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1 Suppl):I1-6. [Supported by Grant No. R13 HS10941-01; mentions AHRQ conference support.]

Haley SM, Coster WJ, Andres PL, et al. Activity outcome measurement for postacute care. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1 Suppl):I49-61. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HD43568 from AHRQ and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).]

Coster WJ, Haley SM, Andres PL, et al. Refining the conceptual basis for rehabilitation outcome measurement: personal care and instrumental activities domain. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1 Suppl):I62-72. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HD43568 from AHRQ and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).]

Psychological Assessment
Lambert Mc, Schmitt N, Samms-Vaughan ME, et al. Is it prudent to administer all items for each Child Behavior Checklist cross-informant syndrome? Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Youth Self-Report dimensions with confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory. Psychol Assess 2003 Dec; 15(4):550-68. [Supported by Grant No. HS08385.]

Transfusion
Lawrence VA, Silverstein JH, Cornell JE, et al. Higher Hb level is associated with better early functional recovery after hip fracture repair. Transfusion 2003 Dec; 43(12):1717-22. [Supported by Grant No. 1 R01 HS07322.]

AHRQ-Related Articles

Blue Sheet
AHRQ disparities report HHS materials requested by eight House Democrats. Blue Sheet 2003 Jan 19; 47(3):8-9. [Reviews differences between AHRQ's June 2003 draft and the final executive summary of the National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR) released December 23, 2003.]

Health Affairs
Reinhardt UE. Perspective: an information infrastructure for the pharmaceutical market. Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):107-12. [Discusses the pros and cons of establishing a federal agency located at AHRQ as an alternative to independent PharmacoEconomic Research Institutes (PERIs); cites article by Gray, et al., AHCPR and the changing politics of health services research, Health Aff, 2003.]

Soumerai SB. Benefits and risks of increasing restrictions on access to costly drugs in Medicaid. Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):135-46. [Proposes research topics as part of a "high-priority research agenda" for AHRQ, NIH, and state governments; cites AHRQ-funded studies by Schneeweiss et al., Can Med Assoc J, 2002, Fortes et al., J Am Geriatr Soc, 2001, and Soumerai et al., N Engl J Med, 1987, 1991, and 1994.]

Kamal-Bahl S, Briesacher B. How do incentive-based formularies influence drug selection and spending for hypertension? Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):227-36. [Cites Schneeweiss, et al, Can Med Assoc J, 2002, and N Engl J Med, 2002.]

Hoadley JF. The continued need for independent research on prescription drugs. Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):244-49. [Cites AHRQ funding of drug prescribing research and the agency's evaluation of the impact of this research as reported in AHRQ publication, The Impact of Studies Funded Under Outcomes of Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research: Final Report, 2001; cites uncertain resolution of proposals to increase AHRQ funding for drug effectiveness research.]

Grant Outcomes. The Program on the Pharmaceutical Industry (POPI). Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):253-55. [Describes POPI program goals and cites support by AHRQ.]

Health News Daily
Rawson K. PhRMA adopts outcomes research policy; set for cost-effectiveness debate. Health News Daily 2004 Jan 20; 16(12):3-5. [Cites preparation of position paper in consultation with AHRQ and mentions AHRQ lead role in developing strategies for the study of pharmaceutical cost-effectiveness via a provision in the Medicare reform law pending funding appropriation.]

JAMA
Samore MH, Evans RS, Lassen A, et al. Surveillance of medical device-related hazards and adverse events in hospitalized patients. JAMA 2004 Jan 21; 291(3):325-34. [Cites several AHRQ-funded articles on adverse events.]

Journal of Rural Health
Elliott TE, Elliott BA, Regal RR, et al. Improving rural cancer patients' outcomes: a group-randomized trial. J Rural Health 2004 Winter; 20(1):26-35. [Cites AHRQ publication, Health Status and Access to Care of Rural and Urban Populations, National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) Research Findings 18, 1994.]

Fitzgerald P, Morgan A, Morris T. Rural policy development: an NRHA and PACE Association collaborative model. J Rural Health 2004 Winter; 20(1):92-6. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Spector et al., Milbank Q, 1996.]

Medical Care
Byrne MM, Charns MP, Parker VA, et al. The effects of organization on medical utilization: an analysis of service line organization. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1):28-37. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Bindman, et al, JAMA, 1995.]

Lapane KL, Hughes CM. An evaluation of the impact of the prospective payment system on antidepressant use in nursing home residents. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1):48-58. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Moore, et al. (third author is AHRQ researcher Fleishman), J Gerontol, 1994.]

Mallinson T, Stelmack J, Velozo C. A comparison of the separation ratio and coefficient a in the creation of minimum item sets. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1 Suppl):I17-24. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Friedman et al., Br J Ophthalmol, 2002, and Steinberg et al., Arch Ophthalmol, 1994, and Ophthalmology, 1994.] McHorney CA, Monahan PO. Postscript: applications of Rasch analysis in health care. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1 Suppl):I73-78. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Fleishman et al., J Gerontol, 2002, and AHRQ-funded article by Coster et al., cited in AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles.]

Norquist JM, Fitzpatrick R, Dawson J et al. Comparing alternative Rasch-based methods vs raw scores in measuring change in health. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1 Suppl):I25-26. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Katz, et al, J Bone Joint Surg Am, 1995.]

Medicine and Health
Look beyond volume for quality measures, studies say. Med Health 2004 Jan 19; 58(3):2. [Summarizes findings from AHRQ-funded study by Rogowski et al, JAMA, 2004.]

Lawmakers decry softened tone of HHS disparity report. Med Health 2004 Jan 19; 58(3):2-3. [Reviews differences between AHRQ's June 2003 draft and the final executive summary of the National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR) released December 23, 2003.]

New England Journal of Medicine
Epstein AM, Lee TH, Hamel MB. Paying physicians for high-quality care. N Engl J Med 2004 Jan 22; 350(4):406-10. [Cites AHRQ report, Annual Report of the National CAHPS® Benchmarking Database 2000: What Consumers Say About the Quality of Their Health Plans and Medical Care, 2001.]

Obstetrics and Gynecology
Lin HC, Xirasagar S. Institutional factors in cesarean delivery rates: policy and research implications. Obstet Gynecol 2004 Jan; 103(1):128-36. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Haas et al., JAMA, 1993, and Localio, JAMA, 1993.]

Risk of cervical cancer associated with extending the interval between cervical-cancer screenings. Obstet Gynecol 2004 Jan; 103(1):194. [Gives abstract of AHRQ-funded article by Sawaya et al., N Engl J Med, 2003.]

Pink Sheet
PhRMA adopts outcomes research policy; set for cost-effectiveness debate. Pink Sheet 2004 Jan 19; 66(3):16. [Cites preparation of position paper in consultation with AHRQ and mentions AHRQ lead role in developing strategies for the study of pharmaceutical cost-effectiveness via a provision in the Medicare reform law pending funding appropriation.]

Quality Letter
AHRQ seeks applications to demonstrate value of health information technology. Qual Lett 2004 Jan; 16(1):3. [Summarizes AHRQ announcement for grant applications under the program "Transforming Healthcare Through Information Technology."]

Keeping patients safe: Institute of Medicine looks at transforming nurses' work environment. Qual Lett 2004 Jan; 16(1):9-11. [Reviews AHRQ-funded report recently released by IoM.]

Research on Aging
Zablotsky D, Mack KA. Changes in obesity prevalence among women aged 50 years and older. Res Aging 2004 Jan; 26(1):13-20. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Caruso et al., J Gerontol, 2000.]

Washington Post
Racial disparities played down; at request of top officials, report on health care differs from draft. Wash Post 2004 Jan 14; A17. [Reviews differences between AHRQ's June 2003 draft and the final executive summary of the National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR) released December 23, 2003.]

Women and Health
Peake S, Manderson L. The constraints of a normal life: the management of urinary incontinence by middle aged women. Women Health 2003; 37(3):37-51. [Cites AHRQ guideline, Urinary Incontinence in Adults: Acute and Chronic Management, 1996.]

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)/Put Prevention into Practice-Related Articles

Annals of Internal Medicine
U. S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for thyroid disease: recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med 2004 Jan 20; 140(2):125-7. [Summarizes Task Force guidelines on screening for thyroid disease.]

Helfand M. Screening for subclinical thyroid dysfunction in nonpregnant adults: a summary of the evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med 2004 Jan 20; 140(2):128-41. [Supported by Contract No. 290-97-0018, Task Order No. 2.]

Screening for thyroid disease: a recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med 2004 Jan 20; 140(2):144-58. [Provides patient summary of Task Force guidelines on screening for thyroid disease.]

Evidence-based Practice Centers-Related Articles

Health Affairs
Kessler L, Ramsey SD, Tunis S, et al. From the field: clinical use of medical devices in the 'Bermuda Triangle.' Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):200-7. [Cites AHRQ evidence-based report/technology assessment, Lung-Volume Reduction Surgery for End-Stage Chronic Destructive Pulmonary Disease, 1996, and AHRQ systematic review of LVRS as requested by CMS.]

Medical Care
Mitchell PH, Lang NM. Nurse staffing: a structural proxy for hospital quality? Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1):1-3. [Cites AHRQ evidence-based report, Making Health Care Safer: A Critical Analysis of Patient Safety Practices, 2001, and AHRQ-funded article by Needleman et al., N Engl J Med, 2002.]

President's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry/Quality Inter-agency Coordination (QuIC) Task Force-Related Articles

Medicine and Health
JCAHO, NQF chiefs call for federal priority-setting on quality. Med Health 2003 Jan 19; 58(3):5. [Mentions non-fulfillment of Commission's recommendation to establish a public-sector national board to set national quality priorities and minimal use of available resources like the National Quality Forum by federal agencies such as CMS and AHRQ.]

Research by Others Using AHRQ Data or Products

Health Affairs
Levit K, Smith C, Cowan C, et al. Health spending rebound continues in 2002. Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):147-59. [Cites Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data from MEPS Index of Insurance Component Tables, 2003.]

Pauly MV. Medicare drug coverage and moral hazard. Health Aff 2004 Jan-Feb; 23(1):113-22. [Cites MEPS data as used in article by Lichtenburg, Health Aff, 2001.]

Current as of January 23, 2004