Articles of Interest

October 17, 2003

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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

Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine
Sherman KJ, Cherkin DC. Developing methods for acupuncture research: rationale for and design of a pilot study evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture for chronic low back pain. Altern Ther Health Med 2003 Sep-Oct; 9(5):54-60. [Supported by Grant No. HS09989.]

Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
Gendo K, Sullivan DS, Lozano P, et al. Resource costs for asthma-related care among pediatric patients in managed care. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2003 Sep; 91(3):251-57. [Supported by Grant No. HS08368.]

Applied Health Economics and Health Policy
Goldman DP, Leibowitz AA, Joyce GF, et al. Insurance status of HIV-infected adults in the post-HAART era: evidence from the United States. App Health Econ Health Policy 2003; 2(2):85-91. [Supported by HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study, Grant No. U01 HS085778; fourth author, Fleishman JA, is a researcher in AHRQ's Center for Finance, Access, and Cost Trends.]

International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics
McGuire TG. Setting prices for new vaccines (in advance). Int J Health Care Finance Econ 2003 Sep; 3(3):207-24. [Supported by Grant No. P01 HS10803.]

Journal of the National Medical Association
Jones AR, Thompson CJ, Oster RA, et al. Breast cancer knowledge, beliefs, and screening behaviors among low-income, elderly black women. J Natl Med Assoc 2003 Sep; 95(9):791-97, 802-5. [Supported by Grant No. P01 HS10875.]

Journal of the South Carolina Medical Association
Ornstein S. Practicing beautiful medicine beautifully: Hiram Currys vision in the 21st century. J S C Med Assoc 2003 Aug; 99(8):227-32. [Supported by Grant No. 1 U18 HS11132-01.]

Medical Physics
Chan I, Wells W III. Detection of prostate cancer by integration of line-scan diffusion, T2-mapping and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging; a multichannel statistical classifier. Med Phys 2003 Sep; 30(9):2390-98. [Supported by Grant No. R03 HS13234-01 (attributed to NIH).]

New England Journal of Medicine
Sawaya GF, McConnell KJ, Kulasingam SL, et al. Risk of cervical cancer associated with extending the interval between cervical-cancer screenings. N Engl J Med 2003 Oct 16; 349(16):1501-9. [Supported by Grant No. HS07373.]

Pediatrics
McCormick DP, Baldwin CD, Friedman N, et al. Bullous myringitis: a case-control study. Pediatrics 2003 Oct; 112(4):982-86. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS10613-02.]

Spine
Hartz A, Benson K, Glaser J, et al. Assessing observational studies of spinal fusion and chemonucleolysis. Spine 2003 Oct 1l; 28(19):2268-75. [Supported by Grant No. 1 R01 HS10739.]

Transfusion
Halm EA, Wang JJ, Bockvar K, et al. Effects of blood transfusion on clinical and functional outcomes in patients with hip fracture. Transfusion 2003 Oct; 43(10):1358-65. [Supported by Grant Nos. R01 HS09973 and U18 HS09459-0.]

AHRQ-Related Articles

Annals of Internal Medicine
Sox HC. Improving patient care. Ann Intern Med 2003 Jun 17; 138(12):996. [Acknowledges AHRQ's financial support of journal's Improving Patient Care section and commitment to this effort as a legacy to former AHRQ director John Eisenberg.]

Ethnicity Disease
Heisler M, Blumenthal DS, Rust G, et al. The Second Annual Primary Care Conference—Programming to eliminate health disparities among ethnic minority populations: an introduction to proceedings. Ethn Dis 2003 Summer; 13(3 Suppl 3):S3-1-5. [Cites AHRQ participation in conference.]

European Journal of Health Economics
Staat M. The efficiency of treatment strategies of general practitioners: a Malmquist index approach. Eur J Health Econ 2003; 4(3):232-38. [Cites Eisenberg (former AHRQ director), Doctors' Decisions and the Cost of Medical Care: the Reasons for Doctors' Practice Patterns and Ways to Change Them, 1986.]

Health Care Financing Review
Shapiro JR, Dyksra DM, Pisoni R, et al. Patient selection in the ESRD managed care demonstration. Health Care Financ Rev 2003 Summer; 24(1):31-43. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Hellinger and Wong, Med Care Res Rev, 2000.]

Dykstra DM, Beronja N, Menges J, et al. ESRD managed care demonstration: financial implications. Health Care Financ Rev 2003 Summer; 24(1):59-75. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Hellinger, Health Care Financ Rev, 1987.]

Moxey ED, O'Conner JP, Novielli KD, et al. Prescription drug use in the elderly: a descriptive analysis. Health Care Financ Rev 2003 Summer; 24(1):127-41. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Zhan et al, JAMA, 2001.]

McCormick JC, Chulis GS. Growth in residential alternatives to nursing homes: 2001. Health Care Financ Rev 2003 Summer; 24(1):143-150. [Cites AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).]

Health News Daily
Bigman C. Cervical cancer screening three-year interval risks weighed by NEJM study. Health News Daily 2003 Oct 16; 15(200):2-3. [Reviews article by Sawaya et al cited in AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles.]

International Journal of Quality in Health Care
Catto G. Improving professional competence—the way ahead? Int J Qual Health Care 2003 Oct; 15(5):375-98. [Cites AHRQ quality reporting measures in lists; discusses AHRQ's National Health Quality Report.]

Luthi JC, Lund MJ, Sampietro-Colom L, et al. Readmissions and the quality of care in patients hospitalized with heart failure. Int J Qual Health Care 2003 Oct; 15(5):413-21. [Cites AHRQ guideline Heart Failure: Evaluation and Care of Patients with Left-Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction, 1994.]

Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry
Lehman AF, Steinwachs DM. Evidence-based psychosocial treatment practices in schizophrenia: lessons from the patient outcomes research team (PORT) project. J Am Acad Psychoanal Dyn Psychiatry 2003 Spring; 31(1):141-54. [Reviews history and background of AHRQ's PORT project.]

Journal of Health and Social Behavior
Neighbors HW, Trierweiler SJ, Ford BC, et al. Racial differences in DSM diagnosis using a semi-structured instrument: the importance of clinical judgment in the diagnosis of African Americans. J Health Soc Behav 2003 Sep; 44(3):237-56. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Schulman et al, N Engl J Med, 1999.]

Lancet
Grol R, Grimshaw J. From best evidence to best practice: effective implementation of change in patients' care. Lancet 2003 Oct 11; 362(9391):1225-30. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Soumerai et al, Milbank Q, 1989 and Mandelblatt, J Fam Pract 1995.]

Medicine Health
Scully disappointed with hospital reporting. Med Health 2003 Oct 13; 57(37):1-2. [Cites incorporation on CMS Web site of results from AHRQ-developed survey measuring patient experiences of care.]

Research on Aging
Allen PD, Klein WC, Gruman C. Correlates of complaints made to the Connecticut Long-term Care Ombudsman Program: the role of organizational and structural factors. Res Aging 2003 Nov; 93(10):631-54. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Spector and Takeda, J Aging Health, 1991.]

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

American Journal of Public Health
Saha S, Arbelaez JJ, Cooper LA. Patient-physician relationships and racial disparities in the quality of health care. Am J Public Health 2003 Oct; 93(10):1713-19. [Cites Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, 1996; cites AHRQ-authored article by Weinick et al, Med Care Res Rev, 2000; cites AHRQ-funded articles by Ayanian et al, Med Care 1999, and Schneider et al, JAMA, 2002 and 2001.]

Annals of Internal Medicine
Sisk JE, Whang W, Butler JC, et al. Cost-effectiveness of vaccination against invasive pneumococcal disease among people 50 through 54 years of age: role of comorbid conditions and race. Ann Intern Med 2003 Jun 17; 138(12):960-68. [Cites Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, 1996; cites AHRQ-authored article by Clancy (fourth author) et al, JAMA, 2000; cites MEPS data.]

Gardner P. A need to update and revise the pneumococcal vaccine recommendations for adults. Ann Intern Med 2003 Jun 17; 138(12):969-1000. [Cites Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, 1996.]

Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Berg AO. Mammography screening: are women really giving informed consent? (Counterpoint). J Natl Cancer Inst 2003 Oct 15; 95(20):1511-13. [Author is chair of USPSTF.]

Current as of October 2003