Articles of Interest

October 31, 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

American Journal of Public Health
Briggs NC, Levine RS, Hall E, et al. Occupational risk factors for selected cancers among African American and White men in the United States. Am J Public Health 2003 Oct; 93(10):1748-52. [Supported by Grant No. R24 HS11640.]

Annals of Family Medicine
Franks P, Cameron C, Bertakis KD. On being new to an insurance plan: health care use associated with the first years in a health insurance plan. Ann Fam Med 2003 Sep-Oct; 1(3):156-61. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS09963-01A1.]

Health Services Outcomes Research Methodology
Localio AR, Berlin JA, Ten Have TR. Confounding due to cluster in multicenter studies—causes and cures. Health Serv Res Outcomes Methodol 2003; 3(3-4):195-210. [Supported by Grant No. U18 HS10399.]

Health Services Research
Clancy CM, Chesley FD. Strengthening the health services research to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Health Serv Res 2003 Oct; 38(5):xi-xviii. [Authors are AHRQ director and Office of Extramural Research, Education, and Priority Populations director, respectively.]

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Safety
Glasgow RE, Davis CL, Funnell MM. Implementing practical interventions to support chronic illness self-management. Jt Comm J Qual Saf 2003 Oct; 29(11):563-74. [Supported by Grant No. HS10123.]

Journal of the American Geriatrics Association
Singh-Manoux A, Britton AR, Marmot M. Vascular disease and cognitive function: evidence from the Whitehall II study. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003; Oct; 51(10):1445-50. [Supported by Grant No. HS06516.]

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Olsen IE, Richardson KD, Schmid CH, et al. The impact of early transfer bias in a growth study among neonatal intensive care units. J Clin Epidemiol 2003 Oct; 56(10):998-1005. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS07015.]

Journal of General Internal Medicine
Schectman JM, Schroth WS, Verme D, et al. Randomized controlled trial of education and feedback for implementation of guidelines for acute low back pain. J Gen Intern Med 2003 Oct, 18(10):773-80. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS07069.]

Switzer GE, Halm EA, Chang CC, et al. Physician awareness and self-reported use of local and national guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia. J Gen Intern Med 2003 Oct, 18(10):816-23. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS08282.]

Kim C, Hofer TP, Kerr EA. Review of evidence and explanations for suboptimal screening and treatment of dyslipidemia in women: a conceptual model. J Gen Intern Med 2003 Oct, 18(10):854-63. [Supported by Grant No. P20 HS011540-01.]

Lancet
Lanier DC, Roland M, Knottnerus JA. Doctor performance and public accountability. Lancet 2003 Oct 25; 362(9393):1401-8. [First author is researcher in AHRQ's Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships.]

New England Journal of Medicine
Ray WA. Population-based studies of adverse drug effects. N Engl J Med 2003 Oct 23; 349(17):1592-94. [Supported by Grant No. HS10384.]

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring
Walson PD, Cox S, Utkin I, et al. Clinical use of a simultaneous HPLC assay for indinavir, saquinavir, ritonavir, and nelfinavir in children and adults. Ther Drug Monit 2003 Oct; 25(5):588-92. [Supported by Grant No. U18 HS10397.]

AHRQ-Related Articles

American Health Line
Pennsylvania: readmission charges exceed $564 million. Am Health Line 2003 Oct 30; #8. [Quotes remarks by Chunliu Zhan, researcher in AHRQ's Center for Outcomes and Evidence.]

American Journal of Managed Care
Abernethy AP, Samsa GP, Matchar DB. A clinical decision and economic analysis model of cancer pain management. Am J Manag Care 2003 Oct; 9(10):651-64. [Cites AHRQ guideline Management of Cancer Pain, 1994.]

Marcy TW, Thabault P, Olson J, et al. Smoking status identification: two managed care organizations' experiences with a pilot project to implement identification systems in independent practice associations. Am J Manag Care 2003 Oct; 9(10):672-76. [Cites AHRQ guideline Tobacco Use and Dependence, 2000.]

Walders N, Childs GE, Comer D, Kelleher KJ, et al. Barriers to mental health referral from pediatric primary care settings. Am J Manag Care 2003 Oct; 9(10):677-83. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Grumbach, et al, JAMA, 1999.]

Wang YR, Pauly MV, Lin YA. Impact of Maine's Medicaid drug formulary change on non-Medicaid markets: spillover effects of a restrictive drug formulary. Am J Manag Care 2003 Oct; 9(10):686-96. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Schneeweiss et al, N Engl J Med, 2002.]

American Journal of Public Health
Ibrahim SA, Thomas SB, Fine MJ. Achieving health equity: an incremental journey. Am J Public Health 2003 Oct; 93(10):1619-21. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Ayanian et al, JAMA, 1993, and Fiscella et al (fourth author is Clancy), JAMA, 2000.]

Ibrahim SA, Whittle J, Bean-Mayberry B, et al. Racial/ethnic variations in physician recommendations for cardiac revascularization. Am J Public Health 2003 Oct; 93(10):1689-93. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Ayanian et al, JAMA, 1993.]

Annals of Internal Medicine
Meyerhardt JA, Catalano PJ, Schrag D, et al. Association of hospital procedure volume and outcomes in patients with colon cancer at high risk for recurrence. Ann Intern Med 2003 Oct 21; 139(8):649-57. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Hellinger (second author), Med Care, 1986, and AHRQ-funded article by Birkmeyer et al, N Engl J Med, 2002.]

Panageas KS, Schrag D, Riedel E, et al. The effect of clustering of outcomes on the association of procedure volume and surgical outcomes. Ann Intern Med 2003 Oct 21; 139(8):658-65. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Hannan et al, JAMA, 1994, and Ann Thorac Surg, 1994, and by Birkmeyer et al, N Engl J Med, 2002.]

Thomas DR. The promise of topical growth factors in healing pressure ulcers. Ann Intern Med 2003 Oct 21; 139(8):694-95. [Cites AHRQ guideline Treatment of Pressure Ulcers, 1994.]

Laine C, Sox HC. Does practice really make perfect? Ann Intern Med 2003 Oct 21; 139(8):696-98. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Elixhauser et al, Health Aff, 2003.]

Archives of Internal Medicine
Swan GE, McAfee T, Curry SJ, et al. Effectiveness of bupropion sustained release for smoking cessation in a health care setting: a randomized trial. Arch Intern Med 2003 Oct 27; 163(19):2337-44. [Cites AHRQ guideline Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, 2000.]

Greengold NL, Shane R, Schneider P, et al. The impact of dedicated medication nurses on the medication administration error rate. Arch Intern Med 2003 Oct 27; 163(19):2359-67. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Bates et al, JAMA, 1995, and Leape et al, JAMA, 1995.]

Ethnicity Disease
Merrill RM, Allen EW. Racial and ethnic disparities in satisfaction with doctors and health providers in the United States. Ethn Dis 2003 Fall; 13(4):492-98. [Cites article using AHRQ's Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey (CAHPS®) in Health Serv Res, 2001.]

Family Medicine
Larson E. Racial and ethnic disparities in immunizations: recommendations for clinicians. Fam Med 2003 Oct; 35(9):655-60. [Cites Weinick and Kraus, Am J Public Health, 2000.]

The Gerontologist
John R, Kerby DS, Hennessy CH. Patterns and impact of comorbidity and multimorbidity among community-resident American Indian elders. Gerontologist 2003 Oct; 43(5):649-60. [Cites Elixhauser et al, Hospitalization in the Unites States, 1997, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Fact Book No. 1, 2000.]

Health Grants and Contracts Weekly
Grants alert: cancer surveillance using health claims-based data (NIH/AHRQ). Health Grants and Contracts Weekly 2003 Oct 21; 26(38):2. [Describes AHRQ-funded project with NIH.]

Health News Daily
Miller, R. UK centralized mammography program a possible model for U.S.—JAMA study. Health News Daily 2003 Oct 22; 15(204):7-8. [Cites study statement that "the United States has only voluntary guidelines," referring to AHRQ guideline Quality Determinants of Mammography, 1994.]

Health Services Outcomes Research Methodology
Rakovski CC, Rosen AK, Wang F, et al. Predicting elderly at risk of increased future healthcare use: how much does diagnostic information add to prior utilization? Health Serv Res Outcomes Methodol 2003; 3(3-4):267-77. [Cites article by Ash et al (sixth author is Burstin), Health Care Financ Rev, 2000.]

Health Services Research
Ash AS, Posner MA, Speckman J, et al. Using claims data to examine mortality trends following hospitalization for heart attack in Medicare. Health Serv Res 2003 Oct; 38(5):1253-62. [Cites Elixhauser and McCarthy, Classification for Health Policy Research, Vers. 2: Hospital Inpatient Statistics, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP-3) Research Note 1, 1996.]

Dubay L, Kenney G. Expanding public health insurance to parents: effects on children's coverage under Medicaid. Health Serv Res 2003 Oct; 38(5):1283-1301. [Cites AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) reports, 1997 Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Data, Private Sector Data by Firm Size and State, 2000, and 1999 Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Data, Private Sector Data by Firm Size and State, 2001.]

Escarce JJ, McGuire TG. Methods for using Medicare data to compare procedure rates among Asians, blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and whites. Health Serv Res 2003 Oct; 38(5):1303-17. [Cites article by Bierman (former AHRQ researcher) et al, Health Care Financ Rev, 2001.]

Liu CF, Sales AE, Sharp ND, et al. Case-mix adjusting performance measures in a veteran population: pharmacy- and diagnosis-based approaches. Health Serv Res 2003 Oct; 38(5):1319-37. [Cites Ash et al (sixth author is Burstin), Health Care Financ Rev 2000, and Elixhauser et al, Med Care, 1990.]

Hospital Case Management
Study shows safety risks for children, value of tool. Hosp Case Manage 2003 Oct; 11(10 Suppl):3-4. [Reviews AHRQ-funded study by Miller in Pediatrics, 2003.]

HHS, hospital associations team up for patient safety. Hosp Case Manage 2003 Oct; 11(10 Suppl):4. [Discusses 5 Steps to Safer Health Care campaign developed in part by AHRQ and gives AHRQ Web site for campaign materials.]

Journal of General Internal Medicine
Frosch DL, Kapian RM, Felitti VJ. A randomized controlled trial comparing Internet and video to facilitate patient education for men considering the prostate specific antigen test. J Gen Intern Med 2003 Oct, 18(10):781-87. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Flood et al, J Gen Intern Med, 1996.]

Hoffman RM, Harlan LC, Klabunde CN, et al. Racial differences in initial treatment for clinically localized prostate disease: results from the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Study. J Gen Intern Med 2003 Oct, 18(10):845-53. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Fowler et al, Urology, 1993, Ayanian et al, N Engl J Med, 1999, Canto et al, N Engl J Med 2000, and Barry, N Engl J Med, 2001.]

Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics
Moscarelli M, Rapp A. Editorial. J Ment Health Policy Econ 2003 Sep; 6(3):111-12. [Cites recommendations from AHRQ-sponsored Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team as used in article cited below.]

Leslie DL, Rosenheck RA. Benchmarking the quality of schizophrenia pharmacotherapy: a comparison of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the private sector. J Ment Health Policy Econ 2003 Sep; 6(3):113-21. [Cites recommendations from AHRQ-sponsored Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team as given in article by Lehman and Steinwachs, Schizophren Bull, 1998.]

Medical Clinical of North America
Nunez AE, Robertson C. Multicultural considerations in women's health. Med Clin N Am 2003 Sep; 87(5):939-54. [Cites AHRQ report Health Care for Minority Women: a Program Brief, 2002; cites AHRQ-funded articles by Ayanian et al, Med Care, 1999, and Flores, et al, Pediatrics, 2003.]

Medicine Health
Bioterror fears, medical-data deluge drive e-records push. Med Health 2003 Oct 20; 57(36):1, 7-8. [Quotes AHRQ director Carolyn Clancy on the benefits from improved access to computer-based clinical information.]

Outcomes Management
Kellogg VA. An innovative method of collecting adverse events data. Outcomes Manage 2003 Oct-Dec; 7(4):174-80. [Cites AHRQ-authored articles by Thomas et al (third author is Burstin), Med Care, 2000, and Kovner and Gergen, Image J Nurs Sch, 1998.]

Qualitative Health Research
Kuzel AJ, Woolf SH, Engel JD, et al. Making the case for a qualitative study of medical errors in primary care. Qual Health Res 2003 Jul; 13(6):743-80. [Presents grant proposal submitted to AHRQ "in response to a request for applications designed to 'test the effectiveness of the transfer and application of 'best practice' to improve patient safety."]

Quality Letter
2nd Annual Eisenberg Patient Safety Awards presented. Qual Lett 2003 Oct; 15(10):12. [Announces 2003 award recipients.]

New campaign promotes safer healthcare. Qual Lett 2003 Oct; 15(10):12. [Announces AHRQ-led effort to promote patient safety.]

Quality Management in Health Care
Pukk K, Lundberg J, Penaloza-Pesantes RV, et al. Do women simply complain more? National patient injury claims data show gender and age differences. Qual Manage Health Care 2003 Oct-Dec; 12(4):225-31. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Thomas et al (third author is Burstin), Med Care, 2000.]

Pukk K, Lundberg J, Gaffney A, et al. Do health care managers know the comparative quality of their care? Qual Manage Health Care 2003 Oct-Dec; 12(4):232-39. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Thomas et al (third author is Burstin), Med Care, 2000.]

Quality and Safety in Health Care
Hinckley CM. Make no mistake—errors can be controlled. Qual Saf Health Care 2003 Oct; 12(5):343-47. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Bates et al, JAMA, 1995.]

Taxis K, Barber N. Causes of intravenous medication errors: an ethnographic study. Qual Saf Health Care 2003 Oct; 12(5):349-65. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Leape et al, JAMA, 1995.]

Report on Medical Guidelines Outcomes Research
Levenson D. Large study of hospital errors reveals great variation. Rep Med Guidelines Outcomes Res 2003 Oct 31; 14(21):1-2, 6-7. [Reviews AHRQ-authored article by Zhan and Miller in JAMA, 2003.]

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-funded articles by Ayanian et al, JAMA, 1993, and Schneider et al, JAMA, 2001; cites AHRQ-authored article by Weinick and Zuvekas, Med Care Res Rev, 2000.]

Journal of the American Medical Association
Smith-Bindman R, Chu PW, Miglioretti DL, et al. Comparison of screening mammography in the United States and the United Kingdom. JAMA 2003 Oct 22-29; 290(16):2129-37. [Cites Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, 1996, and updated breast cancer screening guidelines as posted on AHRQ Web site; cites AHRQ guideline Quality Determinants of Mammography, 1994.]

Journal of Women's Health
Vogt TM, Glass A, Glasgow TE, et al. The safety net: a cost-effective approach to improving breast and cervical cancer screening. J Womens Health 2003 Oct; 12(8):789-98. [Cites Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, 1996.]

Evidence-based Centers-Related Articles

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Safety
Smetzer JL, Vaida AJ, Cohen MR, et al. Findings from the ISMP Medication Safety Self-Assessment for Hospitals. Jt Comm J Qual Saf 2003 Oct; 29(11):586-97. [Cites AHRQ evidence report Making Healthcare Safer: A Critical Analysis of Patient Safety Practices: Summary, 2001; cites Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force (QuIC) report Doing What Counts for Patient Safety; Federal Actions to Reduce Medical Errors and Their Impact, 2000; cites several AHRQ-funded adverse drug event studies.]

Research by Others Using AHRQ Data or Products

Annals of Internal Medicine
Levey AS, Coresh J, Balk E, et al. National Kidney Foundation practice guidelines for chronic kidney disease: evaluation, classification, and stratification. Ann Intern Med 2003 Jul 15; 139(2):137-47. [Uses methodology given in AHRQ report Manual for Clinical Practice Guideline Development, 1991, for literature review; cites AHRQ report by Elixhauser et al, Procedures in U.S. Hospitals, 1997, HCUP Fact Book No. 2, 2001.]

Journal of the American Geriatrics Association
Jones RN, Marcantonio ER, Rabinowitz T. Prevalence and correlates of recognized depression in U.S. nursing homes. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003; Oct; 51(10):1404-9. [Uses AHRQ's 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey—Nursing Home Component (MEPS-NHC).]

Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
Doty HE, Weech-Maldonado R. Racial/ethnic disparities in adult preventive dental care use. J Health Care Poor Underserved 2003 Nov; 14(3):516-34. [Uses MEPS data.]

Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy
McKercher PL, Taylor SD, Lee JA, et al. Prescription drug use among elderly and nonelderly families. J Manage Care Pharm 2003 Jan-Feb; 9(1):19-28. [Uses MEPS data.]

Current as of October 2003