Articles of Interest

September 12, 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

Academic Emergency Medicine
Wuerz RC, Milne LW, Eitel DR, et al. Reliability and validity of a new five-level triage instrument. Acad Emerg Med 2000 Mar; 7(3):236-42. [Supported by Grant No. HS10381.]

Wuerz RC, Travers D, Gilboy N, et al. Implementation and refinement of the emergency severity index. Acad Emerg Med 2001 Feb; 8(2):170-76. [Supported by Grant No. HS10381.]

American Journal of Managed Care
Lurie N, Zhan C, Sangl J, et al. Variation in racial and ethnic differences in consumer assessments of health care. Am J Manag Care 2003 Jul; 9(7):502-9. [Second and third authors are researchers in AHRQ's Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, and fourth author (Bierman AS) is former AHRQ researcher.]

Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
Wyrwich KW, Nelson HS, Tierney WM, et al. Clinically important differences in health-related quality of life for patients with asthma: an expert consensus panel report. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2003 Aug; 91(2):148-53. [Supported by Grant Nos. R01 HS10234 and K02 HS11635.]

Annals of Internal Medicine
Jafar TH, Stark PC, Schmid CH, et al. Progression of chronic kidney disease: the role of blood pressure control, proteinuria, and angiotension-converting enzyme inhibition. A patient-level meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med 2003 Aug 19; 139(4):244-52. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS10064.]

Ethnicity & Disease
Aaron KF, Chesley FD Jr. Beyond rhetoric: what we need to know to eliminate disparities. Ethn Dis 2003 Summer; 13(3 Supp 3):S3-9-11. [Authors are researchers in AHRQ's Office of Extramural Research, Education, and Priority Populations.]

Health Services Research
Seid M, Stevens GD, Varni JW. Parents' perceptions of pediatric primary care quality: effects of race/ethnicity, language, and access. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):1009-31. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS10317.]

Spelled CM, Wall TC, Allison J, et al. Identifying physician-recognized depression from administrative data: consequences for quality measurement. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):1081-102. [Supported by Grant Nos. HS09446 and HS1112403.]

Schneeweiss S, Wang PS, Avorn J, et al. Improved comorbidity adjustment for predicting mortality in Medicare populations. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):1103-20. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS10881.]

Escarce JJ, Kapur K, Solomon MD, et al. Practice characteristics and HMO enrollee satisfaction with specialty care: an analysis of patients with glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):1135-55. [Supported by Cooperative Agreement No. U01 HS09942.]

Carter MW. Variations in hospitalization rates among nursing home residents: the role of discretionary hospitalizations. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):1177-206. [Data acquisition and cleaning were supported by Grant No. HS07587-01A1.]

Kleit AN, Ruiz JR. False positive mammograms and detection controlled estimation. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):1207-28. [Supported by Grant No. 1 R03 HS10068-01.]

Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Safety
Bradley EH, Holmboe ES, Wang Y, et al. What are hospitals doing to increase beta-blocker use? Jt Comm J Qual Saf 2003 Aug; 29(8):409-15. Supported by Grant No. R01 HS10407.]

Journal of Ambulatory Care Management
Kaissi A, Kralewski J, Dowd B. Financial and organizational factors affecting the employment of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in medical group practices. J Ambul Care Manage 2003 Jul-Sep; 26(3):209-16. [Supported by AHRQ grant, no number given.]

Journal of the American Medical Women's Association
Warner LA, Wei W, McSpiritt E, et al. Ante- and postpartum substance abuse treatment and antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected women on Medicaid. J Am Med Womens Assoc 2003 Summer; 58(3):143-53. [Supported by Grant No. P20 HS11625.]

Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis
Aledort LM. Orthopedic outcome studies and cost issues. Sem Thromb Hemost 2003 Feb; 29(1):55-60. [Supported by Grant No. HS30567.]

AHRQ-Related Articles

BNA's Health Care Policy Report
AHRQ, Robert Wood Johnson award grants for projects to reduce unhealthy behaviors. BNA Health Care Policy Rep 2003 Sep 8; 11(35):1123. [Summarizes AHRQ press release on award of research grants.]

Ethnicity and Disease
Safran ES, Nwiloh VM, Caplan LS, et al. A clinician's guide to the medical consequences of smoking and evidence-based strategies for tobacco cessation. Ethn Dis 2003 Summer; 13(3 Supp 3):S3-82-88. [Cites PHS guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, 2000.]

Health Grants and Contracts Weekly
Health promotion among racial/ethnic minority males (NIH/AHRQ). Health Grants Contracts Weekly 2003 Sep 9; 26(34):4-5. [Summarizes request for applications.]

Health Services Research
AcademyHealth update. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):xi-xiv. Announces AHRQ-cohosted conference 5th International Conference on the Scientific Basis of Health Services: Global Evidence for Local Decisions and Live Cyber Seminars in Health Services Research Methods which include sessions on AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) and Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).]

Flood AB, Luft HS. Tribute to John M. Eisenberg. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):993-98. [Dedicates issue to former AHRQ Director John Eisenberg, gives brief biography, and describes articles in terms of their relationship to his contributions to health services research.]

Fischer MA, Avorn J. Economic consequences of underuse of generic drugs: evidence from Medicaid and implications for prescription drug benefit plans. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):1051-63. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Schneeweiss et al, N Engl J Med, 2002.]

Luft HS. Variations in patterns of care and outcomes after acute myocardial infarction for Medicare beneficiaries in fee-for-service and HMO settings. Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):1065-79, with appendix S1-S12. [Cites AHRQ-funded article by Guadagnoli et al, N Engl J Med, 2000.]

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
What do prevalence studies of pressure ulcers in nursing homes really tell us? J Am Geriatr Soc 2003 Apr; 50(4):773-74. [Cites AHRQ Guideline, Pressure Ulcers in Adults, 1992.]

Journal of Health Economics
Skatun JD. Take some days off, why don't you? Endogenous sick leave and pay. J Health Econ 2003 May; 22(3):379-402. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Vistnes, Ind Labor Rel Rev, 1997.]

Journal of Pediatrics
Fernandez CV, Gillis-Ring J. Strategies for the prevention of medical error in pediatrics. J Pediatr 2003 Aug; 143(2):155-62. [Cites several AHRQ-funded articles on medical errors and adverse drug events.]

Journal of Womens Health
Lousuebsakul V, Knutsen SM, Singh PN, et al. Is colposcopic biopsy overused among women with a cytological diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ACSUS)? J Womens Health 2003 12(6):553-59. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Hofer et al, J Gen Intern Med, 1994, and Ayanian et al, N Engl J Med, 1993.]

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

Ethnicity and Disease
Blumenthal DS. "Best science" for the reduction of disparities in cancer. Ethn Dis 2003 Summer; 13(3 Supp 3):S3-67-72. [Reviews USPSTF recommendations for cancer prevention.]

Asal NR. Prostate cancer: to screen or not to screen. Ethn Dis 2003 Summer; 13(3 Supp 3):S3-76-81. [Cites AHRQ and USPSTF positions on prostate cancer screening.]

Fry YW. Bacterial vaginosis and other maternal infections: treatable causes of the Black-White gap? Ethn Dis 2003 Summer; 13(3 Supp 3):S3-108-10. [Cites USPSTF screening recommendations.]

Research by Others Using AHRQ Data or Products

Health Services Research
Roohan PJ, Franko SJ, Anarella JP, et al. Do commercial managed care members rate their health plans differently than Medicaid managed care members? Health Serv Res 2003 Aug; 38(4):1121-34. [Uses data from commercial and Medicaid Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Surveys (CAHPS®).]

Nuklearmedizin
Weber WA, Dietlein M, Hellwig D, et al. PET with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose for staging of non-small cell lung cancer. Nuklearmedizin 2003 Aug; 42(4):135-44. [Uses standardized rating system developed by AHRQ's predecessor AHCPR to evaluate validity of studies used in analysis; cites article by AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy in Clin Ther, 1997.]

Dietlein M, Weber W, Schwaiger M, et al. (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for restaging of colorectal cancer. Nuklearmedizin 2003 Aug; 42(4):145-46. [Uses standardized rating system developed by AHRQ's predecessor AHCPR to evaluate validity of studies used in analysis; cites article by AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy in Clin Ther, 1997.]

Current as of September 2003