Articles of Interest

September 26, 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

Annals of Internal Medicine
Shiffman RN, Shekelle P, Overhage JM, et al. Standardized reporting of clinical practice guidelines: a proposal from the Conference on Guideline Standardization. Ann Intern Med 2003 Sep 16; 139(6):493-98. [COGS meeting was supported by Grant No. R13 HS10962; fourth author (Slutsky J) is acting director of AHRQ's Center for Outcomes and Evidence.]

Archives of Internal Medicine
Iezzoni LI, Davis RB, Soukup J, et al. Quality dimensions that most concern people with physical and sensory disabilities. Arch Intern Med 2003 Sep 22; 163(17):2085-91. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS10223-03.]

Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
Paneth N, Qiu H, Rosenbaum P, et al. Reliability of classification of cerebral palsy in low-birthweight children in four countries. Dev Med Child Neurol 2003 Sep; 45(9):628-33. [Supported by Grant No. HS08385.]

Health Affairs
Huskamp HA. Managing psychotropic drug costs: will formularies work? Health Aff 2003 Sep-Oct; 22(5):84-96. [Supported by Grant No. 5 P01 HS10803-2.]

Sirio CA, Segel KT, Keyser DJ, et al. Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative: a systems approach for achieving perfect patient care. Health Aff 2003 Sep-Oct; 22(5):157-65. [Supported by Grant No. 5 P01 HS10803-2.]

Journal of the American Medical Association
Hennessy S, Bilker WB, Zhou L, et al. Retrospective drug utilization review, prescribing errors, and clinical outcomes. JAMA 2003 Sep 17; 290(11):1494-99. [Supported by Grant Nos. 1 FS32 HS00066 and U18 HS10399.]

Aiken LH, Clarke SP, Cheung RB, et al. Educational levels of hospital nurses and surgical patient mortality. JAMA 2003 Sep 24; 290(12):1617-23. [Supported by AHRQ through NINR Grant No. R01 NR04513.]

Tunis SR, Stryer DB, Clancy CM. Practical clinical trials: increasing the value of clinical research for decision making in clinical and health policy. JAMA 2003 Sep 24; 290(12):1624-32. [Second and third authors are director of AHRQ's Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety and AHRQ director, respectively.]

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
Tsui FC, Espino JU, Dato VM, et al. Technical description of RODS: a real-time public health surveillance system. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2003 Sep-Oct; 10(5):399-408. [Supported by Contract No. 290-00-0009.]

Journal of General Internal Medicine
Saint S, Zemencuk JK, Hayward RA, et al. What effect does increasing inpatient time have on outpatient-oriented internist satisfaction? J Gen Intern Med 2003 Sep; 18(9):725-29. [Supported by Grant No. P20 HS11540.]

Cram P, Vijan S, Fendrick AM. Cost-effectiveness of automated external defibrillator deployment in selected public locations. J Gen Intern Med 2003 Sep; 18(9):745-54. [First author supported by AHRQ fellowship grant during portion of study.]

Van Pinxteren B, Numans ME, Lau J, et al. Short-term treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of acid-suppressant drugs in empirical treatment and in endoscopy-negative patients. J Gen Intern Med 2003 Sep; 18(9):755-63. [Supported by Grant No. R25 HS09796.]

Journal of Pediatric Psychology
Youngblade LM, Shenkman EA. Congruence between parents' and adolescents' reports of special health care needs in a Title XXI program. J Pediatr Psychol 2003 Sep; 28(6):393-401. [Supported by Grant No. HS10465.]

Journal of Rural Health
Dobalian A, Tsao JC, Radcliff TA. Diagnosed mental and physical health conditions in the United States nursing home population; differences between urban and rural facilities. J Rural Health 2003 Fall; 19(4):477-83. [Supported by Grant No. HS00046; uses Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data.]

Pediatrics
McFarlane JM, Groff JY, O'Brien JA, et al. Behaviors of children who are exposed and not exposed to intimate partner violence: an analysis of 330 black, white, and Hispanic children. Pediatrics 2003 Sep; 112(3):e202-7. [Supported by Grant No. R01 HS11079.]

Studdert DM, Burns JP, Mello MM, et al. Nature of conflict in the care of pediatric intensive care patients with prolonged stay. Pediatrics 2003 Sep; 112(3):553-58. [Supported by Grant No. K02 HS11285.]

Finkelstein JA, Stille C, Nordin J, et al. Reduction in antibiotic use among US children, 1996-2000. Pediatrics 2003 Sep; 112(3):620-27. [Supported by Grant No. U8 HS10391.]

AHRQ-Related Articles

American Health Line
Abdominal aortic aneurysms: higher fatality rates among uninsured. Am Health Line 2003 Sep 26; #11. [Summarizes study using data from AHRQ's Nationwide Inpatient Sample database.]

Archives of Internal Medicine
Kucukarslan SN, Peters M, Mlynarek M, et al. Pharmacists on rounding teams reduce preventable adverse drug events in hospital general medicine units. Arch Intern Med 2003 Sep 22; 163(17):2014-18. [Cites AHRQ-funded articles by Bates et al, Arch Internal Med, 1999, and JAMA, 1995.]

Family Medicine
Flores C, Krueger F. Patient pain and resident physician practice style. Fam Med 2003 Sep; 35(8):539. [Cites AHRQ guideline Management of Cancer Pain, 1994.]

Health News Daily
Miller R. Tech assessment clinical trial priority list advocated by CMS coverage chief. Health News Daily 2003 Sep 24; 15(185):3-4. [Summarizes editorial co-authored by AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy cited in AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles.]

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Bates-Jensen BM. Standardized quality-assessment system to evaluate pressure ulcer care in the nursing home. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003 Sep; 51(9):1195-202. [Cites AHRQ guideline Pressure Ulcers in Adults: Prediction and Prevention, 1992.]

Snowden M, Sato K, Roy-Byrne P. Assessment and treatment of nursing home residents with depression or behavioral symptoms associated with dementia: a review of the literature. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003 Sep; 51(9):1305-17. [Cites AHRQ guideline Depression in Primary Care, 1993.]

Journal of the American Medical Association
Thompson JW, Ryan KW, Pinidiya SD, et al. Quality of care for children in commercial and Medicaid managed care. JAMA 2003 Sep 17; 290(11):1486-93. [Cites AHRQ-authored articles by Weinick and Cohen, Health Aff, 2000, and Selden, Banthin, and Cohen, Health Aff, 1999; cites AHRQ press release AHRQ Leading Effort to Develop National Report on Health Care Quality, 2002.]

Rothman R, Owens T, Simel DL. Does this child have acute otitis media? JAMA 2003 Sep 17; 290(11):1633-40. [Cites AHRQ guideline Management of Acute Otitis Media, 2001.]

Medical Care Research and Review
Balinsky W, Muennig P. The costs and outcomes of multifaceted interventions designed to improve the care of congestive heart failure in the inpatient setting: a review of the literature. Med Care Res Rev 2003 Sep; 60(3):275-93. [Cites AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-3, 2000 database.]

Otani K, Harris LE, Tierney WM. A paradigm shift in patient satisfaction. Med Care Res Rev 2003 Sep; 60(3):347-65. [Cites AHRQ's Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey (CAHPS®) and AHRQ-funded article by Zaslavsky et al, Med Care, 2000.]

Harrington C, Swan JH. Nursing home staffing, turnover, and case mix. Med Care Res Rev 2003 Sep; 60(3):366-92. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Cohen and Spector, J Health Econ, 1997, and article by Spector and Takeda, J Aging Health, 1991.]

Smith MW, Barnett PG. Direct measurement of health care costs. Med Care Res Rev 2003 Sep; 60(3):74S-91S. [Cites AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).]

New England Journal of Medicine
Lubitz J, Cai L, Kramarow E, et al. Health, life expectancy, and health care spending among the elderly. N Engl J Med 2003 Sep 11; 349(11):1048-55. [Cites AHRQ-authored article by Spillman (former AHRQ researcher) and Pezzin, Milbank Q, 2000.]

Pediatrics
King WJ, Paice N, Rangrej J, et al. The effect of computerized physician order entry on medication errors and adverse drug events in pediatric inpatients. Pediatrics 2003 Sep; 112(3):506-9. [Cites several AHRQ-funded articles on adverse drug events.]

Quality Letter
Simmons JC. Electronic health records: turning research into decision support for quality care. Qual Lett 2003 Sep; 15(9):2-8. [Cites AHRQ sponsorship of Translating Research Into Practice conference held in Washington, DC, in July, 2003.]

USA Today
Industry discourages study of new drugs' effectiveness. USA Today 2003 Sep 15; A14. [Mentions drug industry lobbyists' successful efforts to "defeat Senate a amendment allocating $75 million to learn which drugs work best" (the amendment tasked AHRQ to lead these studies).]

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

ACOG Today
ACOG revises cervical cancer screening recs. ACOG Today 2003 Sep; 47(3):1, 9. [Cites USPSTF recommendations for cervical cancer screening.]

American Journal of Nursing
Berg AO (for U.S Preventive Services Task Force). Screening for dementia: recommendations and rationale. Am J Nurs 2003 Sep; 103(9):87-95. [Summarizes updated recommendations on screening for dementia as published on the USPSTF Web site.]

Annals of Internal Medicine
Smith RL. Screening for prostate cancer. Ann Intern Med 2003 Sep 16; 139(6):531. [Critiques Task Force recommendations on prostate cancer screening as published in Ann Intern Med, 2002.]

Robertson HT. Screening for prostate cancer. Ann Intern Med 2003 Sep 16; 139(6):531-32. [Critiques Task Force recommendations on prostate cancer screening as published in Ann Intern Med, 2002.]

Berg AO. Screening for prostate cancer. Ann Intern Med 2003 Sep 16; 139(6):531. [Responds to letters to the editor by Smith and Robertson cited above.]

Family Medicine
Alper BS. DynaMed is evidence based. Fam Med 2003 Sep; 35(8):540-41. [Describes Task Force evidence-rating system; cites AHRQ evidence report Systems to Rate the Strength of Scientific Evidence, 2002, and AHRQ's National Guideline Clearinghouse™.]

Medical Care Research and Review
Yabroff KR, Washington KS, Leader A, et al. Is the promise of cancer-screening programs being compromised? Quality of follow-up care after abnormal screening results. Med Care Res Rev 2003 Sep; 60(3):294-331. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on cancer screening from Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, 1996, and AHRQ-funded article by Bindman et al, J Gen Intern Med, 1996.]

Research by Others Using AHRQ Data or Products

Health Affairs
Glied S, Cuellar AE. Trends and issues in child and adolescent mental health. Health Aff 2003 Sep-Oct; 22(5):39-50. [Uses data from AHRQ's MEPS, National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES), and Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) databases.]

Marquis MS, Kapur K. Employment transitions and continuity of health insurance: implications for premium assistance programs. Health Aff 2003 Sep-Oct; 22(5):198-209. [Uses MEPS data.]

Xu KT. Financial disparities in prescription drug use between elderly and nonelderly Americans. Health Aff 2003 Sep-Oct; 22(5):210-21. [Uses MEPS data.]

Health Affairs - Web Exclusive
Finkelstein EA, Fiebelkorn IC, Wang G. National medical spending attributable to overweight and obesity: how much, and who's paying? Health Aff 2003 Jul-Aug; 22(2):W3-219-26. [Uses MEPS data.]

Medical Care Research and Review
Wagner TH, Chen S, Barnett PG, et al. Using average cost methods to estimate encounter-level costs for medical-surgical stays in the VA. Med Care Res Rev 2003 Sep; 60(3):15S-36S. [Uses HCUP data.]

Yu W, Ravelo A, Wagner TH, et al. Prevalence and costs of chronic conditions in the VA health care system. Med Care Res Rev 2003 Sep; 60(3):146S-167S. [Uses AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software (CCS) and cites 1987 NMES data.]

Current as of September 2003