Articles of Interest

October 17, 2003


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.


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.]


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