Research Activities

December 2012, No. 388

Select to download print version (PDF File, 900 KB). Plugin Software Help.

---

Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

The changing role of nurses
From the Director

Acute Care/Hospitalization

Certain hospital strategies lower mortality rates for heart attack patients
Continuing beta blockers after noncardiac surgery improves patient outcomes and lowers mortality
A few preoperative factors can be used to predict inpatient deaths following surgery at resource-limited hospitals
Patients transferred to the intensive care unit within 24 hours of admission to a hospital room have high risk of dying
Study reveals patterns of readmissions to the intensive care unit
Stroke education program improves medication knowledge and satisfaction among stroke patients after hospital discharge

Emergency Care

Variations exist in cardiac arrest care provided by emergency medical services agencies
Uninsured and Medicaid-insured emergency department patients are more likely to agree to free rapid HIV testing

Patient Safety and Quality

One-third of patients with hospital-acquired infections are readmitted within 1 year
Automated quality measures can be used to improve asthma care
Delaying the control of blood pressure among middle-aged adults with diabetes lowers quality of life

Child/Adolescent Health

Antipsychotic medications linked to occurrence of diabetes in children
Genetic risk for obesity in children boosts risk for obesity in adulthood
Quality improvement collaborative improves outcomes in children with inflammatory bowel disease
Surgery for ureter congenital abnormality results in efficacy and long-term durability for children

Women's Health

Homeless and underserved women may not be receiving empiric treatment for Chlamydia

Men's Health

Calcium from food linked to lower risk for prostate cancer
Minimally invasive prostatectomy in young men has fewer complications than standard prostatectomy

Elderly/Long-Term Care

Restorative care appears to lower emergency department visits and falls by nursing home residents
Care processes in nursing home and residential long-term care settings may benefit people with dementia
Review looks at outcomes of patients at different types of long-term care facilities
Medicare Part D coverage gap reduces antidepressant use in the elderly

Pharmaceutical Research

Adding another medication rather than switching medications may benefit patients partially responding to initial antidepressant
When cancer drug went generic, its use declined

Comparative Effectiveness Research

Review supports use of metformin as first-line therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes
No single strategy is uniformly successful in reducing cesarean sections
Limited evidence of benefit of interventions during early stages of chronic kidney disease
Physical therapy may improve outcomes for adults with knee pain

Disparities/Minority Health

Living in Hispanic or black communities increases risk for obesity
Type of insurance affects use and intensity of postacute care for stroke survivors

Health Care Costs and Financing

Benefits under the Affordable Care Act would have reduced out-of-pocket spending if available sooner
Corporate social responsibility as well as profit motivates executives running Medicaid managed care programs
Primary care practices incur considerable costs for collecting data on diabetes quality improvement programs

Health Information Technology

Human-computer interaction evaluation can inform the redesign of computerized clinical reminders

Agency News and Notes

AHRQ Stats: AHRQ publishes statistics on hospital stays among obese adults and children and hospital stays for hip and knee replacement
New tools help improve patient safety for those with limited English
New AHRQ tool assesses patient safety culture in pharmacies
New tool released that improves the safety of care for nursing home residents

Announcements

Final 2014 clinical quality measures available
Report examines quality improvement measurement in people with disabilities
AHRQ awards grants for the science of public reporting

Research Briefs

Research Briefs

Subscribe to AHRQ's Electronic Newsletter
Healthcare 411

AHRQ Publication No. 13-RA003
Current as of December 2012

---

Internet Citation:

Research Activities Newsletter. December 2012, No. 388. AHRQ Publication No. 13-RA003. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/dec12/index.html

---