The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today announced two new evidence-based checklists designed to help men and women understand which medical checkup tests they need to stay healthy at any age.
Hospital admissions for the most serious category of head injury "“ Type 1 traumatic brain injury "“ increased nearly 38 percent between 2001 and 2004 after a decade of decline.
The proportion of U.S. private-sector workers enrolled in employer-sponsored health plans that do not require them to share the cost of their premium fell by a third between 1998 and 2004 "“ from 27 percent to 18 percent in 2004.
HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality joined with The Advertising Council to launch a national public service advertising campaign for all patients and caregivers called "Questions Are the Answer: Get More Involved With Your Health Care." Besides TV, radio and print ads, the campaign features a comprehensive and interactive Web site to help consumers become a partner in their health care.
People who are at average risk for colorectal cancer, including those with a family history of the disease, should not take aspirin or NSAIDs to try to prevent the disease, according to a new recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
Hospital admissions for burns rose by nearly 22 percent between 2000 and 2004 "“ from 26,700 to 32,000. The rise follows a decline of 44 percent during the previous seven years.
Today's most commonly prescribed antidepressants are similar in effectiveness to each other but differ when it comes to possible side effects. About six in 10 adult patients get some relief from the drugs and about six in 10 also experience at least one side effect, ranging from nausea to sexual dysfunction.
In 2004, American adults spent $32 billion on cardiovascular drugs, putting them at the top of the five costliest classes of drugs prescribed by doctors for people age 18 and over.
People born with a hole between the two smaller chambers of the heart "“ known as atrial septal defect "“ or with other heart and circulatory conditions, accounted for a third of the 139,100 hospital admissions for birth defects in 2004.
Some newer antipsychotic medications approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are being prescribed "off-label" to millions of Americans for depression, dementia, and other psychiatric disorders without strong evidence that these uses are effective.
People who currently have asthma are much more likely to rely on drugs that offer quick relief for symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing, or coughing, than medications for long-term control.
The 1 percent of Americans who spend the most on medical care experienced a 4 percent drop in their share of the nation's overall health care spending from 1996 to 2003. It has shifted partly because of rapid growth in prescription drug spending and slower growth in spending for hospital inpatient care.
There is insufficient evidence to determine if current gene-based tests intended to personalize the dose of medications in a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) improve patient outcomes or aid in treatment decisions in the clinical setting.
Obesity surgeries for patients between the ages of 55 and 64 in the United States soared from 772 procedures in 1998 to 15,086 surgeries in 2004"”a nearly 2,000 percent increase. The report also found a 726 percent increase in surgeries among patients age 18 to 54.
The overall quality of the U.S. health care system is improving, but providers are missing important chances to help Americans avoid disease or serious complications, according to the annual National Healthcare Quality and National Healthcare Disparities Reports.
First-year interns who worked five extra-long shifts per month increased by 300 percent the chance that, because of their fatigue, they would contribute to the death of a patient. Extra-long shifts are defined as working more than 24 hours at a time without rest.
U.S. hospitals spend roughly $20 billion to treat the nearly 2 million Americans injured seriously enough each year to require inpatient care.
Patients who receive drug-coated stents to open heart arteries may lower their risks of heart attack or death by taking an anti-platelet medication longer than current recommendations.
Hospital stays of obese patients increased by 112 percent between 1996 and 2004, rising from 797,000 to 1.7 million. The federal study looked at the hospital stays of patients who were admitted for their obesity and the stays of obese patients hospitalized for other diseases.
Regimens to treat HIV infection that are based on a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) are at least as effective as treatment with a protease inhibitor but require patients to take fewer pills each day.
Hospital admissions for breast cancer fell by a third between 1997 and 2004. The decline reflects, in part, the shift to outpatient facilities for breast cancer surgeries, plus the growing use of breast-conserving operations such as lumpectomies, which are typically performed on an outpatient basis.
Performing a common heart surgery without bypassing the cardiopulmonary system may cut down on the number of surgery-related strokes and other short-term complications.
Increasing numbers of patients with narrowed kidney arteries are undergoing vessel-widening angioplasty and placement of a tubular stent, but the latest scientific evidence does not show a clear advantage of that treatment over prescription drug therapy.
Leading consumer advocacy groups have joined with the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) to improve patient safety during surgery and increase communication between patients and their caregivers.
While more than one-third of Hispanics under 65 years of age do not have health insurance, nearly two-thirds of those are not U.S. citizens.
Many genomic tests that are currently used to diagnose and guide treatment of ovarian cancer are not shown to decrease the number of women who die from the disease or improve their quality of life.
Cardiac-related conditions such as congestive heart failure, hardening of the arteries, heart beat irregularities, and heart attack still account for four of the five most common principal diagnoses for hospitalizing elderly patients.
Two classes of drugs commonly used to treat osteoarthritis "“ non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and COX-2 inhibitors "“ present similar increased risks of heart attacks while offering about the same level of pain relief, according to a new report from AHRQ.
More than half of all children in the most rural counties of the United States are hospitalized in more urban areas.
The nation's hospital bill totaled more than $790 billion in 2004, according to a new report by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The bill represents the total amount charged for 39 million hospital stays that year.
Nearly 84 percent of medical interns reported that they are continuing to work hours that exceed the limits implemented by the medical profession. A related study concludes that interns are much more likely to injure themselves mistakenly with a needle or another sharp instrument when working in a hospital more than 20 consecutive hours, or at night.
Sixteen percent of women who have chemotherapy for breast cancer experience serious adverse effects requiring emergency care or hospitalization.
Difficulties in diagnosing anthrax may lead to dangerous delays in caring for children infected with this often-deadly disease. Treating pediatric anthrax also is a special challenge because most currently recommended therapies have not been widely used to treat children with the disease.
Patients with heart failure whose care was directed by nurse managers could perform everyday activities better and had fewer hospitalizations than patients who had usual care. The program incorporated culturally relevant messages for the study's minority patients.
Four of every 10 obesity surgery patients develop a complication, such as a hernia, within 6 months of leaving the hospital. Study shows importance for patients to consider the potential complications when they make the decision to undergo the procedure.
Infants born to mothers who took ACE inhibitors during the first trimester of pregnancy had an increased risk of major congenital malformations compared with infants whose mothers didn't take these drugs. This is particularly important for a woman taking ACE inhibitors before she or her doctor knows that she is pregnant.
There is no clinically significant difference in the medical effectiveness of the two drugs, epoetin and darbepoetin, commonly used for managing anemia in cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment.
Medicaid spending for outpatient prescription drugs increased by 20 percent per year on average from 1997 to 2002, jumping from $11.6 billion to $23.7 billion during that period. The increase reflects a rise in the number of prescriptions overall and rapidly growing spending on behalf of disabled adults.
Wrong-site surgery is extremely rare and major injury from it even rarer, according to a study supported by AHRQ. The term "wrong-site surgery" includes surgery on the wrong organ or limb, at the wrong site on the spine, or on the wrong person.
No medications are available that effectively treat patients suffering from anorexia nervosa, but a few behavioral therapies may help prevent a relapse and offer other limited benefits, according to a report on eating disorders released by AHRQ.
AHRQ today released a new interactive Web-based tool for states to use in measuring health care quality. It provides quick and easy access to the many measures and tables of the National Healthcare Quality Report from each state's perspective.
HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today launched a new suite of "learning resources" designed to help health care providers adopt health information technologies quickly and effectively.
Taking dietary supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids or regularly consuming fish does not appear to reduce a person's risk of developing cancer.
Quality of health care for Americans has continued to improve at a modest pace, and health care disparities are narrowing overall for many minority Americans. But for Hispanics, disparities have widened in both quality of care and access to care, according to new quality and disparities reports.
A new publication to help patients make informed decisions when planning for surgery was released today with English and Spanish versions. It is part of a series of health care resources from AHRQ to help people be more active in their own health care.
Drugs can be as effective as surgery for management of gastroesophageal reflux disease, according to a report released today by AHRQ. The report is the first Comparative Effectiveness Review from a new AHRQ program that compares alternative treatments for health conditions.
AHRQ announced today that it is developing a "how-to" reference guide to help health care organizations create patient registries to track the outcomes of medical treatments, including drugs.
A new video trains emergency responders and hospital emergency department staff to decontaminate children after they are exposed to hazardous chemicals during a bioterrorist attack or other disaster.
The number of hospital admissions for HIV infection in the United States declined from a high of 149,000 in 1995 "“ just before approval of life-prolonging protease inhibitor drugs known as the "AIDS cocktail" "“ to 70,000 admissions in 2003, according to AHRQ.
AHRQ announced the award of more than $22.3 million to 16 grantees to implement health information technology (health IT) systems to improve the safety and quality of health care.
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