Clinicians & Providers

• Evaluation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations
• Stroke Prevention: Recommendations

Hospital & Health System Resources

• Evaluation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations

Policymaker Resources

• Evaluation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations

Full Research Reports

September 1 2012 20120901

Evaluation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations

September 1 2012 20120901

Stroke Prevention: Recommendations

Other Research & Data

• Web videonovela series helps Spanish-speaking patients compare treatments for diabetes

Other News & Events

• AHRQ's Health Care Innovations Exchange offers innovative solutions to caring for women with gestational diabetes
• Acamprosate safe and efficacious in treating alcohol dependence
• Acupuncture helps with depression during pregnancy
• Advanced type of cancer radiation reduces side effects, but impact on cancer control is unclear
• Aldosterone antagonist therapy at hospital discharge linked to modest reduced risk of rehospitalization for heart failure
• Anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy increases risk for certain mycobacteria infections
• Antibiotic resistance is prevalent and varied in long-term-care facilities
• Antibiotics are modestly more effective than no treatment for middle ear infections in children
• Arterial and perfusion imaging help guide treatment for stroke patients when symptom onset is unknown
• Atypical antipsychotic medications increase fracture risk in patients with Parkinson's disease
• Bariatric surgery before pregnancy reduces the risk of gestational diabetes in obese women
• Behavioral counseling is an effective treatment for alcohol misuse
• Being overweight prior to transplant surgery slows improvement in the physical functioning of liver transplant patients
• Benefits of active surveillance therapy for localized prostate cancer not yet demonstrated
• Benefits of chemotherapy for elderly patients with lung cancer must be weighed against risk of long-term toxicities
• Best strategies to treat traumatic brain injury patients are unclear
• Blacks have worse colorectal cancer survival rates than whites
• Blood pressure control persists after physician-pharmacist intervention ends
• Brand-name drugs not better than generics for controlling epilepsy
• COPD drug triad associated with reduced death and hospitalization rates
• Care processes in nursing home and residential long-term care settings
• Caregivers for advanced cystic fibrosis patients want to discuss intensive treatments and symptom relief
• Certain antibiotics increase the risk of treatment failure in children with MRSA-related skin and soft-tissue infections
• Certain factors can help prepare families to bring infants home from neonatal intensive care units
• Clinicians should be cautious when prescribing one class of diabetes drugs for patients at high risk for heart attack
• Clopidogrel increases bleeding risk in cardiac patients with drug-eluting stents
• Combination diuretic therapy for heart failure appears useful, but needs a stronger evidence base
• Combination treatment reduces acute kidney injury due to infusion of contrast dye during cardiac catheterization
• Computerized decisionmaking systems improve physician prescribing for long-term-care residents
• Computerized tomography angiography may help determine appropriate treatment for stroke patients
• Consumer and clinician summaries now available on chronic pelvic pain treatment options
• Coronary risk information may improve prescribing practices
• Criteria used to identify "drugs to avoid" in the elderly are not very accurate
• Depending on a woman's age, hysterectomy may be the best option for resolving chronic pelvic pain and heavy bleeding
• Depressed patients with anxiety who fail initial antidepressant therapy may benefit from adding a second drug
• Dilators more cost-effective than surgery for correcting congenital condition in females
• Disparities widen in the use of asthma medications
• Dissemination and implementation of clinical trial results are needed to encourage recommended practices
• Early and intensive intervention for a flu pandemic is effective and cost-effective
• Elderly lung cancer patients experience more adverse events during chemotherapy than younger patients
• Emergency department treatment of asthma with systemic corticosteroids is not always timely
• Epilepsy drugs do not appear to increase suicide risk in patients with bipolar disorder
• Evaluation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations
• Evidence is weak on whole-body vibration therapy for osteoporosis
• Evidence lacking on best approaches to treat autism in teens and young adults
• Evidence lacking on devices used with percutaneous coronary interventions
• Evidence lacking on transition-of-care programs for heart attack and stroke patients after hospital discharge
• Evidence report finds modest and short-term benefit of complementary and alternative therapy for back and neck pain
• Evidence-based care processes are associated with improved outcomes for heart failure
• Experts seek better diagnosis and treatment for women's urinary incontinence and chronic pelvic pain
• Extended use of antiviral drugs found to be safe and effective in preventing symptomatic influenza
• Extended use of medications to prevent blood clots may benefit patients after major orthopedic surgery
• Extending use of anti-clotting medication following major orthopedic surgery may help prevent post-operative blood clots
• Foreign-born patients are more likely to have a form of tuberculosis that resists a common drug used in treatment
• Full use of evidence-based therapies for heart failure could save nearly 70,000 lives each year
• Glaucoma treatments can lower eye pressure
• HIV treatment costs much more when patients start treatment later in the disease
• Heart-lung machine may be considered for certain patients with H1N1 influenza with acute respiratory failure
• Higher in-hospital complication rate for primary posterior versus primary anterior cervical fusion
• Higher risk of death or heart attack in first 90 days after cardiac patients stop taking clopidogrel
• Hospital lung cancer surgery volume is not correlated with lower mortality
• Hospitals with a high volume of sepsis admissions have lowest mortality rates
• Human growth hormone shows promise in treating cystic fibrosis symptoms
• Hydroxychloroquine still underused by patients with lupus, but use more likely if treated by rheumatologists
• Implantable heart defibrillator is effective in reducing deaths among older heart failure patients
• Increased fluid and supplemental treatments may reduce recurrence of kidney stones
• Infrequent physician use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators presents potential risks to patient safety
• Injection of hyaluronic acid, a natural joint lubricant, appears effective in reducing pain from wear and tear on the knee
• Insulin pump and glucose monitoring improve blood-sugar control for patients with type 1 diabetes
• Key treatments for high blood pressure and high blood lipids do not reduce elderly patients' risk of limited mobility
• Limited evidence prevents firm conclusions on psoriatic arthritis drug therapies
• Limited evidence prevents firm conclusions on rheumatoid arthritis drug therapies
• Lower complications are seen after laparoscopic kidney removal
• Many patients with coronary artery disease who could benefit from cardiac rehabilitation are not referred for this treatment
• Market forces underlie provision of peritoneal dialysis by dialysis facilities
• Medicaid drug restrictions may lead to adverse events for psychiatric patients
• Medication review technique may help identify drug-related problems in the elderly
• Medications differ in their effect on risk of foot ulcers and limb amputations in patients with diabetes
• Metformin just as effective as other medications for treating type 2 diabetes
• Minimally invasive heart treatments have reduced bypass surgeries and influenced valve repair and replacement
• More evidence needed on benefit of additional procedure for diagnosing plasma cell cancer
• More research needed on coronary artery disease treatments for women
• More research needed to compare therapies for colorectal cancer metastases is to the liver
• Most children receiving palliative care live for more than a year after beginning such treatment
• Muscle training effective in treating urinary incontinence for women
• New approach reduces microemboli responsible for neurologic injury following open-heart surgery
• New effectiveness review discusses treatment options for inguinal hernia
• New research examines use of nitrous oxide for labor pain
• New study finds rotator cuff injuries treatable, but evidence unclear whether surgery is preferable
• Newer antidepressants equally effective in treating major depressive disorder
• Nighttime-breathing treatments backed by strongest evidence among options to treat sleep apnea
• Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation improves COPD patient outcomes
• Nonphysicians can be trained to assess residents' competence in catheter insertion
• Octogenarians fare well after aortic valve replacements
• Off-label use of atypical antipsychotics not supported by evidence for some conditions
• Older medications for epilepsy obtain better control but have more adverse effects
• Paramedics sometimes interrupt CPR to open airway
• Patient tool helps determine adherence to asthma medication
• Patients taking only salmeterol seen in the emergency department for asthma more likely to be hospitalized
• Patients who are treated with empathy during office visits get over colds faster
• Patients who take a proton-pump inhibitor with medicine to prevent blood clots are less likely to be hospitalized for bleeding ulcers
• Patients who undergo knee ligament reconstruction do better when the doctor or hospital perform it frequently
• Patients with sepsis fare better when admitted via the emergency department rather than directly to the hospital
• Performing cardiac catheterization and heart surgery on different hospital admissions may reduce risk of kidney damage
• Primary care patients who see physician assistants and nurse practitioners are as complex as those who see doctors
• Primary care visits every 2 weeks linked to better treatment outcomes for patients with diabetes
• Readmissions in 30 days or less account for 1 in 9 hospital admissions
• Rescuer experience with out-of-hospital emergency intubation is often associated with improved patient survival
• Research comparing diabetes medications helps patients and clinicians choose the right one
• Response to etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis can be predicted by 12 weeks
• Risks, benefits of emerging heart valve replacement technique not fully understood
• Satisfaction after hysterectomy linked to quality of life improvements
• Screening and treatment of subclinical thyroid dysfunction inadequately studied
• Several factors influence completion of chemotherapy in elderly patients with stage-III colon cancer
• Several risk factors point to the use of high-risk medications in older veterans
• Sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension affect in-hospital outcomes of noncardiac surgery
• Studies explore rapid treatment of sepsis and cardiac arrest
• Study reveals high rates of rehospitalizations and emergency pain treatment for sickle cell disease
• Supplemental phenylketonuria therapies may help some
• Survival rates for colon cancer patients on chemotherapy improve with addition of oxaliplatin
• Tactics to improve medication adherence in short-term shown effective
• The likelihood of bacterial blood infections among patients with HIV has risen slightly in recent years
• Thin evidence on non-drug strategies for treatment-resistant depression
• To reduce hospital deaths, managing surgical complications may be as important as preventing them
• Treatment without examination and lab tests appears effective for some women with vaginal symptoms
• Treatments show promise in reducing autism-related behaviors, but some have significant side effects
• Tumor necrosis factor-antagonists in patients with autoimmune diseases showed no overall increased risk of hospitalizations for serious infections than non-biologic drugs
• Types and rates of fungal infections vary among groups and treatment is often suboptimal
• Uncertainty surrounds use of terbutaline to prevent preterm birth
• Use of pulmonary artery catheters provides no patient benefit and increases costs
• Web videonovela series helps Spanish-speaking patients compare treatments for diabetes
• Youth with HIV/AIDS and conduct disorder are less likely to use or adhere to antiretroviral therapy