National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
Latest available findings on quality of and access to health care
Data
- Data Infographics
- Data Visualizations
- Data Tools
- Data Innovations
- All-Payer Claims Database
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
- AHRQ Quality Indicator Tools for Data Analytics
- State Snapshots
- United States Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK)
- Data Sources Available from AHRQ
Search All Research Studies
Topics
- Access to Care (1)
- Adverse Drug Events (ADE) (1)
- Antibiotics (2)
- Antimicrobial Stewardship (1)
- Cancer (3)
- Cancer: Lung Cancer (1)
- Caregiving (1)
- Care Management (1)
- Children/Adolescents (1)
- Comparative Effectiveness (1)
- Disparities (1)
- Education: Patient and Caregiver (1)
- Evidence-Based Practice (1)
- Healthcare Costs (1)
- Healthcare Utilization (1)
- Home Healthcare (1)
- Hospitalization (1)
- (-) Medication (7)
- Opioids (2)
- Pain (3)
- (-) Palliative Care (7)
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (1)
- Practice Patterns (3)
- Quality of Life (1)
- Racial and Ethnic Minorities (1)
- Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) (1)
AHRQ Research Studies
Sign up: AHRQ Research Studies Email updates
Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 7 of 7 Research Studies DisplayedEnzinger AC, Ghosh K, Keating NL
US trends in opioid access among patients with poor prognosis cancer near the end-of-life.
This study looked at trends in opioid prescriptions for cancer patients near the end-of-life (EOL) defined as the 30 days before death or hospice enrollment. The authors looked at Medicare part D data from 2007 to 2017 for 270,632 Medicare fee-for-service decedents with poor prognosis cancers. During that time, the proportion of decedents with poor prognosis cancers receiving 1 or greater opioid prescriptions near EOL declined 15.5% and the proportion receiving 1 or greater long-acting opioid prescriptions declined 36.5% to 18.1%. The mean daily dose fell from 24.5%, from 85.6 morphine milligram equivalents per day (MMED) to 64.6. The total amount of opioids prescribed fell from 1,075 morphine milligram equivalents per decedent to 666 morphine milligram equivalents per decedents. At the same time, the proportion of patients with pain-related ED visits increase 50.8% from 13.2% to 19.9%.
AHRQ-funded; HS024072.
Citation: Enzinger AC, Ghosh K, Keating NL .
US trends in opioid access among patients with poor prognosis cancer near the end-of-life.
J Clin Oncol 2021 Sep 10;39(26):2948-58. doi: 10.1200/jco.21.00476..
Keywords: Cancer, Opioids, Palliative Care, Pain, Access to Care, Medication, Practice Patterns
Furuno JP, Noble BN, Bearden DT
Feasibility of retrospective pharmacovigilance studies in hospice care: a case study of antibiotics for the treatment of urinary tract infections.
In this letter to the editor, the authors assert that pharmacovigilance may be useful to improve the evidence base for medication use in hospice care and an efficient alternative to expensive and logistically complicated clinical trials. They discuss the feasibility of retrospective pharmacovigilance studies in hospice care and provide a case study of antibiotics for the treatment of urinary tract infections.
AHRQ-funded; HS023366.
Citation: Furuno JP, Noble BN, Bearden DT .
Feasibility of retrospective pharmacovigilance studies in hospice care: a case study of antibiotics for the treatment of urinary tract infections.
J Palliat Med 2017 Apr;20(4):316-17. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2016.0531..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Evidence-Based Practice, Healthcare Utilization, Medication, Palliative Care, Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
Hochman MJ, Kamal AH, Wolf SP
Anticholinergic drug burden in noncancer versus cancer patients near the end of life.
This article's objective is to determine anticholinergic load (ACL) and its impact in noncancer versus cancer palliative care patients. The authors concluded that ACL is associated with worse fatigue and quality of life and may not differ significantly between cancer and noncancer patients nearing end of life. Symptom management drugs are more responsible for ACL in cancer and noncancer patients, although disease management drugs contribute significantly to ACL in the latter group. They recommend more attention to reducing anticholinergic use in all patients with life-limiting illness.
AHRQ-funded; HS023681.
Citation: Hochman MJ, Kamal AH, Wolf SP .
Anticholinergic drug burden in noncancer versus cancer patients near the end of life.
J Pain Symptom Manage 2016 Nov;52(5):737-43.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.03.020.
.
.
Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Cancer, Medication, Palliative Care, Quality of Life
Du XL, Parikh RC, Lairson DR
Racial and geographic disparities in the patterns of care and costs at the end of life for patients with lung cancer in 2007-2010 after the 2006 introduction of bevacizumab.
The authors examined racial/ethnic and geographical disparities in cancer care and costs during the last 6 months of life for lung cancer decedents after the FDA's approval of bevacizumab. They found that there were substantial racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in the types of cancer care and costs in the last 6 months of life among lung cancer decedents, regardless of the length of survival times and hospice care status.
AHRQ-funded; HS018956.
Citation: Du XL, Parikh RC, Lairson DR .
Racial and geographic disparities in the patterns of care and costs at the end of life for patients with lung cancer in 2007-2010 after the 2006 introduction of bevacizumab.
Lung Cancer 2015 Dec;90(3):442-50. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2015.09.017.
.
.
Keywords: Cancer, Cancer: Lung Cancer, Disparities, Healthcare Costs, Medication, Palliative Care, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Practice Patterns, Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Ragsdale L, Zhong W, Morrison W
Pediatric exposure to opioid and sedation medications during terminal hospitalizations in the United States, 2007-2011.
The researchers conducted a retrospective study in which they examined the prescribing patterns of opioid and sedation medications among 37,459 children who died in 430 hospitals in the US 2007-2011. Their study reveals an overall high prevalence of exposure to opioid and sedation medications among pediatric terminal hospitalizations, yet with slightly less than one-half of patients receiving both opioids and sedatives daily near the end of life.
AHRQ-funded; HS018425.
Citation: Ragsdale L, Zhong W, Morrison W .
Pediatric exposure to opioid and sedation medications during terminal hospitalizations in the United States, 2007-2011.
J Pediatr 2015 Mar;166(3):587-93.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2014.10.017..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Hospitalization, Medication, Opioids, Pain, Palliative Care
Cagle JG, Zimmerman S, Cohen LW
EMPOWER: an intervention to address barriers to pain management in hospice.
The researchers tested the preliminary efficacy of the Effective Management of Pain: Overcoming Worries to Enable Relief (EMPOWER) intervention. At two weeks, caregivers in the intervention group reported better knowledge about pain management, fewer concerns about pain and pain medications, lower patient pain over the past week, and trended toward improvement in most other areas under study. EMPOWER had a greater effect for black subjects vs. whites on reducing concern about stigma. At three months, the intervention group trended better on most study outcomes. The researchers concluded that EMPOWER is a promising model to reduce barriers to pain management in hospice.
AHRQ-funded; HS019068.
Citation: Cagle JG, Zimmerman S, Cohen LW .
EMPOWER: an intervention to address barriers to pain management in hospice.
J Pain Symptom Manage 2015 Jan;49(1):1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2014.05.007.
.
.
Keywords: Care Management, Caregiving, Comparative Effectiveness, Education: Patient and Caregiver, Medication, Pain, Palliative Care
Albrecht JS, McGregor JC, Fromme EK
A nationwide analysis of antibiotic use in hospice care in the final week of life.
This study uses data form the 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey to estimate antibiotic utilization in hospice care patients and identify potential infectious indications and facility and patient characteristics associated with antibiotic use in this population. It found that 27 percent of hospice patients received an antibiotic during the last seven days of life, most without a documented infectious diagnosis.
AHRQ-funded; HS021068
Citation: Albrecht JS, McGregor JC, Fromme EK .
A nationwide analysis of antibiotic use in hospice care in the final week of life.
J Pain Symptom Manage. 2013 Oct;46(4):483-90. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.09.010..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Home Healthcare, Medication, Palliative Care, Practice Patterns