Tag: statistics
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Asthma/Hay Fever Genetic Risk Factors Identified
28 January 2014. An analysis of genomes of people having both asthma and hay fever, compared to those with neither disease, highlighted 11 genetic variations associated with the dual-disease condition, including two previously unconnected regions. The findings from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia, with colleagues from Australia, the U.K., and U.S., including the…
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Cancer Surgery Complications Generate High Costs
Economists and medical researchers at Rice University and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston found complications experienced by cancer surgery patients, while infrequent, can result in very high financial costs. Health economist Vivian Ho, at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, with Baker Institute research analyst Marah Short and MD Anderson cancer surgeon Thomas Aloia, published…
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Graphic Labels Reduce Smoking More Than First Thought
Public health researchers at University of Illinois in Chicago and University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada found graphic warnings on cigarette packs can reduce smoking to a greater extent than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimated two years ago. The team led by Chicago’s Jidong Huang published its findings online earlier this month in…
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Many Large Clinical Trials Remain Unpublished
Medical researchers at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill found some three in 10 clinical trials having 500 or more participants remain unpublished, with results from the vast majority of unpublished studies not made available on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. government’s database. Findings from the team led by emergency medicine professor Timothy Platts-Mills were reported…
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Near-Infrared Light Tests Paintings’ Ability to Travel
A collaboration of British, Spanish, and Slovenian chemistry researchers and fine art conservation specialists devised a technique adapted from the life sciences to test the ability of paintings to withstand the rigors of travel without damaging the works of art. The team led by Matija Strlic of the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at University College London…
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Quality Incentives Found Effective for Health Care Outcomes
A test of financial incentives for delivering high quality health care shows patients of medical providers receiving those pay-for-performance incentives have better outcomes for a number of common conditions than patients receiving care through the traditional fee-for-service model. The research team from University of California in San Francisco and New York City Department of Health…
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Top Hospital Infection Costs Estimated at $9.8B Per Year
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston estimate the annual cost of the five leading infections contracted in health care facilities in the U.S. at $9.8 billion, with surgical site infections causing about one-third of those costs. The team led by Brigham and Women’s research fellow Eyal Zimlichman published its…
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Menthol Cigarette Smoking Rising Among Teens, Young Adults
Public health researchers from University at Buffalo in New York found smoking of mentholated cigarettes is increasing among teenagers and young adults in the U.S., while smoking of non-menthol cigarettes declined in this age group. The findings of the team led by Buffalo’s Gary Giovino — with colleagues from Johns Hopkins and Georgetown universities, Biostatistics…
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Cancer Care Plans Help Survivors Make Lifestyle Changes
Medical researchers at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found online care plans encourage cancer survivors to make needed lifestyle changes to help them cope with their treatments. This finding and other results appear online this month in the journal Cancer (paid subscription required). The Institute of Medicine recommended in a 2005 report that cancer patients…
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Calculator Estimates Individual Surgical Complications Risk
Medical researchers with American College of Surgeons devised an online system that calculates an individual’s risk of developing complications for nearly all kinds of surgery. The team led by Karl Bilimoria, director of the Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement Center at Northwestern University in Chicago, with colleagues from the UCLA medical center and VA Greater…