A pilot study among older adults of the concordance between their self-reports to a health survey and spousal proxy reports on their behalf.

Background: Proxy respondents are frequently used in health surveys, and the proxy is most often the spouse. Longstanding concerns linger, however, about the validity of using spousal proxies, especially for older adults. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the concordance between self-reports and spousal proxy reports to a standard health survey in a small convenience sample of older married couples.

Are primary care practices ready to become patient-centered medical homes?

Purpose: To measure the readiness of rural primary care practices to qualify as patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs), one step toward participating in changes underway in health care finance and delivery.

Methods: We used the 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey to compare PCMH readiness scores among metropolitan and nonmetropolitan primary care practices. The National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) assessment system served as a framework to assess the PCMH capabilities of primary care practices based on their services, processes, and policies.

Dental injury associated with anesthesia: a report of 161,687 anesthetics given over 14 years.

Study Objective: To determine the frequency, outcomes, and risk factors for dental injury related to anesthesia.

Design: Case-control study.

Setting: Tertiary-care university hospital.

Evaluation of subclinical respiratory tract inflammation in heavy smokers who switch to a cigarette-like nicotine delivery device that primarily heats tobacco.

Cigarette smoking remains a major public health problem. For smokers who cannot or do not wish to quit, few options exist to reduce health risks. A cigarette-like nicotine delivery device that heats rather than burns tobacco might deliver nicotine with fewer toxins.

Anesthetic-related cardiac arrest and its mortality: a report covering 72,959 anesthetics over 10 years from a US teaching hospital.

Background: A prospective and retrospective case analysis study of all perioperative cardiac arrests occurring during a 10-yr period from 1989 to 1999 was done to determine the incidence, cause, and outcome of cardiac arrests attributable to anesthesia.

Methods: One hundred forty-four cases of cardiac arrest within 24 h of surgery were identified over a 10-yr period from an anesthesia database of 72,959 anesthetics. Case abstracts were reviewed by a Study Commission composed of external and internal members in order to judge which cardiac arrests were anesthesia-attributable and which were anesthesia-contributory.