Inverse relationship between nonadherence to original GOLD treatment guidelines and exacerbations of COPD.

Background: Prescriber disagreement is among the reasons for poor adherence to COPD treatment guidelines; it is yet not clear whether this leads to adverse outcomes. We tested whether undertreatment according to the original Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines led to increased exacerbations.

Methods: Records of 878 patients with spirometrically confirmed COPD who were followed from 2005 to 2010 at one Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center were analyzed.

Institutions with accredited residencies in New York State with an interest in developing new residencies or expanding existing ones.

Purpose: In view of the looming physician shortage, especially in primary care specialties, there have been calls for increasing graduate medical education (GME). However, the capacity for increases of GME in institutions accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has not been determined.

Method: In 2009, the authors surveyed the 48 designated institutional officials supervising ACGME-accredited residencies in New York State that were eligible for their study, to determine interest in and capacity for development of new core residencies and expansion of existing ones if additional funds were made available at current Medicare rates.

Survey study of anesthesiologists' and surgeons' ordering of unnecessary preoperative laboratory tests.

Background: Nearly 20 years ago it was shown that patients are exposed to unnecessary preoperative testing that is both costly and has associated morbidity. To determine whether such unnecessary testing persists, we performed internal and external surveys to quantify the incidence of unnecessary preoperative testing and to identify strategies for reduction.

Methods: The medical records of 1000 consecutive patients scheduled for surgery at our institution were examined for testing outside of our approved guidelines.

Promoting knowledge of cancer prevention and screening in an underserved Hispanic women population: a culturally sensitive education program.

This article aims to measure the baseline knowledge of cancer prevention, screening, and early detection practices, to understand the barriers to cancer screening and sources of health information; and to evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive education program in an underserved Hispanic women population. A total of 180 women participated. Pre- and postsurveys were administered.

Telephone service interruption weighting adjustments for state health insurance surveys.

Many states rely on telephone surveys to produce estimates of uninsurance. To the extent that people in households without telephones differ from those living in households with telephones, estimates will be biased due to lack of coverage of those in households without telephones. We find the disparity in estimates of uninsurance in the Current Population Survey (all people vs.