Quality and performance indicators in an academic department of head and neck surgery.

Objective: to create a method for assessing physician performance and care outcomes that are adjusted for procedure acuity and patient comorbidity.

Design: between 2004 and 2008 surgical procedures performed by 10 surgeons were stratified into high-acuity procedures (HAPs) and low-acuity procedures (LAPs). Risk adjustment was made for comorbid conditions examined singly or in groups of 2 or more.

Designing multi-ethnic stroke studies: the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) project.

The Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) project is a population-based stroke study comparing Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Extensive effort is made to detect all patients regardless of ethnicity and ensure equal participation in the interview among both groups. We describe here the study's design and process evaluation with a focus on reducing bias in case ascertainment and participation.

Testicular volume and seminal fluid profile in fertile and infertile males in Ilorin, Nigeria.

Total testicular volume (TTV) measured with a metric tape and vernier calliper in 20 men whose wives were 12-20 weeks gestation, and in 48 infertile men was correlated with the height, weight, Ponderal Index (PI), sperm density, and total sperm in the ejaculate. There was a good correlation between TTV by tape and calliper (r = 0.96, P less than 0.