No "July Effect" in the management and outcomes of acute myocardial infarction: An 18-year United States national study.

Background: There has been conflicting reports on the effect of new trainees on clinical outcomes at teaching hospitals in the first training month (July in the United States of America). We sought to assess this "July effect" in a contemporary acute myocardial infarction (AMI) population.

Methods: Adult (>18 years) AMI hospitalizations in May and July in urban teaching and urban nonteaching hospitals in the United States were identified from the HCUP-NIS database (2000-2017).

Chromosome 17q12-21 Variants Are Associated with Multiple Wheezing Phenotypes in Childhood.

Birth cohort studies have identified several temporal patterns of wheezing, only some of which are associated with asthma. Whether 17q12-21 genetic variants, which are closely associated with asthma, are also associated with childhood wheezing phenotypes remains poorly explored. To determine whether wheezing phenotypes, defined by latent class analysis (LCA), are associated with nine 17q12-21 SNPs and if so, whether these relationships differ by race/ancestry.

Efficacy of Sofosbuvir, Velpatasvir, and GS-9857 in Patients With Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 2, 3, 4, or 6 Infections in an Open-Label, Phase 2 Trial.

Background & Aims: Studies are needed to determine the optimal regimen for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 2, 3, 4, or 6 infections whose prior course of antiviral therapy has failed, and the feasibility of shortening treatment duration. We performed a phase 2 study to determine the efficacy and safety of the combination of the nucleotide polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir, the NS5A inhibitor velpatasvir, and the NS3/4A protease inhibitor GS-9857 in these patients.

Methods: We performed a multicenter, open-label trial at 32 sites in the United States and 2 sites in New Zealand from March 3, 2015 to April 27, 2015.

Ethnic Identity, Questionnaire Content, and the Dilemma of Race Matching in Surveys of African Americans by African American Interviewers.

We used data from two telephone-administered health surveys to explore African Americans' preferences for interviewer race. The first survey utilized African American interviewers to assess ethnic identity and aspects of healthy eating among 617 African American adults. In the second survey, interviewers of varying races queried 534 African American adults about their motivations to eat healthier.

Performance of claims-based algorithms for identifying heart failure and cardiomyopathy among patients diagnosed with breast cancer.

Background: Cardiotoxicity is a known complication of certain breast cancer therapies, but rates come from clinical trials with design features that limit external validity. The ability to accurately identify cardiotoxicity from administrative data would enhance safety information.

Objective: To characterize the performance of clinical coding algorithms for identification of cardiac dysfunction in a cancer population.

Effect of incentives and mailing features on online health program enrollment.

Background: With the growing use of Internet-based interventions, strategies are needed to encourage broader participation. This study examined the effects of combinations of monetary incentives and mailing characteristics on enrollment, retention, and cost effectiveness for an online health program.

Methods: In 2004, a recruitment letter was mailed to randomly selected Midwestern integrated health system members aged 21-65 and stratified by gender and race/ethnicity; recipients were randomly pre-assigned to one of 24 combinations of incentives and various mailing characteristics.

Use of phenytoin for the long-term treatment of partial seizures: Results of a survey conducted during the 2004 meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

Background: Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that typically requires lifelongpharmacologic treatment. The choice of an antiepileptic drug (AED), therefore, requires careful consideration of efficacy and tolerability. However, the majority of patients with new-onset seizures are initially treated by physicians in the emergency department (ED) or by non-ED physicians (primary care physicians or internists), with phenytoin being the most common AED prescribed for initial therapy, and the long-term adverse effects of AEDs are often overlooked.

Quality of life and severity of symptoms in gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: a clinical review.

My purpose is to review the quality of life (QoL) instruments used in the assessment of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and assess the effects of GORD on quality of life. Many instruments have been used in the assessment of quality of life in patients with GORD, and these have varied both in quality and purpose. In general, the choice of instrument depends on its purpose.

A continuous quality improvement project to improve the quality of cervical Papanicolaou smears.

Objective: To improve the quality of cervical Papanicolaou smears by continuous quality improvement techniques.

Methods: The study used a Papanicolaou smear data base of over 200,000 specimens collected between June 1988 and December 1992. A team approach employing techniques such as process flow-charting, cause and effect diagrams, run charts, and a randomized trial of collection methods was used to evaluate potential causes of Papanicolaou smear reports with the notation "inadequate" or "less than optimal" due to too few or absent endocervical cells.