Research Methods
2011
Academic Health Centers and Comparative Effectiveness Research: Baggage, Buckets, Basics, and Bottles — 2011
This editorial attempts to clarify the concept of comparative effectiveness research by categorizing the key activities that take place under its rubric.
Development Quality Criteria to Evaluate Nontherapeutic Studies of Incidence, Prevalence, or Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases: Pilot Study of New Checklists — 2011
This article reports results from a systematic literature review designed to develop two checklists for the quality of observational studies of incidence or risk factors of diseases.
Development, Validation and Testing of an Epidemiological Case Definition of Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome: Supplementary Tables — 2011
Supplementary tables for the article ''Development, Validation and Testing of an Epidemiological Case Definition of Interstitial Cystitis/painful Bladder Syndrome'' (EP-20100091) published in The Journal of Urology, v. 183, no. 5, May 2010, p. 1848-1852.
Differential Item Functioning By Survey Language Among Older Hispanics Enrolled in Medicare Managed Care — 2011
Failure to account for language differences in CAHPS survey items may result in misleading conclusions about disparities in health care experiences between Spanish and English speakers.
Evaluating Translational Research: A Process Marker Model — 2011
Evaluation of translational research should focus on identification of key operational and measurable markers along a generalized process pathway from research to practice.
How Does Context Affect Interventions to Improve Patient Safety? An Assessment of Evidence from Studies of Five Patient Safety Practices and Proposals for Research — 2011
This study concluded that little evidence exists about the influence of context on patient safety interventions, but found significant gaps in the research that should be addressed by future work.
How Much Observation Is Enough? Refining the Administration of SOPARC — 2011
Monitoring parts 4 days/week, 4 times/day is sufficient to estimate park use, park user characteristics, and physical activity. Applying these observation methods can augment physical activity surveillance.
Identifying Continuous Quality Improvement Publications: What Makes an Improvement Intervention 'CQI'? — 2011
Continuous quality improvement (CQI) refers to a method for improving care, but no consensus definition exists. As a step toward improving CQI evidence reviews, this study identified CQI definitional features and tested an instrument for identifying articles with key features.
Identifying Quality Improvement Intervention Publications - a Comparison of Electronic Search Strategies — 2011
This review of search strategies for quality improvement interventions found that consensus development for QI medical subject headings is urgently needed.
The Impact of Menopause on Health-Related Quality of Life: Results from the STRIDE Longitudinal Study — 2011
Menopause has a negative impact on some domains of health related quality of life (HRQoL), regardless of menopausal symptoms. Clinicians should work to improve HRQoL, rather than expect it to improve spontaneously when menopausal symptoms resolve.
Nonexperts' Recognition of Structure in Personal Network Data — 2011
A patient's social environment in an important dimension of treatment for chronic illness; interventions intended to help individuals understand and change their social environments could benefit from incorporating visualizations of social networks.
Percentile-based Empirical Distribution Function Estimates for Performance Evaluation of Healthcare Providers — 2011
Given the high stakes of performance evaluations, statistical benchmarks used in constructed physician profiles should be accompanied by estimates of the benchmarksâ precious.
Using a Cross-Study Design to Assess the Efficacy of Motivational Enhancement Therapy-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 5 (MET/CBT5) in Treating Adolescents with Cannabis-Related Disorders — 2011
Youth with marijuana problems who received a research-based treatment (motivational enhancement therapy plus cognitive behavioral therapy [MET/CBT5]) had better outcomes than similar youth treated in community-based programs.
2010
Analysis of the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) — 2010
Using the COMPARE microsimulation model, estimates proposed health care reform legislation's effects on the number of uninsured, the costs to the federal government and the nation, revenues from penalty payments, and consumers' health care spending.
Analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) — 2010
Using the COMPARE microsimulation model, estimates the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) on the number of uninsured, the costs to the federal government and the nation, and consumers' health care spending.
Could We Have Covered More People at Less Cost? Technically, Yes; Politically, Probably Not — 2010
Using the COMPARE (Comprehensive Assessment of Reform Efforts) microsimulation model, this study evaluated how the recently enacted health reform law performed compared with alternative designs on measures of effectiveness and efficiency and found that only a few different approaches would cover more individuals at a lower cost to the government; however, these appeared politically untenable because they included substantially higher penalties, lower subsidies, or less generous Medicaid expansion.
Coverage, Spending, and Consumer Financial Risk: How Do the Recent House and Senate Health Care Bills Compare? — 2010
Compares how two health care reform bills, HR. 3962 and H.R. 3590, passed by the U.S. House and Senate, respectively, in late 2009 compare on a variety of projections made using the RAND COMPARE microsimulation model.
Development, Implementation, and Public Reporting of the HCAHPS Survey — 2010
The authors describe the history and development of the CAHPS Hospital Survey (also known as HCAHPS) and its associated protocols.
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2012 RAND Corporation.