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Musculoskeletal Disorders

Report

Quality Measurement Is Key to Improving Chronic Pain Care for Service Members

Chronic pain affects 31 to 44 percent of active-duty service members and is a leading cause of disability and reduced readiness. And factors such as traumatic brain injury and PTSD can complicate treatment. Research can guide efforts to improve the quality of care for this population.

Jul 1, 2021
Research Brief

Chiropractors in the United States Rarely Perform Spinal Manipulation for Chronic Lower Back or Neck Pain When It Is Inappropriate

Across a sample of patients seen by chiropractors, spinal manipulation was rated by experts as appropriate for most patients with chronic lower back pain and as equivocal (uncertain) for most patients with chronic neck pain.

Mar 12, 2021
Journal Article

Geographic Variation and Disparities in Total Joint Replacement Use for Medicare Beneficiaries: 2009 to 2017

The study objectives are to determine whether Black Medicare beneficiaries undergo fewer hip and knee replacements across regions, and whether disparities affected all or mainly affected socioeconomically disadvantaged Black beneficiaries.

Jan 29, 2021
Journal Article

Impact of Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program Penalties on Hip and Knee Replacement Readmissions: Comparison of Hospitals at Risk of Varying Penalty Amounts

We examined whether hospitals at risk of relatively large penalties from this expansion experienced greater declines in joint replacement readmissions compared with hospitals at risk of smaller penalties.

Jan 28, 2021
Journal Article

Penalties and Rewards for Safety Net Vs Non-Safety Net Hospitals in the First 2 Years of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model

We assessed whether safety net hospitals, which serve vulnerable patients, were more likely to be penalized and less likely to receive rewards compared with non-safety net hospitals that serve few vulnerable patients.

Jan 22, 2021
Journal Article

Impact of Medicare's Nonpayment Program on Venous Thromboembolism Following Hip and Knee Replacements

This article determines whether Medicare's Nonpayment Program was associated with decline in venous thromboembolism following hip and knee replacements, and whether the decline was greater among hospitals at risk of larger financial losses from the Program.

Jan 21, 2021
Journal Article

Performance Of Safety-Net Hospitals In Year 1 Of The Comprehensive Care For Joint Replacement Model

This article finds safety-net hospitals were less likely to receive rewards in year one of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model because of their quality and spending performance.

Jan 21, 2021
Journal Article

Update of Markov Model on the Cost-effectiveness of Nonpharmacologic Interventions for Chronic Low Back Pain Compared to Usual Care

Markov modeling facilitates comparisons across interventions for lower back pain not directly compared in trials.

Dec 16, 2020
Journal Article

Medical Costs for Osteoporosis-Related Fractures in High-Risk Medicare Beneficiaries

The objective of this study was to estimate the incremental direct medical care costs associated with first fracture observable in high-risk older adults.

Nov 13, 2020
Journal Article

Digital Health Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges in Rheumatology

Digital health technology offers enormous potential to improve rheumatology care but this potential has so far been largely unrealized.

Sep 24, 2020
Journal Article

Association Between Disease Progression and Depression Onset in Persons with Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis

In summary, study findings indicate that greater structural disease severity and decreased physical performance increase the risk of depression onset among individuals with radiographic knee osteoarthritis.

Jun 25, 2020
Journal Article

Researching the Appropriateness of Care in the Complementary and Integrative Health Professions: Part 5: Selection, Protection, and Abstraction

Of the records abstracted, many revealed incomplete provider documentation regarding the details of and rationale for care. Better documentation and more standardized record keeping would facilitate future research using patient records.

Jun 11, 2020
Journal Article

Researching the Appropriateness of Care in the Complementary and Integrative Health Professions: Part 4: Putting Practice Back Into Evidence-based Practice by Recruiting Clinics and Patients

This study found that clinics can be successfully recruited for practice-based studies, and patients can be recruited using iPads. Obtaining patient records presents considerable challenges, and clinics varied in whether they had electronic files, nonelectronic records, or a mixture.

Jun 10, 2020
Journal Article

Researching the Appropriateness of Care in the Complementary and Integrative Health Professions: Part 3: Designing Instruments With Patient Input

This article documents the challenges and the efforts involved in designing data collection tools to facilitate the inclusion of patient data into appropriateness decisions.

Jun 10, 2020
Journal Article

Coping and Management Techniques Used by Chronic Low Back Pain Patients Receiving Treatment From Chiropractors

Persons with chronic back pain were proactive in their coping strategies and frequently used self-care coping strategies like those provided by chiropractors in patient education. In alignment with patients' beliefs that their condition was chronic and lifelong, many patients attempted a wide range of coping strategies to relieve their pain.

Jun 9, 2020
Journal Article

Group and Individual-level Change on Health-related Quality of Life in Chiropractic Patients With Chronic Low Back or Neck Pain

This study suggests some benefits of chiropractic on functioning and well-being of patients with low back pain or neck pain.

Mar 31, 2020
Journal Article

Patient and Caregiver Perspectives on Guideline Adherence: The Case of Endocrine and Bone Health Recommendations for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

The purpose of this study is to explore factors that are likely to affect patient/caregiver adherence to endocrine and bone health recommendations for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

Feb 14, 2020
Report

The Frequency and Economic Impact of Musculoskeletal Disorders for California Firefighters: Trends and Outcomes over the Past Decade

The authors update analyses from a 2010 study on firefighters in California and consider the impacts of the 2013 workers' compensation reforms and the economic shocks of the late 2000s on outcomes for firefighters with musculoskeletal disorders.

Jan 31, 2020
Essay

Giving Patients a Voice in Medical Guidelines

Clinical guidelines are the user manuals of modern medicine. They can dictate insurance coverage and help hospitals set quality standards. Yet they often lack the perspective of those who care the most about good treatment: patients and their caregivers. Researchers are working to change that.

Dec 31, 2019
Journal Article

Depression Subtypes in Persons with or at Risk for Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis

Among persons with or at-risk for symptomatic knee OA, there is evidence of depression subtypes characterized by distinct clusters of depressive symptoms that have differential effects on reports of pain and disability overtime.

Jun 14, 2019

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Research conducted by

RAND Health Care