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Respiratory Diseases and Disorders

Commentary

Where There's Vapor, Is There Fire? We Need Evidence on E-Cigarettes

Currently, evidence for the safety, harmfulness, utility, and addictiveness of e-cigarettes is lacking. The questions that research needs to answer, however, are clear as day—particularly since business is booming.

Mar 4, 2014
Journal Article

Who Takes Up Free Flu Shots? Examining the Effects of an Expansion in Coverage

The risk of costly complications and the externalities of contagious diseases lead many countries provide free flu shots to certain populations.

Mar 1, 2014
Journal Article

Rehospitalization for Childhood Asthma: Timing, Variation, and Opportunities for Intervention

Significant variation in asthma rehospitalization rates exists across children's hospitals from 7 to 365 days after an index admission.

Feb 1, 2014
Journal Article

Predicting Support for Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions During Infectious Outbreaks: A Four Region Analysis

Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are an important public health tool for responding to infectious disease outbreaks, including pandemics.

Jan 1, 2014
Journal Article

Nudging Guideline-Concordant Antibiotic Prescribing: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Displaying poster-sized commitment letters in examination rooms decreased inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for ARIs. The effect of this simple, low-cost intervention is comparable in magnitude to costlier, more intensive quality-improvement efforts.

Jan 1, 2014
Journal Article

Assessing the Validity of the RAND Negative Impact of Asthma on Quality of Life Short Forms

In response to recommendations from the 2010 National Institutes of Health Asthma Outcomes Workshop, we developed a system for measuring the negative impact of asthma on quality of life (QoL), which was referred to as the RAND Negative Impact of Asthma on Quality of Life (RAND-IAQL) item bank.

Jan 1, 2014
Journal Article

Correspondence Between the RAND-negative Impact of Asthma on Quality of Life Item Bank and the Marks Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire

The objective of this article was to provide an example of how to transform scores across disparate measures by using an item response theory (IRT)-based linking method.

Jan 1, 2014
Journal Article

Development and Validation of the RAND Asthma Control Measure

The RAND-ACM, a five-item self-reported asthma control survey measure, performs well in a large ethnically-diverse sample of US adults with asthma and provides a cost-free alternative to other asthma control measures currently available.

Jan 1, 2014
Journal Article

An Exploration of How Perceptions of the Risk of Avian Influenza in Poultry Relate to Urbanization in Vietnam

This research examined how perceptions of outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1 in poultry are related to urbanization.

Jan 1, 2014
Commentary

Can the Affordable Care Act Help Asthma Sufferers Breathe Easier?

ACA reforms can potentially address barriers that get in the way of individuals with asthma getting the care they need. At the population level, the law has the potential to improve outcomes and efficiency and equity of services for chronic conditions such as asthma for which cost-effective preventive treatments exist.

Nov 20, 2013
Commentary

Are County Masking Requirements the Future of Influenza Prevention?

If it doesn't seem that state laws as currently written can help increase the number of health care workers vaccinated against influenza, then what can? There is evidence that imposing consequences for vaccination refusal, including the requirement to wear a surgical mask, can help.

Nov 20, 2013
Commentary

The Most Dangerous Mistake You Can Make During Flu Season

Despite public awareness campaigns in the United States and Europe, many people persist in the mistaken belief that antibacterial drugs — like amoxicillin and azithromycin — are the best treatment for flu. And many doctors simply surrender when patients demand them, ignoring the scientific and medical truth: when treating the flu, antibacterial drugs just don't work.

Oct 28, 2013
Dissertation

Influenza Vaccine Update Influenced by Age and Contact with Children or Healthcare Professionals

Rates of vaccination for seasonal influenza remain sub-optimal among several populations, but groups respond differently to reminders, including healthcare professionals, adults who have close contact with children, and young and middle-aged adults.

Sep 23, 2013
Journal Article

Measuring and Assessing Public Health Emergency Preparedness

The National Health Security Strategy calls for a systematic quality improvement efforts to improving health security.

Sep 1, 2013
Journal Article

Lessons from the Public Health Response to the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic

The response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic provides an opportunity to learn about the public health system's emergency response capabilities and to identify ways to improve preparedness for future events.

Aug 26, 2013
Journal Article

Conscious Consideration of Herd Immunity in Influenza Vaccination Decisions

Influenza vaccination decisions may be influenced by perceived risk reduction related to herd immunity.

Jul 1, 2013
Journal Article

Use of Behavioral Economics and Social Psychology to Improve Treatment of Acute Respiratory Infections (BEARI): Rationale and Design of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial [1rc4ag039115-01] - Study Protocol and Baseline Practice and Provider Characteristics

The Application of Behavioral Economics to Improve the Treatment of Acute Respiratory Infections (BEARI) Trial is a multisite, cluster-randomized controlled trial with practice as the unit of randomization.

Jun 1, 2013
Commentary

H7N9 Bird Flu — Health Authorities Are Prepared, but Must Stay on High Alert

Having dealt with outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu and other communicable diseases like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and H1N1 swine flu in 2009, health officials are now far better prepared to detect new diseases early and react quickly to monitor and contain their spread.

May 10, 2013
Journal Article

Learning About After Action Reporting from the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic: A Workshop Summary

The after action report/improvement plan (AAR/IP) can be useful for both accountability and quality improvement, but these objectives require different foci and methodological approaches.

Apr 12, 2013
Journal Article

Reducing Quality-of-Care Disparities in Childhood Asthma: La Red De Asma Infantil Intervention in San Juan, Puerto Rico

The objective of this study was to describe our experience in reducing quality-of-care disparities among Puerto Rican children with asthma by adapting 2 existing evidence-based asthma interventions.

Mar 1, 2013

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RAND Topic:
Respiratory Diseases and Disorders

Research conducted by

RAND Health Care