Respiratory Diseases and Disorders

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.

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.

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.

Journal Article

Feasibility of Web-Based Self-Triage by Parents of Children with Influenza-Like Illness: A Cautionary Tale

Self-triage using web-based decision support could be a useful way to encourage appropriate care-seeking behavior and reduce health system surge in epidemics.

Blog

Health Care Personnel Could Be Key in Flu Prevention, Not Just Treatment

More than a dozen hospital staffers in four states have been terminated for refusing flu shots in the midst of a fierce flu season. Yet only one-tenth of health care employers require their staff to be vaccinated.

Journal Article

Requiring Vaccinations Among Health Care Personnel

California's influenza immunization requirement for health care personnel was too weak to encourage hospitals with low vaccination rates to improve. Hospitals with high vaccination rates were able to comply by simply maintaining current practices.

Journal Article

Developing an Item Bank and Short Forms That Assess the Impact of Asthma on Quality of Life

The present work describes the process of developing an item bank and short forms that measure the impact of asthma on quality of life (QoL) that avoids confounding QoL with asthma symptomatology and functional impairment.

Journal Article

Development of a Measure of Asthma-Specific Quality of Life Among Adults

Items covering a broad range of content were developed that can serve as a valid gauge of individuals' perceptions of the effects of asthma and its treatment on their lives.

Journal Article

Modeling Influenza Vaccination Behavior Via Inductive Reasoning Games

The authors show that individual immunization choices can cause severe influenza epidemics and illustrate the actions that might be undertaken to prevent them.

Blog

Health Care Providers May Be the Key to Improving Flu Vaccination Rates

For vaccination to become a public health priority in the U.S., stakeholders must strengthen guidance for providers, which would make it easier for physicians to both assess vaccination needs and aid communication with patients about the efficacy and safety of vaccines.

Journal Article

Nation's Health Security Research Is Not Balanced Enough to Meet Broad Safety Goals

Federal support for health security research is heavily weighted toward preparing for bioterrorism and other biological threats, providing significantly less funding for challenges such as monster storms or attacks with conventional bombs.

Journal Article

Long-term Survival and Healthcare Utilization Outcomes Attributable to Sepsis and Pneumonia

Hospital associated infections are major problems, which are increasing in incidence and very costly.

Report

Bridging the Gap: Prototype Tools to Support Local Disaster Preparedness Planning and Collaboration

RAND researchers developed an initial prototype tool to help determine capabilities and resources a locality will likely require during a disaster. The report also describes two social networking tools for local coordination of disaster preparedness.

Research Brief

A Shot in the Arm for Adult Vaccination

Vaccine-preventable diseases take a heavy toll on U.S. adults despite the widespread availability of vaccines. Office-based providers can do more to promote adult vaccinations but need clearer guidance and a better business case to offer them.

Journal Article

Anti-inflammatory Medication Adherence, Healthcare Utilization and Expenditures Among Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program Enrollees with Asthma

Underuse of controller therapy among Medicaid-enrolled children is common and leads to more emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations.

Journal Article

Trends in Risk Perceptions and Vaccination Intentions: A Longitudinal Study of the First Year of the H1N1 Pandemic

We sought to evaluate longitudinal trends in people's risk perceptions and vaccination intentions during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

News Release

Web-Based Tool for Parents of Children with Flu-Like Symptoms Piloted at DC-Area Hospitals

Researchers from the RAND Corporation and other institutions have begun pilot-testing a web-based tool designed to help parents and adult caregivers determine whether to seek urgent medical attention for a sick child with flu-like symptoms.

Journal Article

Support for Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Requirements Among US Healthcare Personnel

A majority of HCP support influenza vaccination requirements. Moreover, providing HCP with information about the safety of influenza vaccination and communicating that immunization of HCP is a patient safety issue may be important for generating staff support for influenza vaccination requirements.

Journal Article

Integrating Susceptibility Into Environmental Policy: An Analysis of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Lead

Susceptibility to chemical toxins has not been adequately addressed in risk assessment methodologies.

Journal Article

The Association of Health Insurance and Disease Impairment with Reported Asthma Prevalence in U.S. Children