News Archive: Informatics and Technology
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2007
Youth embrace "photovoice" method to identify personal health choices — Nov 1, 2007
More than a dozen participants from the UCLA/RAND Youth Advisory Board engaged in a participatory research project to identify unhealthy dietary practices and inducers of stress in their communities and to advocate for promoting positive health goals.
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Tool for measuring availability of alcohol and selected foods is reliable — October 19, 2007
An observational instrument for measuring in–store availability and promotion of alcoholic beverages and selected food items that affect health was found to be reliable, feasible, and acceptable.Content and format of prescription drug labels improves readability and proper use — May 31, 2007
Specific content and formatting of prescription drug labels increases patient comprehension.
The disease burden of male infertility — May 31, 2007
This study examined treatment patterns and costs associated with male infertility. Total expenditures in 2000 for male infertility treatments were about $17 million. However, additional assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization, substantially increased the total cost to $18 billion.Exact balance is not always necessary in small sample sizes — April 18, 2007
Finding "exact balance" in control groups has long been thought to be necessary when measuring the differences between two groups. However, this can be cumbersome to do. This study finds that single-site trials involving fewer than 77 subjects or multisite trials with even fewer participants per site may not require simple randomization in order to achieve an even distribution.
Religious beliefs may be a key factor in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS — April 4, 2007
HIV-positive people who say religion is an important part of their lives are less likely to have multiple sexual partners, thereby reducing the risk of transferring HIV. The study suggest that religious institutions may play an important role in the fight against the spread of HIV.
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The False Hope of Bone Marrow Transplantation for Breast Cancer — Mar. 8, 2007
Clinical use of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation was propelled by numerous factors—patient demand, physician enthusiasm, media reporting, litigation, and administrative mandates—despite a lack of proven clinical effectiveness. This book details the evolution of this false hope and addresses the story's significance for our health care system.
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Unsolicited comments from surveys reveal additional, useful patient-care data — Jan. 24, 2007
Previously unused data can be used to understand survey findings and enhance patient care. Unsolicited comments written on forced-choice surveys were categorized and grouped, revealing feasible and useful information about patient concerns and needs. The data used in this study came from men undergoing care for prostate cancer who were responding to health-related quality of life questions.
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