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<p><strong>You Are Here:</strong> <span class="crumb_link"><a href="/" class="crumb_link">AHRQ Archive Home</a> &gt; <a href="/research/resarch.htm" class="crumb_link"><em>Research Activities</em> Archive</a> &gt; <a href="." class="crumb_link">August 1997</a> </span></p>
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<td><h1><a name="h1" id="h1"></a>Outcomes/Effectiveness Research </h1>
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<p>This information is for reference purposes only. It was current when produced and may now be outdated. Archive material is no longer maintained, and some links may not work. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing this information should contact us at: <a href="https://info.ahrq.gov/">https://info.ahrq.gov</a>. Let us know the nature of the problem, the Web address of what you want, and your contact information. </p>
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<a name="head1"></a>
<a name="head2"></a><h2>Being overweight or underweight does not preclude
elective noncardiac surgery for most patients</h2>
<p>Relatively healthy overweight and underweight patients are not at any higher risk than normal
weight patients for complications or longer hospital stays following elective, noncardiac surgery.
The only exception is elective abdominal or gynecologic surgery, after which overweight
patients
have double the wound infection rates of normal weight patients, according to a recent study
supported in part by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (HS06573).</p> <p>
The most overweight and underweight patients do, however, have higher costs. This may
indicate
that more resources are expended on these patients to prevent complications, explains Lee
Goldman, M.D., of the University of California at San Francisco. Dr. Goldman and his
colleagues
conclude that as long as the person is not severely malnourished, being overweight or
underweight
is not a reason to deny elective noncardiac surgery.</p>
<p>The researchers correlated the body mass index (BMI, weight in kilograms divided by height
in meters squared) of 2,964 patients 50 years and older undergoing elective noncardiac surgery
with complications, length of hospital stay, and costs. Complications were no different among
four BMI groups, after taking into account other factors affecting the likelihood of
complications. BMI groups were those underweight (BMI less than 20), normal (BMI 20 to 29),
overweight (BMI 30 to 34), and the most overweight (BMI more than 34). For instance, a 5'4"
woman with a BMI of 40.5 would weigh 238 pounds, 82 percent above ideal body weight, and a
5'9" man with a BMI of 38.1 would weigh 244 pounds, 61 percent above ideal body weight. A
5'4" woman with a BMI of 18 would weigh 103 pounds and a 5'9" man with a BMI of 18 would
weigh 119 pounds, or 21 percent below ideal body weight for both.</p><p>
Overall, the researchers found no significant increases in complication rates for the most
overweight group compared with normal weight patients. However, patients with a BMI of 30
and over who underwent abdominal or gynecologic procedures had wound infection rates of 11
percent compared with nearly 5 percent for normal weight patients and 0 percent for underweight
patients. The most overweight patients and underweight patients had insignificantly longer stays
(0.8 and 0.9 days longer, respectively), but they incurred significantly higher costs ($834 higher
and $3,150 higher, respectively) than patients of normal weight. </p>
<p>Details are in "Body mass index as a correlate of postoperative complications and resource
utilization," by Eric J. Thomas, M.D., M.P.H., Dr. Goldman, Carol M. Mangione, M.D.,
M.S.P.H., Thomas H. Lee, M.D., M.S.C., and others, in the March 1997 issue of the
<em>American
Journal of Medicine</em> 102, pp. 277-283.</p>
<a name="head3"></a><h2>Heart attack patients in the United States fare slightly
better in the short-term than Canadian patients</h2>
<p>A recent study compared care provided to elderly heart attack patients in the United States and
Canada and found that, within 30 days of hospital admission, the U.S. patients underwent
coronary angiography five times more often (34.9 percent vs. 6.7 percent), coronary angioplasty
almost eight times more often (11.7 percent vs. 1.5 percent), and coronary artery bypass surgery
nearly eight times more often (10.6 percent vs 1.4 percent) than the Canadian patients. A slight
but significantly lower proportion of U.S. patients than Canadian patients died within 1 month
(21.4 percent vs. 22.3 percent); about 34 percent of patients in both countries had died 1 year
later. These results appear to favor the more conservative Canadian approach to
revascularization,
according to the authors of the study, which was supported by the Agency for Health Care Policy
and Research (HS08071).</p><p>
The researchers compared the use of invasive cardiac procedures and mortality rates among
224,258 elderly Medicare beneficiaries in the United States and 9,444 elderly patients in Ontario,
Canada, each of whom suffered a heart attack in 1991. The better short-term outcomes in the
U.S. patients may reflect the intensity and timeliness of hospital care in this country. For
example,
a higher proportion of U.S. than Canadian patients were initially admitted to hospitals that were
able to perform both cardiac catheterization and revascularization procedures (34.5 percent vs. 14
percent), including hospitals that specialized in cardiac catheterization (22.8 percent vs. 4.1
percent). </p>
<p>The absence of a sustained survival benefit 1 year later probably reflects factors other than the
differences in use of revascularization procedures. Many medical therapies, for example,
beta-blockers and aspirin, are known to improve long-term survival after heart attack, and it is
possible that they were used more frequently in the Canadian group of patients. Also, better
long-term outcomes in Canada may reflect greater access to primary care, prescription drugs, and
long-term care, which are universally provided to the elderly with minimal or no copayments
under the Canadian health care system. The researchers point out, however, that mortality is not
the only important outcome; functional status should be considered as well.</p> <p>For more
information,
see "Use of cardiac procedures and outcomes in elderly patients with myocardial infarction in the
United States and Canada," by Jack V. Tu, M.D., Ph.D., Chris L. Pashos, Ph.D., C. David
Naylor, M.D., D.Phil., and others, in the May 22, 1997 issue of the <em>New England Journal of
Medicine</em> 336, pp. 1500-1505.</p>
<a name="head4"></a><h2>Many physicians have not fully adopted recommended
cholesterol management practices</h2>
<p>More aggressive screening, counseling, and medication treatment for hyperlipidemia would
substantially aid the prevention of cardiovascular disease, concludes a study supported in part by
the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (HS07892). The study found that physicians
screen relatively few people for high cholesterol, are less apt to prescribe lipid-lowering
medications for obese than non-obese persons, often do not prescribe recommended
lipid-lowering medications, and may not account for multiple risk factors for heart disease, such
as cigarette smoking, in their cholesterol management practices. Only 1 in 12 patients without
known hyperlipidemia (high levels of cholesterol in the blood) is screened annually for
cholesterol;
patients with hyperlipidemia are counseled about cholesterol reduction about once every 3 years.
Randall S. Stafford, M.D., Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School, and his colleagues examined
reports of 2,332 office-based physicians on cholesterol-related screening, counseling, or
medications used during 56,215 office visits during 1991 and 1992. For the estimated 1.03
billion
U.S. visits by patients without reported hyperlipidemia, cholesterol screening (2.8 percent of
visits) and counseling (1.2 percent) were infrequent. In the 85 million visits by patients with
hyperlipidemia, cholesterol testing was reported in 23 percent, cholesterol counseling in 34
percent, and lipid-lowering medications in 23 percent.</p> <p>
Physicians were less likely to test cholesterol levels or prescribe lipid-lowering medications to
obese than non-obese patients, perhaps relying on weight loss as primary management. Also,
physicians prescribed statins or fibrates for 83 percent of visits by patients taking lipid-lowering
medications, even though guidelines at the time favored resins and niacin as drugs of first choice.
What's more, whether a patient smoked cigarettes or not did not affect cholesterol management
practices. </p>
<p>These findings indicate that physicians have not fully adopted the cholesterol management
practices first recommended in 1988 by the National Cholesterol Education Program and in
specific guidelines that have been issued for cholesterol testing, dietary counseling, and
pharmacologic treatment, conclude the researchers.</p> <p>Details are in "Variations in cholesterol
management practices of U.S. physicians," by Dr. Stafford, David Blumenthal, M.D., and
Richard C. Pasternak, M.D., in the January 1997 <em>Journal of the American College of
Cardiology</em>
29, pp. 139-146.</p>
<a name="head5"></a><h2>Better communication increases satisfaction among
men facing a decision about surgery for BPH</h2>
<p>Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, enlarged prostate) affects roughly 25 percent of older men.
These men must choose between watchful waiting to see if symptoms progress and active
treatment, which often means surgical removal of the prostate (prostatectomy). Despite a
nationwide trend toward less invasive management of BPH, even among patients with moderate
to severe urinary tract symptoms, physicians themselves vary in their recommendations.</p> <p>
A shared decisionmaking program (SDP) that synthesizes video, audio, and computer graphics to
present a program tailored to the age, health status, and symptom severity of the patient
apparently helps men feel more comfortable as they work through the decisionmaking process.
There were no significant differences between the treatment choices made by men exposed to the
program and the choices made by men who received only an informational brochure (control
group). But the men exposed to the SDP were nevertheless more knowledgeable about their
condition and more satisfied with the decisionmaking process, and they showed less deterioration
in physical functioning and perception of their general health 1 year later. Men in the SDP group
were not significantly different from the brochure-only group in satisfaction with the treatment
decisions, BPH symptom severity, social functioning, or preferences for participation in
decisionmaking.</p>
<p>These findings are the result of a study supported by the Agency for Health Care Policy and
Research (HS06540 and HS08397) and led by Michael J. Barry, M.D., of Massachusetts General
Hospital. Dr. Barry and his colleagues conclude that traditional methods of obtaining consent
may
be suboptimal, and to the extent that true informed consent requires patients to be well-informed
about their condition, the SDP appears to be a valuable tool for informing men with BPH. They
randomized 227 men with BPH who were being treated at one of three urologic practices to the
SDP group (104 men) or the brochure-only group (123 men) and followed them for 1 year.</p> <p>
See "A randomized trial of a multimedia shared decision-making program for men facing a
treatment decision for benign prostatic hyperplasia," by Dr. Barry, Daniel C. Cherkin, Ph.D.,
YuChiao Chang, Ph.D., and others, in the January/February 1997<em> Disease Management and
Clinical Outcomes</em> 1(1), pp. 5-14. </p>
<a name="head6"></a><h2>Biliary Tract PORT studies focus on training
physicians for new procedures and diagnosis of
common bile duct stones</h2>
<p>Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was introduced in the United States in 1988 as a less invasive
procedure for gallbladder removal. In this technique, several small incisions are made in the
patients abdomen through which surgical instruments are inserted, along with a tiny camera to
visualize the operative area. </p> <p>
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is associated with fewer deaths and complications, less
postoperative pain, shorter hospital stays, and earlier return to usual activities than traditional
open gallbladder surgery. But to achieve these outcomes, surgeons must be properly trained. The
technique's one disadvantage is its higher incidence of retained common bile duct stones, most
likely because the physician cannot directly observe and palpate the duct as in open surgery.
There
also may be a higher rate of common bile duct injuries.</p>
<p>Two newly published studies by the Biliary Tract Disease Patient Outcomes Research Team
(PORT) are summarized here. They discuss the training required for surgeons to perform the
laparoscopic surgery, as well as how gastroenterologists and surgeons vary in their diagnosis and
management of common bile duct stones. The PORT was led by J. Sanford Schwartz, M.D., of
the University of Pennsylvania and supported by the Agency for Health Care Policy and
Research
(HS06481).</p><p>
<strong>Escarce, J.J., Shea, J.A., and Schwartz, J.S. "How practicing surgeons trained for
laparoscopic cholecystectomy."<em> Medical Care</em> 35(3), pp. 291-296, 1997.</strong></p>
<p>Rapid adoption of laparoscopic cholecystectomy raised concerns that some surgeons were
performing the procedure without adequate training. And from 1989 until the end of 1991, half
of
them may have been, according to this study. At that point only half of surgeons who had
adopted
the technique followed the 1992 Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons
(SAGES) training criteria for hospitals to grant privileges to physicians performing the procedure
that eventually evolved. These criteria include prior practice on animals, serving as first assistant
or camera operator for experienced surgeons, and supervision or assistance by a more
experienced surgeon during initial laparoscopic procedures until proficiency is observed.</p> <p>
The research team surveyed 1,240 non-Federal general surgeons who had adopted the procedure,
which they derived from a 15 percent random sample of physicians drawn from the American
Medical Associations Physician Masterfile. Results showed that nearly 50 percent of adopters
used self-instructional materials, 49 percent were taught by another surgeon with more
experience, and 93 percent took a formal course in the procedure. Only 1.3 percent neither were
taught by another surgeon nor took a formal course. </p>
<p>Overall, 93 percent of surgeons had practiced on animals, and 76 percent had served as first
assistant or camera operator for colleagues before performing their first laparoscopic
cholecystectomy. In addition, 64 percent had their first laparoscopic procedures supervised or
assisted by a surgeon with more experience. Although the proportion of physicians who satisfied
the guidelines more than doubled during the study period, only two-thirds had done so by the end
of 1991. These researchers recommend that hospital credentialing bodies, aided by professional
organizations, quickly identify new procedures which involve use of new instruments or
techniques unfamiliar to practicing physicians so that specific privileging criteria can be
developed.</p><p>
<strong>Shea, J.A., Asch, D.A., Johnson, R.F., and others. "What predicts gastroenterologists and
surgeons diagnosis and management of common bile duct stones?" <em>Gastrointestinal
Endoscopy</em>
46(1), pp. 40-47, 1997.</strong></p>
<p> Because surgeons performing laparoscopic cholecystectomy cannot directly observe and feel for
common bile duct stones as in open cholecystectomy, physicians must rely on laboratory and
diagnostic test results and elements of the history and physical examination. Common indicators
include patient age, history of jaundice or pancreatitis, common bile duct diameter on ultrasound,
and levels of serum alanine, aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, amylase, and total bilirubin.</p>
<p>The researchers surveyed a random sample of 1,500 gastroenterologists and 1,500 surgeons on
the importance they gave to each potential indicator of common bile duct stones, the likelihood
that stones were present for each of nine clinical vignettes, and whether they would order a
preoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERCP, x-ray of the common bile duct
following infusion into the duct of a contrast dye).</p> <p>
Even though most gastroenterologists and surgeons used the common bile duct diameter on
ultrasound and serum total bilirubin as the most important indicators of stones, they varied
substantially in the importance they gave to other clinical indicators when deciding to order an
ERCP prior to laparoscopic cholecystectomy. </p>
<p>Physicians varied in their estimate of a common bile duct stone by about 30 percent when
presented with the clinical vignettes. On average, physicians wanted to obtain preoperative
ERCPs only for patients whose likelihood of a common bile duct stone was greater than 37
percent, although this also varied from 2.5 percent to 83 percent. Thus, patients receive varying
recommendations for care depending on whom they see, according to this study.</p>
<p class="size2"><a href=".">Return to Contents</a></p>
<a name="head7"></a><h1>Health Insurance/Health Care Costs</h1>
<a name="head8"></a><h2>Little is known about how consumers choose health
insurance plans</h2>
<p>With the advent and growth of managed care, choosing a health insurance plan involves more
than simply selecting a system for financing medical care. Consumers also must select a set of
providers and a system for delivering care. Little is known about how consumers actually choose
health insurance plans, except that cost is an important factor. A recent literature review on this
issue found that price was inversely related to the probability of choosing a health plan and
positively related to the probability of switching or disenrolling from a health plan.</p> <p>
Less is known about how price interacts with other potentially important primary variables such
as plan quality, convenience, breadth of coverage, and provider choice. Information is also
lacking
on the interaction of secondary variables&#8212;such as health status, income, and educational
level&#8212;with price and how this interaction causes some groups to select certain types of
health plans.
According to the authors of the review, researchers are just beginning to look at whether plan
report card data have an effect on enrollment decisions. </p>
<p>When traditional fee-for-service coverage dominated and consumers paid very little
out-of-pocket
for health plan coverage, it was sufficient to know that price was important in making health plan
decisions. Now, with the widespread growth and acceptance of managed care and with a greater
proportion of consumers income going toward the purchase of health plans, more information is
needed, note the researchers. Their work was supported in part by the Agency for Health Care
Policy and Research (NRSA training grant T32 HS00053).</p><p>
See "Consumer health plan choice: Current knowledge and future directions," by Dennis P.
Scanlon, Michael Chernew, Ph.D., and Judith R. Lave, Ph.D., in the <em>Annual Review of Public
Health</em> 18, pp. 507-528, 1997. </p>
<a name="head9"></a><h2>HMOs' comparative advantage in providing
preventive services to women may be eroding</h2>
<p>Women enrolled in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in 1987 were more likely to have
received Pap smears and breast exams within the last year and to have ever had a mammogram
than women with fee-for-service (FFS) coverage. However, by 1992, HMOs had lost this
comparative advantage, according to an Agency for Health Care Policy and Research study.</p> <p>
The study found that an increase in the probability of HMO enrollment was associated with more
than twice the likelihood of having received Pap smears and breast exams among women aged
18 to 64 in 1987. Overall in 1992, only 65 percent of women reported they had received Pap smears
(aged 18 to 64) and breast exams (aged 30 to 64); these levels are similar to those in 1987 (66
percent and 68 percent, respectively). Substantially more women aged 50 to 64 had ever received
a mammogram in 1992 than in 1987 (80 percent vs. 50 percent), which is consistent with the
tremendous growth in mammogram use during the period between the two surveys. </p>
<p>Women's use of these preventive services differed significantly between HMO and FFS enrollees
in 1987, but was not statistically significant in 1992, note Robin M. Weinick, Ph.D., and Karen
M.
Beauregard, M.H.A., the study's authors. They analyzed data from the 1987 National Medical
Expenditure Survey and the 1992 National Health Interview Survey to evaluate changes over
time
in use of Pap smears, breast exams, and mammograms. </p><p>
The results of this study also point to characteristics of women who may be at risk for
underutilization of preventive screening services, even though they have private health insurance
coverage. These include women with less than 12 years of education, those who have never been
married, and women who report no usual source of health care or have a negative attitude toward
health care.</p>
<p>More details are in "Women's use of preventive screening services: A comparison of HMO
versus
fee-for-service enrollees," by Dr. Weinick and Ms. Beauregard, in the June 1997 issue of <em>Medical
Care Research and Review</em> 54(2), pp. 176-199. Reprints (AHCPR Publication No. 97-R081)
are
available from the <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/research/publications/order/order-research-activities.html">AHCPR Publication Clearinghouse</a>. </p>
<a name="head10"></a><h2>State reimbursement guidelines reduce the number of
spinal fusion surgeries for back-injured workers</h2>
<p>In 1988, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, which pays for most
worker's compensation costs in the State, established guidelines which required that requests for
spinal fusion surgery for workers with back injuries be screened for appropriateness before
authorization for reimbursement. This led to a substantial decline in lumbar fusion surgery for
injured workers.</p> <p>
The use of spinal fusion in the treatment of low back pain in general, and for occupational
lumbar
injuries specifically, continues to be controversial. There is no firm consensus about clinical
indications for this surgery, and marked geographic variation in use of spinal fusion exists. Also,
when compared with nonfusion spinal surgery, spinal fusion is associated with higher rates of
complications, longer and more costly hospital stays, and widely variable success rates. </p>
<p>During 1987 through 1992, the lumbar fusion rate for Washington State showed a 26 percent
decline compared with a 3 percent decrease for all lumbar operations. After November 1988,
when the guidelines went into effect, the rate of spinal fusion surgery declined 33 percent,
whereas rates for nonfusion operations stayed about the same, according to a study by the Back
Pain Patient Outcomes Assessment Team. The study was supported in part by the Agency for
Health Care Policy and Research (HS06344 and HS08194). The researchers used the
Comprehensive Hospital Abstract Reporting System, which contains all patient discharge records
for non-Federal, acute care hospitals in Washington State, to calculate the number of spinal
fusions performed in the State before and after the guidelines went into effect.</p> <p>
The lumbar fusion guidelines were jointly authored by orthopedists, neurosurgeons, and
specialists in occupational health and were designed to be nonadversarial and flexible to make
them more acceptable to practicing physicians. Also, the rationales for the guidelines were
disseminated to clinicians performing spinal fusions during the months preceding their
implementation. This approach may have increased the subsequent effects of the guidelines on
physician behavior. Also, insurance companies profiling of surgeons for frequency of elective
procedures, which began in the 1990s, may have resulted in a more conservative approach by
surgeons toward all elective operations, conclude the PORT researchers. </p>
<p>More details are in "Impact of workers compensation practice guideline on lumbar spine fusion
in Washington State," by Kenneth Elam, M.D., M.P.H., Victoria Taylor, M.D., M.P.H., Marcia
A. Ciol, Ph.D., and others, in <em>Medical Care</em> 35(5), pp. 417-424. </p>
<a name="head11"></a><h2>Home care may not be less expensive than institutional
care for some ventilator-assisted individuals</h2>
<p>Persons who need ventilators on a daily basis in order to breathe are typically adults who have a
degenerative neuromuscular disease (46 percent), spinal chord trauma or disease (18 percent), or
chronic lung disease (25 percent). Recent initiatives to discharge long-term, ventilator-assisted
individuals (VAIs) home to their families instead of to an institution assume that home care will
result in a better quality of life for the patient and also be more cost effective. </p><p>
A recent study, which was supported by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (NRSA
fellowship F32 HS00054), found that home care may not be less expensive than institutional care
for some patients if the long-term economic impact of home care on the VAI's family is taken
into consideration. The study was conducted by Mary Ann Sevick, Sc.D., R.N., and Douglas D.
Bradham, Dr.P.H., of the Bowman Gray School of Medicine. The authors point out that 43
percent of caregivers surveyed in their study had to adjust their employment situations to
accommodate their family members home placements. Of these, half had to stop working,
one-third decreased their working hours, 13 percent changed jobs, and 3 percent increased their
hours. </p>
<p>Caregivers, usually the women of the household, earned an average of $797 per month less in
wages than they would have earned had they not become caregivers. In addition, these estimates
do not include lost wages of the VAI or the extent to which the caregiver was financially
dependent on the VAI, explain Drs. Sevick and Bradham. In 1995, they mailed a survey to
caregivers of 1,404 VAIs in 37 States; they received 277 responses.</p> <p>
The researchers estimated an average monthly cost of $6,411 for formal home care services, such
as skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and home health aid tasks. The
average
cost of home care increased by $960 to $12,483 per month, depending on how the researchers
calculated the value of the caregiver's time. This ranged from $4.25 per hour to $10 or $11 per
hour for homemaker services or attendant care, up to $38 per hour for hours spent functioning as
a private duty nurse, which some caregivers did when they provided tracheostomy care,
intravenous infusion, urinary catheter care, and the like. Depending on the estimate of long-term
care costs and how the caregiver's time was valued, home care was more expensive than
institutional care for between 5 and 37 percent of VAIs.</p>
<p>Details are in "Economic value of caregiver effort in maintaining long-term ventilator-assisted
individuals at home," by Drs. Sevick and Bradham, in the March/April 1997 issue of <em>Heart
and
Lung</em> 26, pp. 148-157.</p>
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