RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: This study compared research collaboration and productivity among applicants to a small educational research grants program. METHOD: Brief interviews were conducted with 89% (8/9) of funded applicants and 55% (6/11) of unfunded applicants. RESULTS: Funded projects had an average 6.6 scholarly products per project and 3.8 interinstitutional collaborators with 72.5% continuing collaborations, compared with the unfunded group that had 2.8 products, 1.8 collaborators, and only 16% continuing collaborations. CONCLUSIONS: This program seems beneficial to research productivity and multiinstitutional collaboration.
Asunto(s)
Educación Médica , Apoyo a la Investigación como Asunto , Investigación/estadística & datos numéricosRESUMEN
UNLABELLED: Taking folic acid daily, before and during early pregnancy, has been proven to reduce neural tube birth defects (NTD). Unfortunately, many women fail to take it daily as recommended. OBJECTIVES: To assess women's self-reported awareness, knowledge and use of folic acid. Methods Data were obtained by cross-sectional, random digit-dialing, computer-assisted telephone interviews with 250 women in Kansas. Associations were determined by chi-squared analysis. RESULTS: Eighty-eight percent of childbearing age women in Kansas have a general awareness of folic acid, 20% have knowledge that it reduces birth defects, but only 25% report taking it daily. Awareness was associated with high school or greater education (P < .0001), incomes over $25,000 (P = 0.0003), being married (P = 0.0035), being white (P = 0.0135), having health insurance (P = 0.0152) and being capable of pregnancy (P = 0.0119). Knowledge that folic acid reduces birth defects was associated with being aware of the USPHS recommendation (P < .0001), being capable of pregnancy (P = 0.0043), being pregnant (P = 0.0061), and being aware of folic acid (P = 0.0379). Taking folic acid daily was associated with currently being pregnant (P = 0.0126). CONCLUSIONS: Women less likely to take folic acid on a daily basis were young, non-Caucasians who reported less education, less income and no health insurance. Based upon these data, multi-level education campaigns that specifically target lower-SES women should be considered.
Asunto(s)
Suplementos Dietéticos/estadística & datos numéricos , Ácido Fólico/administración & dosificación , Conocimientos, Actitudes y Práctica en Salud , Defectos del Tubo Neural/prevención & control , Adolescente , Adulto , Estudios Transversales , Escolaridad , Femenino , Humanos , Entrevistas como Asunto , Kansas/epidemiología , Modelos Logísticos , Factores Socioeconómicos , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
CONTEXT: Colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs) trying to stimulate research and develop research infrastructures must overcome the challenge of obtaining adequate funding to support growing research interests. The authors examine changes in research funding at COMs during the past 15 years. OBJECTIVES: To track 1999-2004 data on COM research funding, COM faculty size, educational backgrounds of principal investigators receiving funding, and funding institutions. To compare these data with published results from 1989 to 1999. METHODS: Data on number of grants, funding amounts by extramural source, percent of total dollars by extramural source, percent of total dollars by COM, and total amount of extramural funding were obtained from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine databases. Data on the Osteopathic Research Center (ORC) were obtained from the ORC's databases. RESULTS: Research, both in terms of number of grants and funding amounts within the osteopathic medical profession, increased substantially from 1999 to 2004. The largest single source of funding remained the National Institutes of Health. The number of COMs whose research funding exceeded $1 million annually more than doubled, increasing from 5 in 1999 to 12 in 2004. The osteopathic medical profession's decision to direct research dollars into a national research center devoted to research specific to osteopathic manipulative medicine resulted in an almost eightfold return on initial investment in 4 years. CONCLUSIONS: The amount of research productivity at a COM may be aligned with the size of the COM's full-time faculty, suggesting that once "critical mass" for teaching, service, and administration are achieved, a productive research program can be realized. Expanding the evidence base for those aspects of medicine unique to the osteopathic medical profession is dependent on the future growth of research.
Asunto(s)
Organización de la Financiación/tendencias , Medicina Osteopática/educación , Apoyo a la Investigación como Asunto/tendencias , Facultades de Medicina/economía , Bases de Datos Factuales , Organización de la Financiación/estadística & datos numéricos , Encuestas de Atención de la Salud , Humanos , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/economía , Medicina Osteopática/economía , Apoyo a la Investigación como Asunto/economía , Apoyo a la Investigación como Asunto/estadística & datos numéricos , Facultades de Medicina/tendencias , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
The models outlined above represent alternative constructs for examining factors that may or may not influence human health in a positive manner. If the economic framework seems more theoretical than actionable, consider an alternative framework that has been advanced by the American Hospital Association and described in Table I. Regardless of the framework adopted, work to improve the health care system and its financing will be hard, irrespective of whether incremental or wholesale changes are made. What is important, however, is that a thoughtful approach be taken and the trade-offs of each decision carefully weighted. The health of the population of the state and the country depend on it.
Asunto(s)
Atención a la Salud/organización & administración , Reforma de la Atención de Salud/organización & administración , Modelos Organizacionales , Obesidad/prevención & control , Prevención Primaria/métodos , Cobertura Universal del Seguro de Salud , Adulto , Niño , Protección a la Infancia , Preescolar , Femenino , Predicción , Programas de Gobierno/organización & administración , Guías como Asunto , Estado de Salud , Humanos , Masculino , Missouri , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
Although research is a critical component of academic medicine, it has not been a significant component of osteopathic medicine. For years, leaders in the osteopathic medical profession have called for increased research in osteopathic medical schools. The need for cost-effective clinical practice leading to improved clinical outcomes creates a necessity for conducting well-designed clinical outcomes research related to osteopathic practice. The authors assess the growth in research at osteopathic academic medical centers from 1989-1999. The amounts of extramural funding at each school, sources of funding, types of research funded, departments funded, and investigators' degree types are also assessed. During the 10 years analyzed, total research funding increased 37%. Twenty-five percent of the grants and 55% of the funding to colleges of osteopathic medicine were from the National Institutes of Health. Most (63%) grants were awarded to PhD faculty. Most research was conducted in the basic biomedical sciences. Clinical research related to osteopathic practices appears to be a relatively minor component of research at osteopathic medical centers.
Asunto(s)
Medicina Osteopática , Apoyo a la Investigación como Asunto/estadística & datos numéricos , Investigación , Facultades de Medicina , Financiación Gubernamental , Humanos , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
Infant morbidity due to low birth weight and preterm births results in emotional suffering and significant direct and indirect costs. African American infants continue to have worse birth outcomes than white infants. This study examines relationships between newborn hospital costs, maternal risk factors, and prenatal care in Medicaid recipients in an impoverished rural county in South Carolina. Medicaid African American mothers gave birth to fewer preterm infants than did non-Medicaid African American mothers. No differences in the rates of preterm infants were noted between white and African American mothers in the Medicaid group. Access to Medicaid services may have contributed to this reduction in disparities due to race. Early initiation of prenatal care compared with later initiation did not improve birth outcomes. Infants born to mothers who initiated prenatal care early had increased morbidity with increased utilization of hospital services, suggesting that high-risk mothers are entering prenatal care earlier.