In this paper we describe recent work to provide a filtering service for readers interested in medically related news articles from online news sources. The first task is to filter out the nonmedical news articles. The remaining articles, the medically related ones, are then assigned MeSH headings for context and then categorized further by intended audience level (medical expert, medically kno...

OBJECTIVE This study compares the likelihood of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt across stages of nonmedical prescription opioid use and by presence of prescription opioid disorders (dependence and/or abuse) among adult respondents. METHOD In the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 37,933 adult respondents were asked if they had thought about suicide or had attempted suicide in ...

School immunization requirements are important in controlling vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States. Forty-eight states offer nonmedical exemptions to school immunization requirements. Children with exemptions are at increased risk of contracting and transmitting vaccine-preventable diseases. The clustering of nonmedical exemptions can affect community risk of vaccine-preventable di...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE As a disease of the musculoskeletal system, fibromyalgia is becoming increasingly important, because of the direct and indirect costs to health systems. The purpose of this study of health economics was to obtain information about staff costs differentiated by service provider, and staff and material costs of the nonmedical infrastructure in inpatient care. PATIENTS AND...

The purpose of this study was to determine the nonmedical use of prescription attention deficit disorder (ADD) stimulant medication among dental and dental hygiene students. A questionnaire was used to examine demographic information, student experiences, and perceptions of prescription stimulant medication and to determine if students used a prescription stimulant nonmedically. In 2008, 401 su...

Nurse practitioners are the first line of defense when combating the problem of nonmedical use of prescription drugs. This article outlines related clinical issues and provides tools and treatment options to use with patients and the community.

Rates of nonmedical exemptions from school immunizations are increasing and have been associated with resurfacing clusters of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles. Historically, state-level school immunization policies successfully suppressed such diseases. We examined state immunization exemption regulations across the United States. We assessed procedures for exempting schoolchildren...