We examine the completeness of death reporting in the Social Security Administration's Death Master File (DMF) through comparison with deaths by year and age group reported in official U.S. vital statistics. For most years since 1973, results suggest that the DMF includes 93 percent to 96 percent of deaths of individuals aged 65 or older. Although studies have shown that the National Center for...

BACKGROUND The study aims to assess the pattern of thyroid response to combination Interferon-alpha2beta (IFN-alpha) and Ribavirin (RBV) anti-viral therapy in an Australian hepatitis C cohort. These include the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction (TD) including hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism and their possible predictors, the common overall pattern of thyroid function tests whilst receiving t...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the sensitivity of acid-fast sputum smears in the diagnosis of pulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). DESIGN Retrospective chart and radiographic film review. SETTING Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New York City. PATIENTS All patients with positive sputum cultures for MTB during 1989 to 1991, including 100 with HIV, and 76 without HIV infection...

THOMAS F. TOMB, PAULS. PAROBECK, and ANDREW J. GERO Pittsburgh Health Technology Center, Mine Safety and Health Administration was greater than five percent. Such a formula was developed and is included in Parts 70.101, 71.101, and 90.101 of Title 30, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). These regulations state that: "When the respirable dust in the mine atmosphere of the active workings contains...

Fisheries scientist David Conover, dean and director of the Marine Sciences Research Center at SUNY Stony Brook, is leading the most extensive laboratory study to date on the effects of size-selective harvesting in fish stocks. As described in Scientific American magazine, he and his team mimicked fishing by removing 90 percent of the largest fish from a lab population of Atlantic Siversides (M...

Continuing a decade-long trend, the proportion of U.S. physicians providing charity care dropped to 68 percent in 2004-05 from 76 percent in 1996-97, according to a national study from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). The ongoing decline in physician charity care is alarming given the increase in the number of uninsured people, particularly during the first half of the decade...

Background Infertility and fertility decline are quite a conundrum for medicine, rampant among 10-15 percent of couples. In about 40 percent of cases, men are the main culprit. Since sperm production disorders are the focal cause of man infertility, insights into these disorders and taking action to ameliorate the situation is quite vital. The current study concentrates on infertility due to sp...

The growth of managed care as the predominant mode of health insurance in the U.S. has inspired innumerable studies of its effects on health service delivery. One of the most striking trends has been an increase in the proportion of physicians who are employees, with no ownership stake in their medical practices. Overall, 24 percent of physicians were employees in 1985, but by 1994 this figure ...

The risk and benefits of three treatment strategies were examined in 64 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock. Thirteen patients received thrombolytic therapy (group 1), 29 patients received intra-aortic balloon pump counterpulsation support (group 2), and 22 patients were treated with combined thrombolytic therapy and intra-aortic balloon pump counterpulsa...

AIM To see how patterns of care changed over time, and how institution type effected these decisions. METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed using the National Cancer Database, looking at all patients that were diagnosed with rectal cancer from 1998 to 2011. We tested differences in rates of treatment and stage migration using χ2 tests and logistic regression models. RESULTS A revie...