One in three women report being a victim of intimate partner violence (IPV) in her lifetime. IPV is a type of behavior classified as causing physical, psychological, or sexual harm to those in an intimate partnership. Violence affects women in all settings, and among all racial, religious, and socioeconomic groups. Abused women are likely to visit…

Regional differences in ASD inpatient care remain understudied. We used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample to examine contributory causes and potential determinants associated with regional variations in ASD hospitalizations. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses to identify differences in ASD hospitalizations across four U.S. Census…

In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law. This legislation provided for monetary rewards for those acute-care hospitals that meet "meaningful use" computerization and reporting criteria. The study used a descriptive, nonexperimental design to answer three research questions (1) What is the level of…

Defining fall risk factors and predicting fall risk status among patients in acute care has been a topic of research for decades. With increasing pressure on hospitals to provide quality care and prevent hospital-acquired conditions, the search for effective fall prevention interventions continues. Hundreds of risk factors for falls in acute care…

Objective: To compare pediatric mental health emergency department visits to other pediatric emergency department visits, focusing on length of stay. Method: We analyzed data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a nationally representative sample of US emergency department visits from 2001 to 2008, for patients aged less than…

Objective: To determine whether a suspicion or diagnosis of child abuse during hospitalization influences parental perceptions of hospital care in families of children admitted with traumatic injuries. Method: Parents of children younger than 6 years of age admitted with traumatic injuries to a large urban children's hospital were recruited to…

Objectives: This study compared health care assessments, referrals, treatment, and outcomes for young adolescent sexual assault/sexual abuse victims seen at a hospital-based Child Advocacy Center (CAC), to that provided to similar victims evaluated by other community providers. A second purpose was to document how common DNA evidence is found…

Introduction: Although evidence-based practice (EBP) has been widely investigated, few studies compare physicians and nurses on performance. Methods: A structured questionnaire survey was used to investigate EBP among physicians and nurses in 61 regional hospitals of Taiwan. Valid postal questionnaires were collected from 605 physicians and 551…

Purpose: Our objective in this study was to compare the quality of care provided under the Minnesota Senior Health Options (MSHO), a special program designed to serve dually eligible older persons, to care provided to controls who received fee-for-service Medicare and Medicaid managed care. Design and Methods: Two control groups were used; one was…

Context: National data documenting the role that rural hospitals play in providing inpatient care to patients both younger than 65 and 65 years and older has previously been unavailable. Purpose: To present descriptive nationally representative data on the numbers and types of inpatients, and the care they received, in rural hospitals. Methods:…

Context and Purpose: With heightened attention to medical errors and patient safety, we surveyed Utah and Missouri hospitals to assess the "state of the art" in patient safety systems and identify changes over time. This study examines differences between urban and rural hospitals. Methods: Survey of all acute care hospitals in Utah and…

This paper reports a retrospective study undertaken to determine if differences existed in obstetric outcome, contraceptive usage, and repeat pregnancy rates of teenage patients cared for in three different health care settings: the Rochester Adolescent Maternity Project (RAMP), a traditional obstetric clinic, and a neighborhood health center.…