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RAND Corporation

NonprofitSanta Monica, California, United States
About: RAND Corporation is a nonprofit organization based out in Santa Monica, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 9602 authors who have published 18570 publications receiving 744658 citations.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that raising the profile of existing facilities may help increase physical activity among adolescent girls and compared objective and self-report measures as predictors of physical activity.
Abstract: A number of studies in recent years have identified both self-report and objectively measured accessibility of recreational facilities as important predictors of physical activity in youth. Yet, few studies have: (1) examined the relationship between the number and proximity of objectively measured neighborhood physical activity facilities and respondents’ perceptions and (2) compared objective and self-report measures as predictors of physical activity. This study uses data on 1,367 6th-grade girls who participated in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG) to explore these issues. Girls reported whether nine different types of recreational facilities were easily accessible. These facilities included basketball courts, golf courses, martial arts studios, playing fields, tracks, skating rinks, swimming pools, tennis courts, and dance/gymnastic clubs. Next, geographic information systems (GIS) were used to identify all the parks, schools, and commercial sites for physical activity located within a mile of each girl’s home. These sites were then visited to inventory the types of facilities available. Girls wore accelerometers to measure their weekly minutes of non-school metabolic equivalent weighted moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MW-MVPA). The number of facilities within a half-mile of girls’ homes strongly predicted the perception of easy access to seven out of nine facility types. Both individual facility perceptions and the total number of facilities perceived were associated with increased physical activity. For each additional facility perceived, girls clocked 3% more metabolic equivalent weighted moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p < 0.001). Although girls tended to record 3% more of this kind of physical activity (p < 0.05) per basketball court within a mile of their homes, objective facility measures were otherwise unrelated to physical activity. The results from this study suggest that raising the profile of existing facilities may help increase physical activity among adolescent girls.

157 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings suggest that flexible dissemination of short-term, QI programs in managed primary care can improve patient outcomes well after program termination, and models that support integrated psychotherapy and medication-based treatment strategies in primary care have the potential for relatively long-term patient benefits.
Abstract: Background This article addresses whether dissemination of short-term quality improvement (QI) interventions for depression to primary care practices improves patients' clinical outcomes and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) over 2 years, relative to usual care (UC). Methods The sample included 1299 patients with current depressive symptoms and 12-month, lifetime, or no depressive disorder from 46 primary care practices in 6 managed care organizations. Clinics were randomized to UC or 1 of 2 QI programs that included training local experts and nurse specialists to provide clinician and patient education, assessment, and treatment planning, plus either nurse care managers for medication follow-up (QI-meds) or access to trained psychotherapists (QI-therapy). Outcomes were assessed every 6 months for 2 years. Results For most outcomes, differences between intervention and UC patients were not sustained for the full 2 years. However, QI-therapy reduced overall poor outcomes compared with UC by about 8 percentage points throughout 2 years, and by 10 percentage points compared with QI-meds at 24 months. Both interventions improved patients' clinical and role outcomes, relative to UC, over 12 months (eg, a 10-11 and 6-7 percentage point difference in probable depression at 6 and 12 months, respectively). Conclusions While most outcome improvements were not sustained over the full 2 study years, findings suggest that flexible dissemination of short-term, QI programs in managed primary care can improve patient outcomes well after program termination. Models that support integrated psychotherapy and medication-based treatment strategies in primary care have the potential for relatively long-term patient benefits.

157 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work can guide research commissioners and evaluators on the contextual features of PSP implementations that are important to report or evaluate and represents a first step towards developing guidelines on contexts in PSP implementation evaluations.
Abstract: Background Differences in contexts (eg, policies, healthcare organisation characteristics) may explain variations in the effects of patient safety practice (PSP) implementations. However, knowledge of which contextual features are important determinants of PSP effectiveness is limited and consensus is lacking on a taxonomy of which contexts matter. Methods Iterative, formal discussions were held with a 22-member technical expert panel composed of experts or leaders in patient safety, healthcare systems, and methods. First, potentially important contextual features were identified, focusing on five PSPs. Then, two surveys were conducted to determine the context likely to influence PSP implementations. Results The panel reached a consensus on a taxonomy of four broad domains of contextual features important for PSP implementations: safety culture, teamwork and leadership involvement; structural organisational characteristics (eg, size, organisational complexity or financial status); external factors (eg, financial or performance incentives or PSP regulations); and availability of implementation and management tools (eg, training organisational incentives). Panelists also tended to rate specific patient safety culture, teamwork and leadership contexts as high priority for assessing their effects on PSP implementations, but tended to rate specific organisational characteristic contexts as high priority only for use in PSP evaluations. Panelists appeared split on whether specific external factors and implementation/management tools were important for assessment or only description. Conclusion This work can guide research commissioners and evaluators on the contextual features of PSP implementations that are important to report or evaluate. It represents a first step towards developing guidelines on contexts in PSP implementation evaluations. However, the science of context measurement needs maturing.

157 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Measures of neighbourhood economic conditions are associated with both fetal growth and the length of gestation independent of individual-level factors, but that readily available measures of neighbourhood retail outlets are not.
Abstract: Intrauterine growth retardation and preterm birth are more frequent in African-American women and women of lower socio-economic status, but the reasons for these disparities are not fully understood. The physical and social environments in which these women live may contribute to these disparities. We conducted a multilevel study to explore whether conditions of mothers' neighbourhood of residence contribute to adverse birth outcomes independent of individual-level determinants. We analysed data from 105 111 births in 1015 census tracts in Louisiana during 1997-98, merging it with data from other existing sources on neighbourhood socio-economic status, neighbourhood physical deterioration, and neighbourhood density of retail outlets selling tobacco, alcohol and foods. After controlling for individual-level sociodemographic factors, tract-level median household income was positively associated with both birthweight-for-gestational-age and gestational age at birth. Neighbourhood physical deterioration was associated with these birth outcomes in ecological analyses but only inconsistently associated with them after controlling for individual-level factors. Neither gestational age nor birthweight-for-gestational-age was associated with the neighbourhood density of alcohol outlets, tobacco outlets, fast-food restaurants or grocery supermarkets. We conclude that measures of neighbourhood economic conditions are associated with both fetal growth and the length of gestation independent of individual-level factors, but that readily available measures of neighbourhood retail outlets are not. Additional studies are needed to better understand the nature of environmental influences on birth outcomes.

156 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Patients with the modified metabolic syndrome undergoing noncardiac surgery are at substantially higher risk of complications compared with patients of normal weight.
Abstract: Background Previous studies have demonstrated that obesity is paradoxically associated with a lower risk of mortality after noncardiac surgery. This study will determine the impact of the modified metabolic syndrome (defined as the presence of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes) on perioperative outcomes. Methods This study is based on data from 310,208 patients in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. We estimated separate multivariate logistic regression models for 30-day mortality and for 30-day complications. Results Patients with the modified metabolic syndrome who are super obese had a 2-fold increased risk of death (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.99; 95% CI 1.41-2.80). As stratified by body mass index, patients with the modified metabolic syndrome had a 2- to 2.5-fold higher risk of cardiac adverse events (CAE) compared with normal-weight patients: obese (AOR 1.70; 95% CI 1.40-2.07), morbidly obese (AOR 2.01; 95% CI 1.48-2.73), and super obese (AOR 2.66; 95% CI 1.68-4.19). In addition, the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) was 3- to 7-fold higher in these patients: obese (AOR 3.30; 95% CI 2.75-3.94), morbidly obese (AOR 5.01; 95% CI 3.87-6.49), and super obese (AOR 7.29; 95% CI 5.27-10.1). Conclusion Patients with the modified metabolic syndrome undergoing noncardiac surgery are at substantially higher risk of complications compared with patients of normal weight.

156 citations


Authors

Showing all 9660 results

NameH-indexPapersCitations
Darien Wood1602174136596
Herbert A. Simon157745194597
Ron D. Hays13578182285
Paul G. Shekelle132601101639
John E. Ware121327134031
Linda Darling-Hammond10937459518
Robert H. Brook10557143743
Clifford Y. Ko10451437029
Lotfi A. Zadeh104331148857
Claudio Ronco102131272828
Joseph P. Newhouse10148447711
Kenneth B. Wells10048447479
Moyses Szklo9942847487
Alan M. Zaslavsky9844458335
Graham J. Hutchings9799544270
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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Institution in previous years
YearPapers
202311
202277
2021640
2020574
2019548
2018491