Health-Related Quality of Life and the Physical Activity Levels of Middle-Aged Women, California Health Interview Survey, 2005

Introduction Several studies suggest that physical activity may improve health-related quality of life. Other studies have shown that participation in physical activity differs among women of different racial/ethnic groups. This study aimed to determine whether the association between physical activity and health-related quality of life differs among women aged 40 to 64 years from different racial/ethnic groups. Methods We explored the association between physical activity level and health-related quality of life with descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses adjusting for potential confounders among 11,887 women aged 40 to 64 years who identified themselves as Latinas, Asians, African Americans, or whites in the 2005 California Health Interview Survey. Results Although white women reported more regular physical activity than women of other racial/ethnic groups, Asian women reported fewer mentally and overall unhealthy days than women of other groups. Nonetheless, as physical activity increased, health-related quality of life improved only among white women (fewer physically unhealthy, mentally unhealthy, recent activity limitation, and overall unhealthy days) and among Latinas (fewer overall unhealthy days). Conclusion Future studies should try to confirm if and clarify why the association between physical activity level and health-related quality of life differs among these middle-aged women of different races/ethnicities. If confirmed, this association would imply that health care professionals and those who design public health interventions may need to vary their promotion methods and messages to encourage physical activity among women of different races/ethnicities

SB04-09/10: The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2009

SB04-09/10: The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2009. This resolution passed unanimously during the September 30, 2009 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM)

Does competition from private surgical centres improve public hospitals’ performance? Evidence from the English National Health Service

This paper examines the impact of competition from government-facilitated entry of private, specialty surgical centres on the efficiency and case mix of incumbent public hospitals within the English NHS. We exploit the fact that the government chose the location of these surgical centres (Independent Sector Treatment Centres or ISTCs) based on nearby public hospitals’ waiting times – not length of stay or clinical quality – to construct treatment and control groups that are comparable with respect to key outcome variables of interest. Using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, we find that ISTC entry led to greater efficiency – measured by presurgery length of stay for hip and knee replacements – at nearby public hospitals. However, these new entrants took on healthier patients and left incumbent hospitals treating patients who were sicker, and who stayed in hospital longer after surgery

Computations of Confidence Intervals for Estimates in the United States National Hospital Discharge Survey, 1979–2000

INTRODUCTION: The National Hospital Discharge Survey is a primary data source for epidemiology research in the United States. To ensure that estimates are reliable, confidence intervals need to be calculated. The original survey data source is not available to the public, and the usual statistical methods are unsuitable for calculating confidence intervals. Instead, calculating confidence intervals requires using the statistical methods and relative standard errors that the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics has provided. However, the relative standard error parameters differ by hospital, patient category, and group. They also change yearly with sampling and are expressed differently before and during or after 1988. Consequently, manual computations of confidence intervals with multiple groups, diseases, and years are inefficient and prone to error. We developed a SAS program to compute confidence intervals for National Hospital Discharge Survey data from 1979 through 2000, newborns excluded. METHODS: We transposed 22 tables of relative standard error parameters (one for each year) into two new parameter tables that maintain the sampling designs before 1988 and during and after 1988 but are similar in overall structure. We unified all values to make each set of relative standard error parameters unique. We developed a program, COMPURSE, to search for relative standard error parameters for inputted estimates and to calculate confidence intervals. We set up an interface program for users to enter data, time period, confidence interval level, and output location; to read the relative standard error parameter tables; and to run the COMPURSE program. RESULTS: For different sets of National Hospital Discharge Survey data, COMPURSE efficiently and correctly retrieved relevant relative standard error parameters for estimates and accurately calculated relative standard errors, standard errors, and confidence intervals for annual estimates, multiple-year summaries, and average annual estimates. CONCLUSION: The program COMPURSE helps users analyze National Hospital Discharge Survey data efficiently

Nanopore sequencing and de novo assembly of a misidentified Camelpox vaccine reveals putative epigenetic modifications and alternate protein signal peptides

DNA viruses can exploit host cellular epigenetic processes to their advantage; however, the epigenome status of most DNA viruses remains undetermined. Third generation sequencing technologies allow for the identification of modified nucleotides from sequencing experiments without specialized sample preparation, permitting the detection of non-canonical epigenetic modifications that may distinguish viral nucleic acid from that of their host, thus identifying attractive targets for advanced therapeutics and diagnostics. We present a novel nanopore de novo assembly pipeline used to assemble a misidentified Camelpox vaccine. Two confirmed deletions of this vaccine strain in comparison to the closely related Vaccinia virus strain modified vaccinia Ankara make it one of the smallest non-vector derived orthopoxvirus genomes to be reported. Annotation of the assembly revealed a previously unreported signal peptide at the start of protein A38 and several predicted signal peptides that were found to differ from those previously described. Putative epigenetic modifications around various motifs have been identified and the assembly confirmed previous work showing the vaccine genome to most closely resemble that of Vaccinia virus strain Modified Vaccinia Ankara. The pipeline may be used for other DNA viruses, increasing the understanding of DNA virus evolution, virulence, host preference, and epigenomics

State Quality-Adjusted Life Expectancy for U.S. adults from 1993 to 2008

Purpose: Quality-Adjusted Life Expectancy (QALE) is a summary measure of mortality and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) across different stages of life. This study developed a method to calculate state-level QALE for U.S. adults. Methods: Population HRQOL data came from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Using age-specific deaths from the Mortality Summary File, this study constructed life tables to estimate life expectancy and QALE for all 50 States and the District of Columbia by sex and race from 1993 through 2008. Results: From 1993 to 2008, the QALE of an U.S. adult at 18 years old had increased from 51.2 to 52.3 years. In 2006, states with the highest QALE were Hawaii (56.2), Minnesota (55.2), North Dakota (54.9), Iowa (54.7), and Nebraska (54.4), while the states with the lowest QALE were West Virginia (47.1), Mississippi (48.2), Alabama (48.5), Kentucky (48.5), and Oklahoma (49.0). Conclusions: Because population HRQOL values and mortality statistics are available from existing and publicly accessible data and because formulas for the calculation of QALE and its standard error are easy to incorporate in a spreadsheet, State and local Health Departments can calculate QALE as a routine surveillance measurement for tracking their population’s health over time

Quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) loss due to smoking in the United States

Purpose: Estimate quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) loss due to smoking and examine trends and state differences in smoking-related QALE loss in the U.S. Methods: Population health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores were estimated from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. This study constructed life tables based on U.S. mortality files and the mortality linked National Health Interview Survey and calculated QALE for smokers, non-smokers, and the total population. Results: In 2009, an 18-year-old smoker was expected to have 43.5 (SE = 0.2) more years of QALE, and a non-smoker of the same age was expected to have 54.6 (SE = 0.2) more years of QALE. Therefore, smoking contributed 11.0 (SE = 0.2) years of QALE loss for smokers and 4.1 years (37%) of this loss resulted from reductions in HRQOL alone. At the population level, smoking was associated with 1.9 fewer years of QALE for U.S. adults throughout their lifetime, starting at age 18. Conclusions: This study demonstrates an application of a recently developed QALE estimation methodology. The analyses show good precision and relatively small bias in estimating QALE––especially at the individual level. Although smokers may live longer today than before, they still have a high disease burden due to morbidities associated with poor HRQOL

Marshall University Music Department Presents, SCI Student Composers Concert, Esin Günduz, SCI Chapter President Dr. Mark Zanter, advisor

https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/1623/thumbnail.jp

Does competition from private surgical centres improve public hospitals’ performance? Evidence from the English National Health Service

This paper examines the impact of a government programme which facilitated the entry of for-profit surgical centres to compete against incumbent National Health Service hospitals in England. We examine the impact of competition from these surgical centres on the efficiency – measured by pre-surgery length of stay for hip and knee replacement patients – and case mix of incumbent public hospitals. We exploit the fact that the government chose the broad locations where these surgical centres (Independent Sector Treatment Centres or ISTCs) would be built based on local patient waiting times – not length of stay or clinical quality – to construct treatment and control groups that are comparable with respect to key outcome variables of interest. Using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, we find that the entry of surgical centres led to shorter pre-surgery length of stay at nearby public hospitals. However, these new entrants took on healthier patients and left incumbent hospitals treating patients who were sicker. This paper highlights a potential trade-off that policymakers face when they promote competition from private, for-profit firms in markets for the provision of public services