65,863 research outputs found
The Pregnancy Project: Impact of Ultrasound Use During Pregnancy Care
Use of ultrasounds during pregnancy continues to increase and there is much debate as to what the best practice is regarding their use, for what types of patients, at what volume level. Current evidence suggests, the extended routine use of ultrasound technology should be for all women that present complications to screen for structural anomalies during pregnancy. However, others have suggested that excessive ultrasound use may be both unnecessary, costly and potentially harmful. Evidence further suggests that mothers find the use of technology to be security enhancing during pregnancy and through the process of care, and that ultrasound use is important for boding with their unborn baby. Here, I examine the impact of ultrasound use on care satisfaction in a panel of women who have given birth in the northeast through a retrospective survey. Findings suggest that ultrasound use is not a driver of care satisfaction overall, however physicians may be acting on this differently with the coming implications of health care reform
An In-Depth Look at Recent Influenza Seasons and Vaccine Effectiveness
This paper aims to present an in-depth exploration of immunology, the influenza virus, vaccination, and vaccination’s effectiveness with respect to influenza. It also delves into the possible causes behind the large increase in early childhood deaths during the 2003-2004 influenza season, which was a turning point in terms of influenza incident reporting. Finally, data analysis on the relationship between childhood flu vaccine coverage and childhood outpatient ILI (influenza-like illness) visits by region is presented as a measurement of vaccine effectiveness and identifier of trends. Although this relationship was not statistically significant (alpha=0.05) regionally, this simply points to alternate factors that exist among the relationship between vaccine coverage and outpatient visits in children. The same comparison made over time with national statistics did prove statistically significant (p=0.02), however, other variables are hypothesized to be present in this relationship as well
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