The “New & Interesting” series is a biweekly compilation of select research findings, news articles, and random tidbits in bullet-point format. The entries are highly abbreviated, but provide links to the original articles or abstracts if you desire to read further.
General Articles
- Reducing just 3 grams of salt from the diet of the average American could prevent up to 66,000 strokes, 99,000 heart attacks, and 92,000 deaths in the United States. This would also save $24 billion in health care costs per year. (Reuters)
- Raising ambulatory care copayments among elderly patients similarly increased rates of hospitalizations, length of stays, and total cost of care. (NEJM)
Technical Articles
- Reducing the rates of readmission in the geriatric population. A hospitalist and his colleagues at the Baylor University Medical Center performed a pilot project involving a care coordinator and clinical pharmacist performing telephone follow-up calls and home visits to geriatric patients recently discharged from the hospital. The team found that this approach reduced the rates of readmissions or emergency visits within 30 days after discharge. The population studied included geriatric patients pre-identified to be have high risk for readmission. (ACP Hospitalist)
- High doses (50 mg / day or more) of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain in the elderly were associated with a two-fold increased risk for developing a fracture. (J Gen Intern Med)
