Friday, September 03, 2004

Which Medical Conditions Account For The Rise In Health Care Spending?
Health Affairs article - "We calculate the level and growth in health care spending attributable to the fifteen most expensive medical conditions in 1987 and 2000. Growth in spending by medical condition is decomposed into changes attributable to rising cost per treated case, treated prevalence, and population growth. We find that a small number of conditions account for most of the growth in health care spending—the top five medical conditions accounted for 31 percent. For four of the conditions, a rise in treated prevalence, rather than rising treatment costs per case or population growth, accounted for most of the spending growth." The article notes that "the prevalence of mental disorders has remained relatively stable over time; however, rates of treatment have been rising.13 The sharp rise in treated prevalence reflects two trends: increasing recognition and diagnosis of mental disorders, particularly depression and a rapid expansion of new psychotropic medications. Given the historical underdiagnosis and treatment of disorders such as depression, this wider use of treatments, and the associated increase in health care spending, is likely to represent benefits that outweigh the cost  
  

Physical Symptoms in Depressed Patients May Persist
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Somatic symptoms that often accompany depression are less likely to resolve with antidepressant treatment than are the depressive symptoms themselves, new study findings suggest. Although physical symptoms are common in patients treated for clinical depression, there has been little research on outcomes, Dr. Kurt Kroenke and his colleagues report in the August issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine." "med"  
  

New eating disorders model includes personal, sociocultural, and relational variables
NewsRx.com item reprinted at PsycPORT - "A new eating disorder (ED) symptomatology model includes personal, sociocultural, and relational variables, and shows that each variable makes a unique contribution. 'Despite many theorists' assertions and researchers' findings that eating disturbances have personal, sociocultural, and relational correlates, no model of eating disorder symptomatology incorporating all three of these domains has been proposed,' according to T.L. Tylka and associates at Ohio State University."  
  

GlaxoSmithKline Starts Releasing Drug Data
AP story at Yahoo - "GlaxoSmithKline PLC has taken a first step toward fulfilling a promise to disclose the results of every drug trial it sponsors by posting results on the Internet. The pharmaceutical company on Wednesday said it had posted summaries of dozens of clinical trials concerning the diabetes medication rosiglitazone in its new online registry. Glaxo sells the drug under the brand name Avandia. Results of other drug trials will be added to the registry later as summaries are compiled..."  The story notes that Glaxo's clinical trials registry is available to the public, "although the summaries are highly technical and may appear incomprehensible to an untrained reader."  
  

Disaster Workers Have High Rate of Stress Disorders
Reuters Health story at Yahoo - "Firefighters and other first-responders to disasters often face both immediate and long-term psychological effects, researchers report, but early symptoms may help identify those at greatest risk of lasting problems. In a study of 207 rescue workers who responded to a U.S. airliner crash, researchers found that just over 40 percent developed either acute stress disorder shortly afterward, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression over the following year. Many subjects had two or all three disorders, as one often increased the risk of developing the others. "