Feature
January 2012
Studies of pain management and cancer screening led GHRI news in 2011
Research to find the best approaches for chronic pain and breast cancer screening dominated GHRI news in local and national media in 2011. More than 1,700 news stories mentioned GHRI research last year, accounting for over half of all Group Health mainstream media coverage—and over nine in 10 stories that the organization proactively pitched to the reporters and producers. Here are the top-ten GHRI new stories 2011:
1. False-positive mammograms: In 10 years of annual mammograms, more than half of women without cancer will be called back at least once more for testing, and about one in 12 will be referred for a biopsy, according to a national study led by Rebecca Hubbard, PhD, and published in Annals of Internal Medicine. (Read news release.)
2. Massage for low back pain: Massage therapy helps ease chronic low back pain and improve function, according to a randomized controlled trial—the first study to compare structural and relaxation (Swedish) massage. Dan Cherkin, PhD, led the Annals of Internal Medicine study, which found that both types of massage worked well, with few side effects. (Read news release.)
3. Yoga for back pain: Karen Sherman, PhD, led the largest U.S. yoga study to date. The randomized controlled trial involved 228 adults with chronic low back pain. Yoga was more effective than a self-care book—with better back-related function—but no more effective than stretching classes. The study appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine. (Read news release.)
4. Group Health initiative to prevent opioid abuse and overdose: A Health Affairs report described a major initiative at Group Health to make opioid prescribing safer while improving care for patients with chronic pain. In the Group Health initiative’s first nine months, clinicians documented care plans for almost 6,000 patients—85 percent of those receiving long-term opioid therapy for chronic non-cancer pain. GHRI’s Michael Von Korff, ScD, was a co-author of the report. Group Health Medical Director of Primary Care Claire Trescott, MD, was the lead author. (Read news release.)
5. Radiologists’ volume of mammography matters: Radiologists who interpret more mammograms and spend more time reading diagnostic mammograms do better at determining which suspicious breast lesions are cancer. Diana Buist, PhD, led the largest and most comprehensive study of U.S. radiologists to date, published in Radiology. (Read news release.)
6. Screening for breast cancer recurrence: Yearly screening mammograms detect second breast cancers early among survivors of the disease, according to Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium researchers, including GHRI’s Diana Miglioretti, PhD; Diana Buist, PhD; and Linn Abraham, MS. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was the most comprehensive study of the issue to date. (Read news release.)
7. Online messaging for depression care: A randomized controlled trial of 208 Group Health patients showed that online messaging can deliver organized follow-up care for depression effectively and efficiently. After five months, compared to patients who received usual care, those who had three online care-management contacts with a trained psychiatric nurse were significantly more likely to feel less depressed, take their antidepressant medication as prescribed, and be “very satisfied” with their treatment for depression. Led by Greg Simon, MD, MPH, the study was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. (Read news release.)
8. High honor for Dr. Ed Wagner: GHRI’s first director and founder of its MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation won the 2011 William B. Graham Prize, given to the most distinguished scientists in the field of health services research. (Read news release.)
9. Shared decision-making for bariatric surgery: A video-based decision aid helped severely obese people make more informed choices about bariatric surgery and reach more certainty about them, according to trial involving 152 Group Health patients. David Arterburn, MD, MPH, led the study, which appeared in the journal Obesity. (Read news release.)
10. Obtaining participant consent for genetic studies: A Science editorial by GHRI’s Evette Ludman, PhD; Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH; and others recommended new approaches for treating research participants as true stakeholders in research. (Read news release.)
Rebecca Hughes, GHRI’s senior media consultant, spreads the Institute’s findings to the media and helps track the coverage. She also shares our news through social media, and you can, too. Help spread the word:
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