Health Problems

VA hospitals have lower rates of adverse events in psychiatric units

(HealthDay)—Psychiatric inpatients at community-based hospitals are twice as likely to experience adverse events (AEs) or medical errors (MEs) as inpatients at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals, according to a study published in the November issue of Medical Care. Sara W. Cullen, Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues retrospectively reviewed medical records […]

Health Problems

Providing more testing choices does not increase colorectal cancer screening rates

Offering patients the choice between home screening or in-office colonoscopy does not increase participation in colorectal cancer screening, according to a new Penn Medicine study. However, the framing of choice did impact patient decision-making, as the proportion of colonoscopies—the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening—fell when the home screening option was presented as an available […]

Health News

Skin cancer rates have soared by 45% in ten years

Skin cancer rates have soared by 45% in ten years in both young and old patients ‘because of rise of package holidays in the 1970s and a more recent surge in cheap flights’ The deadliest form of skin cancer – melanoma – has risen drastically since 2004 It’s become the fifth most common cancer in […]

Health News

‘Striking’ differences in rates of HIV/AIDS within African nations

Despite the rapid scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) since 2000, HIV/AIDS is still the most common cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from the Global Burden of Disease. A new scientific paper reveals striking variation in HIV prevalence at provincial and district levels. The paper, published in Nature, provides precise geographic estimates […]