Culture

The satisfaction levels among a hospital's staff are closely linked to the quality of healthcare it provides, say a team of doctors from Imperial College London.

In the first study of its kind, Dr Richard Pinder and colleagues at Imperial found that hospitals in England with lower mortality rates were more likely to have members of staff satisfied with the quality of care they provide.

People with disabilities are at a greater risk of being the victims of violence and of suffering mental ill health when victimized, according to research published February 20 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Hind Khalifeh and colleagues from University College London and King's College London.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Gun violence in the United States can be substantially reduced if Congress expands requirements for background checks on retail gun sales to cover firearm transfers between private parties, a new report by the director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program concludes.

Status updates, patient forums, blog comments – among the incredible amount of personal information on the Web is a potential trove of health data. Bioethicists writing in Science Translational Medicine acknowledge the value of this resource but argue that to be ethically acceptable for use in research, traditional models of informed consent must be adapted to suit the dynamic online environment.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Two major health reform laws, enacted 25 years apart, both try to meet an ethical standard to provide broad access to basic health care. Neither quite gets there -- but it's not too late for modern health care reform to bring the nation closer to a goal of comprehensive and coordinated care for all.

That's the conclusion of a commentary published in the new issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association by a team of University of Michigan Health System physicians.

New Rochelle, NY, February 20, 2013–Reducing financial barriers to medication access—a strategy known as value-based insurance design (VBID)—can improve medication adherence and management of chronic diseases such as diabetes. The economic and patient-perceived benefits of eliminating co-payments for diabetes-related medications and supplies are described in a trend-setting study published in Population Health Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

Why do straight women and gay men form close relationships with one another? When you see that topic and the use of the science-y term "mating" you know it must be a new psychology paper.

The fact that this study used surveys of people who looked at Facebook profiles just adds to its credibility; regardless, they conclude that the glue that cements these unique relationships is honest, unbiased relationship advice.

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 19, 2013 – A new study published online today in the American Journal of Managed Care found that in Medicare Part D, generic drug coverage was cost-saving compared to no coverage in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, while also improving health outcomes.

In "before" and "after" photos from advertisements for wound-healing ointments, bandages and antibiotic creams, we see an injury transformed from an inflamed red gash to smooth and flawless skin.

What we don't appreciate is the vital role that our own natural biomolecules play in the healing process, including their contribution to the growth of new cells and the development of new blood vessels that provide nutrients to those cells.

A hospital is not the best place to get a good night's sleep, especially in a noisy intensive care unit. It's a cause for concern because studies have shown that a lack of sleep can cause patients to experience delirium—an altered mental state that may delay their recovery and lead to short and long-term confusion and memory problems.

Philadelphia, PA, February 20, 2013 – A study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has determined that there is increasing evidence of a connection between diet and acne, particularly from high glycemic load diets and dairy products, and that medical nutrition therapy (MNT) can play an important role in acne treatment.

PULLMAN, Wash. – Viewers of primetime crime dramas, like NCIS, CSI or Law & Order, are more inclined than non-viewers to see themselves intervening on behalf of the victim of a sexual assault, according to recent research at Washington State University.

Air pollution contributes to an increased number of deaths among patients who have been admitted to hospital with heart attacks, according to a study published online today (Wednesday) in the European Heart Journal [1].

Although an intravenous fluid that paramedics in Japan often give to patients in cardiac arrest before they reach hospital may help restore circulation, it may also be linked to reduced survival with minimal neurological or physical damage one month later, according to a study from Japan published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

Using a grown-up version of the rock-paper-scissors game, Indiana University psychologists offer a new hypothesis of the group dynamics that arise in situations as varied as cycles of fashion, fluctuations of financial markets, eBay bidding wars and political campaign strategies.

In a study they published this week in the open access journal PLOS ONE, the psychologists discussed situations in which each person's decision depends on what they think other people will decide, looking at the riddle of "what you think I think you think I think."