In the past decade, state-specific increases in the number of reported cases of coccidioidomycosis have been observed in areas of California and Arizona where the disease is endemic. Although most coccidioidomycosis is asymptomatic or mild, infection can lead to severe pulmonary or disseminated disease requiring hospitalization and costly disease management. To determine the epidemiology of cas...

Salinity and drainage management options include source control, reuse, and evaporation ponds. This article identifies efficient strategies to maintain hydrologic balance in closed drainage basins and evaluates their impact on regional agricultural profits. Theoretical analysis suggests that economic efficiency requires acknowledgment of the nonseparability between water use and land value. Emp...

OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence of hospitalized myasthenia gravis (MG), and to determine the factors associated with poor outcomes of hospitalized MG patients at a national level. METHODS This study was based on a retrospective design. We collected data of hospitalized MG adults recorded by the National Health Security Office, Bangkok, Thailand between October 2009 and September 2010. Cli...

The highly rural region of Appalachia faces considerable socioeconomic disadvantage and health disparities that are recognized risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV). The objective of this study was to estimate the rate of IPV-related hospitalizations in Appalachia and the non-Appalachian United States for 2007-2011 and compare hospitalizations in each region by clinical and sociodemo...

BACKGROUND Obesity is a highly prevalent chronic problem with health and fiscal consequences. Data from adults and nonsurgical pediatric patients suggest that obesity has serious implications for the US economy. OBJECTIVE Our goal was to describe the impact of BMI on hospital charges in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy (AT). METHODS AND PROCEDURES We carried out a retrospective compar...

This study identified specific regional risk factors for the high rate of pediatric pedestrian trauma in Florida. Of the 29 cases studied prospectively, 3 (10%) occurred near ice cream trucks and 13 (45%) involved "dart-outs"; mean hospital charges were 24,478 +/- 43,939 US dollars. Recommendations included an engineering change for a dangerous intersection, and a population-based recommendatio...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Mounting evidence points to a decline in stroke incidence. However, little is known about recent patterns of stroke hospitalization within the buckle of the stroke belt. This study aims to investigate the age- and race-specific secular trends in stroke hospitalization rates, inpatient stroke mortality rates, and related hospitalization charges during the past decade in So...

Although regional variations in Medicare spending are known, it is not clear whether regional variations exist in hospital charges for total joint arthroplasty. Data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Diagnosis Related Groups 469 and 470 (Major Joint with and without Major Complicating or Comorbid Condition) from 2011 were analyzed for variation by region. Drastic variatio...

Treatment of polytrauma patients requires a large number of well trained staff and expensive medical equipment. The high medical standard in polytrauma care resulted in a reduction of a 40% lethality in the 70's to 10 to 15% today. The changes in german health systems (GSG) cut down the financial resources and call for careful evaluation of costs in trauma centers. Our analysis of the costs of ...

OBJECTIVES To examine emergency medical services (EMS) usage by children in one state. METHODS Dispatch of an EMS vehicle in response to a call in the US is referred to as a "run". Runs for Utah for 1991-92 were linked to corresponding hospital records. Abbreviated injury severity scores (AISs) were assigned using ICDMAP-90 software. RESULTS For the two year period there were at least 15 EM...