BACKGROUND Asthma is a non-curable but preventable disease, responsible for higher morbidity worldwide. According to recent WHO report, nearly 235 million people are suffering from asthma leading to 383000 deaths in 2015. The burden of asthma morbidity is higher in developed countries and is increasing in developing countries. OBJECTIVE The present study was aimed at studying the change in pr...

(1) Background: The reliability of disease surveillance may be restricted by sensitivity or ability to capture all disease. Objective: To quantify under-reporting and concordance recording persons with tuberculosis (TB) in national TB systems: the Infectious Disease Reporting System (IDRS) Tuberculosis Information Management (TBIMS). (2) Methods: This retrospective review includes 4698 patients...

critical thinking is necessary to read the scientific literature. however, in addition to questions about the science, often one must also question the meaning of the text. this article provides an example of the analyses needed to understand a single sentence. in so doing, it raises several interesting issues of meaning, measurement, statistical analyses, and the form in which results are pres...

BACKGROUND The seasonal influenza vaccine coverage rate in China is only 1.9 %. There is no information available on the economic burden of influenza-associated outpatient visits and hospitalizations at the national level, even though this kind of information is important for informing national-level immunization policy decision-making. METHODS A retrospective telephone survey was conducted i...

BACKGROUND Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a rapidly progressive, lethal neuromuscular disorder, present from birth, which occurs almost exclusively in males. We have reviewed contemporary evidence of burden, epidemiology, illness costs and treatment patterns of DMD. This systematic review adhered to published methods with information also sought from the web and contacting registries. Sea...

On September 30, 2003, existing hazardous waste combustors (HWCs) began operating under the HWC Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards. The HWC MACT standards include recordkeeping and reporting requirements that are typically more extensive than previous facility requirements. Facilities are required to keep detailed records of items such as emission exceedances, startups, shut...

Recent Medicare legislation has been directed at improving patient care quality by stopping reimbursement of hospital-acquired conditions (HACs). However, this policy may be undermined if some providers respond by upcoding, a practice where HACs are reported as present-on-admission (POA) to continue receiving full reimbursement. Identifying upcoding behavior from claims data is challenging due ...

DISCLAIMER (The views in this report are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of info...

Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including s...

Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including s...