A.
A Study Reviews Medical Error Discussions at Hospital
Conferences
Narrator:
This is Science Today. According to an Institute
of Medicine report, each year, an estimated 44 thousand
to 98 thousand patients die in U.S. hospitals due
to medical errors. Yet, a new study reviewing regular,
in-house discussions of medical errors, found doctors
did not often discuss them. Dr. Seth Landefeld,
of the University of California, San Francisco's
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, led the study.
Landefeld:
We looked at internal medicine and surgery conferences
at teaching hospitals affiliated with the University
of California, San Francisco and Stanford and attended
about two hundred conferences at those teaching
hospitals and just listened to the cases and listened
to what the doctors talked about.
Narrator:
While surgeons were more likely than those in internal
medicine to discuss medical errors, there was an
overall tendency to talk more about new techniques
or new drugs and less about errors.
Landefeld:
We think that there needs to be more of a culture
of saying, hey, this is interesting that something
went wrong here - let's think about what we can
do to avoid it in the future.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Climate Experts Help Predict Rainfall Patterns to
Avert Famine
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Climate experts at the University
of California, Santa Barbara are leading an international
team of scientists to help monitor and predict rainfall
patterns in Central America and Africa to avert
famine. Joel Michaelsen, who heads the team, says
they received funding to increase their participation
in a federal program called the Famine Early Warning
System Network, or FEWS NET.
Michaelsen:
Their overall mission is to try to monitor the
development of crop yield during the growing season
in different areas of the world, so that they can
get advance notice if there are going to be serious
problems with rainfall shortage or excess that would
lead to crop shortages.
Narrator:
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara are working
with scientists in the field to develop computer
tools.
Michaelsen:
We develop software that allow them to take our
data sets and evaluate different scenarios that
allow them to map current patterns and see them
over a regional scale.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Dependent Older Patients May Cost Hospitals More
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Older patients who are functionally
dependent, or rather have trouble caring for themselves,
cost hospitals over twenty percent more than older
patients who have maintained their functional status.
Those were the findings of a University of California,
San Francisco study conducted by Kenneth Chuang.
Chuang:
My question was whether or not people are treated
differently in hospitals because of their functional
status. During my residencies, we often saw people
were staying in the hospitals longer when they weren't
able to get up and walk after they had been done
with their acute illnesses. And I was wondering
about the financial impacts that this would have
on the institutions, on families and on down the
road.
Narrator:
Chuang's study found hospitals were not reimbursed
for the care of functionally dependent patients
who require longer visits. This could lead to quicker
hospitals stays or even discriminatory practices
towards functionally dependent patients.
Chuang:
It's a good area to start to look for new solutions
and get ways to address inequities.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Study Finds Depression Can Cost Jobs, Loss of Income
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Previous studies have
linked depression to worse health outcomes. In a
study of young adults, researcher Mary Whooley of
the University of California, San Francisco found
one explanation for worsening health could be that
depression is a predictor of higher unemployment
rates and income loss.
Whooley:
We found that having depression at the start
of the study was associated with loss of employment
and income during the following five year. In fact,
over the five-year study, 33% of participants with
depressive symptoms reported new unemployment, compared
with 21% of those without depressive symptoms. And
17% of those with depressive symptoms reported income
loss, compared with only 7% of those without depressive
symptoms.
Narrator:
Whooley says these figures should influence depression
treatment policies in the workplace.
Whooley:
It's possible that improving mental health benefits
would end up being worth the cost by improving the
work functioning of the people who get those benefits.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
March is National Nutrition Month
Narrator:
March is National Nutrition Month, so it's a good
time to start rethinking your diet. This is Science
Today. If you thought you can get most of your nutritional
value in the form of a supplement - think again.
Dr. Cheryl Rock of the University of California,
San Diego says many people seem to equate nutrition
and disease prevention with vitamin and mineral
supplements.
Rock:
The bulk of the evidence that has linked some possible
protective effect has not been through supplements,
it's actually been through dietary choices. There
is so much in food that we are only just beginning
to identify and understand in terms of its cancer
prevention potential. So, it's the whole package
of what you eat, rather than prescribing a particular
supplement.
Narrator:
Some of the reasons people are more apt to go the
dietary supplement route is a lack of time or energy
to prepare food - but Rock says that's no excuse.
Rock:
If you have some frozen vegetables that can
easily be popped in the microwave and ready to eat
in seven minutes, it can make the difference between
doing it and not.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
