Past Research Projects
Dr. Arthur Hartz
Kjell Benson
Kjell worked with Dr. Arthur Hartz to elucidate the factors that
are essential to high-quality observational studies.
The hypothesis for Kjell's study was that observational studies
(OS) and randomized controlled studies (RCT) will have effect
sizes that vary only by as much as can be expected by chance
alone. He searched Medline, the Cochrane database, and local
specialists to obtain an exhaustive list of relevant OS and RCT in
the areas of hormone replacement therapy vs placebo in
osteoporosis, angioplasty vs fibrinolysis in MI and intensive
insulin therapy vs standard therapy in IDDM. In each treatment
area, the studies with matching inclusion criteria, populations,
and outcomes were directly compared as to relevant outcomes. He
categorized the methodological problems after performing
significance testing of conformity to the RCT gold standard. He
compared the magnitudes of the effects in the observational
studies to those in the randomized, controlled trials that
evaluated the same treatment.
The results of this study are published in the New England
Journal of Medicine, June 22, 2000, 1878-1886.
David Gabel
David worked with Dr. Arthur Hartz to complete a qualitative
study, designed to explore the factors that contribute to the
improvement of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. David
conducted phone interviews of chronic fatigue syndrome patients
who were identified in earlier studies. Through in-depth,
structured interviews, David questioned subjects about what
factors might have contributed to an improvement in their health.
David then transcribed the phone interviews and abstracted themes
that explained improvement for these patients.
Josh Lucas
Josh worked with Dr. Arthur Hartz on a study to evaluate an
alternative method of presenting expert testimony in comparison to
the traditional method of presenting testimony in the context of
specific medical legal cases. The alternative method is to survey
experts with similar backgrounds assist the court rather than
relying on a single expert. Josh located possible cases involving
expert medical testimony about the standards of practice. He
abstracted these cases and presented them to experts along with a
survey that asked the beliefs of the experts as to the decision,
the culpability of the physician involved and other information
critical to the defendant's decision. After follow-up surveys were
obtained, he entered and analyzed the data.
Glenda Trimble
Glenda worked with Dr. Arthur Hartz on a study of factors that
influence physician adherence to guidelines established by the
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the
National Institutes of Health) for the treatment of asthma
patients. Glenda reviewed patient records to extract treatment
information regarding patient management. She also conducted phone
interviews to obtain some of the treatment information. Her
research sample included patients from three clinics, General
Internal Medicine, Family Practice and Specialty clinics. She
compared the patient information she obtained from the three types
of medical practitioners in regards to asthma severity, age of
patient, education of patient, method of payment and patient
outcomes. In addition, she used a questionnaire to evaluate the
attitudes of physicians.
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Dr. David Bedell
Lisa Baeza
Lisa worked with Dr. David Bedell to study the access of
Midwestern Latino women to prenatal health care. She administered
a questionnaire to pregnant Latino women who came prenatal clinics
in Lone Tree, Iowa. Lisa was fluent in Spanish and was able to
obtain the information on the questionnaire from subjects who
spoke primarily Spanish. She then translated the responses and
entered them into a data base for later analysis.
Dr. Alicia Weissman
Micca Donohue
Micca worked with Dr. Alicia Weissman on a study to quantify
antidepressant levels in maternal plasma, infant plasma, and
breast milk in order to assess maternal antidepressant drug
excretion into breast milk and infant drug levels of maternal
antidepressant medications. Micca wrote letters introducing the
study to psychiatry, family practice, obstetrics and gynecology
and pediatric health care providers, including doctors, physician
assistants, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, nurse
supervisors and lactation specialists in Iowa City and Cedar
Rapids. Recruitment letters were also sent to WIC and La Leche
Leagues in the area. Newspaper and radio announcements advertised
the study as well. Micca worked with the General Clinical Research
Center where samples of maternal blood and infant blood were
collected. In addition, the entire output of one breast was
collected for analysis. Micca collected information from each
mother on the infant's sleeping, feeding and interactive behaviors
and other health concerns. Breast milk and plasma samples were
sent to a laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh for analysis.
Micca was able to collect data and report on two cases during her
summer program. She also co-wrote with Dr.Weissman, a review
article about antidepressant use during breastfeeding which will
be published in the Iowa Perinatal Letter this spring.
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Dr. Barcey Levy
Teresa Gray
Teresa worked on two research projects, one during the summer
prior to entering medical school and the second during the summer
between her M1 and M2 years.
The first project looked at differences in women presenting to
the UIHC Family Practice Clinic and the Obstetrics and Gynecology
Department for their annual exams. She administered a
questionnaire and reviewed patient records to obtain data
regarding treatment recommendations.
In the second study, Teresa worked with Dr.Levy to assess the
health behaviors of faculty in the Colleges of Medicine, Law,
Pharmacy, Nursing and Dentistry. She helped design a questionnaire
that was mailed to faculty in each college. After follow-up
questionnaires were returned, she entered, analyzed and summarized
the data. Teresa presented a report of this study at the Society
of Teachers of Family Medicine meeting in Orlando, Florida in
April, 2000.
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Dr. George Bergus
James Sanders
James worked with Dr. George Bergus on a study of the impact of
information order on decision-making by patients, a process that
is central to the patient consent process. James recruited adults
from the waiting room of the Family Practice Center at UIHC and
administered a questionnaire to each subject. Subjects were
randomized to two experiment groups, one group received a
questionnaire describing a medical intervention with the risks
detailed before the benefits and the other group had a situation
detailing the benefits before the risks. A scenario involving the
disease of carotid artery stenosis of mild, moderate and severe
conditions was described with risks detailed either before or
after benefits to treatments. Subjects then rated the
favorableness of the procedure, whether they would undergo the
proposed procedure and their satisfaction with their judgment
about the procedure and their experience with the procedure. He
entered, analyzed and summarized the data
Julie Sterling
Julie worked with Dr. George Bergus in evaluating the e-mail
consultations that had been received by physician consults over
the past several years. Julie reviewed consultations and devised a
coding scheme that would describe them. She applied this coding
scheme and analyzed its reliability.
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Dr. Mark Graber
Royce Burns
Royce worked with Dr. Mark Graber on a study of physician
perceptions and limits to patient autonomy. The purpose was to
determine whether or not surgeons believe that patients who make
requests about their surgery are desirable patients and whether or
not surgeons will honor requests by patients.
Royce worked with Dr. Graber in designing a questionnaire.
After identifying a subject base of physicians, Royce mailed the
study questionnaire to a random sample of physicians. Follow-up
mailing was completed and Royce entered and did preliminary
analysis of the data.
Suzy Wing
Suzy worked with Dr. Mark Graber on a study of the influence of
non-medical demographic information and social bias on physician
decision-making in pediatric cases. Suzy worked with Dr. Graber in
designing a questionnaire which was mailed to all 270
pediatricians and a random sample of family physicians (520) in
the state of Iowa. The questionnaires contained two cases
describing potentially serious complaints, failure to thrive and
injuries from an accident. Participants were randomized to 4
experimental groups: 1) a presenting parent who was single,
Caucasian, 2) a presenting parent who was African-American, 3) a
married mother and 4) a married father. After follow-up mailings
were completed, Suzy entered and analyzed the data.
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