Journal of general internal medicine
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Opioid analgesics and other psychoactive drugs may pose an even greater risk for drug overdose in persons with mental health disorders. ⋯ Opioids and longer-duration benzodiazepines were associated with drug overdose among all subjects, but opioid risk was greatest for persons with depression. Antidepressant use > 90 days reduced the odds of overdose for persons with depression, but all antidepressant use increased the risk for persons without depression.
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Studies reveal that 44.5% of abstracts presented at national meetings are subsequently published in indexed journals, with lower rates for abstracts of medical education scholarship. ⋯ The publication rate of medical education abstracts presented at the 2009 SGIM annual meeting was similar to reported publication rates for biomedical research abstracts, but higher than publication rates reported for medical education abstracts. MERSQI scores were associated with higher abstract publication rates, suggesting that attention to measures of quality--such as sampling, instrument validity, and data analysis--may improve the likelihood that medical education abstracts will be published.
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Asian American immigrants have a lower level of health literacy than non-Latino whites, but their level of health literacy and its impact on health outcomes may differ among subgroups. ⋯ We found heterogeneity in health literacy among Asian American immigrants and found that health literacy had varying associations with health outcomes. The aggregated Asian American immigrant group results may mask the true health disparities that each Asian American immigrant group faces. Koreans were the only group found to have a significant association between the proxy for health literacy and both health outcomes. Further research is needed to better understand the causes of heterogeneity and to investigate health literacy as a critical determinant of immigrant health.