Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD, conducted an analysis of Medicare data and discovered that older diabetic patients who received all of their primary care from nurse practitioners had lower rates of potentially preventable hospitalization than those who received primary care from physicians in nonmetropolitan urban and rural areas. There were no differences between patients cared for by nurse practitioners versus physicians in urban areas. Kuo said discovering that the impact of nurse practitioner care was stronger in nonmetropolitan areas is important, given that there has been a shortage of physicians in rural areas for the past 30 years. Physicians in rural areas may have a larger patient load, limiting their ability to spend sufficient time with patients or follow-up with them in a timely manner. Prior studies have shown that nurse practitioners spend more time with their patients, give patients more information and follow-up more frequently than physicians do. The study was published in the journal Medical Care.


Jacques Baillargeon, PhD, showed for the first time that exposure to testosterone therapy over a five-year period was not associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Further, risk of high-grade prostate cancer did not increase according to the total number of testosterone injections. In view of the large increase in testosterone therapy use in recent years, examining the potential long-term risks of testosterone therapy holds increasing clinical and public health relevance. This study’s findings offer important information regarding the risk-benefit assessment for men with testosterone deficiency who are considering treatment. The study appears in the Journal of Urology.


Dr. James Vanderploeg, in collaboration with the National Aerospace Training and Research Center in Southampton, Pennsylvania, is conducting research into the safety training programs that will be used to trainspaceflight passengers. Devising these training programs is a key step in preparing for commercial suborbital space travel because it must first be determined what training and preparation private citizens will need for their trip. Researchers currently are seeking volunteer participants to experience a simulated suborbital spaceflight. The simulated flight will be produced using a high-performance centrifuge. The simulator is capable of generating high onset-offset G-forces similar to those that might be experienced in high-performance aircraft or spacecraft without having to take people into the sky. In the current study, the researchers are looking into how much preparation time future space travelers will need before a flight and which types of training approaches work best. The knowledge obtained from this research study may improve future suborbital spaceflight training and simulation for those able to participate in such travel.

Research Briefs were written by Donna Ramirez and Kurt Koopmann.
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