New Study Release:

Positive Association Between Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder Medication Use and Academic Achievement During Elementary School

A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, has found evidence that grade schoolers with ADHD who take medications can actually improve their long-term academic achievement, and make greater gains in standardized math and reading scores than students with ADHD who do not take medications.

"Our study found that the children with ADHD who used the medication were several months ahead of their non-medicated peers in reading and math, which is significant because early progress in school is critical to ongoing academic success," said Richard Scheffler, distinguished professor of health economics and public policy at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health and director of the campus's Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare.

Brent Fulton publishes new article in Psychiatric Services

National Variation of ADHD Diagnostic Prevalence and Medication Use: Health Care Providers and Education Policies

Brent D. Fulton, Ph.D., and colleagues examined two factors that might contribute to observed U.S. regional variation in ADHD diagnosis and treatment: types of providers and their number per capita and policies in some of the nation's school systems that might influence personnel to recommend medication for children with ADHD.

Full article

Timothy Brown and team publish four articles in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of the California Dental Association

Oral Health and the Demand for Dental Care

An introduction to the issue. Full article (PDF).

The Demand for Dental Care and Financial Barriers in Accessing Needed Care Among Adults in California

Using economic models of the demand for dental care, the authors find that receiving dental care is positively related to having dental insurance, being female, increasing age, being white, Hispanic or Asian, higher levels of education, higher levels of family income, better health status, and being unmarried. Full article (PDF).

The Effect of Functional Limitations on the Demand for Dental Care Among Adults 65 and Older

In 2003, approximately 106,000 elderly women living in California communities experienced two or more limitations in activities of daily living and were thus 40 percent less likely to access dental care relative to elderly women with fewer limitations. Full article (PDF).

The Oral Health Status of Adults 65 and Older in California: 1995-2006

In 2006, approximately 75 percent of older adults were missing one or more teeth due to disease. Those who are older, black, less educated, have low family income, or are current or former smokers are more likely to be missing teeth. The authors present their findings in this article. Full article (PDF).

Visit Journal of the California Dental Association

New Publication in Health Services Research Journal

The Petris Center released a new article, Does the Under– or Overrepresentation of Minority Physicians across Geographical Areas Affect the Location Decisions of Minority Physicians?. Details about the article can be found in the Publications section. See also: California's Workforce Studies under the Research section.

Visit Health Services Research Journal

Psychiatric Services Publishes "Transformation of the California Mental Health System: Stakeholder-Driven Planning as a Transformational Activity"

In their efforts to transform local mental health systems under the 2004 Mental Health Services Act, California counties consistently articulated the broad principles of a recovery orientation in their designs of programs for consumers and their families, according to a study by the Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley.

However, there was little convergence on specific strategies to achieve this vision, reflecting the local planning process, which gave counties the flexibility chose methods that met the needs of their diverse communities, concluded the study, published in the October issue of Psychiatric Services.

Full Article

2008 Petris Symposium Details Now Available

The Annual Petris Symposium, "California Health Care Reform — Progress and Prognosis" took place on Friday, April 18, 2008 from 1:00 - 5:00 PM at the Berkeley City Club . You may now view the agenda, photos, and presentation files on the Events page.

Social Science & Medicine Publishes "Community-level social capital and recurrence of acute coronary syndrome"

Social capital has been shown to be associated with reduced mortality due to cardiovascular disease. Our aim was to determine the association of time-varying community–level social capital (CSC) with recurrence of acute coronary syndrome using a retrospective cohort study design. A total of 34,752 men and women were identified, aged 30–85 years, who were hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome.

View the full report [PDF] and the press release.

The Petris Center Releases New Mental Health Services Act Report

California's county mental health departments spent most of their budgets on outpatient services, with low overhead and low spending on hospitalization, according to a new report released today (Tuesday, November 6) by the Nicholas C.Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley.

The survey covers the structure, organization, and financing of county mental health departments in the 2004 fiscal year, providing baseline data on each county before voters passed the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) later that same year.

View the full report [PDF] or the press release.

Social Science & Medicine Publishes New Social Capital Paper

The August 2007 issue of Social Science & Medicine includes an article that examines the relationship between area-level social capital and non–specific psychological distress using data from the US National Health Interview Survey. Petris Center Director Richard Scheffler, Associate Director of Research Timothy Brown, and AHRQ trainee Jennifer Rice use the Petris Social Capital Index (PSCI) to draw their conclusions. View the abstract and full article.