The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), through its Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs), sponsors the development of evidence reports and technology assessments to assist public- and private-sector organizations in their efforts to improve the quality of health care in the United States. The National Institutes of Health requested and provided funding for this report to inform their Pathways to Prevention Workshop.

The reports and assessments provide comprehensive, evidence-based information on common, medical conditions and new health care technologies and strategies. They also identify research gaps in the selected scientific area, identify methodological and scientific weaknesses, suggest research needs, and move the field forward through an unbiased, evidence-based assessment of the available literature. The EPCs systematically review the relevant scientific literature on topics assigned to them by AHRQ and conduct additional analyses when appropriate prior to developing their reports and assessments.

To bring the broadest range of experts into the development of evidence reports and health technology assessments, AHRQ encourages the EPCs to form partnerships and enter into collaborations with other medical and research organizations. The EPCs work with these partner organizations to ensure that the evidence reports and technology assessments they produce will become building blocks for health care quality improvement projects throughout the Nation. The reports undergo peer review and public comment prior to their release as a final report.

AHRQ expects that the EPC evidence reports and technology assessments, when appropriate, will inform individual health plans, providers, and purchasers as well as the health care system as a whole by providing important information to help improve health care quality.

We welcome comments on this evidence report. They may be sent by mail to the Task Order Officer named below at: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, or by email to vog.shh.qrha@cpe.

• Richard G. Kronick, Ph.D.
  Director
  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• Stephanie Chang, M.D., M.P.H.
  Director
  EPC Program
  Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement
  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• David Meyers, M.D.
  Acting Director
  Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement
  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• Suchitra Iyer, Ph.D.
  Task Order Officer
  Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement
  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality