The Editorial Board of Women’s Health Issues is pleased to announce that the Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize for the best paper published in Women's Health Issues in 2015 (Volume 25) has been awarded to Miao Jiang, PhD, a research fellow at the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute and adjunct faculty member with the Department of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University. Jiang's manuscript, “Screening Mammography Rates in the Medicare Population before and after the 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Guideline Change: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis,” was co-authored by Danny R. Hughes, PhD and Richard Duszak Jr., MD. The manuscript was published in Women's Health Issues Volume 25, Issue 3 (May/June 2015), pages 239–245.
The study explores how new guidelines on screening mammography released by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in 2009 may have affected screening mammography among women ages 65 and older. Jiang and her colleagues used Medicare fee-for-service claims data from 2005 through 2012 for a 5% random sample of beneficiaries. They found that rates of screening mammography had been increasing for all Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 to 90 prior to the 2009 guideline change. After the guidelines’ release, they found an immediate and significant decrease in screening of 1.76 per 1,000 women. By comparison, they found that use of two other preventive services, Pap tests and routine eye examinations, did not show any similar shift during the time period under study – suggesting that the drop in screening mammography is likely associated with the USPSTF guideline change.
Screening mammography rates decreased immediately after the guideline change for all age groups studied, Jiang and her colleagues found; three years later, the rate stabilized for those aged 65 to 74, and continued to decline for those aged 75 and older. The authors comment, "Behavioral changes should be anticipated when professional organizations issue competing guidelines; their important public policy implications may impact distinct demographic groups differently, and their results may not be fully quantifiable for many years after their implementation."
“The Editorial Board congratulates Miao Jiang and her colleagues for conducting a methodologically strong study that makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate over mammography screening guidelines,” said Chloe Bird, Editor-in-Chief of Women’s Health Issues.
The Editorial Board also designated two manuscripts in 2015 to receive “Honorable Mention" recognition:
- “Understanding Disparities in Lipid Management Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Gender Differences in Medication Nonadherence after Treatment Intensification” by John Billimek, PhD; Shaista Malik, MD, PhD; Dara H. Sorkin, PhD; Priel Schmalbach, PhD; Quyen Ngo-Metzger, MD, MPH; Sheldon Greenfield, MD; and Sherrie H. Kaplan, PhD, MPH. Published in Volume 25, Issue 1 (January/February), pages 6–12 .
- “Why Are U.S. Girls Getting Meningococcal But Not Human Papilloma Virus Vaccines? Comparison of Factors Associated with Human Papilloma Virus and Meningococcal Vaccination Among Adolescent Girls 2008 to 2012” by Rebecca B. Perkins, MD, MS; Mengyun Lin, MPH; Rebecca A. Silliman, MD, PhD; Jack A. Clark, PhD; and Amresh Hanchate, PhD. Published in Volume 25, Issue 2 (March/April), pages 97-104.
The Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize is awarded annually to recognize excellence in research on women’s health care or policy. Priority is given to manuscripts that report the results of original research and that improve understanding of an important women’s health issue. Members of the staff and Editorial Board of Women’s Health Issues are not eligible. The prize includes a $1,000 award.
Previous winners of the Gibbs Prize include:
- Hailee K. Dunn, MPH (2014)
- Cynthia LeardMann, MPH (2013)
- Nathan L. Hale, PhD (2012)
- Jacqueline L. Angel, PhD (2011)
- Diana Greene Foster, PhD (2010)
- Paula Lantz, PhD (2009)
- Sherry Glied, PhD (2008)
- Richard C. Lindrooth, PhD (2007)
- Joan S. Tucker, PhD (2006)
- JiWon R. Lee, MS, RD, MPH (2005)
- Dawn M. Upchurch, PhD (2004)
- Sherry L. Grace, PhD (2003)
- Sarah Hudson Scholle, DrPH (2002)
- Sandra K. Pope, PhD (2001)
- Ilene Hyman, PhD (2000)
- Usha Sambamaoorthi, PhD (1999)
- Claire Murphy, MD (1997)
- Barbara A. Bartman, MD, MPH (1996)
The Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize was established to honor the founding President of the Board of Governors of the Jacobs Institute of Women Health. Charles E. Gibbs, MD (1923–2000) was a Fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and past chair of ACOG’s Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women, the Task Force on the Voluntary Review of Quality of Care, the Health Care Commission, and the Task Force on Maternal Health Policy. Dr. Gibbs served on the Jacobs Institute of Women Health Board of Governors from 1990–1999 and was instrumental in shaping the Institute’s mission and structure.