About Reports

IOM reports provide objective and straightforward advice to decision makers and the public. This site includes IOM reports published after 1998. A complete list of IOM’s publications, from its establishment in 1970 through July 1, 2009, is available as a PDF.

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  Alzheimer's Diagnostic Guideline Validation: Exploration of Next Steps - Workshop Summary Released: February 16, 2012

  Scientific advances over the last decade now indicate that Alzheimer’s disease is a continuous, progressive cognitive disease, most likely beginning many years before dementia is apparent. To discuss the next steps in validating new diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer’s disease, the IOM Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders hosted a public workshop session at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
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  Facilitating State Health Exchange Communication Through the Use of Health Literate Practices - Workshop Summary Released: February 14, 2012

  Deductible, co-insurance, out-of-pocket limits. Even to those with a basic understanding of health insurance, terms like these can be difficult to explain and understand. Under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, many more Americans will be eligible for health insurance through state insurance exchanges by 2014. Many of these individuals are among the 90 million American adults who lack basic health literacy. The IOM held a workshop that focused on ways in which health literate communication techniques can improve communication to potential enrollees.
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  Living Well with Chronic Illness: A Call for Public Health Action Released: January 31, 2012

  The epidemic of chronic illness is steadily moving towards crisis proportions, yet maintaining or enhancing quality of life for individuals living with these illnesses has not been given the attention it deserves. In this report, the IOM makes recommendations to the CDC as well as HHS on the development and support of programs to meet the health and social needs of people living with chronic illnesses.
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  Barriers to Integrating Crisis Standards of Care Principles into International Disaster Response Plans - Workshop Summary Released: January 23, 2012

  When a nation or region prepares for public health emergencies such as a pandemic influenza, a large-scale earthquake, or any major disaster scenario in which the health system may be destroyed or stressed to its limits, it is important to describe how standards of care would change due to shortages of critical resources. At the 17th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine, the IOM Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness sponsored a session that focused on the promise of and challenges to integrating crisis standards of care principles into international disaster response plans.
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  Sex-Specific Reporting of Scientific Research - Workshop Summary Released: January 13, 2012

  In 2010, the IOM released a report that found, among other things, data not being reported by sex had slowed progress in women’s health. The number of women participating in clinical trials has increased over the last two decades, though they are still underrepresented. Even when women are included in these trials, however, the results are often not analyzed separately by sex. On August 30, 2011, The IOM’s Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice hosted a workshop to address the recommendation that journals should adopt a guideline that all papers report the outcomes of research on males and females separately.
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  Strengthening a Workforce for Innovative Regulatory Science in Therapeutics Development - Workshop Summary Released: December 21, 2011

  The development and application of regulatory science – which FDA has defined as the science of developing new tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of FDA-regulated products – calls for a well-trained, scientifically engaged, and motivated workforce. FDA faces challenges in retaining regulatory scientists and providing them with opportunities for professional development. In the private sector, advancement of innovative regulatory science in drug development has not always been clearly defined, well coordinated, or connected to the needs of the agency. As a follow-up to a 2010 workshop, the IOM held a workshop on September 20-21, 2011, to provide a format for establishing a specific agenda to implement the vision and principles relating to a regulatory science workforce and disciplinary infrastructure as discussed in the 2010 workshop.
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  Chimpanzees in Biomedical and Behavioral Research: Assessing the Necessity Released: December 15, 2011

  For many years, experiments using chimpanzees have been instrumental in advancing scientific knowledge and have led to new medicines to prevent life-threatening and debilitating diseases. However, recent advances in alternate research tools have rendered chimpanzees largely unnecessary as research subjects. The IOM, in collaboration with the National Research Council, conducted an in-depth analysis of the scientific necessity of chimpanzees for NIH-funded biomedical and behavioral research. The committee concludes that while the chimpanzee has been a valuable animal model in the past, most current biomedical research use of chimpanzees is not necessary, though noted that that it is impossible to predict whether research on emerging or new diseases may necessitate chimpanzees in the future.
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  Scientific Standards for Studies on Modified Risk Tobacco Products Released: December 14, 2011

  Smoking-related diseases kill more Americans than alcohol, illegal drugs, murder and suicide combined. The passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 gave the FDA authority to regulate “modified risk tobacco products” (MRTPs), tobacco products that are either designed or advertised to reduce harm or the risk of tobacco-related disease. MRTPs must submit to the FDA scientific evidence to demonstrate the product has the potential to reduce tobacco related harms as compared to conventional tobacco products. The IOM identifies minimum standards for scientific studies that an applicant would need to complete to obtain an order to market the product from the FDA.
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  Allied Health Workforce and Services - Workshop Summary Released: December 8, 2011

  The demand for health care is growing as the nation ages and seeks to provide coverage for the millions of Americans who lack health insurance. At the same time, escalating costs have led to a variety of initiatives to make the delivery of health care more effective and efficient. The allied health workforce is critical to the success of these efforts. The IOM held a workshop May 9-10, 2011, to examine the current allied health care workforce and consider how it can contribute to improving health care access, quality, and effectiveness.
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  Breast Cancer and the Environment: A Life Course Approach Released: December 7, 2011

  More than 230,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2011. The IOM was asked to review the current evidence on breast cancer and the environment, review challenges in studying this topic, explore evidence-based actions that women might take to reduce their risk, and recommend future research. Overall, it finds that major advances have been made in understanding breast cancer and its risk factors, but more needs to be learned about its causes, how environmental exposures affect risk for the disease, and how to prevent it.