JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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The black community contends daily with the phenomena of suicide and homicide. However, it is the killing of black males that constitutes the heaviest burden for the group. ⋯ Nevertheless, it is the black male group between the ages of 25 and 34 years that bears the brunt of both suicide and homicide. This article reviews the major theories advanced to explain the existence of these serious public health problems in the black community, suggests ways of attacking these problems, and also delineates significant areas for future research.
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During the summer of 1987, we investigated a series of firearm assaults occurring on Los Angeles County (California) roadways. Using law enforcement records, we identified 137 incidents of roadway assaults with firearms. ⋯ We compared the findings for June through August 1987 with findings for earlier years and found that the incidence rate of freeway firearm assault had increased each year from 1985 through 1987 for both freeway shootings and brandishings. We also found a positive association between freeway congestion and freeway firearm assaults in 1987.
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Hospital trauma registries are evolving rapidly as a result of a renewed focus on trauma care evaluation and recent advances in microcomputer technology. In theory, trauma registries can serve as the principal tool for the systematic audit of the quality of patient care provided by a hospital or a trauma system and as a potential source of part of the data needed for injury surveillance. ⋯ Herein, we describe the purposes, resource requirements, and limitations of trauma registries. We conclude that standardization of case criteria, core data content, data definitions, and coding conventions can enhance the utility of trauma registries.
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Information on the physical health of homeless adults is potentially biased either by sampling strategy or by measurement of physical health. Studies that used comprehensive health measures (self-reported and objective measures) relied on samples from shelters or hotels. However, more representative community-based studies relied on self-reports or ratings. ⋯ Shelter dwellers compared with homeless persons sampled elsewhere were less likely to have used illegal drugs, to have been victimized, to have injured skin, and to have elevated aspartate aminotransferase levels and mean corpuscular volumes. Sixty-two percent of persons observed to have high blood pressure were unaware of their condition. Sampling only shelter dwellers, or relying only on reports of illness by homeless adults, may mask or underestimate existent health problems that are revealed by community-based sampling techniques and more objective measures.