American journal of preventive medicine
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Review Comparative Study
Population health technologies: emerging innovations for the health of the public.
At the beginning of the 21st century, we are at the dawn of a possibly unprecedented era of scientific discovery and promise. Emerging technologies, including information and communication technologies, genomics, microelectromechanical systems, robotics, sensors, and nanotechnologies, provide enormous opportunities for population health improvement. Population health technology refers to the application of an emerging technology to improve the health of populations. ⋯ If appropriately applied, population health technologies may greatly enhance existing health intervention models. However, potential adverse consequences could arise related to privacy, confidentiality, and security; quality and effectiveness; sustainability; and the technology divide. To ensure the optimal development and diffusion of population health technologies will require balancing these risks and benefits while simultaneously adopting new mechanisms of public and private support for research and development in this potentially important new domain of public health.
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Comparative Study
Increased incidence of inflicted traumatic brain injury in children after a natural disaster.
The incidence of child abuse following natural disasters has not been studied thoroughly. However, parental stress and decreased social support have been linked to increased reports of child maltreatment. We hypothesized that a large-scale natural disaster (North Carolina's Hurricane Floyd) would increase the incidence of inflicted traumatic brain injury (TBI) in young children. ⋯ Families are vulnerable to an elevated risk of inflicted and non-inflicted child TBI following a disaster. This information may be useful in future disaster planning.
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Identifying ethnic differences in the age of smoking onset from nationally representative data can lead to improved targeted prevention programs and policies to combat smoking in ethnic communities. ⋯ These findings indicate significant ethnic disparities in relation to when people start smoking, with the majority of A/PIs and AAs initiating as young adults. The findings suggest that prevention strategies should begin at a young age and continue throughout young adulthood, especially among ethnic minority populations. Further consideration of the different influences on later initiation in ethnic minorities may lead to suggestions to improve current smoking-prevention programs aimed at adolescents and young adults.
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Hearing and vision screening programs for school-aged children are common, yet little is known about their impact. ⋯ According to parent reports, most children had follow-up after an abnormal screen, and the majority of these children received treatment. Screening school-aged children for sensory impairment appears to be an important public health function.