Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention
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Cross sectional studies in the United States often find a significant positive association between levels of household firearm ownership and suicide rates. This study investigates whether the association can be explained by differences in levels of mental health. ⋯ In United States regions with higher levels of household handgun ownership, there are higher suicide rates. This relationship cannot be explained by differences in the prevalence of two mental health indicators-lifetime rates of either major depression or suicidal thoughts.
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To identify strengths and weaknesses in community based child passenger safety programs by developing a scoring instrument and conducting observations of child restraint use in three Native American communities. ⋯ A community assessment tool can highlight weaknesses in child passenger efforts. Linking such a tool with an objective measure of impact can be applied to other injury problems, such as fire safety or domestic violence. The very process of creating and implementing a community assessment can enhance agency collaboration and publicize evidence based "best practices" for injury prevention. Further study is needed to address methodologic issues and to examine crash and medical data in relation to community child passenger safety scores.