Public health reports
-
Public health reports · Nov 1994
Comparative StudyLower legal blood alcohol limits for young drivers.
To reduce the involvement of young drivers in alcohol-related crashes, 29 States and the District of Columbia have established lower legal blood alcohol limits for drivers younger than age 21 than for adult drivers. Of these, 12 lowered the legal limit for young people prior to 1991. To assess the impact, these 12 States were paired for comparison with 12 nearby States matched for legal drinking age and timing of changes in that law. ⋯ It rose 4 percent in comparison States(P = .005). No significant difference appeared between States that lowered blood alcohol levels to the range of .04-.06 percent relative to comparison States. If all States adopted .00 or .02 percent limits for drivers ages 15-20, at least 375 fatal single vehicle crashes at night would be prevented each year.
-
Public health reports · Sep 1994
A case study in planning for public health education: the organ and tissue donation experience.
The chasm between the supply and demand of donated organs and tissues continues to grow despite widespread public awareness of transplantation and numerous efforts to educate the public about organ donation. It is fast becoming a significant public health problem in this country. The need for more effective public education is well documented in the literature on transplantation and is a primary objective of organizations in the transplant field. ⋯ Its major steps consisted of assessing the status of donation-related public education in the United States, identifying existing needs in donation education by applying principles learned from other public health education programs, and identifying roles that could be assumed to help strengthen the American public's commitment to organ and tissue donation. These roles, which could be adopted by an transplant-related organization, were as broker of knowledge, producer of educational strategies, energizer through communications research, and catalyst by bringing together other groups. This approach to needs assessment and planning may provide useful insights both for those concerned with transplants and for professionals conducting education campaigns related to other public health issues.
-
Public health reports · Sep 1994
ReviewEpidemiology of fetal alcohol syndrome in American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Canadian Aboriginal peoples: a review of the literature.
A critical review of available reports on the epidemiology of fetal alcohol syndrome among American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Aboriginal peoples of Canada was completed. A search of Medline, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Database, and other relevant data bases was conducted. The reference lists of several publications on fetal alcohol syndrome were reviewed, and four prominent researchers and four government agencies were contacted to identify unpublished articles. ⋯ Other study designs, including longitudinal cohort studies, are needed. Additional studies of populations of the American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Aboriginal peoples of Canada, where low rates of fetal alcohol syndrome are suspected, should be completed. Reviews of death certificates may also bea potentially important source of cases.
-
Public health reports · Sep 1994
Prevalence of risk factors for residential fire and burn injuries in an American Indian community.
Fatality rates from residential fires are high among American Indians. Contact burns and scalds are also among the leading types of thermal injuries. Information about the prevalence of risk factors for burn injuries is required to design interventions aimed at reducing residential fire and burn injuries. ⋯ Thirteen percent of households had at least one fire during the previous 3 years, and the incidence of burns due to all causes and requiring medical treatment was 1.5 per 100 persons per year. Hot water temperature was measured to determine the potential risk for scald burns, and 48 percent of households had a maximum hot water temperature of 130 degrees or more Fahrenheit. Such surveys can guide intervention strategies to reduce residential fire and burn injuries in American Indian communities.
-
Community involvement in local firearms policy is advocated to be an important component of efforts to curtail violence. This report describes the first evaluation of one such effort, a gun buy-back program conducted in Seattle, WA, during the fall of 1992. The evaluation included (a) surveys of 500 participants and a description of the firearms exchanged; (b) monitoring police reports, trauma center admissions, and medical examiners' data to assess short-term effects on the frequency of firearm-related events; and (c) an assessment of community beliefs by random-digit dialing telephone interviews of 1,000 residents. ⋯ Comparing firearm-related events per month before and after the program, crimes and deaths increased, and injuries decreased, but the changes were not statistically significant. Telephone interviews revealed broad support for publicly funded gun buy-back programs even among households (61 percent) with firearms. Gun buy-back programs are a broadly supported means to decrease voluntarily the prevalence of handguns within a community, but their effect on decreasing violent crime and reducing firearm mortality is unknown.