Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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Comparative Study
Unintentional gun injuries, firearm design, and prevention: what we know, what we need to know, and what can be done.
The public health community has long recognized unintentional gun injuries as a public health issue. In 1998 in the United States, 866 people died from unintentional gunshot wounds, resulting in a crude death rate of 0.32 per 100,000. ⋯ Possible explanations, such as changes in gun ownership and demography, changes in access to guns among population subgroups, safety practices, and artifactual influences are discussed. Intervention strategies for reducing the risk of unintentional gun injury are also discussed.
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Comparative Study
The epidemiology of firearm suicide in the United States.
Little attention has been given to the role of firearms in suicide. In 1998, firearms were the leading method of committing suicide for both men and women, responsible for three times the number of suicides compared to the next leading method. Understanding the epidemiology of firearm suicide will increase awareness of firearm suicide as a major public health problem. ⋯ For suicide prevention to be effective, the availability and use of firearms in suicides must be addressed.
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Comparative Study
The effect of ethnicity and maternal birthplace on small-for-gestational-age deliveries to HIV-infected women.
To examine the relative role of ethnicity and maternal birthplace on small-for-gestational-age (SGA) deliveries of a cohort of mothers in New York who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus. ⋯ SGA outcomes did not differ by maternal birthplace for black and white women. Differences in lifestyle factors appear to contribute to lower odds of SGA delivery for foreign-born versus US-born white- and black-Latina HIV-infected women.
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Comparative Study
Firearm availability and suicide, homicide, and unintentional firearm deaths among women.
In the United States, more than 45,000 women died from gun violence over the last decade. ⋯ Between 1988 and 1997, the suicide, homicide, and unintentional firearm death rates among women were disproportionately higher in states where guns were more prevalent. The elevated rates of violent death in states with more guns was not entirely explained by a state's poverty or urbanization and was driven primarily by lethal firearm violence, not by lethal nonfirearm violence.