Economic impact on local businesses of road safety improvements in Seattle: implications for Vision Zero projects.

BACKGROUND: Local transportation agencies implementing Vision Zero road safety improvement projects often face opposition from business owners concerned about the potential negative impact on their sales. Few studies have documented the economic impact of these projects. METHODS: We examined baseline and up to 3 years of postimprovement taxable sales data for retail, food and service-based businesses adjacent to seven road safety projects begun between 2006 and 2014 in Seattle. We used hierarchical linear models to test whether the change in annual taxable sales differed between the 7 intervention sites and 18 nearby matched comparison sites that had no road safety improvements within the study time frame. RESULTS: Average annual taxable sales at baseline were comparable at the 7 intervention sites (US$44.7 million) and the 18 comparison sites (US$56.8 million). Regression analysis suggests that each additional year following baseline was associated with US$1.20 million more in taxable sales among intervention sites and US$1.14 million more among comparison sites. This difference is not statistically significant (p=0.64). Sensitivity analyses including a random slope, using a generalised linear model and an analysis of variance did not change conclusions. DISCUSSION: Results suggest that road safety improvement projects such as those in Vision Zero plans are not associated with adverse economic impacts on adjacent businesses. The absence of negative economic impacts associated with pedestrian and bicycle road safety projects should reassure local business owners and may encourage them to work with transportation agencies to implement Vision Zero road safety projects designed to eliminate traffic-related injuries.

Beyond the biomedical, towards the agentic: A paradigm shift for population health science.

Life expectancy in the United States is decreasing. Health disparities are widening. Growing evidence for and integration of social and structural determinants into theory and practice has not yet improved outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the fact. In this paper, we argue that the biomedical model and its underlying scientific paradigm of causal determinism, which currently dominate population health, cannot meet population health needs. While criticism of the biomedical model is not new, this paper advances the field by going beyond criticism to recognize the need for a paradigm shift. In the first half of the paper, we present a critical analysis of the biomedical model and the paradigm of causal determinism. In the second half, we outline the agentic paradigm and present a structural model of health based on generalizable, group-level processes. We use the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate the practical applications of our model. It will be important for future work to investigate the empirical and pragmatic applications of our structural model of population health.

Economic Evaluation of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Versus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention.

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a leading cause of death for adults aged 18-64 in the United States, and suicide risk is highest among those with previous attempts. Two evidence-based treatments for suicide prevention exist: dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), a year-long intensive treatment, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a brief (10-12 session) treatment. To our knowledge, no direct comparison of the two treatments yet exists AIMS: To analyze the cost-effectiveness of DBT compared to CBT, in terms of both cost and quality of life, for the prevention of future suicide attempt among previous attempters. METHODS: A Markov Model was developed to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) in 2022 US dollars per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Published literature was reviewed to identify parameter estimates. The target population was US adults aged 18-64 with a previous suicide attempt. A time horizon of one year was used, and costs were calculated from the health care system perspective. RESULTS: Compared to CBT, DBT is associated with an estimated incremental cost of USD26,362 per QALY gained. One-way sensitivity analysis (OWSA) revealed consistent results, with DBT being cost-effective in most cases at a maximum threshold of USD50,000 per QALY. DISCUSSION: Results suggest that, compared to CBT, DBT is associated with comparable costs and mortality but higher quality of life. Due to the limited evidence base, caution is recommended when interpreting and generalizing results. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVISION AND USE: Given comparable cost and efficacy, patient preference for CBT or DBT must be incorporated in treatment selection. Ensuring patients play an active role in treatment selection has the potential to lead to improved clinical and health system outcomes. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICIES: As manualized treatments, both DBT and CBT are appropriate for trained master's level clinicians to deliver. Allowing master's level clinicians to provide evidence-based care for suicide prevention may be a cost-effective strategy for quality service provision. IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: Future research grounded in conceptual theories of suicide that distinguish suicide risk from more general psychiatric risks are needed.

Playgrounds are for children: Investigating developmentally-specific "Green Space" and child mental health.

"Green space" effects on health have been amply demonstrated, but whether specific features of green space exert differential effects remains unknown. Driven by developmental psychology theory highlighting the importance of play for young children, we investigated the association between parks with playgrounds, as a subtype of "green space", and young child mental health. After adjusting for individual race, sex, income, and cumulative risk as well as neighborhood disadvantage, we find that children (N=95) living near parks with playgrounds have better mental health than those near parks without playgrounds (߈=-1.22 (95% CI: -3.82 - 1.38, p=0.36) Child Behavior Checklist scale). While not statistically significant, the observed difference, which is equivalent to 11% of the baseline mean score, is meaningful. Our results, while only suggestive, indicate that moving beyond "green space" to investigate developmentally-specific features may be worthwhile.