Promoting Evidence-Based Decision Making in a Local Health Department, Pueblo City-County, Colorado.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based decision making (EBDM) is an effective strategy for addressing population health needs. Assessing and reducing barriers to using EBDM in local health departments may improve practice and provide insight into disseminating EBDM principles among public health practitioners. COMMUNITY CONTEXT: Administrative leaders at the Pueblo City-County Health Department, Pueblo, Colorado, used a systematic approach for implementing EBDM. Research partners engaged staff to understand factors that increase or deter its use. METHODS: A survey was distributed to staff members at baseline to identify gaps in administrative and individual practice of EBDM. In-depth interviews were also conducted with 11 randomly selected staff members. Results were shared with staff and administration, after which activities were implemented to improve application of EBDM. A follow up survey was administered 1 year after the initial assessment. OUTCOME: Survey data showed evidence of progress in engaging and educating staff members, and data showed improved attitudes toward EBDM (ie, several items showed significant improvement from baseline to follow-up). For example, staff members reported having the necessary skills to develop evidence-based interventions (73.9%), the ability to effectively communicate information on evidence-based strategies to policy makers (63.0%), access to current information on improving EBDM processes (65.2%), and a belief that evidence-based interventions are designed to be self-sustaining (43.5%). INTERPRETATION: Within a local health department in which leaders have made EBDM a priority, addressing the culture and climate of the department may build EBDM. Future research may provide insight into tailoring EBDM within and across local health departments.

Reduction in the incidence of acute myocardial infarction associated with a citywide smoking ordinance.

BACKGROUND: Secondhand smoke exposure increases the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). One study (Helena, Mont) examined the issue and found a decrease in AMI associated with a smoke-free ordinance. We sought to determine the impact of a smoke-free ordinance on AMI admission rates in another geographically isolated community (Pueblo, Colo). METHODS AND RESULTS: We assessed AMI hospitalizations in Pueblo during a 3-year period, 1.5 years before and 1.5 years after implementation of a smoke-free ordinance. We compared the AMI hospitalization rates among individuals residing within city limits, the area where the ordinance applied, versus those outside city limits. We also compared AMI rates during this time period with another geographically isolated but proximal community, El Paso County, Colo, that did not have an ordinance. A total of 855 patients were hospitalized with a diagnosis of primary AMI in Pueblo between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2004. A reduction in AMI hospitalizations was observed in the period after the ordinance among Pueblo city limit residents (relative risk [RR]=0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.63 to 0.85). No significant changes in AMI rates were observed among residents outside city limits (RR=0.85, 95% CI 0.63 to 1.16) or in El Paso County during the same period (RR=0.97, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.06). The reduction in AMI rate within Pueblo differed significantly from changes in the external control group (El Paso County) even after adjustment for seasonal trends (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A public ordinance reducing exposure to secondhand smoke was associated with a decrease in AMI hospitalizations in Pueblo, Colo, which supports previous data from a smaller study.

Outbreak of Q fever associated with a horse-boarding ranch, Colorado, 2005.

Coxiella burnetii is a bacterium located worldwide that can cause Q fever when inhaled. We describe an outbreak of Q fever associated with a horse-boarding ranch that had acquired two herds of goats. We conducted case finding and cohort studies among persons who boarded horses on the ranch and ranchers and among residents in the surrounding community, and conducted sampling of the goats and environment, to determine risk factors for infection and guide public health interventions. Sixty-six ranchers and persons who boarded horses on the ranch were interviewed; 62 (94%) were not professional ranchers. Twenty persons (53%) of 38 persons tested had evidence of infection with C. burnetii. Contact with goats was associated with seropositivity, including having helped birth goats (relative risk [RR] 2.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6-3.6), having had contact with newborn goats (RR 2.3, CI 1.2-4.3), having vaccinated goats (RR 2.1, CI 1.3-3.5), having had contact with stillbirths or newborns that died (RR 2.1, CI 1.2-3.7), and having fed goats (RR 2.1, CI 1.0-4.3). Among 138 tested persons living within 1 mile of the ranch, 11 (8%) demonstrated evidence of C. burnetii infection; eight seropositive persons (73%) had no direct contact with the ranch. Testing of the soil and goats with an IS1111 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay confirmed the presence of C. burnetii among the herd and in the environment. This outbreak of Q fever was caused by exposure to infected goats, but exposure to the environment likely played a secondary role. Laypersons should not participate in the birthing process of goats; professionals who come into contact with birthing goats should be educated on reducing their infection risk. This is the first time an IS1111 PCR assay has been used in an outbreak investigation in the United States.

Revisiting the influenza vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared the decline in preventable diseases through vaccination to be 1 of the 10 great public health achievements in the past decade in the United States. Still, influenza epidemics occur every year in the United States and are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. A substantial portion of the US population chooses not to get vaccinated against influenza despite the illness and death associated with the disease. Low rates of vaccination are of particular concern in high-risk patients. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has broadened its influenza vaccine recommendations to include all individuals older than 6 months. Education of patients about the value of influenza vaccination will help to increase vaccination rates.