Firearm training and storage.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent of firearm training among gun owners, how gun owners currently store their weapons, and the relationship between gun training and gun storage. DESIGN AND SETTING: A national random telephone survey of gun owners conducted from May through June 1994. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 800 adult gun owners residing in the United States. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of gun owners who received firearm training and number who store a firearm loaded and unlocked. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine factors associated with firearm training and gun storage practices. RESULTS: A total of 451 (56%) of gun owners have received firearm training. A total of 170 (21%) of gun owners keep a firearm both loaded and unlocked in the home. Factors associated with an increased likelihood of storing guns loaded and unlocked included owning a gun for protection (odds ratio [OR], 2.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.62 to 3.54), owning a handgun (OR, 3.31; 95% CI, 1.85 to 5.95), and having received firearm training (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.10 to 2.67). Length of firearm training and how recently training was received have little effect on storage practices. CONCLUSION: It has been suggested that many homicide, suicide, and accidental firearm injuries might be prevented if ready access to lethal weapons was reduced, in part through appropriate storage of guns. Although increased training has been advocated as the prime method to improve gun storage practices, our results cast doubt on whether firearm training, at least as currently provided, will substantially reduce the inappropriate storage of firearms.

Risk factors for wrist fracture: effect of age, cigarettes, alcohol, body height, relative weight, and handedness on the risk for distal forearm fractures in men.

Fractures of the distal forearm (wrist) are among the most common of all fractures. While evidence exists concerning risk factors for wrist fracture among women, little is known about risk factors among men. This study examines the relation of lifestyle characteristics (cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, relative weight) as well as body height and handedness to the risk for fracture in a male population that has been followed up for 6 years. The 51,529 men, who were between the ages of 40 and 75 years in 1986, were participants in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, a national prospective cohort study. In 271,552 person-years of follow-up, 271 respondents reported a wrist fracture. The risk for wrist fracture in this population did not vary with age. Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, body height, and relative weight also were not related to risk for wrist fracture. Handedness, which was divided into four mutually exclusive categories (right-handed, left-handed, forced to change, and ambidextrous), was significantly associated with wrist fracture. Left-handers had a multivariate relative risk for wrist fracture 1.56 times that of right-handers (95% confidence interval 1.02-2.37), and men who reported they had been forced to change from left-handed to right-handed had a multivariate relative risk 2.47 times greater than right-handers (95 percent confidence interval 1.21-5.04).

Risk factors for hip fracture in US men aged 40 through 75 years.

Relatively few studies have examined risk factors for hip fracture among men. This study analyzes data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, a prospective study of approximately 50,000 men who were between the ages of 40 and 75 years in 1986. Body mass index, smoking status, and alcohol consumption were not associated with hip fracture in this population. However, age and height were related to hip fracture. Men who were 65 and older had a significantly higher risk of sustaining a hip fracture than younger adults. Men 6 feet or taller were more than twice as likely to sustain a hip fracture as those under 5 feet, 9 inches.