Preventive dental care among New York City children, 2009.

This study aims to describe the prevalence of preventive dental care among New York City (NYC) children, including disparities by race/ethnicity or poverty and to identify health care utilization factors associated with these outcomes. Data were obtained from the 2009 NYC Child Community Health Survey. Descriptive statistics were calculated for preventive dental visits in the past 12 months among children aged 2-12 years (n = 2,435) and receipt of sealants among children aged 6-12 years (n = 1,416). Multivariable logistic regression was used to compute adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs). One in four (23.3 %) NYC children aged 2-12 years, including 57.3 % of 2-3-year olds, had no preventive dental visit in the past 12 months. Lack of preventive visits was more prevalent among Asian/Pacific Islander children compared with non-Hispanic white children (aPR 1.42 [95 % CI 1.07-1.89]), and among children living in poorer households compared with wealthier households (aPR 1.47 [95 % CI 1.13-1.92]). Two-thirds (64.5 %) of children aged 6-12 years never had sealants. Compared with non-Hispanic white children, Asian/Pacific Islander (aPR 1.26 [95 % CI 1.01-1.56]), non-Hispanic black (aPR 1.24 [95 % CI 1.06-1.46]), and Hispanic (aPR 1.21 [95 % CI 1.04-1.41]) children were more likely not to have sealants, as were children without a personal health care provider compared with children with a provider (aPR 1.33 [95 % CI 1.14-1.56]). Disparities in preventive dental care exist by race/ethnicity, poverty, and health care utilization. Personal health care providers may improve children's oral health by linking them to preventive dental care and promoting sealant application.

Effectiveness of isoniazid treatment for latent tuberculosis infection among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and HIV-uninfected injection drug users in methadone programs.

Injection drug users (IDUs) were heavily affected by the tuberculosis (TB) resurgence in New York City in the 1990s. We assessed the effectiveness of screening for latent TB infection in methadone users and of selective treatment with isoniazid. Risk for future TB was classified as low or high on the basis of tuberculin, anergy, and HIV test results. The cohort of 2212 IDUs was followed up for a median of 4.2 years; 25 IDUs, of whom 20 (80%) were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), developed TB. In an adjusted Cox proportional hazards model of high-risk IDUs, the risk of TB was associated with HIV infection (HR 10.3; 95% CI, 3.4-31.3); receipt of <6 months of isoniazid therapy (HR 7.6; 95% CI, 1.02-57.1); a CD4+ T lymphocyte count of <200 cells/mm3 (HR 6.6; 95% CI, 1.7-25.9); and tuberculin positivity (HR 4.0; 95% CI, 1.6-10.2). Treatment with isoniazid was beneficial in HIV-infected, tuberculin-positive IDUs.

U.S. medical students' rotations in epidemiology and public health at state and local health departments.

Elective rotations in health departments expose medical students to public health practice and career opportunities in applied epidemiology and preventive medicine. State and county epidemiologists and health officers can serve as excellent role models for medical students. In 2000-2001, the authors identified such electives by consulting medical schools' Web sites and by contacting state epidemiologists, teachers of preventive medicine, and medical school associate deans. The authors found that electives were offered in nine state and five local health departments; these are described in detail. Those electives usually focused on infectious diseases, involved students in outbreak investigations when possible, lasted four or more weeks, were open to other students and medical residents, and were overseen by a health department preceptor with a medical school faculty appointment and a commitment to train students. Some electives included more didactic components, encouraged the student to publish a manuscript, or were coordinated by a preventive medicine residency director. The authors observe that health departments can benefit from training enthusiastic medical students via such electives; these students bring fresh ideas to the departments. Medical school catalogs, Web sites, and word of mouth are important means for promoting these electives. Ideally, in the future every medical school will offer a state or local health department elective so that all medical students will become aware of epidemiology and public health career options. The electives reported in this article can help guide additional medical schools and health departments as they initiate such rotations.

Completeness of pediatric TB reporting in New York City.

OBJECTIVE: Accurate surveillance of tuberculosis (TB) in children is critical because such cases represent recent transmission, but surveillance is difficult as only 10% to 50% of cases are culture-confirmed. Hospital-based sources were used to develop alternative surveillance to assess completeness of reporting for pediatric TB in northern Manhattan and Harlem from 1993 through 1995. METHODS: Alternative surveillance sources included ICD-9-CM hospital discharge codes for active TB and gastric aspirate reports. Cases identified by alternative surveillance were compared with cases previously reported to the New York City Department of Health (NYC DOH). RESULTS: Alternative surveillance detected 25 cases of possible pediatric TB, of which four (16%) had never been reported to the NYC DOH and three (12%) had been reported as suspect cases, but had not fulfilled the criteria for a reportable case of pediatric TB. Of these seven newly counted cases, three were detected by ICD-9-CM codes, three by a gastric aspirate log book, and one by both. In contrast, 13 other cases had been reported to the NYC DOH, but were undetected by our alternative surveillance; eight of these could be verified with available medical records. Thus, the demographic and clinical characteristics of the 25 detected and the eight undetected cases with available medical records were evaluated in this study. CONCLUSION: Alternative surveillance proved effective, was complementary to the NYC DOH surveillance efforts, and increased the number of pediatric TB cases identified during the study period by 21%.

How willing are dentists to treat young children?: a survey of dentists affiliated with Medicaid managed care in New York City, 2010.

BACKGROUND: Despite recommendations for children to have a dental visit by the age of 1 year, access to dental care for young children, including children enrolled in Medicaid, remains limited. The authors conducted a survey to assess the availability of dentists to see young children enrolled in Medicaid managed care (MMC) in New York City (NYC), to determine barriers to the provision of dental care to young children and, within the context of MMC, to identify strategies to facilitate the delivery of dental care to children. METHODS: The authors mailed a survey to assess the provision of dental services to young children and perceived barriers and facilitators to 2,311 general dentists (GDs) and 140 pediatric dentists (PDs) affiliated with NYC MMC. A total of 1,127 surveys (46 percent) were received. The authors analyzed the responses according to provider type, youngest aged child seen, provider's ability to see additional children and practice location. The authors compared responses by using the χ(2) test. RESULTS: Fewer than one-half (47 percent) of GDs saw children aged 0 through 2 years. Provider type, years in practice and percentage of Medicaid-insured patients were associated significantly (P < .005) with youngest age of child seen. Among respondents seeing children aged 0 through 2 years, PDs were significantly more likely to provide preventive therapy (P = .004) and restorative treatment (P < .001). Additional training and access to consulting PDs were identified by GDs as potential facilitators to seeing young children. CONCLUSION: A high proportion of NYC GDs affiliated with MMC do not see young children. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Ninety-four percent of NYC MMC- affiliated dentists are GDs, but 53 percent of GD respondents did not see children aged 0 through 2 years in their practices. Improving access to dental care for young children requires changes in GDs' practices, possibly by means of additional training and access to consulting PDs.