Exploring the association between park size and crime.

This study explored the link between park size and crime risk in Alabama, analyzing 564 parks across 73 cities with populations over 10,000. Park dimensions were measured using Google Earth Pro, and crime data, covering violent and property crimes, were sourced from Applied Geographic Solutions. Additional data on population density, mental health prevalence, social vulnerability, and alcohol expenditure (indicative of affluence) were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, CDC, and ESRI. A multiple regression analysis revealed a significant negative association between park size and crime risk, meaning that larger park sizes tended to have lower crime rates. Key covariates-mental health, social vulnerability, and alcohol spending- were also significantly related to crime rates. Our findings have policy implications for local governments and community organizations seeking to reduce crime rates.

Urban-Rural Dichotomy of Burn Patients in Georgia and South Carolina: A Geographic Information System Study.

This study uses a 4-year (2006-2009) cross-section of epidemiological burn injury data from Georgia and South Carolina. The results from the study show that the burn patients from rural areas differ from their urban counterparts in terms of relative burn injury incidence. Younger population groups that live in lower socioeconomic status communities especially in the urban areas are at a higher risk than other population groups. The differences in the types of burns in the urban-rural communities can give us further insights to the patients' association with injury sites. The presence of fewer burn injury treatment and care facilities in rural areas and the high incidence of burn in low-income communities in the urban areas should carry important policy implications for health planners. This study will enable researchers to understand the epidemiology of burn injuries at the local and national levels in the United States. It also carries important implications for using Geographic Information Systems for studying spatial distribution of burn injuries for disaster planning and mitigation of burn injuries.

Do trained specialists solicit familial authorization at equal frequency, regardless of deceased donor characteristics?

CONTEXT: The Organ Donor Breakthrough Collaborative recommended high-leverage changes including "master effective requesting. OBJECTIVE: To measure who approaches decedent families to request organ donation and to determine whether trained specialists will solicit authorization at equal frequency regardless of donor characteristics. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of data from 2006 to 2009 in an organ center's donor database. Decedents were stratified into 2 groups: those that met the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network's eligible death criteria (ED donors) and those that did not (not eligible death [NED] donors). RESULTS: Of decedents whose families were approached for authorization, 46% were ED donors and 54% were NED donors. Trained specialists solicited authorization from 76% of the total population but were more likely to solicit authorization from ED donors than NED donors (86% vs 68%, P<.001). Trained specialists were more likely to solicit authorization from donors whose cause of death was overrepresented in ED donors and donors less than 50 years old. Trained specialists were more likely than others to obtain authorization from families of all donors. Multivariable modeling demonstrated that having a trained specialist approach the decedent's family was associated with the highest odds of obtaining authorization. CONCLUSIONS: Trained specialists approached most families of decedents for authorization, but disproportionately approached fewer families of NED donors. Having a trained specialist approach the decedent family has the strongest impact on obtaining donor authorization. These data suggest that fewer resources are allocated to NED donors, which may adversely affect the supply of deceased donor organs.

Is decedent race an independent predictor of organ donor consent or merely a surrogate marker of socioeconomic status?

BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated that African American race is a strong predictor of nondonation. However, it is often and correctly argued that African American race is a crude explanatory variable that is a surrogate marker of socioeconomic status, education, and access to health care. We hypothesized that, when controlling for these factors, African American race would cease to be a predictor of organ donation. METHODS: A retrospective review of 1292 Alabama decedents who were approached for organ donation between 2006 and 2009 was performed. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to identify the most parsimonious model that could explain the variation in the log odds of obtaining consent. RESULTS: Consent for donation was obtained from 49% of the decedents' families. Household income was a predictor of organ donor consent only in whites. Surprisingly, household income was not statistically different between consented and nonconsented African American decedents (U.S. $25,147 vs. U.S. $26,137, P=0.90). On multivariable analysis, education, urban residence, and shorter distance between the decedent's residence and donor hospital were significantly associated with obtaining consent for organ donation. On univariate analysis, the odds ratio of donor consent in whites compared with African Americans was 2.76 (95% confidence interval, 2.17-3.57). When controlling for socioeconomic status and access to health care variables, the odds ratio of donor consent increased to 4.36 (95% confidence interval, 2.88-6.61). CONCLUSIONS: We interpret this result to indicate that there remains unknown but important factor(s) associated with both race and obtaining organ donor consent. Further studies are required to isolate and determine whether this factor(s) is modifiable.

Lead poisoning: an alarming public health problem in Bangladesh.

To assess the risk of lead poisoning among preschool and school-aged children in Bangladesh, 345 children were screened for blood lead levels (BLLs) from one rural and two urban areas in Bangladesh from September 2007 through January 2008. An urban industrial area at Tongi was identified as a disaster area, where 99% (104/105) of those tested had BLLs >or= 10 microg/dL. Industrial emissions and use of leaded gasoline by two-stroke engine vehicles were identified as possible sources of lead in that area. A rural nonindustrial area at Chirirbandar, Dinajpur was identified as another high-risk area, where 14% of the children screened had BLLs >or= 10 microg/dL. BLLs at the urban industrial area were significantly higher than those at the rural and urban nonindustrial areas (24.58 +/- 10.32, 7.24 +/- 6.31, and 2.47 +/- 3.32 microg/dL, respectively; p <0.001). Weight-for-age z-scores of the urban children were significantly lower than that of the rural children (-1.41 +/- 1.88 vs. 0.20 +/- 1.16, p <0.001). Children with elevated BLLs had poorer nutritional status (p = 0.05) than those with normal BLLs. Over 90% of the parents did not know that lead causes health problems. In conclusion, the problem of lead poisoning in children was found to be high in both urban and rural Bangladesh. A universal lead screening for preschool and school-aged children and a lead education program for parents are recommended for implementation in Bangladesh.

Rural/urban differences in access to and utilization of services among people in Alabama with sickle cell disease.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined relationships between socioeconomic factors and the geographic distribution of 662 cases of sickle cell disease in Alabama in 1999-2001. METHODS: Measures of community distress, physical functioning, and medical problems were used in analyzing utilization differences between individuals with sickle cell disease living in urban and rural areas. RESULTS: Utilization of comprehensive sickle cells disease services was lower for individuals with sickle cell disease living in rural areas than for those living in urban areas. Rural clients reported significantly more limitations than urban clients on several measures of physical functioning. The results also suggest that utilization of services was higher for those with more medical problems and those who lived in high distress areas, although these findings did not meet the criterion for statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Conclusions based on statistical evidence that geographic location and socioeconomic factors relate to significantly different health care service experience bear important implications for medical and health care support systems, especially on the community level.