Trends in child pedestrian motor vehicle collision injury rates by neighborhood deprivation score in Toronto, Canada.

We examined trends from 2000 to 2019 in child pedestrian motor vehicle collision (PMVC) injury rates in Toronto, Canada, to see if injury trends varied by neighbourhood deprivation. This 20-year period was associated with major road safety policy changes in the City. A Poisson regression analysis examined police-reported data on children (age 1-19 years), killed or seriously injured (KSI) PMVC rates, by deprivation status (using the Ontario Marginalization Index), over the period 2000-2019. Models controlled for location (urban core v. inner suburbs) and evaluated potential interactions. There were 523 child pedestrian KSI collisions from 2000 to 2019. Over this period, KSI rates decreased by more than 50 % across all neighbourhood deprivation levels. Steep declines from 2000 to 2010 were followed by level or increasing child PMVC rates from 2010 to 2019. Higher deprivation was associated with slightly elevated KSI rates; although not statistically significant. It is important to learn from road safety policy "successes" and ensure that future road safety interventions are applied equitably across areas, accounting for deprivation and location.

Introduction of Water-Vapor Broadening Parameters and Their Temperature-Dependent Exponents Into the HITRAN Database: Part I-CO2, N2O, CO, CH4, O2, NH3, and H2S.

The amount of water vapor in the terrestrial atmosphere is highly variable both spatially and temporally. In the tropics it sometimes constitutes 4-5% of the atmosphere. At the same time collisional broadening of spectral lines by water vapor is much larger than that by nitrogen and oxygen. Therefore, in order to accurately characterize and model spectra of the atmospheres with significant amounts of water vapor, the line-shape parameters for spectral lines broadened by water vapor are required. In this work, the pressure-broadening parameters (and their temperature-dependent exponents) due to the pressure of water vapor for spectral lines of CO2, N2O, CO, CH4, O2, NH3, and H2S from both experimental and theoretical studies were collected and carefully reviewed. A set of semiempirical models based on these collected data was proposed and then used to estimate water broadening and its temperature dependence for all transitions of selected molecules in the HITRAN2016 database.

Effect of health literacy and exercise-focused interventions on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To evaluate the effect of health literacy and exercise-focused interventions on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in China.Methods In this cluster randomized controlled trial,a total of 799 T2DM patients with most recent hemoglobin Alc (HbAlc) ≥ 7.5％ (or fasting plasma glucose level ≥ 10 mmol/L) were recruited from 8 communities in Minhang and Changning districts of Shanghai,and randomized into a health literacy intervention group,an exercise intervention group,a comprehensive intervention group and a control group.After baseline survey and examination,a one-year intervention and 3 times (at 3rd,6th,and 12th month) follow-up surveys were conducted.Results The follow-up rates for all the subjects were 99.4％,98.4％ and 95.2％,respectively,at 3rd,6th and 12th month.Patients in intervention groups were more likely to achieve a goal HbAlc level (HbA1c ＜ 7.0％) than those in control group,with the highest glycemic control rate (25.3％) observed in comprehensive intervention group at 3rd month and then in exercise intervention group (25.3％ and 34.6％) respectively,at 6th month and 12th month.The average levels of HbAlc in three intervention groups were lower at each follow-up time point than those at baseline survey.However,the decreases in HbA1c were obvious only at 6th month (P＜0.001),with ls-mean (95％CI) of-0.48％ (-0.71％,-0.25％),-0.33％ (-0.55％,-0.11％) and-0.70％ (-0.92％,-0.48％),respectively,in comprehensive,health literacy and exercise intervention groups,but it increased slightly by 0.03％ (-0.19％,0.25％) in control group.Compared with control group,the interventions were significantly associated with the decrease of HbA1c level,with the most improvement observed in comprehensive group (3 =-0.47,95％ CI:-0.73,-0.20) at 3rd month,and in exercise intervention group at 6th month (3=-0.73,95％CI:-0.98,-0.47) and at 12th month (β=-0.75,95％CI:-1.05,-0.45) of follow-up.Stratified analyses showed that patients with lower health literacy level could benefit from any intervention,while those with higher numeracy skill benefited more from exercise intervention.Conclusion Both health literacy and exercise-focused interventions may decrease HbA1c level in patients with T2DM,which would be helpful in reducing the risks of complications and deaths in diabetes patients.

Effect of health literacy and exercise-focused interventions on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To evaluate the effect of health literacy and exercise-focused interventions on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in China.Methods In this cluster randomized controlled trial,a total of 799 T2DM patients with most recent hemoglobin Alc (HbAlc) ≥ 7.5％ (or fasting plasma glucose level ≥ 10 mmol/L) were recruited from 8 communities in Minhang and Changning districts of Shanghai,and randomized into a health literacy intervention group,an exercise intervention group,a comprehensive intervention group and a control group.After baseline survey and examination,a one-year intervention and 3 times (at 3rd,6th,and 12th month) follow-up surveys were conducted.Results The follow-up rates for all the subjects were 99.4％,98.4％ and 95.2％,respectively,at 3rd,6th and 12th month.Patients in intervention groups were more likely to achieve a goal HbAlc level (HbA1c ＜ 7.0％) than those in control group,with the highest glycemic control rate (25.3％) observed in comprehensive intervention group at 3rd month and then in exercise intervention group (25.3％ and 34.6％) respectively,at 6th month and 12th month.The average levels of HbAlc in three intervention groups were lower at each follow-up time point than those at baseline survey.However,the decreases in HbA1c were obvious only at 6th month (P＜0.001),with ls-mean (95％CI) of-0.48％ (-0.71％,-0.25％),-0.33％ (-0.55％,-0.11％) and-0.70％ (-0.92％,-0.48％),respectively,in comprehensive,health literacy and exercise intervention groups,but it increased slightly by 0.03％ (-0.19％,0.25％) in control group.Compared with control group,the interventions were significantly associated with the decrease of HbA1c level,with the most improvement observed in comprehensive group (3 =-0.47,95％ CI:-0.73,-0.20) at 3rd month,and in exercise intervention group at 6th month (3=-0.73,95％CI:-0.98,-0.47) and at 12th month (β=-0.75,95％CI:-1.05,-0.45) of follow-up.Stratified analyses showed that patients with lower health literacy level could benefit from any intervention,while those with higher numeracy skill benefited more from exercise intervention.Conclusion Both health literacy and exercise-focused interventions may decrease HbA1c level in patients with T2DM,which would be helpful in reducing the risks of complications and deaths in diabetes patients.

Booster seat laws and child fatalities: a case-control study.

A case-control study examined, primarily, the association between booster seat laws and fatalities among children in frontal collisions and, secondarily, the association between booster seat laws and reported restraint use, and restraint use and child fatalities. Children who died in a crash in the US were cases, and children who survived a fatal crash were controls. Subjects were child passengers (4-8 years old) in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System Database, 1995-2005. In states with a booster seat law, children were less likely to die than in states without a law (OR 0.80; 95% CI 0.66 to 0.98). They were also more likely to be restrained (adjusted OR 1.59; 95% CI 1.21 to 2.09) and were more likely to be correctly restrained (adjusted OR 4.44; 95% CI 3.18 to 6.20). It is concluded that booster seat laws are associated with a decrease in child deaths and an increase in correct restraint use among children involved in a fatal crash in the USA.

Are school zones effective? An examination of motor vehicle versus child pedestrian crashes near schools.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the relationships between factors related to school location and motor vehicle versus child pedestrian collisions. METHODS: Data on all police-reported motor vehicle collisions involving pedestrians less than 18 years of age that occurred in Toronto, Canada, between 2000 and 2005 were analysed. Geographic information systems (GIS) software was used to assess the distance of each collision relative to school location. The relationships between distance from school and collision-related factors such as temporal patterns of school travel times and crossing locations were analysed. RESULTS: Study data showed a total of 2717 motor vehicle versus child (<18) pedestrian collisions. The area density of collisions (collisions/area), particularly fatal collisions, was highest in school zones and decreased as distance from schools increased. The highest proportion of collisions (37.3%) occurred among 10-14-year-olds. Within school zones, collisions were more likely to occur among 5-9-year-old children as they travelled to and from school during months when school was in session. Most collisions within school zones occurred at midblock locations versus intersections. CONCLUSIONS: Focusing interventions around schools with attention to age, travel times, and crossing location will reduce the burden of injury in children. Future studies that take into account traffic and pedestrian volume surrounding schools would be useful for prevention efforts as well as for promotion of walking. These results will help identify priorities and emphasise the importance of considering spatial and temporal patterns in child pedestrian research.

A comparison of booster seat use in Canadian provinces with and without legislation.

BACKGROUND: The use of booster seats continues to be low, despite their effectiveness in reducing injury in motor vehicle collisions. Many jurisdictions have introduced legislation requiring the use of booster seats. To date, there have been no Canadian studies evaluating the effectiveness of legislation on booster seat use. OBJECTIVES: To describe restraint use among Canadian children aged 4-8 years, and compare booster seat use between provinces/territories with and without legislation. METHODS: The data were obtained from a National Survey of Child Restraint Use/Misuse conducted between June and August 2006. A roadside observation survey was conducted at 182 sites across Canada. Weighted statistical analyses of differences in proportions were conducted, accounting for sampling stratification and clustering by car effects. RESULTS: The roadside survey estimated that 24.6% of children aged 4-8 were restrained in booster seats in provinces with legislation, compared with 16.6% in provinces without (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: This is the first Canadian national study using direct observation to determine the effect of legislation on booster seat use. Provinces with legislation had higher booster seat use, but overall rates were still disappointingly low. Ongoing surveillance of child safety seat use and evaluation of effective adjuncts to legislation is required in order to see collision-related child deaths and injuries drop in the future.

Pedestrian injuries in school-attending children: a comparison of injury data sources in a low-income setting.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate and compare the rate of pedestrian injuries in primary school-attending children of urban Uganda using different data sources. DESIGN: Data collection from a hospital-based trauma registry, police data, teacher reports, and a cross-sectional community-based survey. SETTING: Kawempe, the largest urban district in the capital Kampala, Uganda. Patients or SUBJECTS: Primary school-attending children aged 4-12 from 39 randomly selected schools were included in the trauma registry, police data, and teacher reports. 1828 households randomly selected from the 39 schools were interviewed for the community survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A pedestrian injury. For the trauma registry-defined as a pedestrian injury resulting in a visit to the hospital. For the police data-defined as a pedestrian injury reported to the police. For the teacher reports and survey-defined as a pedestrian injury resulting in at least a day off school. RESULTS: The estimated pedestrian injury rates per 100 000 person-years were 54.0 (95% CI 25.3 to 117.4), <53.97 (95% CI 23.8 to 125.9), 1878.8 (95% CI 1513.1 to 2322.4), and 764.0 (95% CI 523.3 to 1117.2) from the trauma registry, police data, teacher reports, and community survey, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Pedestrian injury rates differed significantly between different data sources. Users must be aware of the different target populations, definitions, and limitations of the data sources before direct comparisons are made. Injury reports by volunteer teachers may be a feasible source of injury data in other low/middle-income countries.

Once bitten, twice shy? Medically-attended injuries can sensitise parents to children's risk of injuries on playgrounds.

OBJECTIVE: To compare risk perceptions of parents whose child sustained a medically attended playground injury (cases) with those of parents whose child had not (controls) to address two questions. Does having a child experience a medically attended injury: (1) sensitise parents to children's injury vulnerability and severity; (2) influence parents' appraisal of the injury mechanism (child's behaviour), attributions for injuries or beliefs about strategies for prevention? METHOD: Each case-control parent dyad was assigned to one of two conditions: (1) being presented with 10 common injury-risk playground behaviours specific to the equipment on which their child had been hurt, and asked to appraise injury vulnerability and severity; or (2) being presented with scenarios about playground injuries that varied in severity but were all based on the same child behaviour, and asked questions about this behaviour, attributions for injury and strategies for prevention. RESULTS: The results support the occurrence of a sensitisation process. Compared with control parents, case parents showed higher ratings of injury severity and children's vulnerability to injury, made fewer attributions for injuries to bad luck, and endorsed a greater diversity of prevention strategies, including parent (closer supervision), child (teaching rules about safe play on playgrounds) and environmental (modifications to playgrounds). CONCLUSIONS: A child's medically attended injury can create a "teachable moment" for the parent. Linking injury-prevention programming to this teachable moment may increase the likelihood of evoking changes in parental supervisory behaviour and their setting of rules limiting their child's risk behaviours to reduce the occurrence of childhood injury.

Evaluation of Safe Kids Week 2004: age 4 to 9? It's booster seat time!

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of a national one week media campaign promoting booster seat use. DESIGN: Pre-test, post-test design based on nationally representative random digit dialing telephone survey, with control for exposure to campaign. SETTING: Canada. SUBJECTS: Parents of children aged 4-9 years. INTERVENTIONS: During a one week campaign in May 2004, information on booster seat use was distributed via a national media campaign, retail stores, medical clinics, and community events. Information included pamphlets with guidelines for booster seat use, as well as a growth chart (designed by Safe Kids Canada) to assist parents in determining if their child should be using a booster seat. Assessing seat belt fit was described in detail on the growth chart. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviors regarding booster seat use. RESULTS: Respondents in the group exposed to the campaign were twice as likely to report using a booster seat with lap and shoulder belt for their child (47%), compared to those in the pre-test (24%) and the unexposed (23%) groups (p<0.001). However, only small differences in general knowledge regarding booster seat use were found between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: A one week national media campaign substantially increased self-reported use of booster seats. Parents did not remember details of the campaign content, but did remember implications for their own child.

The nature of increased hospital use in poor neighbourhoods: findings from a Canadian inner city.

The relationship between socioeconomic factors and hospital use is not well understood in the Canadian context. We used the 1991 Canada census and 1990-92 Ontario hospital discharge abstracts for residents of southeast Toronto to calculate crude and age-sex adjusted rates of hospital admission, bed days, and costs by quintile of low-income households. Population-based rates of admission to hospital, bed days and costs were all significantly related to census tract income (p < 0.01 for males and females). The number of admissions per person admitted was significantly associated with census tract income (p < 0.01 for males and females), but length of stay and resource intensity weight were not. Hospital costs were 50.0% higher for the poorest quintile of neighbourhoods than for the wealthiest and 35.8% higher than for the middle-income quintile. Poor urban neighbourhoods may require more resources than previously anticipated, related to higher hospital admission and readmission rates.

Modeling physical dependence in arthritis: the relative contribution of specific disabilities and environmental factors.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the relationship between disability and physical dependence handicap, and the mediating effect of personal (demographic) and environmental factors as modeled by the International Classification of Impairments, Disability, and Handicaps. METHODS: Data on people with arthritis-associated disabilities were abstracted from a national population survey (n = 16,017). A hierarchical physical dependence variable was formulated. Nominal logistical regression was used to determine predictors of physical dependence related to specific disability, personal characteristics, and environmental adaptation variables. RESULTS: The risk of physical dependence only increased substantially at age > or = 75 years. Specific types of physical disability differentially predicted different levels of physical dependence. The major predictor of physical dependence was disability alone and in conjunction with environmental factors. CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be a specific and ordered relationship between the level of physical dependence and various types of physical disabilities. The findings could have implications for therapeutic intervention and health status measures.

Transmission of Pneumocystis carinii from patients to hospital staff.

BACKGROUND: An extrahuman reservoir of human pathogenic Pneumocystis carinii remains unknown. Host to host transmission has been described in animal studies and in cluster cases among immunodeficient patients. P carinii DNA has recently been detected in air filters from inpatient and outpatient rooms in departments of infectious diseases managing patients with P carinii pneumonia (PCP), suggesting the airborne route of transmission. Exposure of staff to P carinii may occur in hospital departments treating patients with PCP. METHODS: Exposure to P carinii was detected by serological responses to human P carinii by ELISA, Western blotting, and indirect immunofluorescence in 64 hospital staff with and 79 staff without exposure to patients with PCP from Denmark and Sweden. DNA amplification of oropharyngeal washings was performed on 20 Danish staff with and 20 staff without exposure to patients with PCP. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the frequency or level of antibodies to P carinii between staff exposed and those unexposed to patients with PCP. None of the hospital staff had detectable P carinii DNA in oropharyngeal washings. CONCLUSIONS: There is no difference in antibodies and no detectable P carinii DNA in oropharyngeal washings, which suggests that immunocompetent staff treating patients with PCP are not a potentially infectious source of P carinii for immunocompromised patients.

Impalpable breast lesions diagnosed by mammography: incidence of histologically confirmed malignancy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the suitability of currently applied mammographic criteria for the early diagnosis of subclinical tumours by comparing radiological findings with the final histological diagnosis. DESIGN: Open study. SETTING: District hospital, Denmark. SUBJECTS: 151 Women who underwent needle biopsy of 161 occult breast lesions that had been diagnosed by mammography during the period 1986-90. INTERVENTIONS: Definitive operation if frozen section at the time of needle biopsy indicated malignancy. Radiographic examination of the specimen ensured that the abnormal area had been excised. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Correlation of mammographic and histological findings. RESULTS: Eight foci showed carcinoma in situ and 33 invasive carcinoma; 10 of the 33 had lymph node metastases. Foci with mammographic masses had a significantly higher risk of malignancy than those without (25/70, 37%, compared with 8/91, 17%, p = 0.005). Spiculated foci with clustered calcifications had the highest risk of malignancy (6/11, 54%). 16/87 foci in women less than 50 years old contained malignant disease compared with 25/74 in women aged 50 or more (p = 0.04). A fifth of the frozen sections contributed nothing to the diagnosis. The incidence of malignant disease in impalpable lesions of a quarter is similar to the reported incidence in palpable mammary tumours, but metastases at the time of diagnosis are appreciably less common (30% compared with 50%). CONCLUSION: The currently applied mammographic criteria are particularly helpful to patients under the age of 50.

Charge nurses: critical change agents for successful restructuring.

Charge nurses know a unit's needs, difficulties, strong points, and successes. Therefore, charge nurses are often the key people that make restructuring work at the unit level. This article describes how to empower charge nurses so they can be the drivers for today's changes.

Determining suitability for home versus community-based ambulatory therapy services for adults with arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: A survey of clients seen by a community-based arthritis therapy service was conducted to investigate how characteristics of clients might provide information to assist in the development of guidelines for services delivered in the home versus in a community-based ambulatory setting. METHODS: Clients completed a self-administered questionnaire, which included the Health Assessment Questionnaire, and a mobility handicap measure. Two indicator variables selected as criteria for suitability for ambulatory therapy were the therapists' rating of client suitability and the clients' report of going out more than once weekly. RESULTS: Based on these indicator variables, 60-76% of clients currently receiving home therapy by this service could potentially receive services in a community-based ambulatory setting. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate the usefulness of considering client characteristics when deciding whether clients need to be seen at home. This study emphasizes the need to determine the most efficient and effective methods of providing services to people in the community with chronic conditions.

Iatrogenic radiant heat burns in severely asphyxic newborns.

We report two cases of newborns who developed second-degree burns following resuscitation under infra-red heating lamps. Both infants were asphyxic and suffered from insufficient peripheral circulation which, combined with the long duration of the exposure to the light, contributed to the development of the lesions. Both infants died shortly after birth for reasons other than the burns.

Implementing patient-focused care: success indicators for measuring satisfaction.

Using success indicators to regularly survey patients, families, physicians, and staff, you can monitor the acceptance of a new Patient-Focused Care model. Unit-specific and hospital-wide data reveals problems and successes, and it offers a concrete scale on which you can judge how successful the transition is at any stage.