Comparing distance and time as driving exposure measures to evaluate fatal crash risk ratios.

BACKGROUND: The use of an appropriate driving exposure measure is essential to calculate traffic crash rates and risks. Commonly used exposure measures include driving distance and the number of licensed drivers. These measures have some limitations, including the unavailability of disaggregated estimates for consecutive years, low data quality, and the failure to represent the driving population when the crash occurred. However, the length of driving time, available annually from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), can be disaggregated by age, gender, time-of-day, and day-of week, and addresses the temporal discontinuity limitation of driving distance on the United States (U.S.) national scale. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to determine if the length of driving time as a driving exposure measure is comparable to driving distance by comparing distance-based and time-based fatal crash risk ratios by driver age category, gender, time-of-day, and day-of-week. METHODS: The 2016-2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) provided driving distance, and 2016-2017 Fatality Analysis Reporting System provided the number of drivers in fatal crashes. The distributions of driving distance and length of driving time by driver age category (16-24, 25-44, 45-64, and 65 years or older), gender, time-of-day, day-of-week were compared. Two negative binomial regression models were used to compute the distance-based and time-based fatal crash risk ratios. RESULTS: The distributions of driving-distance were not different from the length-of-driving-time distributions by driver age category, gender, time-of-day, and day-of-week. Driving distance and the length of driving time provide similar fatal crash risk ratio estimates. CONCLUSIONS: The length of driving time can be an alternative to driving distance as a measure of driving exposure. The primary advantage of driving time over driving distance is that, starting from 2003, the disaggregated estimates of the length of driving time are available from ATUS over consecutive years, curtailing the discontinuity limitation of driving distance. Furthermore, the length of driving time is related to drivers' perceived risks about their driving conditions and as a result, may be a better exposure measure than driving distance in comparing crash risks between drivers whose likelihood of traveling in hazardous driving conditions (e.g., nighttime) varies substantially.

Antimicrobial Usage Among Different Age Categories and Herd Sizes in Swiss Farrow-to-Finish Farms.

In the Swiss pig sector, the usage of antimicrobials has been recorded, evaluated and systematically reduced on a voluntary basis since 2015. This monitoring has been carried out using various methods thereby enabling continuous national scrutiny as well as international comparisons. To gain a better understanding of the dynamics of the antimicrobial usage on Swiss farms, consumption data of farrow-to-finish farms were analyzed for (i) the within-herd relationships among different age categories and (ii) the influence of the herd size. The data were collected on 71 farms for the year 2017, encompassing the amount of active ingredients and number of defined daily doses Switzerland (nDDDch) in total, and stratified for the different age categories of piglets, weaners, fattening pigs, and sows. The differences in nDDDch per animal among the age categories were determined by a Wilcoxon test and subsequent post-hoc analysis according to Bonferroni. The within-herd relationship among the individual age categories as well as the influence of the herd size on nDDDch per animal measured as kept sows were analyzed by simple linear regression. The evaluation of the treatment days showed that 50% of the nDDDch were used in piglets, 44% for weaners, and 3% each for fattening pigs and sows. Compared to the other age categories, the examination of the number of nDDDch per animal showed a significantly higher number for sows, whereas for fattening pigs the number was significantly lower (P < 0.01). The farm-based analysis using linear regression showed a relationship between antimicrobial usage in sows and piglets (P < 0.001; adj. R 2 = 0.19). Similarly, a significant relationship between larger herd size and increased antimicrobial usage was observed (P = 0.02; adj. R 2 = 0.06). The present study provides an insight into the antimicrobial treatment dynamics of farrow-to-finish farms. In particular, the age categories piglets and sows-with their higher number of treatment days in total or per animal-are of interest regarding the potential reduction in antimicrobial usage. Likewise, larger farms with higher management requirements were found to be of particular importance for the reduction of antimicrobial usage. Monitoring programs should therefore evaluate different age categories separately to identify problems for individual farms.

Older adults show less interference from task-irrelevant social categories: evidence from the garner paradigm.

Though age-related difference in most cognitive performance has been found, there was no previous research examining age difference in multiple social categorizations. Using faces as stimuli and Garner Selective Attention Paradigm, this study explored the different characteristics of implicit and explicit social categorization between young and older adults. The results showed that young perceivers explicitly categorized gender and age of the faces faster and more readily than older perceivers did. When young adults judged specific category (gender category in Experiment 1; age category in Experiment 2), they were interfered from the completing irrelative category; however, irrelative category could not capture older adults' attention. These results first suggest perceivers' age indeed plays an important role in multiple social categorizations.

Effects of high ambient temperature on ambulance dispatches in different age groups in Fukuoka, Japan.

BACKGROUND: The elderly population has been the primary target of intervention to prevent heat-related illnesses. According to the literature, the highest risks have been observed among the elderly in the temperature-mortality relationship. However, findings regarding the temperature-morbidity relationship are inconsistent. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the association of temperature with ambulance dispatches due to acute illnesses, stratified by age group. Specifically, we explored the optimum temperature, at which the relative health risks were found to be the lowest, and quantified the health risk associated with higher temperatures among different age groups. METHODS: We used the data for ambulance dispatches in Fukuoka, Japan, during May and September from 2005 to 2012. The data were grouped according to age in 20-year increments. We explored the pattern of the association of ambulance dispatches with temperature using a smoothing spline curve to identify the optimum temperature for each age group. Then, we applied a distributed lag nonlinear model to estimate the risks of the 85th-95th percentile temperature relative to the overall optimum temperature, for each age group. RESULTS: The relative risk of ambulance dispatches at the 85th and 95th percentile temperature for all ages was 1.08 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05, 1.12] and 1.12 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.16), respectively. In comparison, among age groups, the optimum temperature was observed as 25.0°C, 23.2°C, and 25.3°C for those aged 0-19, 60-79, and ≥80, respectively. The optimum temperature could not be determined for those aged 20-39 and 40-59. The relative risks of high temperature tended to be higher for those aged 20-39 and 40-59 than those for other age groups. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find any definite difference in the effect of high temperature on ambulance dispatches for different age groups. However, more measures should be taken for younger and middle-aged people to avoid heat-related illnesses.

Lumbar Spine Surgeries and Medication Usage During Hospital Stay: One-Center Perspective.

Background: Pain after spine surgery is usually managed with opioid and nonopioids. The rate of lumbar spine surgeries (LSS) is rising, but current practices on LSS are not known. A current trend in LSS and medication usage by age group is needed to gain a better understanding of how LSS and its pain management vary by age. Objective: The aim of this study was to report current practices of LSS of discectomy, laminectomy, and fusion in patients aged 18 and older and to gain an understanding of medication use for management of LSS. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed data of the University of Kansas Medical Center from 2007 to 2014 of patients (>18 years of age) undergoing laminectomy, discectomy, and fusion. Results: A total of 19 463 patients underwent LSS between 2007 and 2014 at Kansas University hospital. For the purpose of this study, 3115 patients' medical records were observed. A 50% increase in LSS between 2007 and 2014 was noted. Specifically, more than 2-fold increase in LSS was observed in patients aged 65 years and older. Among those aged 65 years and older, laminectomy was the most commonly performed surgery (69.6%) while discectomy was the most common surgery performed among those aged 18 to 34 (82.9%) and those aged 35 to 44 (72%). The medication use also increased with a highest usage in opioids alone (55%), followed by opioids combined with other analgesics (42.7%), regardless of lumbar surgery type or age. Conclusion: The information of increase in both LSS and the medication usage over the 7 years can be used to gain a better understanding of quality, expenditure, and outcomes following LSS. This knowledge may help health care providers plan patient care and rehabilitation services for older adults, as the trajectory of lumbar spine surgery is likely to rise with growing prevalence of older adults. The information regarding increased opioid utilization may also help clinicians to refine opioid usage and consider alternative approaches to manage acute postoperative pain, in light of the current concerns related to overutilization of opioids.

The characteristics of social categorization based on the unidimensional variation of gender versus age.

The present study explored the characteristics of social categorization based on the unidimensional variation of gender or age using the Garner's Selective Attention Paradigm. The task of the experiment was to judge whether there was a mole on a person's face, and the results showed that young participants' response times were slower when the age or gender of the face stimuli varied, demonstrating that young people, rather than older people, can activate both an age category and a gender category automatically. Meanwhile, all participants' responses to the old faces were slower than that to the young faces. Females reacted faster than males, demonstrating that females tend to have an advantage for face processing.

The Burden of Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease Among Children Younger than 1 Year in Central and Eastern Europe.

INTRODUCTION: Globally, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of serious lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in young children, and is a major cause of hospital admission in children <1 year of age. The study evaluated the severity of RSV-associated LRTI disease among premature (<36 weeks gestational age (GA)) and term children <1 year of age and assessed the influence of GA on outcomes of RSV LRTI hospitalization in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). METHODS: Retrospective cohort survey of children <1 year of age hospitalized with an LRTI during the periods of October 2009 to April 2010 or October 2010 to April 2011 in 12 CEE countries. RESULTS: Across two RSV seasons, 3474 evaluable children were hospitalized because of LRTI; 757 (21.8%) were premature and 2679 (77.1%) were term. RSV tests were positive in 1423 (42.4%) cases, of which 266 (18.7%) were premature and 1034 (72.7%) were term children. Among the RSV-positive patients, premature children had a significantly longer hospital stay (17 vs 8 days; P < 0.001), were more frequently hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) (41.4% vs 12.6%) and remained in the ICU significantly longer (13 vs 6 days; P < 0.001) compared with term children. Premature children had a 3.3-fold (95% CI, 2.66-4.09) increased risk for ICU hospitalization compared with term children (P < 0.001). ICU hospitalization, prolonged hospital stay, supplemental oxygen administration and death occurred significantly more frequently among children with lower vs higher GA. CONCLUSION: RSV infection is associated with substantial morbidity in CEE among premature and term children. The attributable morbidity, however, is significantly greater among premature children compared with term children, including longer hospital stays and more frequent and longer stays in the ICU. These findings are consistent with previously published data outside of CEE, demonstrating prematurity as a significant and independent predictor for severe RSV disease. FUNDING: AbbVie Inc.

Patterns of menthol cigarette use among current smokers, overall and within demographic strata, based on data from four U.S. government surveys.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, National Health Interview Survey and Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey provide estimates of the proportions of U.S. smokers who currently use menthol cigarettes, overall and within demographic strata. Among adult past-month, regular and daily smokers, menthol cigarette use ranges from 26% to 30%, with statistically higher proportions of female versus male smokers (8-11 percentage points higher) currently using menthol cigarettes. Compared to adult smokers overall, statistically higher proportions of non-Hispanic Black smokers (72-79%) and statistically lower proportions of non-Hispanic White smokers (19-22%) currently use menthol cigarettes, with no differences among smokers of other race/ethnicity groups (18-20% to 28-30%, depending on the survey). Higher proportions of younger adult past-month, regular and daily smokers (aged 18-25years) currently use menthol cigarettes compared to older adult smokers (aged 26-29years and/or ⩾30years); however, differences are small in magnitude, with the vast majority of adult smokers (70-75%) who currently use menthol cigarettes being aged ⩾30years. Comparisons between youth and adult smokers are provided, although data for youth smokers are less available and provide less consistent patterns of menthol cigarette use.