National Child Passenger Safety Week--February 14-20, 1999.
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In 1997, 1791 U.S. children aged <15 years were killed and 282,000 were injured while riding in motor vehicles. National Child Passenger Safety Week, February 14-20, 1999, will highlight safety recommendations for children aged >4 years and weighing >40 lbs who have outgrown their child safety seats. (+info)
Understanding pedestrians' road crossing decisions: an application of the theory of planned behaviour.
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This paper reports a study applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to the prediction of pedestrians' road crossing intentions. Respondents (N = 210) completed questionnaires which included scenarios of three potentially dangerous road crossing behaviours, followed by measures of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, self-identity and intention. The results indicated that the social psychological variables under consideration were able to explain between 39 and 52% of the variance in intentions to cross the road in the manner depicted in the scenarios. The perceived behavioural control component of the TPB emerged as the strongest predictor of pedestrians' intentions, suggesting that perceptions of control have an important role to play in road safety behaviour. The results are discussed in relation to the predictive utility of the TPB in this area and possible interventions to encourage safe road crossing behaviour. (+info)
Motor-vehicle safety: a 20th century public health achievement.
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The reduction of the rate of death attributable to motor-vehicle crashes in the United States represents the successful public health response to a great technologic advance of the 20th century-the motorization of America. Six times as many people drive today as in 1925, and the number of motor vehicles in the country has increased 11-fold since then to approximately 215 million. The number of miles traveled in motor vehicles is 10 times higher than in the mid-1920s. Despite this steep increase in motor-vehicle travel, the annual death rate has declined from 18 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 1925 to 1.7 per 100 million VMT in 1997-a 90% decrease. (+info)
Association of low back pain with self-reported risk factors among patients seeking physical therapy services.
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study investigated the magnitude of association between low back pain (LBP) and self-reported factors thought to increase the risk of LBP. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Questionnaires were completed by 150 patients who were receiving physical therapy for LBP and by 138 patients who were being treated for other reasons. The solicited information was used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the LBP-risk factor association. RESULTS: Low back pain was positively associated with smoking status, pregnancy, industrial vibration exposure, and time spent in a car (odds ratios > or = 2.21). Daily lifting, body mass index, activity level, and time sitting or standing showed at most a weak positive association with LBP. Comparisons with estimated associations from other studies were made. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: Data from this study support a statistically significant association between LBP and some factors found in other research to increase the risk of LBP. Study findings may have implications for targeting at-risk groups for back care education or intervention programs. (+info)
How does the prevalence of specific morbidities compare with measures of socio-economic status at small area level?
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BACKGROUND: Evidence from other studies has show large, systematic differences between the health of social groups. It is not clear whether this relationship applies equally to all areas of health need. We assess whether a variety of areas of ill health show positive correlations with increasing socioeconomic disadvantage, and whether there are indicators of socio-economic disadvantage that are better than others at predicting the prevalence of specific morbidities at a population level. METHODS: The prevalence of a range of common morbidities was determined by a postal questionnaire sent to 16,750 subjects (response rate 79 per cent), and compared with socio-economic information obtained from the 1991 Census. RESULTS: There was substantial variation in the degree to which the various morbidities were related to the socioeconomic variables. When compared with socio-economic variables, long-term limiting illness, respiratory conditions and depression had high correlations of +0.8 or more. Cardiovascular conditions were less related (r = +0.60 to +0.79). None of the disorders of the gastrointestinal system showed a high correlation with socio-economic variables. There was also substantial variation in the degree of correlation of the socio-economic measures with each area of morbidity. The measures that showed the highest correlations were in respect of household characteristics such as car ownership and single parent households. Variables describing household amenities such as lacking a bath or central heating were least related to the morbidity measures. CONCLUSIONS: Some areas of morbidity show strong associations with socio-economic disadvantage, but others show only modest or no relationship. The optimum choice of socio-economic variable as a proxy for health need depends on the area of illness being considered. (+info)
Effects of ignition interlock license restrictions on drivers with multiple alcohol offenses: a randomized trial in Maryland.
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OBJECTIVES: This investigation sought to test the effectiveness of a statewide ignition interlock license restriction program for drivers with multiple alcohol-related traffic offenses. METHODS: A total of 1387 multiple offenders eligible for license reinstatement were randomly assigned to participate in an ignition interlock program (experimental group) or in the conventional postlicensing treatment program (control group). The arrest rates of these 2 groups for alcohol traffic offenses were compared for 1 year during the ignition interlock license restriction program and for 1 year after unrestricted driving privileges were returned. RESULTS: Participation in the interlock program reduced offenders' risk of committing an alcohol traffic violation within the first year by about 65%. The alcohol traffic violation rate during the first year was significantly less for participants in the interlock program (2.4%) than for those in the control group (6.7%). However, there was no statistically significant difference between these groups in the second year, after the interlock license restriction was lifted. CONCLUSIONS: Ignition interlock license restriction programs are effective at reducing recidivism among drivers with multiple alcohol offenses, at least while the restriction is in effect. (+info)
Gordonia polyisoprenivorans sp. nov., a rubber-degrading actinomycete isolated from an automobile tyre.
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A rubber-degrading bacterium (strain Kd2T) was isolated from fouling tyre water inside a deteriorated automobile tyre. The strain was aerobic, Grampositive, produced elementary branching hyphae which fragmented into rod/coccus-like elements and showed chemotaxonomic markers which were consistent with the classification of Gordonia, i.e. meso-diaminopimelic acid, N-glycolyl muramic acid, arabinose and galactose as diagnostic sugars, a fatty acid pattern composed of unbranched saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids with a considerable amount of tuberculostearic acid, and mycolic acids comprising 58-66 carbon atoms with two principal mycolic acids C60 and C62 counting for over 60%. Results of 16S rDNA analyses as well as chemotaxonomic results, led to the conclusion that Gordonia sp. strain Kd2T (= DSM 44302T) represents a new species within the genus Gordonia for which the name Gordonia polyisoprenivorans is proposed. (+info)
Biological monitoring to assess exposure from use of isocyanates in motor vehicle repair.
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OBJECTIVES: To develop a method for the measurement of a metabolite of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), an isocyanate, and use it to assess the exposure of sprayers employed in motor vehicle repair shops. METHODS: Urine samples were taken from sprayers wearing personal protective equipment and spraying in booths or with local exhaust ventilation, from bystanders, and from unexposed subjects. Samples were analyzed for a metabolite of HDI, hexamethylene diamine (HDA), by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). RESULTS: HDA was detected in four sprayers and one bystander out of 22 workers. No HDA was detected in the urine of unexposed subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to isocyanates still occurs despite the use of personal protective equipment and the use of a booth or extracted space. Health surveillance is likely to be required to provide feedback on the adequacy of controls even if such precautions are used and to identify cases of early asthma. Biological monitoring can provide a useful additional tool to assess exposure and the adequacy of controls in this group of exposed workers. (+info)