Comprehensive planning for the physical development of the city.

The status of health in urban populations.

The inhabitants of a city or town, including metropolitan areas and suburban areas.

The process whereby a society changes from a rural to an urban way of life. It refers also to the gradual increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas.

The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

Any substance in the air which could, if present in high enough concentration, harm humans, animals, vegetation or material. Substances include GASES; PARTICULATE MATTER; and volatile ORGANIC CHEMICALS.

Elements of residence that characterize a population. They are applicable in determining need for and utilization of health services.

Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

Health services, public or private, in urban areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

The presence of contaminants or pollutant substances in the air (AIR POLLUTANTS) that interfere with human health or welfare, or produce other harmful environmental effects. The substances may include GASES; PARTICULATE MATTER; or volatile ORGANIC CHEMICALS.

Living facilities for humans.

The use or threatened use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of criminal laws for purposes of intimidation, coercion, or ransom, in support of political or social objectives.

Hospitals located in metropolitan areas.

City, urban, rural, or suburban areas which are characterized by severe economic deprivation and by accompanying physical and social decay.

Smallest political subdivisions within a country at which general governmental functions are carried-out.

Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.

The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals.

Ongoing scrutiny of a population (general population, study population, target population, etc.), generally using methods distinguished by their practicability, uniformity, and frequently their rapidity, rather than by complete accuracy.

An infant during the first month after birth.

Abuse, overuse, or misuse of a substance by its injection into a vein.

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

The frequency of different ages or age groups in a given population. The distribution may refer to either how many or what proportion of the group. The population is usually patients with a specific disease but the concept is not restricted to humans and is not restricted to medicine.

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

The number of new cases of a given disease during a given period in a specified population. It also is used for the rate at which new events occur in a defined population. It is differentiated from PREVALENCE, which refers to all cases, new or old, in the population at a given time.

Includes the spectrum of human immunodeficiency virus infections that range from asymptomatic seropositivity, thru AIDS-related complex (ARC), to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

The inhabitants of peripheral or adjacent areas of a city or town.

All deaths reported in a given population.

Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.

The state of the ATMOSPHERE over minutes to months.

The interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale, between different countries or between populations within the same country. It includes trade (the buying, selling, or exchanging of commodities, whether wholesale or retail) and business (the purchase and sale of goods to make a profit). (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, p411, p2005 & p283)

The number of males and females in a given population. The distribution may refer to how many men or women or what proportion of either in the group. The population is usually patients with a specific disease but the concept is not restricted to humans and is not restricted to medicine.

Sexual attraction or relationship between males.

A republic in the Greater Antilles in the West Indies. Its capital is Santo Domingo. With Haiti, it forms the island of Hispaniola - the Dominican Republic occupying the eastern two thirds, and Haiti, the western third. It was created in 1844 after a revolt against the rule of President Boyer over the entire island of Hispaniola, itself visited by Columbus in 1492 and settled the next year. Except for a brief period of annexation to Spain (1861-65), it has been independent, though closely associated with the United States. Its name comes from the Spanish Santo Domingo, Holy Sunday, with reference to its discovery on a Sunday. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p338, 506 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p151)

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

Creating a representation of areas of the earth or other celestial bodies, for the purpose of visualizing spatial distributions of various information.

Collection, analysis, and interpretation of data about the frequency, distribution, and consequences of disease or health conditions, for use in the planning, implementing, and evaluating public health programs.

The killing of one person by another.

Undertaking a task involving a challenge for achievement or a desirable goal in which there is a lack of certainty or a fear of failure. It may also include the exhibiting of certain behaviors whose outcomes may present a risk to the individual or to those associated with him or her.

Hospitals controlled by the city government.

Particles of any solid substance, generally under 30 microns in size, often noted as PM30. There is special concern with PM1 which can get down to PULMONARY ALVEOLI and induce MACROPHAGE ACTIVATION and PHAGOCYTOSIS leading to FOREIGN BODY REACTION and LUNG DISEASES.

Encouraging consumer behaviors most likely to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information, preventive programs, and access to medical care.

Research techniques that focus on study designs and data gathering methods in human and animal populations.

An area of recreation or hygiene for use by the public.

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.

The unstable triatomic form of oxygen, O3. It is a powerful oxidant that is produced for various chemical and industrial uses. Its production is also catalyzed in the ATMOSPHERE by ULTRAVIOLET RAY irradiation of oxygen or other ozone precursors such as VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS and NITROGEN OXIDES. About 90% of the ozone in the atmosphere exists in the stratosphere (STRATOSPHERIC OZONE).

The means of moving persons, animals, goods, or materials from one place to another.

Statistical models which describe the relationship between a qualitative dependent variable (that is, one which can take only certain discrete values, such as the presence or absence of a disease) and an independent variable. A common application is in epidemiology for estimating an individual's risk (probability of a disease) as a function of a given risk factor.

A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.

Nitrogen oxide (NO2). A highly poisonous gas. Exposure produces inflammation of lungs that may only cause slight pain or pass unnoticed, but resulting edema several days later may cause death. (From Merck, 11th ed) It is a major atmospheric pollutant that is able to absorb UV light that does not reach the earth's surface.

Persons living in the United States of Mexican (MEXICAN AMERICANS), Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin. The concept does not include Brazilian Americans or Portuguese Americans.

Educational institutions.

EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES based on the detection through serological testing of characteristic change in the serum level of specific ANTIBODIES. Latent subclinical infections and carrier states can thus be detected in addition to clinically overt cases.

Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.

Persons who have no permanent residence. The concept excludes nomadic peoples.

Number of individuals in a population relative to space.

Statistical interpretation and description of a population with reference to distribution, composition, or structure.

Sexual activities of humans.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Means or process of supplying water (as for a community) usually including reservoirs, tunnels, and pipelines and often the watershed from which the water is ultimately drawn. (Webster, 3d ed)

Inhaling and exhaling the smoke of burning TOBACCO.

A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area.

A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.

Planning that has the goals of improving health, improving accessibility to health services, and promoting efficiency in the provision of services and resources on a comprehensive basis for a whole community. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p299)

A violation of the criminal law, i.e., a breach of the conduct code specifically sanctioned by the state, which through its administrative agencies prosecutes offenders and imposes and administers punishments. The concept includes unacceptable actions whether prosecuted or going unpunished.

The science dealing with the earth and its life, especially the description of land, sea, and air and the distribution of plant and animal life, including humanity and human industries with reference to the mutual relations of these elements. (From Webster, 3d ed)

The contamination of indoor air.

Persons living in the United States having origins in any of the black groups of Africa.

Parliamentary democracy located between France on the northeast and Portugual on the west and bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The planned upgrading of a deteriorating urban area, involving rebuilding, renovation, or restoration. It frequently refers to programs of major demolition and rebuilding of blighted areas.

Instruments used for injecting or withdrawing fluids. (Stedman, 25th ed)

Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.

Agents of the law charged with the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing law and order among the citizenry.

Gases, fumes, vapors, and odors escaping from the cylinders of a gasoline or diesel internal-combustion engine. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed & Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Calamities producing great damage, loss of life, and distress. They include results of natural phenomena and man-made phenomena. Normal conditions of existence are disrupted and the level of impact exceeds the capacity of the hazard-affected community.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

Diseases due to or propagated by sexual contact.

Voluntary groups of people representing diverse interests in the community such as hospitals, businesses, physicians, and insurers, with the principal objective to improve health care cost effectiveness.

The atmospheric properties, characteristics and other atmospheric phenomena especially pertaining to WEATHER or CLIMATE.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

Educational attainment or level of education of individuals.

The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.

A distribution function used to describe the occurrence of rare events or to describe the sampling distribution of isolated counts in a continuum of time or space.

The structuring of the environment to permit or promote specific patterns of behavior.

Insects that transmit infective organisms from one host to another or from an inanimate reservoir to an animate host.

A genus of mosquitoes (CULICIDAE) frequently found in tropical and subtropical regions. YELLOW FEVER and DENGUE are two of the diseases that can be transmitted by species of this genus.

Housing subsidized by tax funds, usually intended for low income persons or families.

Disorders related to substance abuse.

Individual or group aggressive behavior which is socially non-acceptable, turbulent, and often destructive. It is precipitated by frustrations, hostility, prejudices, etc.

Small-arms weapons, including handguns, pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, etc.

Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics.

Factors which produce cessation of all vital bodily functions. They can be analyzed from an epidemiologic viewpoint.

Education that increases the awareness and favorably influences the attitudes and knowledge relating to the improvement of health on a personal or community basis.

A republic in western Africa, south of NIGER between BENIN and CAMEROON. Its capital is Abuja.

Organized efforts to insure obedience to the laws of a community.

Interactional process combining investigation, discussion, and agreement by a number of people in the preparation and carrying out of a program to ameliorate conditions of need or social pathology in the community. It usually involves the action of a formal political, legal, or recognized voluntary body.

Damage inflicted on the body as the direct or indirect result of an external force, with or without disruption of structural continuity.

The practice of indulging in sexual relations for money.

Activities devoted to freeing persons or animals from danger to life or well-being in accidents, fires, bombings, floods, earthquakes, other disasters and life-threatening conditions. While usually performed by team efforts, rescue work is not restricted to organized services.

Disposal, processing, controlling, recycling, and reusing the solid, liquid, and gaseous wastes of plants, animals, humans, and other organisms. It includes control within a closed ecological system to maintain a habitable environment.

The activities and endeavors of the public health services in a community on any level.

A stratum of people with similar position and prestige; includes social stratification. Social class is measured by criteria such as education, occupation, and income.

A specialized agency of the United Nations designed as a coordinating authority on international health work; its aim is to promote the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all peoples.

Usage of a single needle among two or more people for injecting drugs. Needle sharing is a high-risk behavior for contracting infectious disease.

Revenues or receipts accruing from business enterprise, labor, or invested capital.

Community or individual involvement in the decision-making process.

Permanent roads having a line of rails fixed to ties and laid to gage, usually on a leveled or graded ballasted roadbed and providing a track for freight cars, passenger cars, and other rolling stock. Cars are designed to be drawn by locomotives or sometimes propelled by self-contained motors. (From Webster's 3d) The concept includes the organizational and administrative aspects of railroads as well.

AUTOMOBILES, trucks, buses, or similar engine-driven conveyances. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The status of health in suburban populations.

The process of leaving one's country to establish residence in a foreign country.

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

Studies in which a number of subjects are selected from all subjects in a defined population. Conclusions based on sample results may be attributed only to the population sampled.

Organized services for exchange of sterile needles and syringes used for injections as a potential means of reducing the transmission of infectious diseases.

The level of health of the individual, group, or population as subjectively assessed by the individual or by more objective measures.

The maintenance of certain aspects of the environment within a defined space to facilitate the function of that space; aspects controlled include air temperature and motion, radiant heat level, moisture, and concentration of pollutants such as dust, microorganisms, and gases. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

The area of a nation's economy that is tax-supported and under government control.

An acute febrile disease transmitted by the bite of AEDES mosquitoes infected with DENGUE VIRUS. It is self-limiting and characterized by fever, myalgia, headache, and rash. SEVERE DENGUE is a more virulent form of dengue.

Hospital department responsible for the administration and provision of immediate medical or surgical care to the emergency patient.

A soft, grayish metal with poisonous salts; atomic number 82, atomic weight 207.19, symbol Pb. (Dorland, 28th)

Activities concerned with governmental policies, functions, etc.

Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.

People who leave their place of residence in one country and settle in a different country.

People who frequently change their place of residence.

The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)

A geographic area defined and served by a health program or institution.

Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.

Enumerations of populations usually recording identities of all persons in every place of residence with age or date of birth, sex, occupation, national origin, language, marital status, income, relation to head of household, information on the dwelling place, education, literacy, health-related data (e.g., permanent disability), etc. The census or "numbering of the people" is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. Among the Romans, censuses were intimately connected with the enumeration of troops before and after battle and probably a military necessity. (From Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 3d ed; Garrison, An Introduction to the History of Medicine, 4th ed, p66, p119)

A set of techniques used when variation in several variables has to be studied simultaneously. In statistics, multivariate analysis is interpreted as any analytic method that allows simultaneous study of two or more dependent variables.

A set of statistical methods used to group variables or observations into strongly inter-related subgroups. In epidemiology, it may be used to analyze a closely grouped series of events or cases of disease or other health-related phenomenon with well-defined distribution patterns in relation to time or place or both.

Notification or reporting by a physician or other health care provider of the occurrence of specified contagious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV infections to designated public health agencies. The United States system of reporting notifiable diseases evolved from the Quarantine Act of 1878, which authorized the US Public Health Service to collect morbidity data on cholera, smallpox, and yellow fever; each state in the US has its own list of notifiable diseases and depends largely on reporting by the individual health care provider. (From Segen, Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)

Social process whereby the values, attitudes, or institutions of society, such as education, family, religion, and industry become modified. It includes both the natural process and action programs initiated by members of the community.

The use of biological agents in TERRORISM. This includes the malevolent use of BACTERIA; VIRUSES; or other BIOLOGICAL TOXINS against people, ANIMALS; or PLANTS.

Organized periodic procedures performed on large groups of people for the purpose of detecting disease.

The confinement of a patient in a hospital.

The ratio of two odds. The exposure-odds ratio for case control data is the ratio of the odds in favor of exposure among cases to the odds in favor of exposure among noncases. The disease-odds ratio for a cohort or cross section is the ratio of the odds in favor of disease among the exposed to the odds in favor of disease among the unexposed. The prevalence-odds ratio refers to an odds ratio derived cross-sectionally from studies of prevalent cases.

Official records of individual deaths including the cause of death certified by a physician, and any other required identifying information.

Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.

Contamination of the air, bodies of water, or land with substances that are harmful to human health and the environment.

Contamination of the air by tobacco smoke.

Facilities for the preparation and dispensing of drugs.

Studies of the number of cases where human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is present in a specific population at a designated time. The presence in a given individual is determined by the finding of HIV antibodies in the serum (HIV SEROPOSITIVITY).

Activity engaged in for pleasure.

Facilities which provide care for pre-school and school-age children.

Individuals enrolled in a school or formal educational program.

A usually four-wheeled automotive vehicle designed for passenger transportation and commonly propelled by an internal-combustion engine using a volatile fuel. (Webster, 1973)

A weight-carrying structure for navigation of the air that is supported either by its own buoyancy or by the dynamic action of the air against its surfaces. (Webster, 1973)

The geographic area of Latin America in general and when the specific country or countries are not indicated. It usually includes Central America, South America, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean.

Private, not-for-profit hospitals that are autonomous, self-established, and self-supported.

A form of bronchial disorder with three distinct components: airway hyper-responsiveness (RESPIRATORY HYPERSENSITIVITY), airway INFLAMMATION, and intermittent AIRWAY OBSTRUCTION. It is characterized by spasmodic contraction of airway smooth muscle, WHEEZING, and dyspnea (DYSPNEA, PAROXYSMAL).

Increase, over a specific period of time, in the number of individuals living in a country or region.

Relating to the size of solids.

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

A class of hospitals that includes profit or not-for-profit hospitals that are controlled by a legal entity other than a government agency. (Hospital Administration Terminology, AHA, 2d ed)

The interactions between representatives of institutions, agencies, or organizations.

The state of society as it exists or in flux. While it usually refers to society as a whole in a specified geographical or political region, it is applicable also to restricted strata of a society.

Earth or other matter in fine, dry particles. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Statistical models in which the value of a parameter for a given value of a factor is assumed to be equal to a + bx, where a and b are constants. The models predict a linear regression.

An acquired defect of cellular immunity associated with infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a CD4-positive T-lymphocyte count under 200 cells/microliter or less than 14% of total lymphocytes, and increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and malignant neoplasms. Clinical manifestations also include emaciation (wasting) and dementia. These elements reflect criteria for AIDS as defined by the CDC in 1993.

Sudden outbreaks of a disease in a country or region not previously recognized in that area, or a rapid increase in the number of new cases of a previous existing endemic disease. Epidemics can also refer to outbreaks of disease in animal or plant populations.

A clinical syndrome caused by heat stress, such as over-exertion in a hot environment or excessive exposure to sun. It is characterized by SWEATING, water (volume) depletion, salt depletion, cool clammy skin, NAUSEA, and HEADACHE.

Accidents on streets, roads, and highways involving drivers, passengers, pedestrians, or vehicles. Traffic accidents refer to AUTOMOBILES (passenger cars, buses, and trucks), BICYCLING, and MOTORCYCLES but not OFF-ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES; RAILROADS nor snowmobiles.

The legal authority or formal permission from authorities to carry on certain activities which by law or regulation require such permission. It may be applied to licensure of institutions as well as individuals.