bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Circumstances of slips trips and falls among Hospital workers
Authors: Courtney T K , Lombardi D A , Sorock G S , Wellman H M , Verma S , Brennan M J , Collins J , Bell J , Chang W R , Grnqvist R , Wolf L , DeMaster E , Matz M
Published: March 2011

A case follow-back study was conducted to better describe the circumstances experienced by hospital workers who had slipped, tripped and/or fallen (STF). One hundred 53 healthcare workers, who reported a STF to the occupational health department in one of four private and three public US hospitals, were recruited and interviewed using a structured telephone questionnaire. Participants were predominantly female (86%) with a mean age (range) of 46 (19–67). One hundred and thirty-six workers (89%) fell: 55% after slipping, 32% after tripping. Liquid contaminants (eg, water, cleaning solutions) were involved in 35% of events. Fifty-eight percent of STF occurred at transitional areas, of these: 34% were dry/wet transitions, 18% one floor type to another (eg, carpet to tile), 14% uneven surfaces. Forty-five percent of workers fell forward, 29% fell to the side and 23% fell backward. While the wrists/hands, knees and buttocks were most often the points of impact, the knees, back, ankles/feet were most frequently injured. For injured workers (93%), strains and sprains (28%), contusions (28%) and non-specific pain and soreness (24%) were typical. Fifty-nine percent of workers who experienced STF were involved in direct patient care occupations (eg, nursing, therapy). Forty-two percent of worker STF occurred in public areas inside the facility, 25% in public areas outside the facility, and 18% in direct patient care areas (including intensive care, operating rooms and patient rooms). The applications to worker safety and health are discussed along with the potential implications for visitor and patient safety.
Work-related assault against educators with a history of violence victimisation
Authors: Nachreiner N M , Gerberich S G , Ryan A D , Erkal S , Church T R , McGovern P M , Mongin S J , Feda D M
Published: March 2011

Work-related violence is consistently ranked among the leading causes of occupational death in the USA. In addition, approximately 2 million non-fatal work-related assaults are reported annually. A case-control study design was used to investigate risks of work-related physical assault (PA) associated with a history of violent victimisation among educators. A total of 6469 state-licensed educators (Kindergarten Grade 12) worked in the previous 12 months and were eligible to participate. Exposure data were collected from cases (reporting a PA event in previous 12 months, n=290) for the month before PA, and from controls (no work-related PA in previous 12 months; n=867) for a randomly selected working month. Potential confounders were identified for multivariable logistic regression from directed acyclic graphs; re-weighting adjusted for potential biases. OR and 95% CI identified increased risks for educators with any prior history of work-related (17.3, 11.4 to 26.3) or non-work-related PA (2.0, 1.2 to 3.5). In addition, PA risk in the previous 12 months increased with the number of previous victimisations. Using zero prior work-related PA as a reference, risks increased for those with number of prior events: 1–3 (15.0, 9.7 to 23.1); 4–10 (21.5, 10.5 to 44.2); and more than 10 (43.7, 17.1 to 111.3). Risk also increased for those with non-work-related PA prior events: 1–3 (1.8, 1.0 to 3.1) and 4 or more (7.8, 1.7 to 36.7). In addition, risks also increased for educators with histories of non-physical violence (threats, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, bullying) – both work- and non work-related. The results present a compelling case for targeted interventions and further research.
Using the fatal injury surveillance system and surveys to monitor motorcyclist deaths and helmet use in Cali (Colombia), 1996–2009
Authors: Espitia-Hardeman V , Rios J F , Lopez J , Gutierrez-Martinez M I
Published: March 2011

Introduction

In Cali, motorcycles are an important means of transportation and an increasing cause of injuries. The purpose was to examine deaths among motorcyclists over the period 1993 to 2009 and the possible role that various prevention measures may have had on these types of deaths.

Method

Motorcyclist deaths registered in a fatal injury surveillance system over the period 1993–2009 were analysed along with information on helmet use from annual surveys on helmet use, and other interventions (helmet laws, safety vest, etc.).

Results

Motorcyclist death rates increased from 18.0 per 10 000 registered motorcycles in 1993 to 26.7 in 1995. In 1996 a helmet law was launched, and the rate in that year decreased to 20.9. The rates have decreased in each year since the passage of the helmet law, with the lowest rate reported in 2006 (9.7). Besides the helmet law, other prevention strategies were also applied, possibly contributing to the reduction in motorcyclist fatalities. In the most recent survey on helmet use in Cali (2002), approximately 80% of motorcyclists reported using a helmet. In the last 4 years, however, the death rates have increased from 9.7 in 2006 to 16.5 in 2009.

Conclusions

In Cali, the helmet law and other enforcement measures have contributed to reduce motorcyclist deaths. Although most of the motorcyclists are helmeted in Cali, the increasing trend of deaths in recent years indicates the need to explore other factors that may be influencing mortality (eg, drunk driving).
The political culture of road traffic crash control
Authors: Ma S , Hyder A , Bishai D
Published: March 2011

Objectives

This study develops an assessment tool to measure how ready a country is to adopt road safety measures.

Background

Strong states can centrally implement broad reforms, but can inhibit agenda setting by civil society. Weak states allow a variety of actors to set the agenda, but seldom exhibit coherence in addressing public health problems. The interplay between state and society is determinative of the effective enactment of safety measures.

Methods

A consortium led by a multinational agency has begun a 5 year project to improve road safety in China, India, Kenya, Turkey, Egypt, Mexico, Russia, Vietnam and Cambodia. This study examines each country's recent history of public health activism for road safety in both civil and government sectors. Consortium members will be holding stakeholders meetings from February to May 2010 and key informant interviews will be conducted. A road safety readiness index will be calculated prospectively for each country and later follow back studies can examine how the success of the initiative was related to political culture.

Results

Preliminary work on the index has identified the key following factors: (a) constitutional degree of centralisation of state power; (b) degree of engagement in road safety by the political elites; (c) media coverage of road safety issues; (d) Existence of local champions.

Significance

Road safety is characterised by profound mismatch between high disease burden and low levels of social engagement compared to other public health research. New insights from political science can help inform current interventions to close the gap.
Responding to Young People who Self Harm
Authors: Morris R
Published: March 2011

Deliberate Self Harm in Children and Young People may promote anxiety in families and professionals. My presentation describes how the confidence and competence of a Team can reduce such anxiety and improve outcome for those Young People who choose self-harming behaviour as a way of coping with life stressors. I will share information about:

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local prevalence rates of Young People who attend Accident and Emergency Department

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how to develop a focussed team response

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assessing and managing risk-an Aide Memoir for practitioners

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the strength of robust Clinical Supervision and Audit
Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth program
Authors: Banfield J M
Published: March 2011

Introduction

The Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y) program is a 1-day injury awareness and prevention program for youth ages 15 and older, developed in 1986 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Methods

Students follow the course of injury from occurrence, through transport, treatment, rehabilitation and community re-integration phases. They interact with a team of health professionals that includes a paramedic, a police officer, nurses, a physician and social workers. They are given information about: basic anatomy, physiology and the mechanics of injury; the effect of alcohol/drugs on decision making, judgement, concentration and co-ordination; the nature of injuries that can be repaired, and those that cannot; the effect of injury on families, finances and future plans. The team includes persons who have been injured, some still in acute care, others in rehabilitation and some who have returned home. They provide a personal perspective on the challenge of dealing with injury and putting ones life back on track. The program concludes with a challenge to the participants to become individually and collectively committed to promoting behaviours and activities that minimise the risk of injury.

Results

Since 1986 the P.A.R.T.Y. Program has expanded to well over 100 sites and six countries with more to come.

Conclusions

This program is a vital component of the growing community effort to reduce death and injury in alcohol and risk-related crashes and other incidents.
Road user characteristics, fatal road traffic crashes and temporal patterns in Trinidad and Tobago – evidence based on multivariate statistical analyses
Authors: St Bernard G
Published: March 2011

Road traffic crashes have been emerging as a serious public health hazard in Trinidad and Tobago where the number of road fatalities on an annual basis have become sufficient cause for alarm. Notwithstanding the implementation of measures to curb the spate of fatalities on the nation's roadways, the enforcement of such measures continues to be weak and as such, is perceived to be having no impact on the threat to road safety. Among the principal threats to road safety are the physical, attitudinal and behavioural antecedents that underlie lapses in the carriage of road users. Thus, more efficient use of limited protective resources is a critical requirement toward reinforcing enforcement standards. To this end, the paper seeks to investigate temporal patterns and the host of road user characteristics that are likely to be associated with such patterns. Evidence is drawn from a micro-level data file consisting of 1319 cases of fatalities that occurred in Trinidad and Tobago between January 2003 and December 2009. Discriminant analysis and cluster analysis are the statistical techniques that permit statistical analyses using SPSS. The results are presented and discussed in the context of decision-making initiatives that ought to be adopted by the various organs of civil society as means of reducing threats to road safety.
Analysis of inpatient admissions data for injuries across Britain and Ireland
Authors: Barron S , Brown P , Lee A , Macey S , Slater W
Published: March 2011

The Injury Observatory for Britain and Ireland (IOBI) is a collaborative venture between the Association of Public Health Observatories and several academic institutions across Britain and Ireland. It aims to support injury prevention by making relevant information and tools easily available. Throughout 2009/2010, IOBI have developed a specification which will enable comparative analysis of inpatient data across the five countries. Agreeing consistent case definitions and appropriate methodologies for use across all five nations was a major focus of the work. This was important because inpatient data varied from country to country in terms of availability, definitions, inclusion and exclusion criteria, coding systems, coding practices and reporting timeframes. European Aged Standardised Rates were calculated (to allow comparisons) for all emergency admissions for injury, serious injuries and fractured neck of femur injuries. These were chosen because these are likely to result in a hospital admission irrespective of variations in local practice. The results were stratified by gender, external cause and intent. Differences were observed across IOBI for all injuries and between various intent and external cause groupings. The interpretation is difficult, as most of this variance is likely to be a result of data artefacts (eg, variability in coding practice) or local practice, rather than true incidence. These are of interest as they highlight variations in data collection mechanisms and practice, but IOBI is refining the specification so that we can provide a far more accurate comparative picture of injury related inpatient admissions across Britain and Ireland.
Road fatalities in Kandy, Sri Lanka: 2000 to 2008
Authors: Dharmaratne S D , Gamage O , Gaspe G M N S , Weeratunge N C , Kumarapeli V
Published: March 2011

Objective

The aim of this study was to describe the road fatalities occurring in the Kandy Municipality area (KMA) during 2000 to 2008 and reported to Kandy police.

Methodology

All randomised controlled trials (RTCs) occurring in the KMA during 2000–2008 in which at least one road user was killed and reported to the Kandy police were included in the study. Traffic police data was used. Data was retrieved manually and was entered into an Excel data base and was analysed using SPSS statistical software.

Results

A total of 140 fatal RTCs were reported during the study period in which 147 road users (97 (66%) were pedestrians) lost their lives. 31 crashes (22.1%) was reported between 6.00 pm and 8.59 pm while 83 crashes (59.2%) were reported during the day time (6.00 am to 5.59 pm). Majority killed were females (68%) and their age ranged from 3 years to 87 years with a mean age of 42 years (SD=22.2 years). The mean age of the males was 43.1 years (SD=23.9 years) which ranged between 4 years and 80 years. Five children (three females and two males) died from these crashes. The bus (40%) was the commonest vehicle responsible for these fatal crashes, while the car and the van (16.4% each) came second.

Discussion and Conclusions

This analysis highlights the risks faced by the pedestrians in the KMA. To prevent and control road fatalities in KMA, pedestrians must be made safe.
Fatal carbon monoxide poisoning: an outdoor occupational accident case
Authors: Djafari G , Rosenthal I , Ingemann-Hansen O
Published: March 2011

Fatal carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning by suicide or accident is well known. Most cases are due to smoke from burning buildings, town gas and car exhaust gas all in closed areas. Another suicide method identified at internet sites are mixing of sulphuric acid and formic acid resulting in CO formation. The literature has described three such cases where the victims were found in sealed rooms with deadly CO concentrations. The case victim was a healthy 41-year-old male employed at a haulage company. He was ordered to remove 6 m3 80% sulphuric acid containing acetic acid from a factory. When he began to suck up the liquid from different pallet tanks standing outside temperature and pressure arose in his vacuum tanker, and he started to pour the liquid back. He was afterwards seen lying on top of the tanker next to the lid. It later emerged that the liquid collected contained formic acid as well. The autopsy revealed bright red lividity characteristic of CO poisoning, marks in his face consistent with lying on the tanker, no airway corrosions and a postmortem CO haemoglobin level at 62%.

Discussion and Conclusion

To our knowledge this is the first reported case of outdoor fatal CO poisoning and also the first case with CO poisoning by accidental mixture of sulphuric acid and formic acid. To avoid occupational CO poisoning in the future safety masks should be obvious along with certainty of fluid in processing as well as safeguard the density of the vacuum package.
Increasing visibility of violence prevention: linking strategies to prevent violence and promote healthy eating and active living
Authors: Cohen L , Lee V , Davis R A
Published: March 2011

Healthy eating and activity practitioners are increasingly noting that violence is undermining the effectiveness of chronic disease prevention strategies. Prevention Institute has conducted community and academic research to gain an understanding about the relationship between violence and healthy eating and activity and solutions for addressing these complex issues. Additionally, the Institute is coordinating six United States pilot sites in an effort to reduce violence and promote healthy eating and activity in local communities. This work is supported by Kaiser Permanente and the Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership. Violence negatively affects determinants of health such as where people live and shop, parents not letting their children play outside, and avoiding walking to school or work, which can exacerbate existing illnesses and increase the risk for disease onset. Violence alters the community environment making it less supportive of healthy eating and activity by reducing social cohesion and disincentivising community investments such as healthy food retail. Further, vulnerable populations are disproportionately impacted by high rates of community violence, and this disparity contributes heavily to overall health inequities. Given rising concerns about food- and activity-related chronic disease, this growing recognition of the impact of violence on outcomes presents an opportunity to bring attention to efforts in preventing violence. This presentation provides the unique perspective of a community voice that affirms the growing research base, delineates emerging strategies and the roles for violence prevention and healthy eating and activity practitioners, and highlights opportunities for strategic partnerships between them to create safe and equitable communities.
UNITY: lessons learned from a national initiative to prevent violence
Authors: Cohen L , Davis R , Stith D P , Weiss B , Pinderhuges H , Lyles A
Published: March 2011

Since 2006, Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY) has worked to support the largest US cities in preventing violence before it occurs. The UNITY Initiative is an innovative approach for informing local initiatives and national priorities that has been described as essential and fundamental by city leaders. This presentation will share key components from the largest US initiative focused on cities including, highlighting materials such as the recently updated UNITY RoadMap and discuss lessons learned and their implications for US and international efforts. A UNITY baseline survey of sampled cities showed the majority of cities did not have a plan or coordinating body on violence prevention. In most cities efforts were primarily focused on intervention with little emphasis on prevention. To address these needs and build on whats already working in cities, UNITY has delineated the essential elements for cities to prevent violence via the UNITY RoadMap and an Urban Agenda for Preventing Violence. The UNITY RoadMap builds on similar tools proven effective for other difficult problems including the AIDS Program Efforts Index (developed by US Agency for International Development and United the world against AIDS) and the Urban Agenda details the national support needed to sustain local efforts. In particular, these tools delineate the WHO and WHAT it takes to prevent violence and HOW to maximise and sustain efforts to prevent violence before it occurs. Further, UNITY is coordinating a Network of large cities committed to preventing violence. Network members share successes with each other, strengthen strategy, and call attention to the need for more prevention.
Evaluation of a comprehensive pedestrian safety initiative
Authors: Vegega M E , Zegeer C V
Published: March 2011

This project implemented a comprehensive pedestrian safety program to reduce deaths and injuries among pedestrians in a large urban environment (Miami-Dade County, Florida). High-crash locations were targeted for countermeasure implementation and analysis. Using pedestrian crash data (1996–2001), four zones within the county were identified as having abnormally high pedestrian crash experiences. Based on crash characteristics and pedestrian factors (age, ethnicity), 16 education, enforcement and engineering treatments were implemented to reduce pedestrian crashes in the four zones and countywide. A before-after study design was used with three control groups to evaluate the effects of the program on pedestrian crashes. A 3-year after period was used (2002–2004). Multivariate intervention Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average time series analysis was used, along with non-parametric U-tests, to test for statistically significant differences in pedestrian crash experiences. Results showed that at the peak of the program effects in 2003 and 2004, the pedestrian safety program reduced countywide pedestrian crash rates by anywhere from 8.5% to 13.3%, depending on which control group was used. This effect translates to approximately 180 fewer crashes annually in the county, or 360 pedestrian crashes reduced for 2003 and 2004 combined, based on the more conservative 8.5% crash reduction. Countywide, the greatest crash reductions were found among children and adults; however, the program measures showed no effects in reducing crashes among older pedestrians. A number of lessons learnt were identified for future program implementation.
Family violence and post-traumatic stress disorder in children of a Brazilian city
Authors: Ximenes L F , de Assis S Gonalves , de Vasconcelos R , de Oliveira Carvalhaes , Avanci J Q
Published: March 2011

The objective of this study was to investigate the association of family violence to Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in school children of a Brazilian city, in 2005. The sample consisted of 500 children with 6 to 13 years old and the respondents were their caretakers. To assess PTSD was used the child behaviour checklist- PTSD (Ruggiero e Mcleer, 2000), and the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) to evaluate family violence (Straus, 1979). The results show that violence practiced by the mother is associated to PTSD symptoms in children. Almost 17% of these children who were victims of it presented clinical and borderline symptoms of PTSD. Mothers verbal aggression and mothers severe violence are associated to children PTSD symptoms (OR: 6.091, p=0.012; OR=5.777, p=0.001; respectively). The violence committed by the father is not associated with the studied symptoms. Otherwise, to witness father violence against to the mother is associated with PTSD in children (9.9%, p<0.001). The physical and verbal violence between siblings is associated with PTSD symptoms in children (14.4%, p<0.001). The physical violence among siblings is a risk factor to the symptoms of PTSD in childhood (OR=2.131, p=0.026). Overall, the prevalence of PTSD is higher in children who suffer domestic violence than those who do not. The results point to the importance of preventing family violence, which reveals a key potential target for early intervention.
A community based approach to traffic injury prevention
Authors: Cohen L , Srikantharajah J , Cantor J
Published: March 2011

Traffic injuries and deaths touch the lives of all people and remain a major health problem that requires renewed priority. There is currently a major opportunity in the US to shape traffic safety priorities for the next 5–10 years, as the federal transportation legislation, determining the largest federal expenditure for transportation overall is being re-authorised. Prevention Institute, working with key government, academic and community leaders across the US, has developed a unique analysis and recommendations for traffic safety priorities that will be shared in this session. These recommendations, published in, ‘A 21st Century Approach to Traffic Injury Prevention,’ a chapter of the book, ‘Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy,’ are unique because they have the potential to substantially reduce rates of injury and death from traffic crashes and foster collaboration between diverse partners because they also support equity, environmental and chronic disease prevention goals. Developing cross-sectoral partnerships, united around strategies that achieve multiple health benefits will be important in integrating safety and health more centrally in transportation policies. Overarching goals supported by the strategies that will be shared include improving community infrastructure, ensuring safe and accessible alternatives to driving, and continuing to advance existing traffic safety successes. Success stories will be shared of how strategies can be tailored to fit specific community needs. These promising and evidence-based strategies were commissioned by the National Convergence Partnership, a group of US funders. Strategies were compiled and analysed from literature reviews, expert interviews and policy and research reports.
Effectiveness of seven programs to reduce alcohol-impaired driving
Authors: Vegega M E
Published: March 2011

This presentation reports on the results of a complex, seven-state demonstration program to reduce alcohol-impaired driving through well-publicised and highly visible enforcement. Each of the demonstration programs was unique and was superimposed on existing State program activities targeting drinking drivers. In each of the seven States, funding supported increased enforcement and publicity. Each State acted as a case study because the type and amount of publicity and enforcement differed substantially. Time series analyses were used to determine if the ratio of drinking drivers to non-drinking drivers involved in fatal crashes experienced changes during the enforcement program. The US Fatality Analysis Reporting System was used in the analyses, with neighbouring States (or countries) serving as comparisons. In addition, alcohol-related fatalities were expressed in a ratio relative to annual vehicle miles travelled. There was considerable variation in the impact measures, with four States showing a statistically significant difference in at least one measure. Lives saved ranged from 25 to 60, depending on the State. A major finding concerned the use of paid advertising. Three of the four States demonstrating a decrease in drinking driver fatal crashes used paid advertising in their programs. The lessons learnt from this set of demonstration programs include the need for sustained high-visibility enforcement, for sufficient enforcement efforts that create the impression of increased risk of detection by impaired drivers, and the need for intensive publicity about the increased enforcement activity that reaches the impaired driver population.
Effect of empowerment on quality of life and social ability of road traffic accident disables in Khon Kaen Hospital
Authors: Shawong P , Chantarasiri J , Kulleub S , Kaesri T , Srilamai T , Maneerat T
Published: March 2011

This Action Research aimed to develop quality of life of the traffic accident disables who mostly were less opportunity socioeconomic status youth, admitted in Khon Kaen Hospital due to severe injury from traffic accident and holistic care Multidisciplinary team provided. Sample were 25 traffic accident 23 men and 2 women average ages was 41 (min-max= 6–87 years, Mode = 25) which were 12 spinal cord 4 head and other organs injury patients. Quality of life was measure in 2004 by brief Thai WHO quality of life and found medium to low quality of life score 76% then PDCA schemes to empower using four attributes of empowerment concept.

Results were as follows: A traffic accident disable club established. Member consisted of more than 48 members. They could be able to live, more, independently. Three of wheelchair person married (on wheelchair)and having good family. Two bed ridden SCI could be able to get out of bed. Six person engaged new career. Twelves (48.0%) are core of the team and consistently join the clubs routine activities. Others are also actively return their experience to society occasionally but keep in touch. Their routine activities are (1).Joining multidisciplinary health team visiting new traffic accident injured patients in hospital and at the patients home. (2). traffic accident prevention campaigning in Khon Kaen Hospital every morning, twice a month in schools and occasionally in publics. (3).Lecturer in any meeting concerning traffic accident prevention and campaign in public meeting colleges and universities.
Injury from rape and consensual sexual intercourse: role of skin colour and time to exam
Authors: Sommers M S , Everett J S , Fargo J D
Published: March 2011

Rape is a global health risk for women. We are exploring the role of skin colour in the management of rape injury.

Aims

(1) to estimate the prevalence of genital injury after consensual sexual intercourse (CSI); (2) to determine whether injury prevalence varies by ethnicity and skin colour; (3) to evaluate whether recent (≤24 h) CSI increases injury from baseline.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was used for phase I (n=120) and repeated measures design for phase II (n=38). In phase I, participants underwent a forensic exam following CSI, and in phase II participants had a baseline exam, followed by CSI and a follow-up exam.

Results

In phase I, 55% of the sample had ≤1 genital injury; percentages significantly differed for White (68%) and Black (43%) participants (p=.02). While ethnicity was a significant predictor of injury occurrence (OR=3.15; RR=2.94), skin colour confounded the original relationship between ethnicity and injury. In phase II, change in genital injury prevalence and frequency from exam 1 to 2 was modelled using logistic and negative binomial regression. Outcomes included specific injury type and observation of any injury during exam 2. Injury observed during examination 1 was the key predictor, adjusted for age, ethnicity, time since intercourse, duration of intercourse, degree of lubrication, frequency of intercourse, number of lifetime partners and skin colour. Results showed significant increases in redness as well as increased frequency of any external genital injury.

Conclusions

The rape forensic examination should be sensitive to skin colour, time since last intercourse, and baseline injury.
Home injury risks in homes of urban dwelling seniors and disabled persons
Authors: Shields W C , Stepnitz R L , McDonald E M , Gielen A C
Published: March 2011

Purpose

Seniors and disabled persons suffer disproportionate risks from fires, scalds and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning compared to the general population. Little has been done to evaluate the presence of injury counter measures in the homes of these groups. This presentation shares observed behaviours and residents safety knowledge from household surveys conducted in an urban area prior to the implementation of a community intervention trial.

Methods

Households were randomly selected from twelve census tracks. A letter mailed to the home preceded an interview team who consented participants, conducted a survey including observations to confirm the presence of CO and smoke alarms and tested the hot water temperature.

Results

609 households completed the survey and observation. 196 households were occupied by an individual age 60 or older and/or a person with a physical disability. The typical respondent in this sample is a black (61%) female (71%) with a high school diploma or less (52%) and a per capita income of less than $25 000 (77%). Households with seniors or disabled persons were rarely observed to have recommended smoke alarm coverage (36%) or a working CO alarm (26%). Safe hot water temperature was present in 61% of homes. In bivariate analyses, no differences were found between homes with and without seniors or disabled persons or by income level. Additional results describing residents knowledge about safety behaviours will be presented.

Conclusions

Effort is needed to promote the life-saving benefits of injury counter measures so that seniors and disabled persons can be adequately protected.
Sleep deficit and conduct disorder before and after us driving age as risk factors for adult risky driving behaviour and problematic alcohol use
Authors: Fargo J D , Lyons M , Sommers M S
Published: March 2011

Risk factors for vehicular collisions include driver error and inattention, sleep deficit/drowsy driving, speeding, traffic law violations and substance use. Little research has explored the complex interplay among these risk factors and no research has explored conduct disorder as a potential risk factor for risky driving. Data from 328 patients (ages 18–44) from an urban emergency department and meeting criteria for problematic drinking and risky driving were used to test a theoretical model whereby sleep deficit and conduct disorder (before and after age 15) served as predictors of risky driving and problematic alcohol use. Constructs of problematic alcohol use, sleep deficit, conduct disorder, hostile driving, reckless driving, drinking and driving and marijuana use and driving were validated using confirmatory factor analytic methods (CFI =0.97, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI)=0.98, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.04). A structural equation model was tested where sleep deficit, conduct disorder both before and after age 15, current age, and sex predicted risky driving and problematic alcohol (CFI=0.90, TLI=0.93, RMSEA =0.06). Results suggested conduct disorder before age 15 predicted problematic drinking, and drinking and driving. Conduct disorder after age 15 predicted hostile driving, reckless driving and marijuana use while driving. Sleep deficit predicted problematic drinking, marijuana and driving, reckless driving and hostile driving. Younger males were more likely to be reckless and hostile drivers as well as smoke marijuana and drive. Prevention and intervention programs should focus on increasing positive sleep behaviour and early intervention for conduct disorder.
The evidence project: a comprehensive framework for evidence-based decision-making
Authors: Puddy R W
Published: March 2011

Increasing emphasis has been placed on the importance of evidence in guiding violence prevention efforts. However, most resources commonly refer to evidence only in terms of traditional research evidence. A comprehensive approach to understanding evidence has been undertaken by the Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in developing guidance and tools for researchers, practitioners and policy makers to use in making decisions based on evidence. The Evidence Project incorporates three types of evidence for consideration in decision-making: (1) the best available research evidence assists in determining whether or not a prevention program, practice, or policy is actually achieving the outcomes it aims to and in the way it intends. The more rigorous a studies research design, (eg, randomised control trials, quasi-experimental designs), the more compelling the research evidence, indicating whether or not a strategy is effectively preventing violence; (2) experiential evidence – is based on the professional insight, understanding, skill, and expertise that is accumulated over time; and (3) Contextual evidence – is based on factors that address whether a strategy is useful, feasible to implement, and accepted by a particular community. This presentation will highlight how the three types of evidence form a comprehensive framework for evidence based decision making. Tools to facilitate a common understanding of the three types of evidence will be presented. For example, the ‘Continuum of Evidence of Effectiveness’” articulates what is meant by the best available research evidence in the field of violence prevention.
Advancing child maltreatment prevention through the application of complex adaptive systems: development of an agent-based model
Authors: Puddy R W
Published: March 2011

The work of child maltreatment (CM) prevention is particularly challenging due to the dynamic and complex nature of this phenomenon. This complexity results from a system containing multi-level factors that span the social ecology, diversity of actors (ie, families, schools, government agencies, healthcare providers) that potentially affect maltreatment, and multiplicity of mechanisms and pathways that are not well studied or well understood. By acknowledging that CM prevention is affected by a dynamic system of interacting variables with feedback loops into the broader system, additional methodologies seem necessary to capture this non-linear and delayed response. The application of complex adaptive systems (CAS) offers tremendous promise in this area as its application has been used in other areas of public health to address problems with similar complexities, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and tobacco. CM prevention involves several unique features related to CAS, that is, non-linear effects, agents who learn, interconnections, self-organising behaviour and co-evolution with the environment, thus making it a prime candidate for application of CAS methodologies. This presentation will illustrate an agent-based model that explicitly simulates a community and its families with multi-level factors and interconnections across the social ecology. This makes it possible to experiment with how different factors and prevention strategies can affect the rate of CM over time. This presentation will highlight the background of this work, give an overview of the agent-based model, show initial simulation results, and allow for knowledge exchange across disciplines.
Community safety through partnership tasking
Authors: Mccall M , Hayes D
Published: March 2011

Partner Agencies Include

Fife Community Safety Partnership

Fife Police

Fire Service

RSL's

Victim Support Fife

NHS Fife

Fife Council Education/Social Work Service Environmental Services Housing and Local Services.

The establishment of the Safer Neighbourhoods Tasking Group and the adoption of a multi-agency tasking approach, involving key local services, combined with effective community engagement has led to greatly improved community perceptions and begun to address the links between antisocial behaviour and longer term problems of health inequalities and community cohesion.

Monthly meetings use a tasking approach, based on the police National Intelligence Model, to gather and manage information and make informed and effective decisions.

Community and partnership intelligence is key to the tasking process. A tactical assessment document is produced containing data from all partner agencies.

Allocated tasks cover a range of issues, including youth disorder, under age drinking, noise nuisance, neighbour nuisance, secondary fires and hate crime.

The partnership tasking model encourages a move away from business as usual by providing effective joint approaches and early interventions to reduce the risk of problems escalating and by providing support to victims and offenders.

Outcomes

Vandalism offences – 30% reduction

Secondary fires – 23% reduction

Street disorder – 26% reduction

Antisocial behaviour (ASB) offences – 9% reduction

ASB incidents – 30% reduction

Noise nuisance incidents – 43% reduction

Public Perception

Rubbish and litter (down 38%)

Graffiti and vandalism (down 35%)

Assaults/attacks (down 33%)

Young people hanging about (down 33%)

Work is now underway to roll out the approach to other areas in Fife.
Global helmet vaccine initiative
Authors: Craft G
Published: March 2011

Today, road traffic fatalities are the single largest cause of death among 15–19 year olds in developing countries, and the second leading cause of death among children aged 5–14. Studies show that motorcycle helmets are a proven vaccine to combat this epidemic of death and serious injury on the roads, reducing chance of death by 42% and injury by 79%. With the goal of a helmet on every head in the Decade of Action for Road Safety, the Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative (GHVI) aims to promote motorcycle helmet wearing across the developing world working in partnership with governments, the private sector and non-governmental organisations. Established by the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation, and building on the experience of a successful national helmet campaign in Vietnam, GHVI will work in pilot countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to encourage the policy changes and investment decisions that can lead to increased and sustainable motorcycle helmet wearing. Initial partners in GHVI are AIP Foundation, the FIA Foundation and the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility. Programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, Senegal and India are already underway. For more information, please visit our website:http://www.helmetvaccine.org/.
Regional differences in pedal cyclist injuries in New Zealand: risk in scarcity?
Authors: Tin S Tin , Woodward A , Ameratunga S
Published: March 2011

Aim

To assess regional differences in the risks of traffic injuries to pedal cyclists that resulted in death or hospital inpatient treatment in relation to time spent cycling and time spent travelling in a car

Methods

Cycling injuries were identified from the Mortality Collection and the National Minimum Dataset. Time spent cycling and time spent travelling in a car/van/Ute/SUV as driver or passenger was computed from National Household Travel Surveys. There are sixteen census regions in New Zealand, some of which were combined for this analysis to ensure an adequate sample size, resulting in eight regional groups. Analyses were undertaken for 1996–1999 and 2003–2007.

Results

The risk of injuries per million hours spent cycling varied widely across regions (ranging from 11 to 33 injuries during 1996–1999 and from 12 to 78 injuries during 2003–2007). The expected number of cycling injuries increased with increasing annual total time spent cycling but at a decreasing rate after adjusting for total time spent travelling in a car. The risk of cycling injuries decreased with increasing annual per capita time spent cycling. However, the risk increased with increasing annual per capita time spent travelling in a car. There was an inverse association between the injury risk and the ratio of time spent cycling to time spent travelling in a car.

Conclusion

The findings indicate the ‘risk in scarcity’ effect for New Zealand cyclists, that is, the risk profiles of cyclists will worsen if less people use a bicycle and more use a car.
Effects of computer-generated animations on parental perceptions toward childhood injuries
Authors: Kakefuda I , Kitamura K , Nishida Y , Yamanaka T , Motomura Y
Published: March 2011

Parents often underestimate their children's susceptibility to unintentional injuries, which may lead to non-use of prevention measures. To correct this perception, we exposed parents of small children to computer-generated short animations of five typical injurious situations in Japanese home environments and information about injury susceptibility and severity. Animations depicted: falling from a chair; electrical shock at an outlet; bathtub drowning; accidental ingestion of a button battery; and thermal injury by a rice cooker. Animations were created based on injury surveillance data, and motion capture data and body size data of average Japanese children. A total of 91 parents, including seven males, with children between 0.5 and 2 years old participated in the study through the Internet. (There were no statistically significant differences between genders in responses.) Half of the participants (n=44) watched only the five animations (Animation-only). The other half (n=47) watched the five animations and information about injury susceptibility and severity (animation + information). No difference was observed between the two groups in perception toward severity of injuries. However, the Animation + information group perceived their own children's susceptibility to the injuries higher than the Animation-only group, and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant in three of the five situations; fall, thermal injury, and drowning. Results suggest that animation is useful to get parents attention to childhood injury and severity by showing the moment of injury; however, adding information about injury consequences may be more effective in increasing parental feelings of injury susceptibility of own children.
A gap between two perceptions: the effectiveness of parental supervision in childhood injury prevention and supervision self-efficacy
Authors: Kakefuda I , Kitamura K , Nishida Y , Yamanaka T , Motomura Y
Published: March 2011

Supervision is believed to be a major means of childhood injury prevention. However, as the World Report on Child Injury Prevention states, more research is needed to assess the effectiveness of supervision. To understand adult perceptions toward the issue, we asked 3918 adults in Japan about the effectiveness of parental supervision and also their self-efficacy to supervise children. Respondents first read three short stories of childhood injury situations, and made judgments whether the injuries could be prevented if parents adequately supervised. Then, respondents reported how confident they were to supervise (watch) a child under the circumstances described in the stories. Injury stories were: a 3-year-old broke a little finger bone by falling down in a small playground (a situation without clear injury agents and causes); a 3-year-old broke a little finger bone by catching the finger in the door when he/she was following parents (perceived injury causes can be parents or the door); and, a 1-year-old got a thermal injury by touching the heat outlet of a rice cooker (perceived causes can be a cooker or parents). Results showed that respondents had very low self-efficacy to provide adequate supervision to prevent childhood injuries, while they strongly believed that the injuries could be prevented by parental supervision. They thought that parents could prevent children getting injured by watching them, but they themselves would not be able to provide enough supervision. The sheer gap between the perceptions has important implications for childhood safety promotion targeting adult population.
Is it true that children are not affected when motorcycle use increases?
Authors: Santikarn C
Published: March 2011

Background

All 11 countries of WHO South-East Asia (SEA) region have low or middle income. Motorcycle use is increasing and has become family vehicle with children as passengers. Due to scarcity of epidemiologic information, the pattern of transport accidents in children of hi-income country that majority is pedestrians, was taken as true for low and middle income countries by some experts. They hence believe that children are not affected when motorcycle use increases. This presentation aims to provide evidence from SEA countries that children are affected when motorcycle use increases and call for appropriate actions.

Method

A template for secondary data collection was sent to all countries in the Region.

Result

Proportion of motorcycles among all registered vehicles in SEA countries except Bhutan, ranged from 50% to 80%. Thailand Sentinel Injury Surveillance 2003–2007 revealed a minimum range of 5065–5718 children injured from riding on motorcycle per year. One year data of two cities in India showed 73% of the child transport accident cases were injured while riding on motorcycles, 55% with head injuries. Sri Lanka data revealed that 34% of all child transport injuries were children riding on motorcycles. Children are affected when motorcycle use increases, especially in middle and low income country. These data are significant early warning sign of silent epidemic. Segregation of data by age in national information systems, appropriate standards, law and enforcement on child helmet, age for children to ride as passenger; and increase of eligible age for moped driving license are urgently needed.