bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the Tobacco Settlement Damage Awards: Too Much or Not Enough?
Authors: Coller Maribeth , Harrison Glenn W. , McInnes Melayne Morgan 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. This study compared the present economic value of the 1998 tobacco settlement with the present economic value of the damages attributable to tobacco. Methods. The 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey was used to estimate the smoking attributable fraction (SAF) of medical expenditures. SAFs were then applied to Medicaid and other expenditures. Results. Settlement payments covered only 40% of Medicaid treatment costs already incurred and only 30% of past and projected future Medicaid costs. Excess medical expenditures for all other payment sources were roughly comparable to those incurred by Medicaid. Conclusions. Although the settlement may reduce future smoking prevalence rates by limiting the ability of tobacco companies to promote smoking and by raising cigarette prices, euphoria over the huge settlement funds should be balanced by a sober comparison with the even larger damage amounts.
Twenty Years of Public Health Research: Inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations
Authors: Boehmer Ulrike 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. This study determined to what extent lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations have been studied over the past 20 years of public health research. Methods. From MEDLINE English-language articles on human subjects published between 1980 and 1999, I identified articles that included LGBT individuals. The abstracts were analyzed with a coding procedure that categorized the content by topic, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity. Results. LGBT issues were addressed by 3777 articles, or 0.1% of all Medline articles; 61% of the articles were disease-specific, and 85% omitted reference to race/ethnicity. Research unrelated to sexually transmitted diseases addressed lesbians and gay men with similar frequency, whereas bisexual persons were less frequently considered, and the least amount of research focused on transgender individuals. Conclusions. Findings supported that LGBT issues have been neglected by public health research and that research unrelated to sexually transmitted diseases is lacking.
Prediction of Depressive Distress in a Community Sample of Women: The Role of Sexual Orientation
Authors: Matthews Alicia K. , Hughes Tonda L. , Johnson Timothy , Razzano Lisa A. , Cassidy Roberta 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. This study compared factors known or hypothesized to influence depressive symptomatology in a community sample of lesbians and heterosexual women. Methods. Data were collected in a multisite survey of lesbians' physical and mental health. Results. Findings confirmed earlier reports suggesting that traumatic life events such as physical and sexual abuse, and individual traits and coping styles are risk factors for depressive distress. However, findings of higher rates of suicidal behavior and of several risk factors for depressive distress among lesbians suggest that risk for depression may differ among lesbians and heterosexual women. Conclusions. Sexual orientation may represent an important but poorly understood risk factor for depressive distress as well as suicidal ideation and behavior.
Risk Behaviors, Medical Care, and Chlamydial Infection Among Young Men in the United States
Authors: Ku Leighton , St. Louis Michael , Farshy Carol , Aral Sevgi , Turner Charles F. , Lindberg Laura D. , Sonenstein Freya 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. This study assessed factors related to chlamydial infection among young men in the United States. Methods. Data were from interviews of nationally representative samples of 470 men aged 18 to 19 years (teenagers) and 995 men aged 22 to 26 years (young adults) and from urine specimens tested by means of polymerase chain reaction. Results. Although a majority of the men reported occasional unprotected intercourse, only a minority perceived themselves to be at risk for contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Chlamydial infection was detected in 3.1% of the teenagers and 4.5% of the young adults. A minority of those infected had symptoms or had been tested for STDs; very few had been diagnosed with STDs. Conclusions. Chlamydial infection is common but usually asymptomatic and undiagnosed. Primary and secondary prevention efforts should be increased, particularly among young adult men. (Am J Public Health. 2002;92:1140–1143)
Assessment of a New Approach to Family Planning Services in Rural Pakistan
Authors: Sultan Mehboob , Cleland John G. , Ali Mohamed M. 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. In 1993, the government of Pakistan started a new approach to the delivery of contraceptive services by training literate married women to provide doorstep advice and supplies in their own and neighboring communities. This report assesses whether this community-based approach is starting to have an impact on contraceptive use in rural areas. Methods. A clustered nationally representative survey was used to collect data on contraceptive use and access to services in each cluster. Two-level logistic regression was applied to assess the effects of service access, after potential confounders were taken into account. Results. Married women living within 5 km of 2 community-based workers were significantly more likely to be using a modern, reversible method of contraception than those with no access (odds ratio = 1.74; 95% confidence interval = 1.11, 2.71). Conclusions. After decades of failure, the managers of the family planning program have designed a way of presenting modern contraceptives that is appropriate to the conditions of rural Pakistan. The new community-based approach should be steadily expanded. (Am J Public Health. 2002;92:1168–1172)
The Social Constructions of Sexuality: Marital Infidelity and Sexually Transmitted Disease–HIV Risk in a Mexican Migrant Community
Authors: Hirsch Jennifer S. , Higgins Jennifer , Bentley Margaret E. , Nathanson Constance A. 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. This article explores the social context of the migration-related HIV epidemic in western Mexico. Methods. Data collection involved life histories and participant observation with migrant women in Atlanta and their sisters or sisters-in-law in Mexico. Results. Both younger and older women acknowledged that migrant men’s sexual behavior may expose them to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.Younger Mexican women in both communities expressed a marital ideal characterized by mutual intimacy, communication, joint decisionmaking, and sexual pleasure, but not by willingness to use condoms as an HIV prevention strategy. Conclusions. Migrant Mexican women’s commitment to an illusion of fidelity will hinder HIV prevention initiatives targeted toward them. Furthermore, the changing meanings of marital sex may make it harder to convince young couples to use condoms as an HIV prevention strategy. If the chain of heterosexual marital HIV transmission is to be interrupted in this community, prevention programs must target men. (Am J Public Health. 2002;92:1227–1237)
Women’s Health After Pregnancy and Child Outcomes at Age 3 Years: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Kahn Robert S. , Zuckerman Barry , Bauchner Howard , Homer Charles J. , Wise Paul H. 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. This study examined the persistence and comorbidity of women’s physical and mental health conditions after pregnancy and the association of these conditions with child outcomes. Methods. A national cohort of women who recently gave birth were surveyed in 1988 and again in 1991. We examined longitudinal data on maternal poor physical health, depressive symptoms, and smoking, and maternal report of child outcomes (at age ∼3 years). Results. Women’s poor physical health and smoking had strong, graded associations with children’s physical health and behavior problems, whereas women’s depressive symptoms were associated with children’s delayed language and behavior problems. Conclusions. Substantial persistence and comorbidity of women’s health conditions exist after pregnancy with adverse effects on early child outcomes. Child health professionals should support services and policies that promote women’s health outside the context of pregnancy.
Changes in Use of Health Insurance and Food Assistance Programs in Medically Underserved Communities in the Era of Welfare Reform: An Urban Study
Authors: Pati Susmita , Romero Diana , Chavkin Wendy 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in health insurance and food assistance enrollment following passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Methods. Extant data sources were used to calculate changes in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and Food Stamp program enrollment in medically underserved Manhattan communities after 1996. Results. Dramatic declines in TANF enrollment were accompanied by declines in Food Stamp program enrollment and a deceleration in Medicaid enrollment among several communities. Conclusions. As the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act comes up for reauthorization later in 2002, policymakers should revise legislation so that needy families do not lose health insurance or food assistance support.
Universal Coverage and Public Health: New State Studies
Authors: Shaffer Ellen R. 
Published: December 2008

Recent evaluations of the California Health Service Plan (CHSP) confirmed that financing health care through a single government payer can provide universal coverage—while saving significantly on health care spending—to a degree unparalleled by alternative approaches. Public ownership of the delivery system can further provide authority and accountability for critical reforms that improve the population’s health and quality of care, including coordination of the delivery system. The federal government’s State Planning Grant Program provides states with funding to develop plans to cover their uninsured populations. California created a Health Care Options Project that requested proposals that could expand coverage and contracted with a financial modeler and a qualitative analyst to evaluate the resulting plans. The CHSP was one of 9 plans evaluated through this process.
Health Care Reform in South Korea: Success or Failure?
Authors: Lee Jong-Chan 
Published: December 2008

South Korea is one of the world’s most rapidly industrializing countries. Along with industrialization has come universal health insurance. Within the span of 12 years, South Korea went from private voluntary health insurance to government-mandated universal coverage. Since 1997, with the intervention of the International Monetary Fund, Korean national health insurance (NHI) has experienced deficits and disruption. However, there are lessons to be drawn for the United States from the Korean NHI experience.
Lessons for (and From) America
Authors: Klein Rudolf 
Published: December 2008

Drawing lessons from international experience for health care reform in the United States requires striking a difficult balance between historical determinism and free will, between cynical pessimism and naïve optimism. The key to this puzzle may lie in a paradox: the United States is the most successful exporter of public health policy ideas and instruments yet has failed to build an effective health care system.General ideas (like notions about the role of competition) and microinstruments (like diagnosis-related groups) travel better than do health care systems. Ideas can be adapted to local circumstances, and instruments may easily fit into preexisting systems.Importing systems from countries with different histories and institutions would require a tectonic shift in the American political landscape.
Labor Rekindles Reform
Authors: Stern Andrew L. 
Published: December 2008

The health care crisis is back. There is intensifying sentiment across the country that universal coverage is our only way out. The labor movement has used historically such opportunities for change to win health benefits at the bargaining table and strengthen the social safety net. Eighty years of incremental victories and many failed attempts at major health reform have taught labor a crucial lesson: we must build a powerful grassroots movement to drive our effort to achieve universal coverage, or it is doomed to be corrupted by those wedded to the status quo. Now is the right time for reform.
Tribal Benefits Counseling Program: Expanding Health Care Opportunities for Tribal Members
Authors: Friedsam Donna , Haug Gretchen , Rust Mike , Lake Amy 
Published: December 2008

American Indian tribal clinics hired benefits counselors to increase the number of patients with public and private insurance coverage, expand the range of health care options available to tribal members, and increase third-party revenues for tribal clinics. Benefits counselors received intensive training, technical assistance, and evaluation over a 2-year period. Six tribal clinics participated in the full training program, including follow-up, process evaluation, and outcomes reporting. Participating tribal sites experienced a 78% increase in Medicaid enrollment among pregnant women and children, compared with a 26% enrollment increase statewide during the same period. Trained benefits counselors on-site at tribal clinics can substantially increase third-party insurance coverage among patients.
Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Monitoring Socioeconomic Gradients in Health: A Comparison of Area-Based Socioeconomic Measures—The Public Health Disparities Geocoding Project
Authors: Krieger Nancy , Chen Jarvis T. , Waterman Pamela D. , Rehkopf David H. , Subramanian S. V. 
Published: December 2008

Use of multilevel frameworks and area-based socioeconomic measures (ABSMs) for public health monitoring can potentially overcome the absence of socioeconomic data in most US public health surveillance systems. To assess whether ABSMs can meaningfully be used for diverse race/ethnicity–gender groups, we geocoded and linked public health surveillance data from Massachusetts and Rhode Island to 1990 block group, tract, and zip code ABSMs. Outcomes comprised death, birth, cancer incidence, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections, childhood lead poisoning, and nonfatal weapons-related injuries. Among White, Black, and Hispanic women and men, measures of economic deprivation (e.g., percentage below poverty) were most sensitive to expected socioeconomic gradients in health, with the most consistent results and maximal geocoding linkage evident for tract-level analyses.
Stage at Diagnosis and Survival in a Multiethnic Cohort of Prostate Cancer Patients
Authors: Oakley-Girvan Ingrid , Kolonel Laurence N. , Gallagher Richard P. , Wu Anna H. , Felberg Anna , Whittemore Alice S. 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. We evaluated the effects of socioeconomic status and comorbidity on stage of disease and survival among 1,509 population-based prostate cancer patients. Methods. We applied logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression to data from Whites, African Americans, and Asian Americans who were diagnosed from 1987 to 1991. Results. Patients with existing comorbid conditions were less likely than those without these conditions to be diagnosed with advanced cancer. Compared with Whites, African Americans (odds ratio [OR] = 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1, 2.2) and foreign-born Asian Americans (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.0, 2.4) were more likely to be diagnosed with advanced cancer. Among men with localized disease, prostate cancer death rates were higher for African Americans than for Whites (death rate ratio = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.2, 4.7). Conclusions. These findings support the need for further investigation of factors that affect access to and use of health care among African Americans and Asian Americans.
Validity of Assessments of Youth Access to Tobacco: The Familiarity Effect
Authors: Landrine Hope , Klonoff Elizabeth A. 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. We examined the standard compliance protocol and its validity as a measure of youth access to tobacco. Methods. In Study 1, youth smokers reported buying cigarettes in stores where they are regular customers. In Study 2, youths attempted to purchase cigarettes by using the Standard Protocol, in which they appeared at stores once for cigarettes, and by using the Familiarity Protocol, in which they were rendered regular customers by purchasing nontobacco items 4 times and then requested cigarettes during their fifth visit. Results. Sales to youths aged 17 years in the Familiarity Protocol were significantly higher than sales to the same age group in the Standard Protocols (62.5% vs. 6%, respectively). Conclusions. The Standard Protocol does not match how youths obtain cigarettes. Access is low for stranger youths within compliance studies, but access is high for familiar youths outside of compliance studies.
Protecting the Public From Mercury Exposure: Success Through Microexchange Events
Authors: Shoemaker Paul A. , Ghaemghami Jalal 
Published: December 2008

Mercury is a growing environmental threat that can cause serious health problems and birth defects. Household thermometers are high-risk sources of mercury because most people lack the knowledge to properly dispose of one when it is broken. The Boston Public Health Commission’s Environmental Health Office, with local and national partners, created the Boston Mercury Thermometer Exchange Program to address this hazard. Large central exchanges are successful, but multiple smaller targeted “microexchanges” can be another effective way to reach the general public and specific vulnerable subpopulations such as the elderly, the homebound disabled, or recent immigrants. By conducting exchanges in community health centers and public housing developments for the elderly and disabled, and by working through home health care providers, the program collected 4477 thermometers.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Emergency Department Analgesic Prescription
Authors: Tamayo-Sarver Joshua H. , Hinze Susan W. , Cydulka Rita K. , Baker David W. 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. We examined racial and ethnic disparities in analgesic prescription among a national sample of emergency department patients. Methods. We analyzed Black, Latino, and White patients in the 1997–1999 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys to compare prescription of any analgesics and opioid analgesics by race/ethnicity. Results. For any analgesic, no association was found between race and prescription; opioids, however, were less likely to be prescribed to Blacks than to Whites with migraines and back pain, though race was not significant for patients with long bone fracture. Differences in opioid use between Latinos and Whites with the same conditions were less and nonsignificant. Conclusions. Physicians were less likely to prescribe opioids to Blacks; this disparity appears greatest for conditions with fewer objective findings (e.g., migraine).
Secular Trends in Adolescent Never Smoking From 1990 to 1999 in California: An Age–Period–Cohort Analysis
Authors: Chen Xinguang , Li Guohua , Unger Jennifer B. , Liu Xiaowei , Johnson C. Anderson 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. We analyzed age, time period, and cohort effects on trends in adolescent cigarette smoking in California from 1990 to 1999. Methods. Data from subjects aged 12 to 17 years (n = 26 536; 50.4% male) from the California Tobacco Survey and the California Youth Tobacco Survey were analyzed, and never smokers were used as the outcome measure. Results. The proportion of never smokers increased from 60% for males and 66% for females in 1990 to around 70% for both sexes in 1999. Respondents were more likely to be never smokers if born in 1978 or later (i.e., aged 12 years or younger in 1990, when most tobacco control programs started in California). Conclusions. The statewide antitobacco programs prevented adolescents from starting to smoke, primarily through a cohort effect.
Winners and Losers: Expansion of Insurance Coverage in Russia in the 1990s
Authors: Balabanova Dina C. , Falkingham Jane , McKee Martin 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. This study sought to describe the evolution of the Russian compulsory health insurance system and to identify factors associated with noncoverage. Methods. Data from successive waves of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (1992–2000) were analyzed. Results. Insurance coverage grew rapidly throughout the 1990s, although 11.8% of the country’s citizens were still uninsured by 2000. Coverage initiation rates were greater at first among citizens who were better off, but this gap closed over the study period. Among individuals of working age, coverage rates diminished with age and were lower for the unemployed, for the self-employed, and for those residing outside Moscow or St. Petersburg. Conclusions. The growth of insurance coverage in Russia slowed toward the end of the 1990s, and gaps remain. Achievement of universal coverage will require new, targeted policies.
Domestic Elder Abuse and the Law
Authors: Jogerst Gerald J. , Daly Jeanette M. , Brinig Margaret F. , Dawson Jeffrey D. , Schmuch Gretchen A. , Ingram Jerry G. 
Published: December 2008

Objectives. The authors evaluated the impact of state adult protective service legislation on rates of investigated and substantiated domestic elder abuse. Methods. Data were collected on all domestic elder abuse reports, investigations, and substantiations for each US state and the District of Columbia for 1999. State statutes and regulations pertaining to adult protective services were reviewed. Results. There were 190 005 domestic elder abuse reports from 17 states, a rate of 8.6 per 1000 elders; 242 430 domestic elder abuse investigations from 47 states, a rate of 5.9; and 102 879 substantiations from 35 states, a rate of 2.7. Significantly higher investigation rates were found for states requiring mandatory reporting and tracking of numbers of reports. Conclusions. Domestic elder abuse documentation among states shows substantial differences related to specific aspects of state laws. (Am J Public Health. 2003;93:2131–2136)
Population Health in Canada: A Brief Critique
Authors: Coburn David , Denny Keith , Mykhalovskiy Eric , McDonough Peggy , Robertson Ann , Love Rhonda 
Published: December 2008

An internationally influential model of population health was developed in Canada in the 1990s, shifting the research agenda beyond health care to the social and economic determinants of health. While agreeing that health has important social determinants, the authors believe that this model has serious shortcomings; they critique the model by focusing on its hidden assumptions. Assumptions about how knowledge is produced and an implicit interest group perspective exclude the sociopolitical and class contexts that shape interest group power and citizen health. Overly rationalist assumptions about change understate the role of agency. The authors review the policy and practice implications of the Canadian population health model and point to alternative ways of viewing the determinants of health.
Implications of the World Trade Center Attack for the Public Health and Health Care Infrastructures
Authors: Klitzman Susan , Freudenberg Nicholas 
Published: December 2008

The September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center had profound effects on the well-being of New York City. The authors describe and assess the strengths and weaknesses of the city’s response to the public health, environmental/ occupational health, and mental health dimensions of the attack in the first 6 months after the event. They also examine the impact on the city’s health care and social service system. The authors suggest lessons that can inform the development of a post–September 11th agenda for strengthening urban health infrastructures.