American journal of preventive medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Impact of an educational program on the safety of high-risk, visually impaired, older drivers.
Older drivers (licensed drivers aged 60 years and older) have among the highest rates of motor vehicle collision involvement per mile driven of all age groups. Educational programs that promote safe driving strategies among seniors are a popular approach for addressing this problem, but their safety benefit has yet to be demonstrated. The objective of this study was to determine whether an individualized educational program that promoted strategies to enhance driver safety reduces the crash rate of high-risk older drivers. DESIGN/ SETTING: Randomized, controlled, single-masked intervention evaluation at an ophthalmology clinic. ⋯ An educational intervention that promoted safe-driving strategies among visually impaired, high-risk older drivers did not enhance driver safety, although it was associated with increased self-regulation and avoidance of challenging driving situations and decreased driving exposure by self-report.
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Review Comparative Study
Population health technologies: emerging innovations for the health of the public.
At the beginning of the 21st century, we are at the dawn of a possibly unprecedented era of scientific discovery and promise. Emerging technologies, including information and communication technologies, genomics, microelectromechanical systems, robotics, sensors, and nanotechnologies, provide enormous opportunities for population health improvement. Population health technology refers to the application of an emerging technology to improve the health of populations. ⋯ If appropriately applied, population health technologies may greatly enhance existing health intervention models. However, potential adverse consequences could arise related to privacy, confidentiality, and security; quality and effectiveness; sustainability; and the technology divide. To ensure the optimal development and diffusion of population health technologies will require balancing these risks and benefits while simultaneously adopting new mechanisms of public and private support for research and development in this potentially important new domain of public health.
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Comparative Study
Increased incidence of inflicted traumatic brain injury in children after a natural disaster.
The incidence of child abuse following natural disasters has not been studied thoroughly. However, parental stress and decreased social support have been linked to increased reports of child maltreatment. We hypothesized that a large-scale natural disaster (North Carolina's Hurricane Floyd) would increase the incidence of inflicted traumatic brain injury (TBI) in young children. ⋯ Families are vulnerable to an elevated risk of inflicted and non-inflicted child TBI following a disaster. This information may be useful in future disaster planning.
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Identifying ethnic differences in the age of smoking onset from nationally representative data can lead to improved targeted prevention programs and policies to combat smoking in ethnic communities. ⋯ These findings indicate significant ethnic disparities in relation to when people start smoking, with the majority of A/PIs and AAs initiating as young adults. The findings suggest that prevention strategies should begin at a young age and continue throughout young adulthood, especially among ethnic minority populations. Further consideration of the different influences on later initiation in ethnic minorities may lead to suggestions to improve current smoking-prevention programs aimed at adolescents and young adults.