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June 4, 2001
Using social indicators to inform community drug and alcohol prevention policy.
Gorman DM, Labouvie EW. J Public Health Policy 2000; 21(4):428-446.
Correspondence: Dennis M. Gorman School of Rural Public Health, Texas A & M University, 3000 Briacrest Drive, Suite 300, Bryan, Texas 77802 USA. gorman@medicine.tamu.edu
Although the federal government requires state agencies to allocate drug prevention resources according to the needs of local communities, methods by which this is to be accomplished have not been described. Most substance use and abuse studies report state or county-level data which are too insensitive to local needs to be of use in resource allocation decisions. The authors describe a needs assessment in drug abuse prevention in the state of New Jersey using municipal-level social indicator data. Thirty-six social indicators pertaining to 508 municipalities were used in the study, and data were analyzed using principal component analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. Five factors were extracted from the principal component analysis, two of which clearly describe "high risk" municipalities and one of which clearly describes "low risk" municipalities. The regression analysis showed that these factors explained very little of the variance in the state agency's drug prevention spending. The study shows that social indicators can be used to distinguish between different levels of need for drug prevention services at a municipal level, and that these data can be used to inform decisions concerning resource allocation.
Personal protective equipment use by in-line skaters in Victoria.
Sherker S, Cassell E. Aust N Z J Public Health 2001; 25(2): 179-184.
Correspondence: Shauna Sherker, Monash University Accident Research Centre, PO Box 70A, Monash University, Victoria, 3800, Australia, Shauna.Sherker@general.monash.edu.au
The authors conducted an observational study to describe use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by in-line skaters in Melbourne and rural Victoria, and to compare local PPE with reported international use. Unobtrusive observations of in-line skaters at four types of skate settings (rinks, parks, trails, street) in Melbourne and rural Victoria. Two-thirds of 490 observed in-line skaters (66.7%) wore none of the recommended PPE (wrist guards, elbow and knee pads and helmets). Only 2.2% wore all four pieces of PPE. Wrist guards were worn by 25.9% of skaters, knee pads by 23.5%, elbow pads by 6.9% and helmets by 5.5%. Younger skaters were least likely to wear any PPE. Trail skaters were more likely to wear PPE than skaters on rinks, parks and streets. Almost one-third of skaters did not have a heel brake on their skates. Use of PPE was influenced by group norms. The authors conclude that PPE use is low among in-line skaters in Victoria, and varies according to skate location. The use of PPE in Victoria is much lower than that reported overseas. The authors recommend that public health professionals work in partnership with in-line skating bodies, organizers and sponsors of skating events, skate venue owners and managers, skating equipment manufacturers and hirers to promote PPE use.
Fatal crashes involving young male drivers: a continuous time Poisson change-point analysis.
Tay R. Aust N Z J Public Health 2001; 25(1):21-23
Correspondence: Richard Tay, Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety, School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Beams Road Carseldine, Qld 4034, Australia, r.tay@qut.edu.au
In an effort to reduce road trauma, the New Zealand government implemented a series of intervention programs over the last decade, with young male drivers as the main target audience. Previous research, however, found little or no evidence that these programs had any impact on this group of drivers despite an apparent decrease in their crash involvement. The author reports on a study to determine the approximate time when the decrease in the number of fatal crashes involving young male drivers occurred. A Poisson change-point estimator was used to locate the most likely point where a decrease in the average number of monthly crashes had occurred. The most likely time of change was found to coincide with the time when the Transport Act 1992 was debated and passed in Parliament. The author proposes that publicity given to the issue and the Government's signal of impending actions were sufficient to induce a significant change in the behaviors of young male drivers. This result can partially reconcile the difference between the apparent reduction in the number of fatal crashes involving young male drivers and the inability of previous studies to find a significant impact of the various intervention programs since the change occurred prior to the actual implementation of the programs. Nevertheless, it was argued that the implementation of the programs subsequently was necessary in sustaining the reduction.
Physical and psychological effects of injury. Data from the 1958 British cohort study.
Li L, Roberts I, Power C. European J Public Health 2001; 11(1): 81-83.
Correspondence: Ian Roberts, Department of Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK, Ian.Roberts@ich.ucl.ac.uk
The authors used data from the nationwide 1958 British Birth Cohort Study to assess the extent to which motor vehicle injuries influence limiting long term illness and psychological distress in early adulthood. Information was obtained on driver injuries occurring between ages 23 and 33 years and limiting illnesses and psychological distress at age 33 years. The risks of injury-related adverse consequences were derived using logistic regression and expressed as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals. A single injury was associated with limiting illness (OR=2.01 and 95% CI: 1.38-2.94). The association between a single injury and psychological distress was strong for a recent injury occurring between ages 30 and 33 years (OR=1.86 and 95% CI: 1.24-2.81), but not for injuries that occurred less recently. The population attributable fraction for limiting illness with one injury was 3.8% (range 1.7-5.3%) and with two or more injuries was 1.0% (range 0.5-1.3%). After controlling for potential confounding factors the corresponding figures were 4.2% (range 2.2-5.6%) and 1.1% (range 0.5-1.3%) respectively.
Registration of external causes of death in the Baltic States 1970-1997
Varnik1 A, Wasserman D, Palo E, Tooding L. European J Public Health 2001; 11(1): 84-88.
Correspondence: A. Varnikl, Estonian-Swedish Institute of Suicidology, Pärnu mnt. 104-265, Tallinn, 11312, Estonia, airiv@online.ee
The authors examined trends in external causes of deaths in the Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to draw conclusions about the effect of political, social and economic changes. Data published by the statistical offices of the three Baltic States and on data obtained through interviews with personnel employed at the national statistical offices were examined. The study period was divided, by socio-political and economic factors, into a period of stagnation (1970-1984) and a period of reforms (1985-1997). During 1970-1984 a stable slightly upward trend of external causes of death rates was observed. The curve became S-shaped in the reform period: between 1984 and 1988 a marked decrease occurred followed by a rapid increase of rates until 1994, and then by 1997 a fall to the approximate level of 1984. The male to female ratio of external causes of death was between 3.4:1 and 4.2:1. External deaths accounted for 10% to 14% of all deaths before 1984. During the period 1984-1988 the proportion of external deaths was under 10% and peaked in 1994 at 16%. Fluctuations in the trends of external death were more pronounced among males than females in all Baltic countries. Trends in external causes of death were similar in Baltic States. High proportions of violent death decreased life-expectancy for both sexes, but markedly for males. Social stresses and alcohol consumption could be considered as factors influencing the mortality rates and specific fluctuations in trends of external death, especially among males. When the perpetrator gets killed: effects of observing the death of a handgun user in a televised public service announcement.
Bernhardt JM, Sorenson JR, Brown JD. Health Educ Behav 2001; 28(1):81-94
Correspondence: Jay M. Bernhardt, Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, School of Health and Human Performance, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-6522, USA. jaybird@coe.uga.edu
This study evaluates the cognitive effects of an anti-handgun violence public service announcement (PSA) on 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade students (N = 294). Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group, which viewed a PSA depicting the death of an aggressive handgun user, or a comparison group, which viewed identical content except that the PSA showed no negative consequence for the handgun user. Logistic regression analysis, adjusting for race and gender, revealed that the treatment group was more likely to report negative expected outcomes for aggressively using a handgun and lower behavioral intentions to aggressively use a handgun compared with the comparison group. These findings suggest that observing handgun violence on television that depicts death as a negative physical consequence for the perpetrator may produce lower handgun-encouraging beliefs compared with observing no consequence for the perpetrator.
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