Childhood Abuse More Likely With Male Caregiver, especially Mother’s Boyfriend

Posted on June 28, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Fingarson

Amanda Fingarson, DO
Attending Physician, Child Abuse Pediatrics
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Feinberg Northwestern School of Medicine

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Child physical abuse is a substantial pediatric public health issue, with significant morbidity and mortality. Studies have found that men, particularly children’s fathers and mothers’ boyfriends are common perpetrators of physical abuse. There is still a lack of knowledge, however, about the specific caregiver features that increase a child’s risk for physical abuse.

Our study design was unique, in that it was a multi-center study that compared young children with abusive and accidental injuries.

Our primary finding was that abuse was much more likely when a male caregiver was present, and the resulting injuries were more likely to be severe or fatal. The presence of the mother’s boyfriend was the riskiest scenario, with the highest likelihood of abuse. Similarly, we found that caregiver relationships of less than 1 year increased the odds of abuse. Overall, the likelihood of abuse with female caregivers was much lower, with the exception of female babysitters. A final important finding of our study was that caregiving arrangements that were different than usual at the time of injury were at increased risk of abuse, suggesting that a stable and consistent caregiver is also important. Continue reading →

Keep Your Up Cosmetics and Out of Sight of of Kids

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Rebecca McAdams

Rebecca McAdams, MA, MPH CHES
Senior research associate
Center for Injury Research and Policy
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Columbus, OH

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Cosmetic or personal care products are found in nearly every US home and include items such as nail, hair and skin care products. Many of us use these products daily. Although a cosmetic product may not be harmful when used according to the directions, it is important for parents and caregivers to know that a young child could be seriously injured by these products.

This study found that 64,686 children younger than five years of age were treated in U.S. emergency departments for injuries related to personal care products from 2002 through 2016 – that’s an average of about one child every two hours.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response: The study found that most injuries from these products occurred when a child swallowed the product (75.7%) or the product made contact with a child’s skin or eyes (19.3%). These ingestions and exposures most often led to poisonings (86.2%) or chemical burns (13.8%).

The study found that the top products that led to injuries were nail care products (28.3%), hair care products (27.0%), skin care products (25.0%), and fragrance products (12.7%). When we looked at specific cosmetic products, nail polish remover was the single product which most frequently caused injuries (17.3%). For all products, children younger than 2 years of age were most commonly injured (59.3%), and they were more than twice as likely to be injured by a cosmetic product compared to children 2-4 years of age.

As the first comprehensive examination of cosmetic-related injuries in children younger than 5 years of age using NEISS data, these results indicate a steady and persistent number of cosmetic-related injuries for children. Children younger than 2 years demonstrated different patterns and injury rates, relative to children aged 2 to 4 years. These findings demonstrate the need for increased efforts and prevention messaging to reduce the burden of cosmetic injuries. Particularly, prevention efforts need to be age-specific to couple developmental milestones with corresponding cosmetic product exposures.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: It’s important for parents and caregivers with young children in the home to store all personal care products safely – up, away, and out of sight – in a locked cabinet is best. There are many products on the market to assist with safe storage. A variety of cabinet and drawer locks and latches are on the market which enable most spaces to be made more secure. These products can typically be purchased at grocery stores, mass retailers, drug stores, home improvement stores, hardware stores, and online.

It’s best to store personal care products up (in a cabinet children cannot reach), away (not just sitting on a shelf), and out of sight (in an opaque container or behind an opaque door or drawer). Remember that using child safety products like locks and latches will make storage safer and child-resistant, but no product will make your home completely child-proof.

Parents and child caregivers can help children stay safer by following these tips:

Up, away and out of sight. Store all personal care products safely: up, away and out of sight – in a cabinet that can be locked or latched is best. Never leave personal care products out unattended and put them away immediately after use.
Store safely now. It is never too soon to start practicing safe storage. Almost 60% of the injuries in this study were to children younger than 2 years of age.
Original containers. Keep all personal care products in their original containers.
Know how to get help. Save the national Poison Help Line (1-800-222-1222) in your cell phone and post it near your home phones.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?

Response: The persistence of cosmetic-related morbidity highlights the need to apply injury prevention strategies to this domain of consumer products. New emphasis needs to be placed on the safe storage recommendations put forward by the American Academy of Pediatrics on bathroom safety, and considerations need to be taken to store these items safely in the bedroom and common areas as well. Of particular relevance is the notion that cosmetic products need to be stored in the same manner as medications: in locked cabinets that are high and out of reach of young hands. Furthermore, not to be underestimated is the role of health care providers in advocating for safe storage of these common products through education at well-child appointments.

I have no financial relationships or potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.

Citation:

Cosmetic-Related Injuries Treated in US Emergency Departments: 2002 to 2016

Jordan Vajda, MA, MDiv, Rebecca J. McAdams, MA, MPH, Kristin J. Roberts, MS, MPH, Motao Zhu, MD, MS, PhD

, Lara B. McKenzie, PhD, MA

https://doi.org/10.1177/0009922819850492 |
First Published June 16, 2019

[last-modified]

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More Scooters Means More Head and Face Injuries

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Bresler

Amishav Bresler MD
Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
Rutgers – New Jersey Medical School

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: This study was inspired by a personal experience with the rental scooters.

The most recent American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery annual conference was in Atlanta this year. At the time of the conference, the scooter rental industry had recently entered the region. A friend of mine, another ENT resident, was encouraging others to use these scooters for transportation for both the novelty and convenience. However, he didn’t even have a helmet!

Here was a well-educated doctor who takes call for craniofacial injuries, who was about to get on a scooter without a helmet. This experience made me wonder if scooters were dangerous scooters and their overall impact on public health.

In terms of the backgroud, the personal transportation industry is undergoing a revolution. The search for efficient and environmentally-friendly urban transportation ignited an ongoing debate in the United States regarding the role of motorized scooters. Although known to be a popular method of transportation in Europe and Asia, motorized scooters have only recently begun to make inroads in the United States. The gradual rise in popularity has been attributed to their convenience, affordability, and status as a “green” alternative to vehicles with combustion engines. These advantages combined with the fact electric scooters enable users to travel longer distances than conventional scooters present an attractive method of transportation to school, work, and leisure.

Continue reading →

Are Some Dog Breeds More Likely to Bite?

Posted on June 6, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Essig

Dr. Garth Essig, MD
Otolaryngologist
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Dog bites are a significant yet modifiable public health concern, but the true magnitude is difficult to estimate with such wide ranges in reporting, severity of injury and varieties of breeds that bite. We reviewed bites from reports in the literature and from two regionally distinct medical centers.

We concluded that bite frequency and severity could be attributed to certain breeds in this sample, if the breed is known. Our study also acknowledged the significant risk of biting with the mixed breed population, which creates a dilemma with identification.

Continue reading →

Traumatic Injuries Cost Medicare More Than Heart Failure, Pneumonia, Stroke or Heart Attacks

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Hemmila

Dr. Mark R. Hemmila MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Division of Acute Care Surgery
University of Michigan

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Traumatic injury has a tendency to be thought of as a disease that preferentially impacts younger people. We wanted to explore the prevalence and impact of traumatic injury within the population of patients for whom Medicare is the third party payer. Continue reading →

Home Based Physical Therapy Can Help Prevent Falls in the Elderly

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Liu-Ambrose

Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PT, PhD
Canada Research Chair (Tier II), Physical Activity, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience
Director, Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory
University of British Columbia

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Falls in older adults are the third-leading cause of chronic disability and the leading cause of hospitalization for adults over age 65. Older adults who experience multiple falls are at increased risk for disability, loss of independence, and even death. How to best prevent falls in this high risk group is not well established.

Continue reading →

Laundry Detergent Packets Still Poison Kids, Despite Tougher Standards

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Gary Smith

Dr. Gary Smith, MD MPH
Director, Center for Injury Research and Policy
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Columbus, OH

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Our 2016 study (https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/137/5/e20154529) investigated calls to US poison control centers related to laundry and dishwasher detergent exposures among children younger than 6 years old from 2013 through 2014 and found that poison control centers received more than 30 calls a day about children who had been exposed to a laundry detergent packet, which is about one call every 45 minutes.

The current study investigated trends in calls to poison control centers across the country for exposure to liquid laundry detergent packets in order to evaluate the impact of the voluntary safety standard for this product with a focus on young children. The study found only a modest decrease (18%) in calls for children younger than 6 years of age following adoption of a 2015 product safety standard as well as an increase in calls for older children and adults. Exposures to the eyes also continued to climb.

The observed decrease in exposures among young children is considerably less than the 40% to 55% decrease in toxic ingestions seen after passage of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act. This demonstrates that the current liquid laundry detergent safety standard is inadequate and needs to be strengthened. Continue reading →

Sudden Infant Death Can Occur in Child Seats, esp When Not In Car and Adult Asleep

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Colvin

Jeffrey Colvin, MD, JD
Department of Pediatrics
Children’s Mercy Hospital
Kansas City, MO 64111

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Prior studies have found that infants spend an average of 5-6 hours a day in sitting devices. Sitting devices include car seats, swings, infant seats, and strollers.

Given how much time infants are spending in sitting devices, we wanted to know if sleep-related infant deaths (such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or “SIDS”) was occurring in those devices. We examined over 10,000 infant sleep-related deaths from 45 states. We found that 3% (or 348) of the deaths occurred in sitting devices. Two-thirds of the deaths in sitting devices were in car seats. What was most surprising was that less than 10% of the deaths in car seats occurred in cars. Instead, the great majority occurred in the child’s home or the home of a relative, friend, or babysitter. In 1/3 of the deaths in car seats, the supervising adult was asleep. Continue reading →

Early Life Maltreatment Linked to Increased Risk of Elder Abuse

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

XinQi Dong

XinQi Dong
Director, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research
Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor of Population Health Sciences
Professor, Department of Medicine – Division of General Internal Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Interpersonal violence is a substantial public health issue across all socio-demographic and socioeconomic strata globally. A depth of prior studies have found that victims of childhood sexual abuse might have higher risks of re-experiencing sexual violence as adults. But the “re-victimization” phenomenon has been insufficiently examined among the rapidly growing aging populations. There lacks examinations about life-course violence experiences and the accumulative effect of which in older ages.

Our study examined three most common forms of interpersonal violence (child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse) across the life span and found an interconnectedness among them. Individuals with a history of child maltreatment and/or intimate partner violence had two to six times higher risks of elder abuse compared to those without a past experience of the violence. Continue reading →

Drivers with Diabetic Neuropathy May Need Assistance Controlling Accelerator Pedal

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Monica Perazzolo
Research Centre for Musculoskeletal Science and Sports Medicine
School of Healthcare Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering,
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences
University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Our research on motor control in diabetes focussed on the effect of diabetic peripheral neuropathy on driving. Drivers with diabetic peripheral neuropathy showed a less well controlled use of the accelerator pedal and sometimes larger, faster steering corrections needed to stay in lane when driving a simulator compared to healthy drivers and people with diabetes but no neuropathy.

Despite these negative findings, an important result is that drivers with diabetic peripheral neuropathy demonstrated an improvement in their driving with practice.

Continue reading →

Kids with Head Injuries More Likely to Be Involved with Criminal Justice System

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Joseph A Schwartz PhD Public Affairs and Community Service, Criminology and Criminal Justice University of Nebraska Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE

Dr. Schwartz

Dr. Joseph A Schwartz PhD
Public Affairs and
Community Service, Criminology and Criminal Justice
University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: My larger research agenda is focused on identifying the ways in which environmental and biological influences work collectively to shape behavioral patterns across major stages of the life course. I am particularly interested in identifying environmental influences that can change biological functioning or activity to result in behavioral change.

Brain injury was a natural progression of these interests since brain injury is expected to result in changes in the structure and functioning of the brain, which has been linked to meaningful changes in behavior. There have also been a sizable number of studies that indicate that justice involved populations experience brain injury at a rate that is between five and eight times what is observed in the general population. I was fascinated by this finding and thought that brain injury may be a good candidate influence to investigate further. Continue reading →

14% Drivers with Kids in the Car Tested Positive for Cannabis

Posted on April 26, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Angela Eichelberger, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Dr. Romano and Dr. Kelley-Baker have previously studied the problem of child endangerment in alcohol-related crashes. In the United States, each year, about 200 children die and another 4,000 are injured while being driven by a drinking adult.

For this study, we wanted to take the opportunity to look at the prevalence of alcohol and cannabis use among drivers who participated in a roadside survey in Washington State. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine cannabis use among drivers transporting a child.

Continue reading →

Criminal and Socially Inappropriate Behaviors Could Be Signs of Dementia

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Madeleine Liljegren
Photo: Ingemar Walldén

Madeleine Liljegren, MD
Division of Oncology and Pathology
Department of Clinical Sciences
Lund University Lund, Sweden

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: We know from former studies including patients with a clinical diagnosis of dementia, that criminal and socially inappropriate behaviors can be signs of dementia, sometimes even the first signs of a neurodegenerative disorder.

We wanted to study this relatively large (n=220) cohort of neuropathologically verified Alzheimer disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients, who had been followed clinically by specialists in cognitive medicine or geriatric psychiatry during their disease period, to see if we could confirm results from previous studies.

In this paper, we further wanted to study potential differences regarding protein pathology and criminal behavior in frontotemporal dementia patients. This has, to our knowledge, never been done before.

Continue reading →

Combat Deaths Decreased as Military Improved Trauma Care in Afghanistan and Iraq

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Howard

Jeffrey Howard, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Kinesiology, Health and Nutrition
University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX 78249

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: There is a saying that “the only winner in war is medicine”, which is the first sentence in the article. The point of that quote is that many medical advances over the last 500 years or more have been learned or propagated as a result of war.

With that as the backdrop, the purpose of our study was to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the trauma system than previous work. We accomplished this by compiling the most complete data to-date on the conflicts, using data from both Afghanistan and Iraq, and analyzing multiple interventions/policy changes simultaneously rather than in isolation. Previous work had focused primarily on single interventions and within more narrow timeframes. We wanted to expand the scope to include multiple interventions and encompass the entirety of the conflicts through the end of 2017. Continue reading →

Have Police Body-Worn Cameras Lived Up To Their Expectations?

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Lum

Cynthia Lum, PhD
Professor of Criminology
Law and Society
George Mason University

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are one of the most rapidly diffusing technologies in policing today, costing agencies and their municipalities millions of dollars. Recent estimates by the Bureau of Justice statistics indicate that over 60% of local police departments have already acquired BWCs. This adoption has been propelled by highly publicized officer-involved shootings and other death-in-custody events in this decade, as well as more generally by continuing concerns regarding police-citizen relationships, particularly within communities of color.

All of these contexts prompt the need to better understand the impacts and effects of BWCs as they diffuse rapidly into policing. Specifically, do BWCs achieve the expectations that citizens, communities, and the police have of them?

This article provides a narrative review of 70 studies, representing over 110 findings, about what we know from research across six important Body-worn cameras domains:

(1) the impact of BWCs on officer behavior;

(2) officer attitudes about BWCs;

(3) the impact of BWCs on citizen behavior;

(4) citizen and community attitudes about BWCs;

(5) the impact of BWCs on criminal investigations; and (6) the impact of BWCs on law enforcement organizations.

Continue reading →

Even with Controlled LDL-Cholesterol, PCI Stent Patients Have Residual Inflammatory Risk

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Dangas

Dr. George Dangas MD PhD
Professor of Medicine, Cardiology
Mount Sinai Health System

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Widespread use of statins targeted to decrease levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) below 70mg/dL are recommended by guidelines. However, residual cholesterol risk may only be one part of the residual risk equation. Indeed, Biological inflammation has long been known as a pathophysiological mechanism of atherosclerosis and the recent CANTOS trial opened new therapeutic perspective by demonstrating that inflammation modulation via selective interleukin-1β inhibition could result in improved diagnosis in patients with coronary artery disease.

However, the prevalence and impact of a residual inflammatory biological syndrome in patients with controlled cholesterol risk is unclear. Continue reading →

How Do Physician-Affiliated PACs Vote on Gun Laws?

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Hannah Decker

Hannah Decker
MD Candidate, Class of 2019
Emory School of Medicine

Dr. Jeremiah Schuur

Jeremiah Schuur, MD, MHS FACEP
Physician-in-chief for emergency medicine at Lifespan and Chair of the department of Emergency Medicine
Brown

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Firearm injury is a leading cause of injury and death in the United States. Many physician groups advocate for evidence-based policies, such as universal background checks, to reduce this morbidity and mortality.

We studied contributions of the 25 largest political action committees (PACs) affiliated with physician professional groups during the 2016 election cycle and found that almost all gave more money to political candidates who voted against universal background checks and were endorsed by the NRA.

These PACs contributed to more than twice as many incumbent US Senate candidates who voted against an amendment to expand firearm background checks than those who voted for the amendment. In the US House of Representatives, the pattern of giving was similar. These PACs gave $2.8 million more to candidates who did not sponsor a bill to expand background checks than to those who did. Finally, these physician PACs were more than twice as likely to contribute to and gave almost $1.5 million dollars more to candidates rated A by the NRA.

Continue reading →

What Happens to Crime Rates When Marijuana Dispensaries Open in the Neighborhood?

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Schaible

Lonnie M. Schaible PhD
Associate Professor
School of Public Affairs
University of Colorado
Denver, CO

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Following legalization of recreational marijuana use in Colorado, strong — but unsubstantiated — claims were being made about crime surrounding marijuana dispensaries. We wanted to know what the data would show. We were especially interested in determining whether the addition of recreational facilities had any effects above and beyond those which might exist for medical dispensaries. To better capture the dynamic landscape of marijuana legalization, this is the first study to control for the prior existence of medical dispensaries and assess how effects of both of these types of establishments changed over time.

Continue reading →

Skin Care Products Make Cotton Fabrics More Flammable

Posted on February 6, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Hall

Dr Sarah Hall PhD
Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science
Anglia Ruskin University

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: We initially started the study in collaboration with Essex Fire and Rescue Services, as we were already doing some research on the recovery of evidence from fire scenes. During a visit to their cold fire scene facility, they described a tragic fatality with extensive fire damage, which didn’t link with the main fuel in the room. Therefore they questioned if a skin cream, regularly used by the victim, could have contributed as a fuel or ignited to initiate the fire and asked if we would do some initial research. Now we are also working with West Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, the London Fire Brigade, St Andrews Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns and the National Fire Chiefs Council.

We initially started the study in collaboration with Essex Fire and Rescue Services, as we were already doing some research on the recovery of evidence from fire scenes. During a visit to their cold fire scene facility, they described a tragic fatality with extensive fire damage, which didn’t link with the main fuel in the room. Therefore they questioned if a skin cream, regularly used by the victim, could have contributed as a fuel or ignited to initiate the fire and asked if we would do some initial research. Now we are also working with West Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, the London Fire Brigade, St Andrews Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns and the National Fire Chiefs Council.

Continue reading →

Hospital-Based Violence Prevention Programs Need to Engage More ER Patients

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Coupet

Edouard Coupet Jr, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Emergency Medicine
Yale School of Medicine

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: For many individuals with nonfatal firearm injuries, their only point of contact with the healthcare system may be the emergency department. Both hospital-based violence intervention programs and counseling and safe firearm storage have shown promise in reducing the burden of firearm injury.

In this study, one third of individuals with firearm injuries presented to non-trauma centers. Only 1 out of 5 firearm injuries were assault injuries that led to admission to trauma centers, the population most likely to receive interventions to reduce re-injury.

Continue reading →

Risk Factors of Sexual Violence Across Young Women’s Relationship Histories

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Kennedy

Angie Kennedy, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Social Work
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Nearly half of women (44%) experience physical or sexual partner violence by young adulthood, with 1 in 5 girls in high school reporting abuse within the last year. Sexual violence typically co-occurs with other forms of partner violence; co-occurring sexual and physical violence among adolescent girls is linked to health-risk behaviors including alcohol and drug use, unhealthy weight control, sexual risk-taking, and suicidality. As such, it represents a serious public health problem.

To better understand this issue, we wanted to explore risk factors for sexual violence during young women’s adolescent and young adult relationships, i.e., what predicts attempted rape and rape by a partner during this vulnerable period?

We took a novel approach: We examined predictors across multiple relationships, beginning with the first one, and we recruited a diverse sample of young women from a four-year research university, a two-year community college, and community sites serving low-income young women.

Continue reading →

Disaster-Related Media Exposure Can Heighten Post-Storm Stress

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Thompson

Rebecca R. Thompson, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department of Psychological Science
University of California, Irvine

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Our research team has been interested in how people respond to the repeated threat of disaster exposure for many years. We recently published a review of the literature on evacuation from natural disasters, and one of our main findings was that there have been no studies that include assessments of individuals’ intentions, perceptions, and psychological states assessed prior to an approaching storm’s landfall – all prior research has been retrospective, and recall is undoubtedly biased and unreliable. Our goal in undertaking this study was to fill this hole in the literature. We sought to assess individuals’ responses to Hurricane Irma in the days leading up to and immediately after its landfall in the State of Florida.

Continue reading →

Months After #MeToo, Millions Still Searching Online For Help Against Sexual Violence

Posted on December 26, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Ayers

John W. Ayers, PhD, MA
Vice Chief of Innovation | Assoc. Professor
Div. Infectious Disease & Global Public Health
University of California San Diego

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: The greatest barrier to understanding trends around sexual violence is they are largely hidden because victims are unable speak up publicly.

Moreover, ongoing monitoring relies on proxies that underreport the
scale of the problem such as police or medical records where only the
most severe instances or a fraction of all instances of sexual
violence are represented. As a result, we know very little about the
scale of America’s sexual violence problem.

It was this backdrop that inspired #MeToo to call on victims to
publicly voice their stories thereby revealing the scale of the
problem. Our goal was to, for the first time, assess how this change
inspired the public to engage with sexual violence issues.

By tracking private aggregate internet search query trends we can
begin to understand the scale of public engagement with issues around
sexual violence including the precise motivation for a search, such as
reporting episodes of sexual violence or learning how to prevent
sexual violence.

Continue reading →

USPSTF: Interventions to Prevent Child Maltreatment

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Kemper

Alex Kemper, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.

Dr. Kemper is a board-certified pediatrician and chief of the Division of Ambulatory Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He is also the deputy editor of Pediatrics.

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this recommendation statement? What are the main findings and recommendations?

Response: Child maltreatment, which includes abuse and neglect, is a serious health problem that affects too many children in the United States. Abuse and neglect can have devastating health consequences, including long-term disabilities, depression, physical injury, and even death. In 2016, approximately 676,000 children were subjected to maltreatment, and more than 1,700 children died as a result.

Because this is such an important public health issue, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force looked at the most recent evidence on whether primary care clinicians can help prevent child maltreatment and its negative consequences.

We found that, unfortunately, there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against these interventions. The Task Force is calling for more research on this important subject so that we can help prevent children from being abused and neglected. Continue reading →

Exposure to Police Violence May Be Associated With Mental Health Disparities

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Jordan E. DeVylder, PhD
Graduate School of Social Service
Fordham University, New York, New York

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: This study is intended to address the lack of empirical research on police violence from a public health perspective.

The main findings are that police violence is relatively widespread in Baltimore and New York City, is disproportionately directed toward people of color and sexual or gender minorities, and is associated with psychological distress, suicidal behavior, and psychosis-like symptoms.

Continue reading →

Alcohol Misuse Raises Risk of Unsafe Firearm Storage

Posted on November 20, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Erin Morgan
PhD Student | Department of Epidemiology
University of Washington

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Going into this study we were interested in looking at youth exposure to unsafely stored firearms. Unsafely stored firearms in the household, especially those that are stored unlocked, are a known risk factor for adolescent suicide. We were also interested in looking into a population of children and teens who are at particularly heightened risk for suicide and unintentional injury—those living with an adult who misuses alcohol.

Overall, we found that about 30% of those under the age of 18 live in a firearm owning home and among those youth, around 55% lived with a firearm stored in a way other than locked and unloaded. Among those in firearm owning household, we also found that when compared to youth living with a survey respondent that did not report alcohol misuse, those living with an adult that did misuse alcohol were 20% more likely to reside in a home where the firearm was stored unsafely; children were 27% more likely to live in a home reporting unlocked storage, specifically. Continue reading →

Twice as Many Pediatric Firearms Deaths in States With Lax Gun Laws

Posted on November 4, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Taylor

Jordan Stephen Taylor MD
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW
PEDIATRIC SURGERY
Stanford

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Firearms are the second leading cause of death in pediatric patients (ages 1-19). Firearms cause more deaths in this population that cancer or heart disease combined. Our study examined the relationship between state firearm legislation (using the Brady Scorecard and Child Access Prevention (CAP) score) and pediatric firearm mortality. We also examined other state-level factors such as poverty levels, unemployment rate, and high school completion rates. There were several significant findings:

Overall pediatric firearm mortality was inversely correlated with the stringency of state firearm legislation. States with the most stringent firearm legislation had pediatric firearm rates half that of states with more lenient firearm legislation (2.56 deaths per 100,00 children vs 5.00 deaths per 100,000 children. This correlation remained significant even after accounting for other state-level socioeconomic factors.
Pediatric firearm suicide rates were significantly lower in states that had laws specifically designed to prevent children from accessing firearms, including laws that mandate safe storage practices or locks. States with strong CAP laws had rates of pediatric firearm suicides that were four times less than states without such laws. This correlation, as well, remained significant even after accounting for socioeconomic factors.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: Pediatric firearm death is a major public health issue. There is a clear discrepancy in where these deaths are occurring. We found that state’s with more lenient laws are having their children die at an alarmingly greater rates. While federal legislation on firearms remains controversial and gridlocked, we found that state legislation could play an important role in preventing pediatric firearm deaths, particularly through passage of child access prevention laws.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?

Response: Research like this is important to demonstrate to lawmakers and the public that gun legislation can save lives. Currently, only 27 states in the US have any form of Child Access Protection laws. Passing Child Access Prevention laws in the remaining 23 states would be a great starting point for using research like this.

We have no disclosures.

Citation:

Abstract Title: Strict firearm legislation is associated with lower firearm-related fatalities among children and teens in the United States

Jordan Taylor, MD; Sriram Madhavan, MS; Stephanie Chao, MD
Stanford, CA

[last-modified]

Really Scary! Pediatric Pedestrian Fatalities 10x Higher on Halloween

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. John A. Staples, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
University of British Columbia

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: At this time last year, my co-author Candace Yip and I noticed an impressive number of advertisements for Halloween-themed parties at bars taped to lamp-posts. We wondered if the combination of dark costumes, dark evenings, alcohol and trick-or-treaters made the streets more dangerous for pedestrians.

To see if our hunch was correct, we examined 42 years of data on all fatal vehicle crashes in the United States between 1975 and 2016. We compared the number of pedestrian fatalities between 5 p.m. and midnight on Halloween with the number during the same hours on control days one week earlier and one week later. We found that 14 pedestrian deaths occurred on the average Halloween, while only 10 pedestrian deaths occurred on the average control evening. This corresponded to a 43% increase in the relative risk of pedestrian fatality on Halloween.

Among children aged 4 to 8 years of age, the risk of death was ten times higher on Halloween evening compared to control evenings. Risks were highest around 6pm, which is prime trick-or-treating time. Absolute risks were small and declined throughout the four decades of the study, but the relative risk increase on Halloween persisted throughout the entire study interval. Continue reading →

Adolescent Gun Injuries Peak at Ages 15-17

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Faiz Gani, PhD
Postdoctoral research fellow
Department of Surgery
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Firearm related injuries are a leading cause of injury and death in the United States, yet, due to combination of factors, limited data exist that evaluate these injuries, particularly among younger patients (patients younger than 18 years).

The objective of this study was to describe emergency department utilization for firearm related injuries and to quantitate the financial burden associated with these injuries.

In our study of over 75,000 emergency department visits, we observed that each year, over 8,300 children and adolescents present to the emergency department for the treatment / management of a gunshot injury. Within this sub-population of patients, we observed that these injuries are most frequent among patients aged 15-17 years and while these injuries decreased over time initially, were observed to increase again towards the end of the time period studied.

In addition to describing the clinical burden of these injuries, we also sought to describe the financial burden associated with these injuries. For patients discharged from the emergency department, the average (median) charge associated with their care was $2,445, while for patients admitted as inpatients for further care, the average (median) charge was $44,966.

Collectively these injuries resulted in $2.5 billion in emergency department and hospital charges over the time period studied. This translates to an annual financial burden of approximately $270 million. Continue reading →

Should You Get a Ticket For Driving Stoned?

Posted on October 28, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Prof. Kleiman

Prof. Mark A. R. Kleiman PhD
Affiliated Faculty, NYU Wagner; Professor of Public Policy
NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: As state after state legalizes the sale of cannabis, the question of cannabis-impaired driving is getting more attention. There is evidence that the practice has become more common, both because cannabis use – and especially heavy, frequent use – has increased and because a distressingly large fraction of cannabis users believe, falsely, that stoned driving is safe.

The natural response to the problem is to treat cannabis on a par with alcohol: fairly severe criminal penalties for impaired driving, with impairment defined by a specific level of the drug in the body. The paper argues that this would be a mistake, for four independent reasons:

– While cannabis makes driving riskier, it does so by about a factor of two, with no strongly observed dependency on dosage. Alcohol, by contrast, has a steep dose-effect curve. At the legal limit of 0.08% blood alcohol content by weight, the relative risk of drunk driving is at least eight; at 0.15%, which is fairly common, the relative risk has been estimated at 30-50. So there is no justification for punishing stoned driving as severely as we punish drunk driving.

– The lack of evidence of a strong dose-effect relationship suggests that a legal standard based on the content of cannabinoids in blood may not be appropriate.

– Even if a blood standard were valid, the lack of a breath test would make enforcing that standard nearly impossible as a practical matter.

– The long and unpredictable course of cannabis metabolism means that frequent users will be at risk of failing a drug test even when they are neither subjectively intoxicated nor objectively impaired. Worse, they would have no way of judging in advance whether or not driving would be legal. The result would be a re-criminalization of cannabis use through the back door. Continue reading →

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