Seatbelt use during pregnancy: a comparison of women in two prenatal care settings.

Objectives: This study examines knowledge of proper automobile restraint use during pregnancy and attitudes toward restraint use. This manuscript, the second in a series, compares knowledge and attitudes in two populations of pregnant women, those receiving prenatal care at several county clinics and those receiving care in a private practice.

Methods: A survey requesting demographic information and frequency and knowledge of proper automobile restraint use was administered during prenatal visits.

Unusual job activities as a risk factor for occupational injuries.

Background: Based upon our clinical observation, many job-related injuries occur as a consequence of workers performing a task or engaging in an activity for which they have not been trained.

Methods: A case-crossover study was used to evaluate unusual job tasks, unusual tools and unusual work locations as triggers for occupational injuries. Data on work activities on the day of the injury and 7 days prior to injury were collected via in-person interview.

Epidemiology of child homicide in Jefferson County, Alabama.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to present the epidemiology of homicide among children younger than 6 years of age in Jefferson County, Alabama. This study focused on obtaining great detail on homicides and suspicious deaths occurring within a fixed population.

Methods: For purposes of this study, cases included Jefferson County deaths attributed to "homicide" or that were "undetermined" as noted in the coroner files among children younger than 6 years of age who were born and died between January 1, 1988 and December, 31, 1998.

Death during theft from electric utilities.

Utilities that supply power are subject to theft of service and theft of hardware used to provide service. Individuals who try to steal from a power utility risk electrocution. We conducted a retrospective study of all individuals examined by the Jefferson County Coroner Medical Examiner Office from January 1981 through December 2001 and found that 8 individuals died trying to steal from a power utility.

Epidemiology of fatal occupational injuries in Jefferson County, Alabama.

Background: In Alabama, little is known about the overall characteristics of job-related injuries.

Methods: We examined fatal occupational injuries that occurred in Jefferson County, Alabama, from 1990 through 1999 using files maintained by the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner Office. Mortality rates were calculated by sex, age, race, occupation, and industry.

Thermal burn fatalities in the workplace, United States, 1992 to 1999.

The purpose of this study was to present the epidemiology of thermal burn fatalities in the workplace in the United States between 1992 and 1999. Data on fatal thermal burn injuries in the United States between 1992 through 1999 were obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Between 1992 and 1999, 1,189 fatal thermal burns occurred in the workplace (0.

Serious occupational burn injuries treated at a regional burn center.

This article will present the epidemiology of occupational burn injuries among patients admitted to a regional burn center. Patients admitted to University of Alabama at Birmingham University Hospital Burn Center between November 1994 and December 1999 for occupational burn injuries were studied. Descriptive statistics were generated for demographic, clinical, and outcome characteristics.