Background: This randomized trial presents findings from the longest follow-up study of smoke alarm and battery function to date.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine differences in long-term function of smoke alarm and battery combinations.
Methods: A total of 691 households in an ongoing cohort study were randomly allocated into smoke alarm groups of ionizing and photoelectric and battery groups of zinc and lithium.
The Keokuk County Rural Health Study (KCRHS) is a population-based, prospective study of health status and environmental exposures of a large stratified random sample of residents in one rural Iowa county. The study focuses on injury and respiratory disease and monitors health care delivery, geriatric health, mental health, and other health outcomes, as well as behavioral risk factors for disease and injury. Injury and disease prevalence is investigated in relation to occupational, agricultural, and other environmental exposures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Previous studies indicate 20% of injuries represent 80% of injury costs in agriculture. To help prevent the most costly injuries, we aimed to identify characteristics and risk factors associated with serious injuries.
Methods: We analyzed insurance records of 93,550 self-employed Finnish farmers.
Farmers are at risk for work-related eye injuries, some of which can be very serious. This study describes the farm activities that were related to eye injury in a group of 36 Iowa farmers in the Agricultural Health Study who sustained 40 farmwork-related eye injuries requiring medical advice or treatment. Farm activities of grinding or cutting metal accounted for 11 (27.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis was a 3-year retrospective cohort study of traumatic injuries in a midwestern pork meatpacking plant. Based on n = 5410 workers, this was a diverse workforce: Caucasian (56.6%), Hispanic (38.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To assess associations between diabetes and occupational injury.
Methods: Data from the 1997 to 2005 National Health Interview Survey comprised a sample of 195,284 adult workers. Multivariate logistic regression analysis assessed associations between diabetes and occupational injuries, adjusting for age, sex, race, and education.
Background: Although the use of smoke alarms is widely recommended, little guidance is available on the types of alarms and batteries that function best. This study examined smoke alarm and battery function 12 months after installation in rural residential households.
Methods: An RCT, involving the installation of either a photoelectric or ionizing smoke alarm with either a lithium or carbon-zinc battery, was conducted in 643 rural Iowa households in July 2003.
Background: The differences in occupational and non-occupational injuries between military men and women have not been documented. This study compares occupational and non-occupational injuries between male and female United States Army soldiers by examining injury hospitalization rates and characteristics.
Methods: The U.
Context: Crash fatality and injury rates are higher on rural roadways than other roadway types. Although slow-moving farm vehicles and equipment are risk factors on rural roads, little is known about the characteristics of crashes with farm vehicles/equipment.
Purpose: To describe crashes and injuries for the drivers of farm vehicles/equipment and non-farm vehicles involved in an injury crash.
Context And Purpose: Rural households report high fire-related mortality and injury rates, but few studies have examined the risk factors for fires. This study aims to identify occupant and household characteristics that are associated with residential fires in a rural cohort.
Methods: Of 1,005 households contacted in a single rural county, 691 (68.
Objective: Although death rates from injuries are higher in rural areas compared with large metropolitan areas, little is known about how non-fatal injury rates vary by rurality. Data from the 1997-2001 US National Health Interview Surveys were used to explore associations between rurality and non-fatal injury.
Design: A nationally representative survey.
The aim of this study was to assess risk factors for low back injury requiring medical advice or treatment among Iowa farmers. Although farmers are at risk for low back injury, few studies have addressed risk factors for farm work-related low back injury. We screened 6999 participants in the Iowa portion of the Agricultural Health Study to identify 49 male farmers who reported farm work-related low back injury requiring medical advice or treatment in the previous year.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Self-reported hearing measures are useful for surveying hearing loss in a population because they are short, and easy to administer by either questionnaire or telephone. This study aims to assess the performance of several self-reported hearing measures to identify hearing loss in a group of Iowa farmers.
Methods: The study subjects were 98 male farmers who participated in the Iowa Farm Family Health and Hazard Survey.
Although agriculture is one of the most hazardous industries, the costs of agricultural injuries and illnesses are not well known. This study aimed to determine the cost burden from compensated injuries and occupational diseases in Finnish agriculture using workers compensation records. The incidence rates in 1996 were 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to assess the association of sleep disturbance and injuries in a rural population of Iowa. Study participants were 1345 adults who were enrolled in the KCRHS. Sleep problems were assessed based on self-reports at the beginning of the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Homes in rural areas have a higher fire death rate. Although successful exit from a home fire could greatly reduce fire-related deaths and injuries, little is known about factors associated with behaviors of developing and practicing an escape plan.
Methods: Between July 2003 and June 2004, a baseline survey was administered, in person, to 691 rural households.
Background: Therapeutic trauma laparotomy (TTL) is a common emergency procedure after traumatic abdominal injury, but it can lead to complications and even death. We explored the role of the time from emergency department (ED) arrival to surgical intervention as a predictor of complications and mortality from TTL.
Study Design: This is a retrospective study of 175 patients receiving TTL between July 1997 and October 2003 in a Level I teaching hospital serving a primarily rural population.
Background: Previous studies suggested that hearing impairment based on self-report might increase the risk of agricultural injuries. However, self-reported hearing measures may be subject to inaccuracy and subjective perception. We assessed the association of agricultural injuries with hearing loss and other hearing characteristics using measured hearing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The objective of this study was to measure changes in injury claim rates after a premium discount program was implemented in the Finnish farmers' workers' compensation insurance. We focused on measures that could indicate whether the changes occurred in the true underlying injury rate, or only in claims reporting.
Methods: Monthly injury claim rates were constructed at seven disability duration levels from January 1990 to December 2003.
Although nonfatal burn injuries vastly outnumber fatal injuries, their epidemiology is not well defined. We sought to determine the epidemiology of nonfatal burn injuries in a largely rural region of a midwestern state to target intervention efforts at populations and injury mechanisms at risk. Data were retrospectively collected on a population-based sample of medically treated burn injuries in 10 counties in southern Iowa from 1997 to 1999 using International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification codes (ICD-9-CM, Ncode 940-949) to identify burn-related emergency room visits from computerized lists.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Farmers are at increased risk for fall-related injury compared with other occupations. Little is known about risk factors for non-fatal falls on the farm. This case-control study, nested within the Agricultural Health Study, aimed to assess risk factors for work-related falls among Iowa farmers.
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