Objective: To examine the relationship between cycling injury severity and personal, trip, route and crash characteristics.
Methods: Data from a previous study of injury risk, conducted in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, were used to classify injury severity using four metrics: (1) did not continue trip by bike; (2) transported to hospital by ambulance; (3) admitted to hospital; and (4) Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS). Multiple logistic regression was used to examine associations with personal, trip, route and crash characteristics.
Background: Widely varying crash circumstances have been reported for bicycling injuries, likely because of differing bicycling populations and environments. We used data from the Bicyclists' Injuries and the Cycling Environment Study in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, to describe the crash circumstances of people injured while cycling for utilitarian and leisure purposes. We examined the association of crash circumstances with route type.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: With the heightened awareness of concussions in all sports, the development and implementation of effective prevention strategies are necessary. Education has been advocated as an effective injury prevention intervention.
Purpose: To examine the effectiveness of the 'Smart Hockey: More Safety, More Fun' video on knowledge transfer among minor league hockey players.
Background: This study examined the impact of transportation infrastructure at intersection and non-intersection locations on bicycling injury risk.
Methods: In Vancouver and Toronto, we studied adult cyclists who were injured and treated at a hospital emergency department. A case-crossover design compared the infrastructure of injury and control sites within each injured bicyclist's route.
Objectives: We compared cycling injury risks of 14 route types and other route infrastructure features.
Methods: We recruited 690 city residents injured while cycling in Toronto or Vancouver, Canada. A case-crossover design compared route infrastructure at each injury site to that of a randomly selected control site from the same trip.
Background: The aim of this study was to estimate use of helmets, lights, and visible clothing among cyclists and to examine trip and personal characteristics associated with their use.
Methods: Using data from a study of transportation infrastructure and injuries to 690 adult cyclists in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, we examined the proportion who used bike lights, conspicuous clothing on the torso, and helmets on their injury trip. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine associations between personal and trip characteristics and each type of safety equipment.
Objective: Safety concerns deter cycling. The Bicyclists' Injuries and the Cycling Environment (BICE) study quantified the injury risk associated with 14 route types, from off-road paths to major streets. However, when it comes to injury risk, there may be discordance between empirical evidence and perceptions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The aim of this study is to show how geographical information systems (GIS) can be used to track and compare hospitalization rates for traumatic brain injury (TBI) over time and across a large geographical area using population based data.
Results & Discussion: Data on TBI hospitalizations, and geographic and demographic variables, came from the Ontario Trauma Registry Minimum Data Set for the fiscal years 1993-1994 and 2001-2002. Various visualization techniques, exploratory data analysis and spatial analysis were employed to map and analyze these data.
Background And Aims: Bicycling may be less appealing in parts of the world where cycling is less safe. Differences between jurisdictions suggest route design is key to improving safety and increasing ridership. Previous studies faced difficulties in effectively assessing denominators for risk calculations and controlling confounding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The purpose of the current study was to examine differences in factors associated with self-reported collision involvement of three age groups of drivers based on a large representative sample of Ontario adults.
Method: This study was based on data from the CAMH Monitor, an ongoing cross-sectional telephone survey of Ontario adults 18 years and older from 2002 to 2005. Three age groups were examined: 18-34 (n=1,294), 35-54 (n=2,428), and 55+ (n=1,576).
Background: The use of opioids for chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) remains controversial. Despite a number of randomized controlled trials showing efficacy and safety in the short term, long-term data are limited.
Objective: To survey a selected cohort of patients with intractable CNCP with regard to long-term efficacy and safety of opioids.
Objectives: Injury related to violent acts is a problem in every society. Although some authors have examined the geography of violent crime, few have focused on the spatio-temporal patterns of violent injury and none have used an ambulance dataset to explore the spatial characteristics of injury. The purpose of this study was to describe the combined spatial and temporal characteristics of violent injury in a large urban centre.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic health planning can benefit from visual exploration and analysis of geospatial data. Maps and geovisualization tools must be developed with the user-group in mind. User-needs assessment and usability testing are crucial elements in the iterative process of map design and implementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The objective of this study was to develop a standardized questionnaire (BACKIE) that would assess the Behaviors (B), Attitudes (A), Cognitions (C), Knowledge (K), and Injury Experiences (IE) that elementary-school children possess pertaining to seven types of injuries, including: falls; motor vehicle collisions; burns; drowning; choking/suffocation; poisoning; and bicycle/pedestrian injuries.
Methods: Over 500 children in grades two through seven completed the questionnaire, with a sub-sample repeating it two months later to assess test-retest reliability of the measure.
Results: Psychometric assessment of the instrument revealed acceptable internal and test-retest reliabilities and results of a Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided support for the hypothesized factor structure.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the rate and course of blebitis/late endophthalmitis 5-10 years post-filtration surgery and to evaluate risk factors.
Design: Retrospective chart review.
Participants: Three hundred fifty consecutive patients undergoing filtration surgery from January 1, 1996, to December 31, 2001, by a single surgeon.
Purpose: To investigate the relationship between bleb morphology, recorded using the Indiana Bleb Appearance Grading Scale (IBAGS), and intraocular pressure (IOP) after phacotrabeculectomy.
Methods: Two years postphacotrabeculectomy, a single observer compared bleb morphology to the IBAGS standard photographs in 76 eyes of 76 patients. In addition, the presence or absence of microcysts was recorded.
Purpose: The superotemporal quadrant is usually the implantation site of choice for glaucoma drainage devices. Inferior placement of glaucoma drainage device is considered technically difficult. The purpose was to determine the success rates, complications, and visual outcome of superior versus inferior Ahmed Glaucoma Valve implantation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The poor long-term success rate of repeat trabeculectomies in refractory uveitic glaucoma (UG) patients has led to the use of glaucoma drainage devices (GDDs). However, the success and complication rates of GDDs in UG patients utilizing a control group with standard demographic data, design, and surgical technique have never been evaluated.
Methods: Fifteen patients (15 eyes) with chronic uveitis and 53 patients (53 eyes) with uncontrolled open-angle glaucoma (OAG) who underwent Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) implantation were included in a retrospective, comparative, case-controlled study.
Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a primary cause of injury mortality in developed countries but less is known about the impact of TBI on postacute mortality in large study populations. This study investigates the rate and predictors of postacute mortality (1-9 years after the initial injury) of severely injured persons with TBI in the Province of Ontario from April 1, 1993 to March 31, 1995.
Method: Cases were identified (n = 2,721) from the Ontario Trauma Registry Comprehensive Data Set based on lead trauma hospitals in the province which also provided data on predictors.
Background: Affirmative action is a controversial admissions policy practised by universities in the United States and other countries around the world. It is currently not used at the University of Toronto ophthalmology residency program. A survey was conducted to determine the opinions of applicants as to the role that affirmative action and quotas should play during the admissions process and to determine the current ethnic breakdown of the applicants to ophthalmology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Previous studies have failed to find a significant difference in intraocular pressure (IOP) between one- and two-site phacotrabeculectomy. A possible explanation has been relatively small samples and short follow-up. We prospectively observed 80 patients for 2 years randomized to one- versus two-site phacotrabeculectomy with the primary outcome measure being IOP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To assess attitudes towards predictive testing for autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (ADRP).
Methods: A prospective questionnaire study of 46 affected adults and their adult family members identified from pedigrees clearly consistent with ADRP or who had had DNA-testing confirmation of ADRP before the study commenced.
Results: High proportions of unaffected siblings (73%) and patients (67%) agreed to prenatal testing.
Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurring in the workplace carries major economic repercussions such as lost wages and hospital costs. Little is known about the profile of risk factors for work-related traumatic brain injury.
Aims: This study describes the pre-injury demographic characteristics, injury-related characteristics and outcomes of work-related TBI and compares them with those of non work-related TBI.
Objective: To analyze trends of glaucoma filtration surgery in Ontario.
Methods: From April 1, 1992, through March 31, 2004, correlations were examined between the annual rates of trabeculectomies in Ontario, the use of glaucoma medications, and the numbers of practicing ophthalmologists and optometrists.
Results: The number of trabeculectomies per 1000 persons at risk for primary open-angle glaucoma increased from 33.
A telephone survey of a random sample of 811 long-term home care clients from three geographically distinct regions in Ontario was conducted to illuminate the living and working conditions in households receiving long-term care services. The median age of clients was 77 years and 75 percent were female. The majority had not completed high school.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF