Worksite neighborhood and obesogenic behaviors: findings among employees in the Promoting Activity and Changes in Eating (PACE) trial.

Background: Understanding mechanisms linking neighborhood context to health behaviors may provide targets for increasing lifestyle intervention effectiveness. Although associations between home neighborhood and obesogenic behaviors have been studied, less is known about the role of worksite neighborhood.

Purpose: To evaluate associations between worksite neighborhood context at baseline (2006) and change in obesogenic behaviors of adult employees at follow-up (2007-2009) in a worksite randomized trial to prevent weight gain.

The walking environment in Lima, Peru and pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions: an exploratory analysis.

Objective: Pedestrians comprise 78% of the road fatalities in Peru. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between the walking environment and pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions.

Methods: A matched case-control study was used to detect the odds of a pedestrian-motor vehicle collision at a pedestrian crossing location.

Crash fatality and vehicle incompatibility in collisions between cars and light trucks or vans.

Background: In crashes between a car and a light truck or van (LTV), car occupants are more likely to be killed than LTV occupants. The extent this is due to the greater harm imposed by LTVs on cars or the greater protection they offer their own occupants is not known.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study of collisions between two passenger vehicles in the USA during 1990-2008.

Pedestrian signalization and the risk of pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions in Lima, Peru.

Safe walking environments are essential for protecting pedestrians and promoting physical activity. In Peru, pedestrians comprise over three-quarters of road fatality victims. Pedestrian signalization plays an important role managing pedestrian and vehicle traffic and may help improve pedestrian safety.

Crash fatality risk and unibody versus body-on-frame structure in SUVs.

Background: In crashes between cars and SUVs, car occupants are more likely to be killed than if they crashed with another car. An increasing proportion of SUVs are built with unibody, rather than truck-like body-on-frame construction. Unibody SUVs are generally lighter, less stiff, and less likely to roll over than body-on-frame SUVs, but whether unibody structure affects risk of death in crashes is unknown.

Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation, perceived neighborhood factors, and cortisol responses to induced stress among healthy adults.

Associations between measures of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and health have been identified, yet work is needed to uncover explanatory mechanisms. One hypothesized pathway is through stress, yet the few studies that have evaluated associations between characteristics of deprived neighborhoods and biomarkers of stress are mixed. This study evaluated whether objectively measured neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and individual perceived neighborhood characteristics (i.

Narcolepsy and the Sickness Impact Profile: A general health status measure.

Objective: We characterized functional impact of narcolepsy on patients using a general health status measure, the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). It has 136 items grouped into 12 categories and 2 dimensions.

Methods: We ascertained patients with physician-diagnosed narcolepsy in King County, Washington using multiple overlapping methods over four years starting July 2001.

Stability of clinical etiologic diagnosis in dementia and mild cognitive impairment: results from a multicenter longitudinal database.

Many new therapies for dementia target a specific pathologic process and must be applied early. Selection of specific therapy is based on the clinical etiologic diagnosis. We sought to determine the stability of the clinical etiologic diagnosis over time and to identify factors associated with instability.

Bus stops and pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions in Lima, Peru: a matched case-control study.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between bus stop characteristics and pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions.

Methods: This was a matched case-control study where the units of study were pedestrian crossings in Lima, Peru. We performed a random sample of 11 police commissaries in Lima, Peru.

Disparities in disability after traumatic brain injury among Hispanic children and adolescents.

Objective: To compare the extent of disability in multiple areas of functioning after mild, moderate, and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white (NHW) children.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of children aged <18 years treated for a TBI between March 1, 2007, and September 30, 2008. Hispanic (n = 74) and NHW (n = 457) children were included in the study.

Differences in rate of functional decline across three dementia types.

Background: The purpose of this study was to estimate differences in rates of functional decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and vascular dementia (VaD) and whether differences vary by age or sex.

Methods: Data came from 32 U.S.

Glycemic control associated with secure patient-provider messaging within a shared electronic medical record: a longitudinal analysis.

Objective: To study differences in glycemic control and HbA1c testing associated with use of secure electronic patient-provider messaging. We hypothesized that messaging use would be associated with better glycemic control and a higher rate of adherence to HbA1c testing recommendations.

Research Design And Methods: Retrospective observational study of secure messaging at Group Health, a large nonprofit health care system.

Outcomes in pediatric surgery by hospital volume: a population-based comparison.

Purpose: The volume-outcome relationship has not been well-defined in pediatric surgery. Our aim was to determine the association between hospital-volume and outcomes for common procedures in children.

Methods: Retrospective population-based cohort study of patients <18 years of age hospitalized between 1989 and 2009 for common surgical procedures in Washington State.

Will the light truck bumper height-matching standard reduce deaths in cars?

Background: In a collision between a car and a sport utility vehicle (SUV) or pickup truck, car occupants are more likely to be killed than if they crashed with another car. Some of the excess risk may be due to the propensity of SUVs and pickups with high bumpers to override the lower bumpers in cars. To reduce this incompatibility, particularly in head-on collisions, in 2003 automobile manufacturers voluntarily established a bumper height-matching standard for pickups and SUVs.

Reversion from mild cognitive impairment to normal or near-normal cognition: risk factors and prognosis.

Objectives: We sought to identify characteristics of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) that are associated with a relatively high probability of reverting back to normal cognition, and to estimate the risk of future cognitive decline among those who revert.

Methods: We first studied 3,020 individuals diagnosed with MCI on at least 1 visit to an Alzheimer's Disease Center in the United States. All underwent standardized Uniform Data Set evaluations at their first visit with an MCI diagnosis and on a subsequent visit, about 1 year later, at which cognitive status was reassessed.

Incidence of disability among children 12 months after traumatic brain injury.

Objectives: We examined the burden of disability resulting from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) among children younger than 18 years.

Methods: We derived our data from a cohort study of children residing in King County, Washington, who were treated in an emergency department for a TBI or for an arm injury during 2007-2008. Disabilities 12 months after injury were assessed according to need for specialized educational and community-based services and scores on standardized measures of adaptive functioning and social-community participation.

Preventive services in veterans in relation to disability.

Veterans with disabilities are at an increased risk of secondary impairments and may have difficulty accessing preventive services; accessibility may differ between Veterans who do and do not receive care at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities. We used data from the 2003 and 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys to evaluate associations between disability and receipt of preventive services in Veterans. Veterans with a disability were more likely to have received influenza vaccinations (VA users and nonusers), pneumococcal vaccinations (VA nonusers: p < 0.

Persistence of disability 24 to 36 months after pediatric traumatic brain injury: a cohort study.

This study examined the outcome of 0- to 17-year-old children 36 months after traumatic brain injury (TBI), and ascertained if there was any improvement in function between 24 and 36 months. Controls were children treated in the emergency department for an arm injury. Functional outcome 36 months after injury was measured by the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), the self-care and communication subscales of the Adaptive Behavior Assessment Scale-2nd edition (ABAS-II), and the Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation (CASP).

Association between posttraumatic stress, depression, and functional impairments in adolescents 24 months after traumatic brain injury.

The degree to which postinjury posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or depressive symptoms in adolescents are associated with cognitive and functional impairments at 12 and 24 months after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not yet known. The current study used a prospective cohort design, with baseline assessment and 3-, 12-, and 24-month followup, and recruited a cohort of 228 adolescents ages 14-17 years who sustained either a TBI (n = 189) or an isolated arm injury (n = 39). Linear mixed-effects regression was used to assess differences in depressive and PTSD symptoms between TBI and arm-injured patients and to assess the association between 3-month PTSD and depressive symptoms and cognitive and functional outcomes.

Effects of experience and commercialisation on survival in Himalayan mountaineering: retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To determine whether previous Himalayan experience is associated with a decreased risk of climbing death, and whether mountaineers participating in commercial expeditions differ in their risk of death relative to those participating in traditional climbs.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Expeditions in the Nepalese Himalayan peaks, from 1 January 1970 to the spring climbing season in 2010.

Perinatal exposures and Kawasaki disease in Washington State: a population-based, case-control study.

Background: This study tested the hypothesis that selected perinatal exposures are associated with Kawasaki Disease (KD) in later childhood.

Methods: A retrospective, population-based, case-control study was performed. Children hospitalized for KD in Washington State from 1987 to 2007 (n = 995) were identified through hospital discharge records and were linked to birth certificates and birth hospitalization discharge records.

Improving firearm storage in Alaska native villages: a randomized trial of household gun cabinets.

Objectives: We determined if the installation of gun cabinets improved household firearm storage practices.

Methods: We used a wait list, randomized trial design with 2 groups. The "early" group received the intervention at baseline, and the "late" group received it at 12 months.

An assessment of the accuracy and availability of data in electronic patient tracking systems for patients receiving HIV treatment in central Mozambique.

Background: Since the rapid scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs in sub-Saharan Africa, electronic patient tracking systems (EPTS) have been deployed to respond to the growing demand for program monitoring, evaluation and reporting to governments and donors. These routinely collected data are often used in epidemiologic and operations research studies intended to improve programs. To ensure accurate reporting and good quality for research, the reliability and completeness of data systems need to be assessed and reported.