Medical records of 822 inpatients and outpatients cared for by the Department of the Federal District medical services during the 1985 Mexico City earthquakes were reviewed. Record incompleteness varied between 92.8 percent and 14.0 percent for the various study variables. No gender differences were detected among the groups; more than 70.0 percent of the patients were ages 15 to 64 years. Multiple traumatic injuries were frequent for inpatients across age groups, while simple contusions were more frequent among outpatients. Multiple head traumas, thorax-abdomen multiple traumas, and simple fractures of an arm or leg were more frequently recorded for inpatients than for outpatients. Head wounds with contusions; simple contusion of the thorax-abdomen, arms, and legs; and psychological trauma were more frequently recorded for outpatients. Although a great many records were incomplete, the data may reflect what actually happened to these patients, given the similarity of the findings with other reports of disasters. Improved record keeping during emergencies is needed to standardize the quantity and the reliability of the data so that statistical and medical care requirements are soundly based. The use of standard questionnaires for data collection is stressed to facilitate the management of clinical and epidemiologic activities. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine patterns of physical injuries, psychological trauma, and survival.
Using injuries associated with three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles in Alaska as an example, the existing injury data bases were assessed for usefulness, cost, simplicity, acceptability, flexibility, sensitivity, specificity, representativeness, and ti...
Despite an increase in policies regulating smoking at the workplace, little research has been conducted on organizational factors that may be associated with the adoption of those policies. In November 1986, a survey assessing tobacco use habits was ...
Data from different sources show that Hispanics are over-represented in reported cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (twice their proportion of the population) and that their rate of infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is t...
Although fetal development is known to be sensitive to environmental agents, relatively little epidemiologic research has addressed this concern. Effects on pregnancy outcome of self-reported parental exposure to pesticides and to radiation were exam...
Home care programs for severely disabled, usually technology-dependent, children got a boost in 1981 when the Federal Government gave States permission to use Medicaid to fund home care under the Medicaid model home- and community-based waiver (2176)...
Buehler, J W; Stroup, D F; Klaucke, D N; Berkelman, R L;
Published Date:
1989 Sep-Oct
Source:
Public Health Rep. 104(5):457-465
Description:
The authors used 1987 data from the Epidemiologic Surveillance Project (ESP) of the Centers for Disease Control to examine the completeness of race-ethnicity reporting in the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. And, to the extent possib...
This paper profiles the faculty in schools of public health, particularly in environmental health. There are approximately 1,650 faculty members in schools of public health; 300 of them are in environmental health. The future demand for personnel in ...
Goldenberg, R L; Cutter, G R; Nelson, K G; Foster, J;
Published Date:
1989 Sep-Oct
Source:
Public Health Rep. 104(5):488-492
Description:
The relationship of births weighing less than 1,000 grams (g) to fetal and neonatal mortality rates, including changes over time, was studied. In Alabama during the period 1974-84, the percentage of reported births that weighed less than 500 g double...
Solomon, D J; Hogan, A J; Bouknight, R R; Solomon, C T;
Published Date:
1989 Sep-Oct
Source:
Public Health Rep. 104(5):416-424
Description:
To obtain better understanding of the nature and cost of health care related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, medical payment records were analyzed for 204 men, women, and children older than 60 months who had indications of HIV infec...
The relationship between health habits and health status has gained attention in the literature in recent decades. In this report, the health habits of a particular occupational group--the military--are compared with those of the civilian population,...
O'Connor, P J; Fragneto, R; Coulehan, J; Crabtree, B F;
Published Date:
1989 Sep-Oct
Source:
Public Health Rep. 104(5):478-482
Description:
A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate whether glucose control in 20 non-insulin-dependent diabetic subjects seen at a remote rural clinic was comparable to control achieved in 66 diabetic subjects seen at the regional hospital clinic. ...
Homeless people eat foods at municipal and charity run shelters, fast-food restaurants, delicatessens, and from garbage bins. Data on the adequacy of the diets and the nutritional status of homeless persons are sparse. Therefore, nutritional indicato...
The effects during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood of having a parent with a drinking problem has interested researchers in several countries. The greatest number of reports related to this subject have appeared in the U.S. literature and in th...
O'Connor, P J; Fragneto, R; Coulehan, J; Crabtree, B F;
Published Date:
1989 Sep-Oct
Source:
Public Health Rep. 104(5):478-482
Description:
A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate whether glucose control in 20 non-insulin-dependent diabetic subjects seen at a remote rural clinic was comparable to control achieved in 66 diabetic subjects seen at the regional hospital clinic. ...