When resources are limited, decisions must be made regarding which public health activities to undertake. A priority rating system, which incorporates various data sources, can be used to quantify disease problems or risk factors, or both. The model ...

AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and precautionary behaviors were assessed among a random sample of Michigan-licensed emergency medical service (EMS) professionals between June and August 1988. Of 2,000 mailed questionnaires, 1,020 were returned (5...

Data from surveys of the elderly are used by policy analysts to design health services programs. Consequently, the quality of survey data on elderly respondents has important implications for this growing segment of society: improving the quality of ...

Drug overdose mortality data for narcotics and cocaine for Texas for 1976-87 reveal a cyclic pattern of narcotics mortality falling from 0.92 per 100,000 population in 1976 to a low of 0.13 in 1979, and rising to 0.62 in 1986. The data also show a sh...

Independently done surveys of a target population can make an important contribution to knowledge about the determinants of personal health behavior by highlighting variables that consistently emerge as significant predictors. This investigation exam...

The effect of ownership on the quality and cost of care in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) was examined using unadjusted and adjusted mortality rates for such facilities in Illinois for the 1986-87 reporting year. Results indicated that when using ...

The cigarette smoking habits of a cohort of almost 250,000 U. S. veterans were analyzed for their relationship to renal cancer. Information on smoking habits was collected in 1954 and in 1957 for nonrespondents to the first effort. Of the veterans, 8...

In 1988-89, the use of menstrual sanitary products was surveyed among 699 white, 477 black, and 425 Mexican American women to detect age and racial or ethnic differences in product use that might explain the differences in the incidence of toxic shoc...

The literature was reviewed to determine whether social model detoxification programs are safe and adequate for treating persons with alcohol withdrawal symptoms. The alcohol withdrawal syndrome has three stages. Each stage, more severe than the last...

Women without health insurance and those covered by Medicaid have been shown to obtain prenatal care later in pregnancy and make fewer visits for care than do women with private insurance. Factors that keep women from obtaining care include inadequat...

Seroprevalence surveys of incoming inmates provide useful sentinel information on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates among groups that practice HIV-associated high-risk behaviors. In addition, such data are beneficial to corrections o...

The use of telephone interviews for epidemiologic and public health studies has increased in recent years. Since telephone surveys are susceptible to lower response rates than personal interviews, several attempts have been reported to increase respo...

Medical devices and diagnostic imaging procedures such as ultrasound, X-rays, and electronic fetal monitoring devices are used in the medical care of many pregnant women today. The responsibility for the safety and effectiveness of these diagnostic t...

Both the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality System and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting System measure the numbers and characteristics of homicide in the United States. There are important differen...

The literature documents a significant decline in the prevalence of dental caries among children. Unfortunately, dental decay rates of children of migrant workers remain high. This study collected data from 885 migrant children in central Washington....

The investigators interviewed 100 drug users in a detoxification facility before and after they received information about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The drug users already had a considerable amo...