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Objectives. We e va luated th e e ffe c t o f n e ig h b o rh o o d d isa d van ta g e (ND) on o ld e r a d u lts ' prevalence, awareness, tre a tm e n t, and c o n tro l o f h yp e rte n s io n . Methods. Data w e re from th e U n iv e rs ity o f A la b am a at B irm in g h am S tu d y o f A g in g , an o b s e rv a tio n a l s tu d y o f 1000 c om m u n ity -dw e llin g Black and W h ite A la b am ia n s aged 65 years and o ld e r, in 1999 to 2001. We assessed h yp e rte n s io n prevalence, awareness, tre a tm e n t, and c o n tro l w ith b lo o d pressure measurem e n ts and se lf-re p o rt data. We assessed ND w ith US Census data c o rre s p o n d in g w ith participants' census tracts, created tertiles o f ND, and fit models w ith generalized estimating equations via a lo g it link function w ith a binomial distribution. Adjusted models included variables assessing personal advantage and disadvantage, placebased factors, sociodemographics, comorbidities, and health behaviors. Results. L iv in g in m id -N D (adjusted o dds ra tio [AOR] = 1.6; 95% co n fid e n ce in te rva l [Cl] = 1.2, 2.1) and h ig h -N D te rtile s (AOR = 1.8; 95% Cl = 1.3, 2.3) was associated w ith h ig h e r hype rte n s io n prevalence, and liv in g in high-ND te rtile s w as associated w ith low e r o dds o f co n tro lle d h yp ertens ion (AOR = 0.6; 95% Cl = 0.4, 0.6). In adjusted models, ND was n o t associated w ith h yp ertens ion awareness o r tre a tm e n t. Conclusions. These fin d in g s s h ow th a t n e ig h b o rh o o d e n v iro nm e n ta l fa c to rs matter for hypertension outcomes and suggest the importance of ND for hypertension management in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Paediatric dog bites are a significant public health problem worldwide. Existing prevention programmes focused on altering children’s risky behaviour with pet dogs tend to be atheoretical and only moderately effective. Objective. Test efficacy of a website to train young children in relevant cognitive skills to be safe with pet dogs in their home. Setting. Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Methods. A randomised trial will be conducted with an expected sample of two groups of 34 children (total N=68) ages 4–6 years. One group will engage in the newly designed website at home for 2 weeks and the other group will engage in a control website on transportation safety for an equivalent amount of time. All participants will complete a battery of laboratorybased tests to assess safety with dogs and cognitive functioning at baseline and postintervention. Outcome measures. Primary analyses will be conducted through linear mixed models testing change over time. Children’s cognitive functioning, knowledge about safety with dogs, and behaviour with dogs in simulation and in vivo will serve as the primary outcomes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A deeper understanding of how heat wave definition affects the relationship between heat exposure and health, especially as a function of rurality, will be useful in developing effective heat wave warning systems. Objective: We compared the relationships between different heat wave index (HI) definitions and preterm birth (PTB) and nonaccidental death (NAD) across urban and rural areas. Methods: We used a time-stratified case-crossover design to estimate associations of PTB and NAD with heat wave days (defined using 15 HIs) relative to non-heat wave control days in Alabama, USA (1990-2010). ZIP code-level HIs were derived using data from the North American Land Data Assimilation System. Associations with heat wave days defined using different HIs were compared by bootstrapping. We also examined interactions with rurality. Results: Associations varied depending on the HI used to define heat wave days. Heat waves defined as having at least 2 consecutive days with mean daily temperatures above the 98th percentile were associated with 32.4% (95% CI: 3.7, 69.1%) higher PTB, and heat waves defined as at least 2 consecutive days with mean daily temperatures above the 90th percentile were associated with 3.7% (95% CI: 1.1, 6.3%) higher NAD. Results suggest that significant positive associations were more common when relative-compared with absolute-HIs were used to define exposure. Both positive and negative associations were found in each rurality stratum. However, all stratum-specific significant associations were positive, and NAD associations with heat waves were consistently positive in urban strata but not in middle or rural strata. Conclusions: Based on our findings, we conclude that a relative mean-temperature-only heat wave definition may be the most effective metric for heat wave warning systems in Alabama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have linked heat waves to adverse health outcomes using ambient temperature as a proxy for estimating exposure. The goal of the present study was to test a method for determining personal heat exposure. An occupationally exposed group (urban groundskeepers in Birmingham, AL, USA N=21), as well as urban and rural community members from Birmingham, AL (N=30) or west central AL (N=30) wore data logging temperature and light monitors clipped to the shoe for 7 days during the summer of 2012. We found that a temperature monitor clipped to the shoe provided a comfortable and feasible method for recording personal heat exposure. Ambient temperature (°C) recorded at the nearest weather station was significantly associated with personal heat exposure [β 0.37, 95%CI (0.35, 0.39)], particularly in groundskeepers who spent more of their total time outdoors [β 0.42, 95%CI (0.39, 0.46)]. Factors significantly associated with lower personal heat exposure include reported time indoors [β -2.02, 95%CI (-2.15, -1.89)], reported income>20K [β -1.05, 95%CI (-1.79, -0.30)], and measured % body fat [β -0.07, 95%CI (-0.12, -0.02)]. There were significant associations between income and % body fat with lower indoor and nighttime exposures, but not with outdoor heat exposure, suggesting modifications of the home thermal environment play an important role in determining overall heat exposure. Further delineation of the effect of personal characteristics on heat exposure may help to develop targeted strategies for preventing heat-related illness., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Pedestrian injuries contribute greatly to child morbidity and mortality. Recent evidence suggests that training within virtual pedestrian environments may improve children's street crossing skills, but may not convey knowledge about safety in street environments. We hypothesized that (a) children will gain pedestrian safety knowledge via videos/software/internet websites, but not when trained by virtual pedestrian environment or other strategies; (b) pedestrian safety knowledge will be associated with safe pedestrian behavior both before and after training; and (c) increases in knowledge will be associated with increases in safe behavior among children trained individually at streetside locations, but not those trained by means of other strategies. We analyzed data from a randomized controlled trial evaluating pedestrian safety training. We randomly assigned 240 children ages 7-8 to one of four training conditions: videos/software/internet, virtual reality (VR), individualized streetside instruction, or a no-contact control. Both virtual and field simulations of street crossing at 2-lane bi-directional mid-block locations assessed pedestrian behavior at baseline, post-training, and 6-month follow-up. Pedestrian knowledge was assessed orally on all three occasions. Children trained by videos/software/internet, and those trained individually, showed increased knowledge following training relative to children in the other groups (ps < 0.01). Correlations between pedestrian safety knowledge and pedestrian behavior were mostly non-significant. Correlations between change in knowledge and change in behavior from pre- to post-intervention also were non-significant, both for the full sample and within conditions. Children trained using videos/software/internet gained knowledge but did not change their behavior. Children trained individually gained in both knowledge and safer behavior. Children trained virtually gained in safer behavior but not knowledge. If VR is used for training, tools like videos/internet might effectively supplement training. We discovered few associations between knowledge and behavior, and none between changes in knowledge and behavior. Pedestrian safety knowledge and safe pedestrian behavior may be orthogonal constructs that should be considered independently for research and training purposes.

Background: Significant and persistent racial and income disparities in birth outcomes exist in the US. The analyses in this manuscript examine whether adverse birth outcome time trends and associations between area-level variables and adverse birth outcomes differ by urban-rural status., Methods: Alabama births records were merged with ZIP code-level census measures of race, poverty, and rurality. B-splines were used to determine long-term preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW) trends by rurality. Logistic regression models were used to examine differences in the relationships between ZIP code-level percent poverty or percent African-American with either PTB or LBW. Interactions with rurality were examined., Results: Population dense areas had higher adverse birth outcome rates compared to other regions. For LBW, the disparity between population dense and other regions increased during the 1991-2005 time period, and the magnitude of the disparity was maintained through 2010. Overall PTB and LBW rates have decreased since 2006, except within isolated rural regions. The addition of individual-level socioeconomic or race risk factors greatly attenuated these geographical disparities, but isolated rural regions maintained increased odds of adverse birth outcomes. ZIP code-level percent poverty and percent African American both had significant relationships with adverse birth outcomes. Poverty associations remained significant in the most population-dense regions when models were adjusted for individual-level risk factors., Conclusions: Population dense urban areas have heightened rates of adverse birth outcomes. High-poverty African American areas have higher odds of adverse birth outcomes in urban versus rural regions. These results suggest there are urban-specific social or environmental factors increasing risk for adverse birth outcomes in underserved communities. On the other hand, trends in PTBs and LBWs suggest interventions that have decreased adverse birth outcomes elsewhere may not be reaching isolated rural areas.

Introduction: The Pediatric Asthma Health Outcome Measure (PAHOM) was designed to measure quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in children with asthma. Our objective was to compare parent- and child-reported PAHOM scores to each other, to parent-reported scores on the Juniper Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ), and to physician-rated asthma control., Methods: A convenience sample of primarily African-American parent-child dyads (N = 261) was recruited from asthma clinics between May 2008 and May 2010. Correlations and differences in scores between the instruments and respondents were compared across variables of interest. The sensitivity and specificity of each, relative to physician-rated asthma control, were estimated., Results: Mean (SD) parent- and child-reported PAHOM scores were significantly different, 0.91 (0.13) and 0.95 (0.08), respectively, (p < .01) and were weakly correlated (0.24). Parent-reported PAHOM and parent-reported ACQ, 5-item version (ACQ5) scores were moderately correlated (-0.69). Both the parent- and child-reported PAHOM scores distinguished between physician-rated well-controlled and not well-controlled asthma (p < .01 and p < .01, respectively). When compared with physician-rated asthma control, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the parent-reported PAHOM and the ACQ5 were similar (p = .11), but both performed better than the child-reported PAHOM (both p < .01). Discussion. The validity of the PAHOM is supported by its moderate correlation with the ACQ and its association with physician-rated asthma control. Although intended to be administered to children, parent-reported scores were better predictors of physician-rated asthma control., Conclusions: A validation study in a more economically and ethnically diverse population is needed. Until then, we recommend the PAHOM to be administered to both parents and children.

Background: Asthma exacerbations are seasonal with the greatest risk in elementary-age students occurring shortly after returning to school following summer break. Recent research suggests that this seasonality in children is primarily related to viral respiratory tract infections. Regular hand washing is the most effective method to prevent the spread of viral respiratory infections; unfortunately, achieving hand washing recommendations in schools is difficult. Therefore, we designed a study to evaluate the effect of hand sanitizer use in elementary schools on exacerbations among children with asthma., Purpose: To describe the process of redesigning the trial in response to changes in the safety profile of the hand sanitizer as well as changes in hand hygiene practice in the schools., Methods: The original trial was a randomized, longitudinal, subject-blinded, placebo-controlled, community-based crossover trial. The primary aim was to evaluate the incremental effectiveness of hand sanitizer use in addition to usual hand hygiene practices to decrease asthma exacerbations in elementary-age children. Three events occurred that required major modifications to the original study protocol: (1) safety concerns arose regarding the hand sanitizer's active ingredient; (2) no substitute placebo hand sanitizer was available; and (3) community preferences changed regarding hand hygiene practices in the schools., Results: The revised protocol is a randomized, longitudinal, community-based crossover trial. The primary aim is to evaluate the incremental effectiveness of a two-step hand hygiene process (hand hygiene education plus institutionally provided alcohol-based hand sanitizer) versus usual care to decrease asthma exacerbations. Enrollment was completed in May 2009 with 527 students from 30 schools. The intervention began in August 2009 and will continue through May 2011. Study results should be available at the end of 2011., Limitations: The changed design does not allow us to directly measure the effectiveness of hand sanitizer use as a supplement to traditional hand washing practices., Conclusions: The need to balance a rigorous study design with one that is acceptable to the community requires investigators to be actively involved with community collaborators and able to adapt study protocols to fit changing community practices.