A comparison of urban and non-urban African American older adults on health-related characteristics

ABSTRACT

Although residential geographic health disparities have been noted in the previous literature, studies are specifically lacking on intra-group health comparisons of African American older adults by residential geography. The purpose of this study was to determine if health-related characteristics of African American older adults varied by residential geography. Socioeconomic demographics, medical conditions, primary care use, and self-ratings of general health, social activity, and physical activity were compared in a community-dwelling sample of 327 urban and non-urban African American older adults. Urban and non-urban African American older adults were compared on health-related factors. Compared to urban African American older adults, those in non-urban areas had lower incomes, lower self-ratings of general health, social activity, and physical activity, and a higher frequency of arthritis and gastroenterological and urological conditions. Despite poorer general health and medical conditions, non-urban African American older adults were less likely to visit the doctor when needed. Study findings suggest residential geography may be an underappreciated underlying contributing factor to inter-group health disparities between African American and white older adults and not race alone. Therefore, social workers in public health, health care, and clinical settings should be aware of the interaction between race and residential geography.     

Occupational injury and absence from work among African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White workers in the national longitudinal survey of youth

OBJECTIVES: We examined how race and ethnicity influence injury and illness risk and number of days of work missed as a result of injury or illness. METHODS: We fit logistic regression and negative binomial regression models using generalized estimating equations with data from 1988 to 2000 on currently employed African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White participants in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. RESULTS: Occupational factors-having a blue-collar occupation, working full-time, having longer tenure, working 1 job versus 2, and working the late shift-were associated with increased odds of an occupational injury or illness. Although racial/ethnic minority workers were no more likely than Whites to report an occupational injury or illness, they reported missing more days of work. African American and Hispanic men missed significantly more days of work than non-Hispanic White men, and African American women missed significantly more days of work than non-Hispanic White women. CONCLUSIONS: Factors associated with occupational health are multifaceted and complex. Our findings suggest that race/ethnicity influences the duration of work absence owing to injury or illness both indirectly (by influencing workers' occupational characteristics) and directly (by acting independently of occupational factors).     

Prenatal care and infant birth outcomes among Medicaid recipients

Infant morbidity due to low birth weight and preterm births results in emotional suffering and significant direct and indirect costs. African American infants continue to have worse birth outcomes than white infants. This study examines relationships between newborn hospital costs, maternal risk factors, and prenatal care in Medicaid recipients in an impoverished rural county in South Carolina. Medicaid African American mothers gave birth to fewer preterm infants than did non-Medicaid African American mothers. No differences in the rates of preterm infants were noted between white and African American mothers in the Medicaid group. Access to Medicaid services may have contributed to this reduction in disparities due to race. Early initiation of prenatal care compared with later initiation did not improve birth outcomes. Infants born to mothers who initiated prenatal care early had increased morbidity with increased utilization of hospital services, suggesting that high-risk mothers are entering prenatal care earlier.     

An outbreak of hepatitis A among health care workers: risk factors for transmission.

OBJECTIVES. The purpose of this study was to investigate a nosocomial outbreak of hepatitis A that occurred in the burn treatment center of a referral hospital. METHODS. Retrospective cohort and case-control studies were performed to determine acquisition rates and risk factors for transmission. Adjusted infection rates were calculated by week of exposure. A case-control study was conducted to determine potential mechanisms for nosocomial acquisition. Recently infected health care workers were defined as case patients; exposed, serosusceptible health care workers without infection served as controls. RESULTS. The outbreak of hepatitis A affected 11 health care workers and 1 other burn patient (1 secondary patient case). All 11 health care workers became ill after the admission of a man and his 8-month-old son who developed hepatitis A while in the hospital. The cumulative incidence risk ratio was elevated for health care workers caring for either the infant or the father during the same week of exposure. The case-control study implicated the behavior of eating on the hospital ward as the single most important risk factor for infection. CONCLUSION. Inadequate hand-washing and subsequent oral contamination appear responsible for the outbreak. Hospitals may witness other institutional outbreaks if health care workers regularly eat on the wards.     

某医院医务人员血源性职业伤害目标性监测及管理

[目的]了解医疗职业伤害的危险因素,预防和减少医务人员血源性感染的发生。[方法]采用目标性监测的方法,对苏州大学附属第一医院1255名医务人员,在一年中发生职业伤害的47人进行登记处理及血清学检测。[结果]医务人员职业伤害发生率为3.75%,47人中发生锐器伤42人,其他职业伤害为5人,分别占89.4%和10.6%,但无一人感染血源性疾病。[结论]通过监测、管理,增强了医务人员主动防护意识。     

不同级别医院医护人员缺血性心血管疾病发病风险评估

目的调查广西柳州市三级及社区医院医护人员心血管疾病及危险因素的流行情况,分析并比较两者未来10年缺血性心血管病(ICVD)的发病风险及危险因素评估。方法入选在广西柳州市某医院进行体检的年龄≥35岁医护人员2423例。对受检者进行问卷调查及生化检查,采用"国人ICVD10年发病危险度评估表"评估35~59岁人群10年ICVD发病风险。定义ICVD发病风险>10%为发病人群,采用广义多因素降维法(GMDR)分析各危险因素间的交互作用及多元logistics回归分析各危险因素与发病风险的相关性。结果三级医院医护人员的体质量,BMI,收缩压,舒张压,TC,FBG及10年患病危险度水平,高胆固醇血症,高血压患病率及相对危险度超过10%占比均高于社区人员(P<0.001)。调整性别后,GMDR分析发现全部医护人员最佳交互模型为年龄和收缩压,测试集精确度为0.8825,交叉一致性为9/10(P<0.001);三级医院医护人员最佳交互模型为年龄和收缩压,测试集精确度为0.8714,交叉一致性为9/10(P=0.004);社区医院医护人员最佳交互模型为体质量指数和收缩压,测试集精确度为0.9386,交叉一致性为10/10(P<0.004)。logistics回归分析交互效应的贡献程度。全部医护人员收缩压升高发病风险增加(OR=1.32,95%CI=0.84~1.56,P<0.05),年龄及血压均升高发病风险增加(OR=1.55,95%CI=1.03~2.27,P<0.001);三级医院医护人员年龄及血压均升高时,发病风险增加(OR=1.31,95%CI=1.01~2.12,P<0.001);社区医院医护人员收缩压升高发病风险增加(OR=1.17,95%CI=0.82~1.47,P<0.05),体质量指数及血压均升高发病风险增加(OR=1.89,95%CI=1.08~2.74,P<0.001)。结论收缩压升高是医院医护人员10年ICVD发病风险的重要贡献因素,需加强干预。     

Work organization and musculoskeletal injuries among a cohort of health care workers

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the relationship between work-organization factors (job control, job demands, and workload measures) and the risk of lower-body musculoskeletal injury among health care workers. METHODS: A four-year, retrospective cohort study of 3769 health care workers was carried out in one acute care hospital in the Canadian province of British Columbia. A job-exposure matrix was constructed for the work-organization factors from survey and administrative data and assigned to workers on the basis of their occupation and department of employment. Musculoskeletal injuries resulting in workers' compensation claims were ascertained from the injury database of the hospital's Occupational Health and Safety Department. RESULTS: In the final Poisson models adjusted for demographic and biomechanical factors, an increased risk for compensated musculoskeletal injuries of the lower back and lower limb was related to low job control [relative risk (RR) 1.64, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.08-2.49] and workload defined by working during periods of high absenteeism within a department (RR 2.10, 95% CI 1.61-2.98). The risk also increased with more biomechanical demands in an occupation and with a recent previous injury. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that work-organization characteristics (job control and workload) were associated with an increased risk of musculoskeletal injuries resulting in a compensation claim. These associations remained after the effect of demographic and biomechanical factors was taken into consideration. The association with workload measured by departmental levels of absenteeism should be explored further in future studies as reverse causality (musculoskeletal symptoms resulting in absenteeism) could not be fully ruled out in the current study.     

广东省13家医院医护人员严重急性呼吸综合征医院内感染情况

目的　分析收治严重急性呼吸综合征 (SARS)患者重点医院医护人员发生SARS院内感染的因素 ,评价干预措施。方法　通过对 13家重点医院收治SARS患者的数量及病情、医护人员SARS的发病率、医院性质、病区 (科室 )环境及隔离措施调查 ,分析医护人员发生SARS院内感染的原因。结果　 13家医院共收治SARS患者 84 1例 ,参加诊治工作的 2 36 5名医护人员中 2 85人发病。综合性医院、收治危重患者较多的医院、医护人员个人防护不到位的医院医护人员发病率较高 (93/2 85 ,32 .6 3% ) ;独立病房收治SARS患者的医院、具有感染科或隔离病区 (包括临时开设的隔离病区 )的医院医护人员发病率较低。结论　收治SARS患者的病情、医院性质、病区 (科室 )环境、个人防护状况是医护人员感染SARS的危险因素     

口腔医院护工锐器伤现况调查

摘要:目的　了解口腔医院护工锐器伤的发生情况,为制定口腔医院护工锐器伤规范化防护措施提供理论依据。方法　采用卫生部设计的《医务人员锐器伤筛查表》,对某院55名护工人员对过去1个月中锐器损伤的发生情况进行问卷调查。结果　护工锐器伤发生率为21.8%（12/55）,发生密度为 0.47次/（人.月）;年限≤1年的护工锐器伤发生率最高,为61.1%;接受过培训的护工锐器损伤发生率（18.5%）明显低于未培训的护士（39.3%）。结论　口腔医院护工是锐器伤发生的高危人群,通过针对性预防和干预,可有效地降低锐器伤发生率。     

Traumatic Injury Rates in Meatpacking Plant Workers

ABSTRACT

This was a 3-year retrospective cohort study of traumatic injuries in a midwestern pork meatpacking plant. Based on n = 5410 workers, this was a diverse workforce: Caucasian (56.6%), Hispanic (38.9%), African American (2.7%), Asian (1.1%) and Native American (0.8%). There were n = 1655 employees with traumatic injuries during this period. At 6 months of employment, the probability of injury was 33% in the harvest workers who were responsible for slaughter operations. The overall incidence injury rate was 22.76 per 100 full-time employees per year. Women experienced a higher incidence for injury than men. The risk ratio (RR) for traumatic injury was significantly lower in Hispanic workers compared to Caucasians (RR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.49–0.60) and nonsignificantly higher in African American and Native American workers after adjusting for age, gender, work section assignment, and experience (RR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.21–1.47). These findings suggest that either Hispanics are very safe employees or they underreport injuries. We make the case for the latter in the discussion.     

African American grandparents raising grandchildren: a national profile of demographic and health characteristics

Social workers are seeing, in health care settings, an increasing number of grandparent caregivers among their clients. A disproportionate number of these are African American. This article compares the demographic and physical and mental health characteristics of African American grandparents who are raising their grandchildren with non-caregiving African American grandparents, using the National Survey of Families and Households (1992-94). Caregivers reported significantly higher levels of limitations in four of five activities of daily living (ADL) and were almost twice as likely as their peers to report clinically relevant levels of depression.     

Consumer-directed personal care: comparing aged and non-aged adult recipient health-related outcomes among those with paid family versus non-relative providers

Risk factors associated with the incidence of recipient injuries, bedsores and contractures, and health care use (i.e., emergency department and hospital use) among aged and non-aged adult personal care recipients are investigated. Data are from a statewide survey of aged and non-aged adult personal assistance service (PAS) recipients (n = 913) in California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program. This is a consumer-directed PAS program. Outcomes among recipients using relatives (other than spouses or parents) as paid providers are compared with those of recipients having non-relatives as providers. No differences were found by provider-recipient relationships. Non-aged recipients, those in poorer health, those with more than three activities of daily living (ADL) limitations, and those changing providers during the year were all at greater risk for adverse health outcomes. African American, Hispanic, and Asian recipients were at lower risk for injuries and hospital stays than were White recipients.     

Achieving a credible health and safety approach to increasing seat belt use among African Americans

African American youth are 60 percent less likely than children from other racial or ethnic backgrounds to be buckled up. Seat belt use among African American males has largely remained stagnant while that for other groups has increased. Overall, African Americans buckle up less often than other racial or ethnic populations. Seat belt use is a preventive health care action within public health. Clearly, a credible health and safety message is not being communicated effectively to African American communities. This paper proposes a number of possible solutions, including: recognition of the role that health care providers play in shaping patient or consumer attitudes and subsequent behavior in terms of prevention of disease and injury, educating physicians and health care providers to routinely recommend seat belt use especially for children, culturally appropriate educational safety programs, an improved relationship between law enforcement and communities, and zero tolerance for nonuse of seat belts.     

Health concerns for African American youth

African American youth today face many challenges that can result in poor decisions and lead to high risk behavior. This nation has experienced a decrease in the number of teen pregnancies, but among African American youth the rates are still too high. African American youth also struggle with alcohol and drug addiction and limited access to health care. In short, there are many challenges to providing appropriate health care to our youth.     

Improving prenatal care services for low-income African American women and infants

Increasing the level of prenatal care among African American women may be one method of improving the health and well-being of African American women and children. This article identifies factors influencing access to and use of prenatal care and strategies for increasing the use of prenatal care among low-income African American women. Barriers to prenatal care, the strengths and limitations of prenatal care in reducing infant mortality and improving infant outcomes, and the importance of providing more comprehensive prenatal care that addresses both the medical and psychosocial needs of the low-income African American mother and her infant are discussed. Changes in prenatal care services that include the medical and lay communities, public health organizations, public policy organizations, and medical financing institutions are identified.     

Correlates of African American sexual assault survivors’ medical care seeking

ABSTRACT

African American women are at higher risk for sexual assault than other racial/ethnic groups and have an overall high prevalence of lifetime sexual assault. Despite elevated risk and prevalence, African American survivors are often reluctant to use services in the aftermath of sexual assault. Yet, little research has focused exclusively on African American women’s sexual assault experiences including their experiences of medical care seeking. A mail survey study was conducted in Chicago (2010–2011) to understand better African American women’s sexual assault experiences in relationship to post-assault medical care seeking in a large community sample (N = 836). Multivariable regression analyses examined whether demographics, assault characteristics, trauma history, and post-assault psychosocial factors were related to medical care seeking. Results revealed unique correlates of immediate and long-term help-seeking from a variety of medical/health sources. Being of older age and lower income, perceived life threat, and delayed disclosure were related to less medical care seeking. Survivors who were assaulted by strangers, experienced interpersonal and contextual traumas, and who received tangible aid and mixed social reactions were related to medical care seeking. Implications for research and clinical practice with this population are provided.     

Consumer-Directed Personal Care: Comparing Aged and Non-Aged Adult Recipient Health-Related Outcomes Among Those With Paid Family Versus Non-Relative Providers

Risk factors associated with the incidence of recipient injuries, bedsores and contractures, and health care use (i.e., emergency department and hospital use) among aged and non-aged adult personal care recipients are investigated. Data are from a statewide survey of aged and non-aged adult personal assistance service (PAS) recipients (n = 913) in California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program. This is a consumer-directed PAS program. Outcomes among recipients using relatives (other than spouses or parents) as paid providers are compared with those of recipients having non-relatives as providers. No differences were found by provider-recipient relationships. Non-aged recipients, those in poorer health, those with more than three activities of daily living (ADL) limitations, and those changing providers during the year were all at greater risk for adverse health outcomes. African American, Hispanic, and Asian recipients were at lower risk for injuries and hospital stays than were White recipients.     

Nutrition risk and associated factors in congregate meal participants in northern Florida: role of Elder Care Services (ECS)

Nutrition is a key for extending quality of life of the elderly. Factors associated with nutritional risk in elders were identified with a modified nutrition screen initiative checklist. High, moderate and low nutritional risk was seen in 31, 46 and 23%, respectively, of 324 elders in six congregate meal sites in northern Florida. High nutritional risk was associated with urban residency, females, being African American, self-reported poor health and irregular visits to medical/health professionals. African American females living in urban areas with limited access to health care are most vulnerable.     

Do empowerment strategies facilitate knowledge and behavioral change? The impact of family health advocacy on health outcomes

This study evaluates the impact of a Family Health Advocacy (FHA) intervention on 46 African American women ages 13 to 35 living in a rural southern community. FHA utilizes empowerment strategies to provide education and social support to reduce risk factors for poor pregnancy outcomes. Use of a paired t test demonstrated a statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest scores in the acquisition of knowledge of safer sex practices, alcohol consumption, early prenatal care, maternal infection, and nutrition. Behavioral change was not realized in the areas of nutrition or behaviors that cause risk of maternal infection. Social workers can influence behavioral change for at-risk populations by addressing microlevel barriers such as education and resources and macrolevel barriers such as advocacy for expanded health and social services.     

Hepatitis C in health care professionals: prevalence and association with risk factors

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for hepatitis C virus infection among health care professionals. METHODS: The study was carried out at a university hospital in the municipality of S?o José do Rio Preto, Southeastern Brazil, between January 1994 and December 1999. There were included 1,433 health care professionals, 872 administrative workers, and 2,583 blood donor candidates. Data were collected during admission examinations, periodic screenings, and after occupational accidents. Occupational and non-occupational information was obtained by means of a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Prevalence of hepatitis C infection among health care professionals (1.7%) was significantly higher than among administrative workers (0.5%; p=0.007) and blood donor candidates (0.2%; p=0.001). Regarding occupational factors, time in the job was significantly longer (p=0.016) among health care professionals with positive serology than among those with negative serology. Multiple regression analysis showed a 50% increase in risk for every five years of age. There was a significant association between blood transfusion and positive serology among health care workers. CONCLUSIONS: Health care professionals show greater prevalence of hepatitis C than administrative workers and blood donation candidates. Among those with positive serology, occupational and non-occupational factors of greatest risk were age, time in the job, and blood transfusion.