Injury Prevention Podcast

Spatial analysis of paediatric swimming pool submersions by housing type

Drowning is a major cause of unintentional childhood death. Along with colleagues, Rohit P Shenoi, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Texas, investigated the relationship between childhood swimming pool submersions, neighbourhood sociodemographics, housing type and swimming pool location was examined in Harris County, Texas.
He tells Brian Johnston what they found.
Read the paper, for free: http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/21/4/245.full

Using the Haddon matrix: introducing the third dimension

William Haddon Jr developed his conceptual model, the Haddon matrix, by applying basic principles of public health to the problem of traffic safety. In 1998, Carol Runyan expanded on his work with the seminal paper “Using the Haddon matrix: introducing the third dimension” that expanded on the matrix and its utility by adding a decision-making dimension based on principles of policy analysis. This paper made an important contribution to the injury prevention field as it provided straightforward and useful guidance on how to apply and use an already familiar tool to better support evidence-based decision-making.
In this podcast, Dr Runyan, UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, and J Morag MacKay, European Child Safety Alliance discuss the impact of the work and, given the current challenges decision makers face in translating research into action, how this framework remains relevant today.
Read the papers:
Using the Haddon matrix: introducing the third dimension http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/21/2/126.full
Research and practice in a multidimensional world: a commentary on the contribution of the third dimension of the Haddon matrix to injury prevention http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/21/2/131.full

Looking back at building the evidence base for safe and active bicycling

As Injury Prevention turns 20 we're taking a look back at some of the most influential papers we've published in our Anniversary Archives, starting with Fred Rivara et al's “Epidemiology of bicycle injuries and risk factors for serious injury”.
Using data from their seminal case–control study on bicycle helmet effectiveness, the study reported on crash circumstances, helmet use and injury outcomes to identify prevention opportunities. This study was part of a broader intellectual effort to engage rigorous epidemiological science in the gritty real-world work of injury prevention: identifying modifiable crash risk factors, measuring helmet effectiveness and putting this knowledge to work in a large controlled community campaign.
Here Brian Johnston talks to Fred Rivara, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington, and commentators Beth Ebel, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, and Brent Hagel, Department of Paediatrics, University of Calgary.
Read the papers:
Epidemiology of bicycle injuries and risk factors for serious injury http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/21/1/47.full
Building the evidence base for safe and active bicycling: an historical commentary on Rivara et al: epidemiology of bicycle injuries and risk factors for serious injury
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/21/1/52.full

The health care burden of illicit synthetic drug use

The Minnesota Department of Health conducted an exploratory epidemiologic investigation into the health care burden of illicit synthetic drug (ISD) use in Duluth, Minnesota.
Staff reviewed medical records of 78 patients with suspected ISD use who were treated in emergency departments at two Duluth-area hospitals from January through September 2013.
The analysis showed use of ISDs has the potential to create a significant burden on the health care system and public services, and that effective prevention and response strategies need to be developed.
In this podcast, study authors Mark Kinde, Unit Leader for the Injury and Violence Prevention Unit at the Minnesota Department of Health, Ruth Lynfield, State Epidemiologist and Medical Director for the Minnesota Department of Health, and Sarah Dugan, Research Analyst, Injury and Violence Prevention Unit, Minnesota Department of Health, discuss the work and its findings.
Read the full paper here:
http://www.minnesotamedicine.com/Portals/mnmed/February%202014/Clinical_Dugan_0214.pdf

Patterns of vulnerability to non-fatal injuries in Sudan

Successful injury prevention requires identification and targeting of particularly vulnerable groups, but little is known about injury vulnerability patterns in Sudan.
Safa Abdalla, Sudanese Public Health Consultancy Group, aimed to fill this gap using survey data, and here Brian Johnston asks her what she found.
Read the full paper:
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/20/5/310.full

Threat of paediatric hyperthermia in an enclosed vehicle

In the USA, 384 children died due to hyperthermia between 2003 and 2012 while unattended in an enclosed vehicle. Paediatric vehicular hyperthermia persists as a highly preventable form of heat-related death.
A study recently published in IP has described temperature change throughout the workday in an enclosed vehicle in Austin, Texas across the calendar year, to examine the risk of hyperthermia to children trapped in vehicles.
Brian Johnston talks to lead author, Sarah V Duzinski, Trauma Services, Dell Children's Medical Center, Austin, Texas.
Read the paper in full, for free:
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/20/4/220.full

The Sports Injury Registry

This podcast focuses on the collection of high school athlete sports injury data by the University of South Florida Sports Medicine and Athletic Related Trauma Institute (SMART).
SMART developed an injury surveillance tool to collect detailed sports injury risk factor and outcome data for high school athletes in west central Florida beginning in 2007. Since 2012 SMART has joined the Reporting Information Online (RIO) network for high school athletes’ sports injury data collection. The lead researcher for the SMART injury surveillance research is Dr Karen Liller, Professor and AAAS Fellow in the University of South Florida College of Public Health. The Director of SMART is Dr Barbara Morris.
Together they provide information on the origins of SMART, the data collection process, latest results, and plans for the future in this podcast.
About the presenters: Dr. Karen Liller is a professor and AAAS Fellow in the University of South Florida College of Public Health. Her teaching, research, and service activities largely focus on public health and the prevention and control of children's unintentional injuries, most recently those related to sports. In 2012 Dr Liller was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and has been named one of the top 15 women scholars in health education and health promotion. She is the editor of the injury text, "Injury Prevention for Children and Adolescents: Research, Practice, and Advocacy," published by the American Public Health Association.

Dr Barbara Morris, Director of SMART, is also a certified athletic trainer and a certified strength and conditioning specialist. She was named the 2008 Professional Outreach Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Athletic Trainer’s Association of Florida and has worked extensively in sports medicine clinical settings, including athletic training outreach, industrial rehabilitation and administration. Dr Morris has a faculty appointment in USF’s Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine where she teaches in the Athletic Training Education Program.

Analysis of the quantity and quality of published RCTs related to injury prevention in China

Brian Johnston talks to Guoqing Hu, Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, China, about what his analysis of injury prevention research published in China between 2001 and 2010 reveals.Read the full paper (for free) http://goo.gl/bNZz51

Preventing deaths and injuries from house fires

Brian Johnston, IP Editor in Chief, talks to Gregory Istre and Mary McCoy, Injury Prevention Center of Greater Dallas, about their latest research into the impact of community-based smoke alarm distribution programmes on the occurrence of house fire-related deaths and injuries.
Read the full research: http://goo.gl/mg7JCa

Sports concussion: Issues and controversies

Sports concussion, especially among youth, has become a topic of major interest to parents, athletes, coaches and physicians. While much is known about the topic, there is a great deal that is not known, especially about concussions in children.
Dr Fred Rivara, Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington discusses some of the current issues and controversies.