Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Laws in the United States: Origins, Context, and Controversies

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (8) ◽  
pp. 1198-1204
Author(s):  
Kathleen Bachynski ◽  
Alison Bateman-House
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Head Injuries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Bicycle Helmet ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
Bicycle Safety ◽  
Helmet Laws

This article examines the origins and context of mandatory bicycle helmet laws in the United States. Localities began to enact such laws in the early 1990s, having experimented with helmet laws for motorcycles previously. As cycling became increasingly popular in the 1970s and 1980s because of a variety of historical trends, from improved cycle technology to growing environmental consciousness, cycling-related injuries also increased. Bicycle safety advocates and researchers alike were particularly troubled by head injuries. National injury surveillance systems and a growing body of medical literature on bicycle-related injuries motivated a number of physicians, cyclists, children, and other community members to advocate helmet laws, which they argued would save lives. Controversy over these laws, particularly over whether they should apply universally or only to children, raised public health ethics concerns that persist in contemporary debates over bicycle helmet policies. (Am J Public Health. 2020;110:1198–1204. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305718)

Local All-Age Bicycle Helmet Ordinances in the United States: A Review and Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Merrill-Francis ◽  
Jon S. Vernick ◽  
Keshia M. Pollack Porter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Head Injury ◽  
The United States ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Bicycle Helmet ◽  
Bicycle Helmets ◽  
Helmet Laws

Bicycle helmets protect against head injury. Mandatory helmet laws likely increase their use. Although 21 states and Washington, DC have mandatory helmet laws for youth (variously defined) bicyclists, no U.S. state has a mandatory helmet law that applies to all ages; however, some localities have all-age helmet laws for bicyclists. This study abstracted local helmet laws applicable to all-ages to examine their elements.

scholarly journals Noninfectious Foodborne Exposures Reported to 2 National Reporting Systems, United States, 2000-2010

2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
pp. 552-558
Author(s):  
Royal Kai Yee Law ◽  
Hannah Kisselburgh ◽  
Douglas Roblin ◽  
Ekta Choudhary ◽  
Joshua Schier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
The United States ◽  
Disease Outbreak ◽  
Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Poison Center ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
Multivariable Logistic Regression

Objectives: Foodborne disease is a pervasive problem caused by consuming food or drink contaminated by infectious or noninfectious agents. The 55 US poison centers receive telephone calls for advice on foodborne disease cases that may be related to a foodborne disease outbreak (FBDO). Our objective was to assess whether poison center call records uploaded to the National Poison Data System (NPDS) can be used for surveillance of noninfectious FBDOs in the United States. Methods: We matched NPDS records on noninfectious FBDO agents in the United States with records in the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (FDOSS) for 2000-2010. We conducted multivariable logistic regression analysis comparing NPDS matched and unmatched records to assess features of NPDS records that may indicate a confirmed noninfectious FBDO. Results: During 2000-2010, FDOSS recorded 491 noninfectious FBDOs of known etiology and NPDS recorded 8773 calls for noninfectious foodborne disease exposures. Of 8773 NPDS calls, 469 (5.3%) were matched to a noninfectious FBDO reported to FDOSS. Multivariable logistic regression indicated severity of medical outcome, whether the call was made by a health care professional, and etiology as significant predictors of NPDS records matching an FDOSS noninfectious FBDO. Conclusions: NPDS may complement existing surveillance systems and response activities by providing timely information about single cases of foodborne diseases or about a known or emerging FBDO. Prioritizing NPDS records by certain call features could help guide public health departments in the types of noninfectious foodborne records that most warrant public health follow-up.

scholarly journals Environmental health disparities in the Central Appalachian region of the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh-Anne Krometis ◽  
Julia Gohlke ◽  
Korine Kolivras ◽  
Emily Satterwhite ◽  
Susan West Marmagas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Personal Exposure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Appalachian Region ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Health Studies

AbstractHealth disparities that cannot be fully explained by socio-behavioral factors persist in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. A review of available studies of environmental impacts on Appalachian health and analysis of recent public data indicates that while disparities exist, most studies of local environmental quality focus on the preservation of nonhuman biodiversity rather than on effects on human health. The limited public health studies available focus primarily on the impacts of coal mining and do not measure personal exposure, constraining the ability to identify causal relationships between environmental conditions and public health. Future efforts must engage community members in examining all potential sources of environmental health disparities to identify effective potential interventions.

A Survey of Usage Protocols of Syndromic Surveillance Systems by State Public Health Departments in the United States

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 432-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Uscher-Pines ◽  
Corey L. Farrell ◽  
Jacqueline Cattani ◽  
Yu-Hsiang Hsieh ◽  
Michael D. Moskal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Public Health Departments

Can increases in Twitter posts predict increases in cumulative incidence of COVID-19 in the United States? Evidence that social media can inform epidemic surveillance. (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruoyan Sun ◽  
Henna Budhwani
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Cumulative Incidence ◽  
Hot Spots ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Education Attainment ◽  
Public Health Systems ◽  
Per Capita

BACKGROUND Though public health systems are responding rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic, outcomes from publicly available, crowd-sourced big data may assist in helping to identify hot spots, prioritize equipment allocation and staffing, while also informing health policy related to “shelter in place” and social distancing recommendations. OBJECTIVE To assess if the rising state-level prevalence of COVID-19 related posts on Twitter (tweets) is predictive of state-level cumulative COVID-19 incidence after controlling for socio-economic characteristics. METHODS We identified extracted COVID-19 related tweets from January 21st to March 7th (2020) across all 50 states (N = 7,427,057). Tweets were combined with state-level characteristics and confirmed COVID-19 cases to determine the association between public commentary and cumulative incidence. RESULTS The cumulative incidence of COVID-19 cases varied significantly across states. Ratio of tweet increase (p=0.03), number of physicians per 1,000 population (p=0.01), education attainment (p=0.006), income per capita (p = 0.002), and percentage of adult population (p=0.003) were positively associated with cumulative incidence. Ratio of tweet increase was significantly associated with the logarithmic of cumulative incidence (p=0.06) with a coefficient of 0.26. CONCLUSIONS An increase in the prevalence of state-level tweets was predictive of an increase in COVID-19 diagnoses, providing evidence that Twitter can be a valuable surveillance tool for public health.

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