Sharing Overdose Data Across State Agencies to Inform Public Health Strategies: A Case Study.

Data sharing and analysis are important components of coordinated and cost-effective public health strategies. However, legal and policy barriers have made data from different agencies difficult to share and analyze for policy development. To address a rise in overdose deaths, Maryland used an innovative and focused approach to bring together data on overdose decedents across multiple agencies. The effort was focused on developing discrete intervention points based on information yielded on decedents' lives, such as vulnerability upon release from incarceration. Key aspects of this approach included gubernatorial leadership, a unified commitment to data sharing across agencies with memoranda of understanding, and designation of a data management team. Preliminary results have yielded valuable insights and have helped inform policy. This process of navigating legal and privacy concerns in data sharing across multiple agencies may be applied to a variety of public health problems challenging health departments across the country.

Hypertension in Bo, Sierra Leone.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence of hypertension among adults in Bo, Sierra Leone. DESIGN: Hypertension data were extracted from outpatient clinic records. SETTING: Mercy Hospital in urban Bo, Sierra Leone. PATIENTS: All nonpregnant outpatients aged -15 years seen at the outpatient clinic in 2009. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of hypertension, defined as a systolic blood pressure > or = 140 mm Hg and/or a diastolic blood pressure > or = 90 mm Hg. RESULTS: Data from 3944 individuals were analyzed (mean age 38.7 years). The overall prevalence of hypertension among those aged > or = 15 years was 25.2%, with an age-adjusted prevalence of 19.6%. The prevalence of hypertension for participants aged > or = 20 years was 27.1%, with an age-adjusted prevalence of 23.6%. There were no significant differences in blood pressure by sex. The prevalence of hypertension increased significantly with age for both males and females (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of hypertension in Sierra Leone is consistent with the rates of hypertension observed in other parts of West Africa.

Sedentary activity associated with metabolic syndrome independent of physical activity.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the association between objectively measured sedentary activity and metabolic syndrome among older adults. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Data were from 1,367 men and women, aged ≥ 60 years who participated in the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Sedentary time during waking hours was measured by an accelerometer (<100 counts per minute). A sedentary bout was defined as a period of time >5 min. A sedentary break was defined as an interruption in sedentary time (≥ 100 counts per minute). Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III criteria. RESULTS: On average, people spent 9.5 h (65% of wear time) as sedentary. Compared with people without metabolic syndrome, people with metabolic syndrome spent a greater percentage of time as sedentary (67.3 vs. 62.2%), had longer average sedentary bouts (17.7 vs. 16.7 min), had lower intensity during sedentary time (14.8 vs. 15.8 average counts per minute), and had fewer sedentary breaks (82.3 vs. 86.7), adjusted for age and sex (all P < 0.01). A higher percentage of time sedentary and fewer sedentary breaks were associated with a significantly greater likelihood of metabolic syndrome after adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, education, alcohol consumption, smoking, BMI, diabetes, heart disease, and physical activity. The association between intensity during sedentary time and metabolic syndrome was borderline significant. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of sedentary time was strongly related to metabolic risk, independent of physical activity. Current results suggest older people may benefit from reducing total sedentary time and avoiding prolonged periods of sedentary time by increasing the number of breaks during sedentary time.

Relación entre prácticas alimentarias reportadas por niños chilenos y preferencias de los padres para su consumo / Relationship between reported dietary practices of Chilean children and their parents preferences for their consumption

The objective of this study was to examine agreement between parental preferences and self-reported food intake in Chilean children. In 2008,152 pairs, of 8 to 13 year old schoolchildren and their parents in Santiago were surveyed. Children self-reported their frequency of consumption of foods from various food groups. Parents reported how often they preferred their children to consume foods from these same food groups. Children reported consuming more sweets, high-calorie snacks, and fruit, and fewer grains than their parents reported preferring them to consume. Girls, 10 and 11 year olds, and children who watched television and used the computer for less than 2 hours per day had dietary patterns most closely aligned with their parents' reported preferences. Children 's dietary reports generally follow parental preferences. Intervention programs should include programs that facilitate parental guidance and encourage children to make healthy food choices at home and in school.

Se estudia concordancia entre preferencias de padres y auto-reporte de niños chilenos en consumo de alimentos. En 2008, se encuestaron 152 escolares ente 8 y 13 años de edad y sus padres, en Santiago, Chile. Los niños reportaron frecuencia de consumo de diferentes grupos de alimentos y los padres, frecuencia con que prefieren que sus hijos los consuman. Los niños informaron mayor consumo de dulces, colaciones altas en calorías y frutas y menor consumo de cereales, que lo declarado por sus padres. Los patrones alimentarios más estrechamente alineados con lo reportado por los padres se observan en: niñas; edades entre 10 y 11 años; ver televisión y utilizar computador menos de 2 horas diarias. En general, lo reportado por niños sigue los patrones de los padres. Programas de intervención debieran incluir guía a padres y estimulo a niños para elegir opciones alimentarias saludables en el hogar y en la escuela.

Predictors of compliance with scheduled surgery in rural Guatemala.

A non-governmental organization that helps low-income, rural, indigenous Guatemalans to have free or low-cost surgical care found that fewer than 60% of their patients kept their surgical appointments. The objective of this study was to identify the factors that predict compliance with scheduled surgery. All 690 surgical candidates screened by this organization between April 2008 and March 2009 and scheduled for surgery by August 2009 were included in this analysis. For the 474 adult patients the best predictors of compliance included a shorter time between screening and surgery, knowing someone who has had surgery, and several indicators of low socioeconomic status. For the 216 pediatric patients the best predictors of compliance included a shorter time between screening and surgery, having a parent who speaks Spanish in addition to the local indigenous language, and having a parent who knows someone who has had surgery. These findings suggest that the best ways to improve surgical attendance are to schedule surgery as close to the screening date as possible and to ensure that surgical candidates and their families meet a local resident who has had surgery.