Federal Funding For Research On The Leading Causes Of Death Among Children And Adolescents.

Firearm injuries are the second-leading cause of death for US children and adolescents (ages 1-18). This analysis quantified the federal dollars granted to research for the leading US causes of death for this age group in 2008-17. Several federal data sources were queried. On average, in the study period, $88 million per year was granted to research motor vehicle crashes, the leading cause of death in this age group. Cancer, the third-leading cause of mortality, received $335 million per year. In contrast, $12 million-only thirty-two grants, averaging $597 in research dollars per death-went to firearm injury prevention research among children and adolescents. According to a regression analysis, funding for pediatric firearm injury prevention was only 3.3 percent of what would be predicted by mortality burden, and that level of funding resulted in fewer scientific articles than predicted. A thirtyfold increase in firearm injury research funding focused on this age group, or at least $37 million per year, is needed for research funding to be commensurate with the mortality burden.

Communicating emerging infectious disease outbreaks to the public through local television news: public health officials as potential spokespeople.

OBJECTIVE: To assess how West Nile virus (WNV) was reported to the American public on local television news and identify the main factors that influenced coverage. METHODS: A representative sample of WNV stories that were reported on 122 local television news stations across the United States during October 2002, covering 67% of the nation's population, were coded for self-efficacy, comparative risk scenarios, symptoms and recommendations, high-risk individuals, and frame. In addition, public service professionals (PSPs) interviewed in the segments were identified. Comparisons were made between stories in which a PSP was interviewed and stories without an interview with respect to discussion of the 5 variables coded. RESULTS: Of the 1,371 health-related stories captured during the study period, 160 WNV stories aired, the second most common health topic reported. Forty-nine of the 160 WNV stories contained at least 1 of the 5 reporting variables. Forty-two PSPs were interviewed within 33 unique WNV stories. Public health officials composed 81% of all PSP interviews. Stories containing a public health official interview had 15.2 times (odds ratio 15.2, confidence interval 5.1-45.9) higher odds of reporting quality information, controlling for station affiliate or geographic location. CONCLUSIONS: Emerging infectious disease stories are prominently reported by local television news. Stories containing interviews with public health officials were also much more likely to report quality information. Optimizing the interactions between and availability of public health officials and the local news media may enhance disaster communication of emerging infections.

Injury reporting on local TV news: a prime-time opportunity for prevention.

BACKGROUND: Local television news is America's primary source of information and may be an opportunity to shape public opinion surrounding issues such as injury prevention. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to systematically evaluate unintentional-injury coverage on local television news and to identify frequently interviewed public-service professionals and factors associated with discussion of risk factors and prevention. METHODS: Late news broadcasts from 122 local television stations within the U.S. during October 2002 were analyzed. The main outcomes variables were counts of case-injury stories: motor-vehicle crashes, fires, falls, drowning, poisonings, and sports-recreational injuries; identification of interviewed public service professionals; and discussion of risk factors and prevention. Bivariate and mulitvariate analysis was performed to identify predictors of discussion of prevention measures, risk factors, or both. Data were analyzed in Fall 2006. RESULTS: From 2795 broadcasts, 1748 case-injury stories were identified. Fires and motor-vehicle crashes constituted 84% of the case-injury stories. There were 245 case-injury stories containing an interview with a public service professional. Police officers and firefighters accounted for 82% of these interviews. Interviews with police officers and firefighters were independently associated with discussion of risk factors and prevention measures for motor-vehicle crashes (OR=2.49, CI=1.7-3.6) and fires (OR=2.77, CI=1.2-5.9), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Motor-vehicle crashes and fires were the most commonly reported injury topics. Police officers and firefighters were most commonly interviewed and, if interviewed, increased the likelihood that risk factors, prevention measures, or both were discussed. Optimizing the messages delivered by public service professionals through public service professional-level and media-level interventions may be an opportunity for disseminating injury-prevention information to the public and to policymakers, and methods to increase the likelihood of media interviews with public service professionals should be explored.