Team sports participation and risk-taking behaviors among a biracial middle school population.

OBJECTIVE: There have been no large studies of middle school students to assess the association between team sports participation and risk-taking behaviors, despite evidence in high school and collegiate athletes. Our study evaluated whether team sports participation is associated with specific risk-taking behaviors among a biracial middle school population. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey using the Youth Risk Behavior Survey: Middle School Questionnaire. SETTING: Twenty-two public middle schools in three rural counties in eastern North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: 4,346 middle school students in grades 6-8 completed the survey. All students participated if present in school the day the survey was administered. 648 students fulfilled specific exclusion criteria. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Multiple logistic regression examined team sports participation as a predictor of 17 risk-taking behaviors while controlling for gender, race, and grade. RESULTS: Of the 3,698 students, 49% were male, 49.5% Caucasian, and 52.5% were involved in team sports. Sports participants, as compared with non-sports participants, reported significantly higher frequencies for carrying a gun (p < 0.001), carrying a weapon (p < 0.001), being in a physical fight (p < 0.001), current use of alcohol (p = 0.001), and experimentation with cigarettes and chewing tobacco (p < 0.001). In the multiple logistic regression analysis team sports participation was associated with the following behaviors: carrying a weapon (odds ratio 1.25, 95% confidence intervals 1.0731-1.4540), physical fight (1.15, 1.0017-1.3253), current alcohol use (1.24, 1.0560-1.4611), and experimentation with cigarettes (1.26, 1.0991-1.4502), cocaine (1.37, 1.0300-1.8139) and inhalants (1.20, 1.0141-1.4130). CONCLUSIONS: Among a biracial middle school population, sports participants were more likely to demonstrate certain risk-taking behaviors when compared with non-sports participants. Further research is necessary to understand the relationships between risk-taking behaviors and team sports participation.

Changing practices in the use of pneumococcal vaccine.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: An important issue facing primary care practices is how to best improve preventive services to patients. We sought to determine if an intervention designed by a continuous quality improvement (CQI) process (reminder sticker and patient education sign in each examining room) or a patient education intervention (sign only) could increase the rate of pneumococcal vaccination. METHODS: These two interventions were administered over a 6-month period in a controlled, prospective study design in a family practice residency program clinic. The study targeted patients ages 65 and older and patients ages 2-64 with diabetes mellitus who had never received the pneumococcal vaccine. The main outcome measure was the vaccination rate in the targeted population. RESULTS: A total of 1,647 patient encounters involving 778 patients were documented during the study period. Overall, the reminder and sign module had higher percentages of pneumococcal vaccination in this target population (20% versus 11% for sign only, versus 7% control). Chi-square analysis revealed a statistically significant difference for this group, compared with placebo, but not for the sign-only group. CONCLUSIONS: An intervention designed from a CQI process to impact the office patterns of primary care physicians can produce measurable changes in pneumococcal vaccination rates.