Spatial and temporal clustering of an occupational poisoning: the example of green tobacco sickness.

Nicotine poisonings in tobacco farm workers (Green Tobacco Sickness, GTS) reported to the Kentucky Regional Poison Center during 1991 were assessed for spatial, temporal and space-time clustering. Among 62 index cases, 10 had worked with others who also reported GTS that day. Analysis of index cases, using Best and Rayner's V(2), showed significant cyclic clustering by hour of day the report was received (p = 9 x 10(-9)); chi-square revealed significant spatial clustering by agricultural district (p = 0.0002). Space-time clustering was detected using the E-M-M statistic (p = 0.008); however, the space-by-time interaction of Rao's chi-square goodness-of-fit statistic did not detect space-time clustering (p = 0.32).

Smokeless tobacco use among adults in Kentucky: 1994.

We assessed the 1994 prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among Kentucky adults > or = 18 years of age. 649 adults, contacted through a statewide random digit dialing procedure, completed an 18-minute telephone survey which included questions on current and former use of chewing tobacco and snuff. Overall, 4.5% of the sample (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.95%-6.15%) claimed to currently use smokeless tobacco. Among males, 9.9% (95% CI = 6.1%-13.3%) claimed to currently use smokeless tobacco. Use of chewing tobacco exceeded snuff use by 2 to 1. No women were current users of either chewing tobacco or snuff. A typical current user was male, was over 45 years of age, did not graduate from high school, and lived in a rural or Appalachian county of Kentucky. Former users comprised 17.3% of the sample; all but one of these were male. By the year 2000, the overall prevalence of smokeless tobacco must be reduced by half if Kentucky is to meet its public health objective that no more than 2% of Kentuckians use smokeless tobacco.

Finding homes without smoke detectors: one step in planning burn prevention programs.

Residential fires are the leading cause of burn-related deaths in the United States. Smoke detectors could save many of these lives. A 1993 telephone survey of 661 Kentucky households included questions on residential smoke detectors. Statewide, 16.4% of households did not possess a functioning smoke detector; however, in nonmetropolitan Appalachian counties, 30.5% of households lacked detectors. Characteristics associated with lack of a functioning smoke detector, as determined by multivariate logistic regression, were as follows: living in a nonapartment dwelling (odds ratio [OR] = 4.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.42 to 12.01); having an annual household income of $20,000 or less (OR = 2.34, CI = 1.49 to 3.68); being unmarried (OR = 1.73, CI = 1.12 to 2.69); living alone (OR = 1.69, CI = 1.02 to 2.80); and living in a nonmetropolitan county (OR = 1.68, CI = 1.05 to 2.69). Knowledge of these population-based characteristics can assist planners of burn prevention programs to target at-risk populations.