Incidence and factors related to nonmotorized scooter injuries in New York State and New York City, 2005–2020

Background: This study provides an analysis of contemporary trends and demographics of patients treated for injuries from nonmotorized scooters in emergency departments in New York state excluding New York City (NYS) and New York City (NYC). Methods: The study tracks the incidence of nonmotorized scooter injuries in NYS and NYC from 2005 to 2020 and furnishes a detailed profile of the injured patients using patient-level records from the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS). A negative binomial regression analysis is performed on the SPARCS data to measure the simultaneous effects of demographic variables on scooter injuries for NYS and NYC. The study also examines the demographic correlates of the rate of injuries at the neighborhood level in NYC. A thematically shaded map of the injury rates in New York City neighborhoods is created to locate neighborhoods with greater concentrations of injuries and to identify the reasons which might account for their higher rate of injuries, such as street infrastructure. Results: In NYS and NYC injuries from unpowered scooters underwent an overall decline in the past decade. However, both NYS and NYC are now evidencing an increase in their rates. The upswing in the rate in NYC in 2020 is particularly noticeable. Males and children in the age group 5 to 9 were found to be most susceptible to injury. Injuries were more prevalent in more affluent New York City neighborhoods. A map of the injury rates in the City’s neighborhoods revealed a clustering of neighborhoods with higher than average injury rates. Conclusions: Injuries from nonmotorized scooters number approximately 40,000 annually in the US and can be prevented by greater use of protective equipment. Street infrastructure is a critical factor contributing to injuries from the use of nonmotorized scooters. Thematically shaded maps can be used to identify and target areas for purposes of intervention. Keywords: Nonmotorized scooters, Unpowered scooters, Kick scooters, Injuries, Epidemiology, Emergency departmen

Student Attitudes Towards Distance Learning at a Large Urban Public College

Student attitudes towards distance learning can affect both the acquisition of knowledge and the motivation to learn. This study explores student attitudes towards the following four topics: (1) technological and environmental impediments towards distance learning, (2) asynchronous vs. synchronous course preferences, (3) online vs. in-person course preferences, and (4) attitudes towards taking online courses in the future. The findings of the study are based on two anonymous online surveys conducted in the spring and fall of 2020 among students at a large urban public college located in the Northeast U.S.  The study reveals that a significant number of students have unreliable Internet and live in homes not conducive for online learning.  By a narrow margin, students prefer an asynchronous to a synchronous approach to online learning.  Along several dimensions covering different facets of the classroom experience, students prefer in-person courses to online courses.  The disparities favoring in-person classes are most noticeable with respect to the ability to concentrate in class sessions, feeling motivated to learn, and developing friendship ties with classmates.  Distinctive profiles exist among students who opt for these different teaching modalities.  Those students who are more positively disposed towards in-person classes tend to be younger,  freshmen or sophomores, those experiencing higher stress levels, and those whose physical arrangements at home are not conducive for learning.  Importantly, though, a majority of students say they were inclined towards taking more online course in the future. 

Recruitment using mobile telephones in an Irish general population sexual health survey: challenges and practical solutions

BACKGROUND: Non-coverage of households without a landline telephone is a major concern of telephone survey researchers. Sampling mobile telephone users in national surveys is vital in order to gain access to the growing proportion of households that use mobile telephones extensively or exclusively. The complex logistics of conducting surveys with mobile telephones have been discussed in the literature. This paper outlines the actual challenges encountered during a recent national sexual health survey in Ireland, which utilized a mobile telephone sampling frame to recruit approximately half of the sample. METHOD: The 2010 Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Survey (ICCP-2010) is a nationally representative sample of adults aged 18-45 years living in Ireland (n = 3002; 1416 recruited by landline telephone and 1586 recruited by mobile telephone). The overall response rate for the survey was 69% (79% for the landline telephone strand; 61% for the mobile telephone strand). All interviews were conducted using computer-assisting telephone interviewing. RESULTS: During the 18-week fieldwork period, five main challenges relating to the use of mobile telephones were encountered: (1) explaining to respondents how random digit dialling works in relation to mobile telephones; (2) establishing the respondent\u27s eligibility; (3) calling the respondent with the Caller ID blocked or withheld; (4) calling the respondent when they are in any number of locations or situations; and (5) explaining to respondents the importance of refusal conversion calls for the response rate calculation. Details of how the survey protocols and procedures were monitored and adapted throughout the study to ensure a high response rate are outlined. CONCLUSION: It is undeniably more challenging to recruit respondents using mobile telephones as opposed to landline telephones. Respondents are generally not familiar with being contacted on their personal mobile telephone for the purposes of being recruited for a research study. The main challenge for survey methodologists and interviewers is to devise simple protocols to explain to respondents why they are being contacted on a mobile telephone. Recommendations for survey researchers interested in using this methodological approach in the future are discussed

The 2003 Australian Breast Health Survey: survey design and preliminary results

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Breast Health Surveys, conducted by the National Breast Cancer Centre (NBCC) in 1996 and 2003, are designed to gain insight into the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of a nationally representative sample of Australian women on issues relevant to breast cancer. In this article, we focus on major aspects of the design and present results on respondents' knowledge about mammographic screening.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The 2003 BHS surveyed English-speaking Australian women aged 30–69 without a history of breast cancer using computer-assisted telephone interviewing. Questions covered the following themes: knowledge and perceptions about incidence, mortality and risk; knowledge and behaviour regarding early detection, symptoms and diagnosis; mammographic screening; treatment; and accessibility and availability of information and services. Respondents were selected using a complex sample design involving stratification. Sample weights against Australian population benchmarks were used in all statistical analyses. Means and proportions for the entire population and by age group and area of residence were calculated. Statistical tests were conducted using a level of significance of 0.01.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 3,144 respondents who consented to being interviewed, 138 (4.4%) had a previous diagnosis of breast cancer and were excluded leaving 3,006 completed interviews eligible for analysis. A majority of respondents (61.1%) reported ever having had a mammogram and 29.1% identified mammography as being the best way of finding breast cancer. A majority of women (85.9%) had heard of the BreastScreen Australia (BSA) program, the national mammographic screening program providing free biennial screening mammograms, with 94.5% believing that BSA attendance was available regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms. There have been substantial gains in women's knowledge about mammographic screening over the seven years between the two surveys.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The NBCC Breast Health Surveys provide a valuable picture of the knowledge of Australian women about a range of issues. The present analysis shows significant gains in knowledge and behaviours relating to mammographic screening, while identifying additional areas for targeted improvement, as in the need to better communicate with women about screening and diagnostic services. Further analysis of additional core topic areas (eg., incidence, mortality, risk and treatment) will provide equally noteworthy insight.</p

Social, economic, and residential diversity within Hartford\u27s African American community at the beginning of the Great Migration

Scant attention has been paid to the social and economic diversity within the African American community in particular cities at the beginning stage of the Great Migration. This article examines the variation in characteristics of African Americans from different places of birth at the onset of the Great Migration living in one city, Hartford, Connecticut. The article focuses on three major attributes of African Americans with differing geographic backgrounds residing in Hartford during this time period: (a) their socioeconomic status, (b) their settlement patterns within the city, and (c) the extent of their civic participation. The article reveals sizable differences along these three dimensions among African Americans of differing geographic origins

Residential Segregation and the Beginning of the Great Migration of African Americans to Hartford, Connecticut: a GIS-Based Analysis

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the African American population of the United States remained concentrated in the South. In 1910, African Americans in Connecticut accounted for less than 2 percent of the population. Hartford\u27s African American population then totaled 1,745, but by 1920 had increased significantly (by 143 percent) to 4,567. The Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North and Midwest was under way. The authors illustrate the use of GIS technology, combined with individual-level census records, to study the beginning stage of the Great Migration of African Americans to one northern city--Hartford, Connecticut. The first step involved building a historical GIS map for Hartford and attaching the 1920 address ranges to each street-segment in the city. Geocoding by street address of all African Americans then living in Hartford followed. The process of geocoding involves taking each address record and matching it against the street-segment file. When a match is made, the geographical location of the address (longitude and latitude) is appended to the record, and geocoded records are then displayed as points on a digital street map. The authors address several substantive research questions. Other data used here include African American registration and voting behavior in the 1920 presidential election

Racial Segregation and Voter Turnout in Urban America

This study examines the effect of hypersegregation on turnout in recent elections in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Baltimore, Maryland. A Geographical Information System (GIS) is used to assign to each registered voter in both cities his or her census block group via geocoding The individual-level voting data are then aggregated up to the block group level and merged with a subset of block group-level 1990 census variables A set of statistical analyses are next performed to measure the contextual effect of the racial composition of surrounding areas on voter turnout at the block group level The results show that after controlling for income, racially homogeneous block groups (Black or non-Black) situated in surrounding areas that mirror their own racial composition have significantly higher levels of political participation than corresponding block groups situated in surrounding areas that do not reflect their racial composition