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Bernard G Ewigman

Publications and source records attributed to Bernard G Ewigman.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Child injury deaths: comparing prevention information from two coding systems.

OBJECTIVES: The International Classification of Disease (ICD) external cause of injury E-codes do not sufficiently identify injury circumstances amenable to prevention. The researchers developed an alternative classification system (B-codes) that incorporates behavioral and environmental factors, for use in childhood injury research, and compare the two coding systems in this paper. METHODS: All fatal injuries among children less than age five that occurred between January 1, 1992, and December 31, 1994, were classified using both B-codes and E-codes. RESULTS: E-codes identified the most common causes of injury death: homicide (24%), fires (21%), motor vehicle incidents (21%), drowning (10%), and suffocation (9%). The B-codes further revealed that homicides (51%) resulted from the child being shaken or struck by another person; many fires deaths (42%) resulted from children playing with matches or lighters; drownings (46%) usually occurred in natural bodies of water; and most suffocation deaths (68%) occurred in unsafe sleeping arrangements. CONCLUSIONS: B-codes identify additional information with specific relevance for prevention of childhood injuries.

Child↗
PubMed2005

Child deaths resulting from inflicted injuries: household risk factors and perpetrator characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of household composition as an independent risk factor for fatal inflicted injuries among young children and describe perpetrator characteristics. DESIGN, SETTING, AND POPULATION: A population-based, case-control study of all children < 5 years of age who died in Missouri between January 1, 1992, and December 31, 1999. Missouri Child Fatality Review Program data were analyzed. Cases all involved children with injuries inflicted by a parent or caregiver. Two age-matched controls per case child were selected randomly from children who died of natural causes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Inflicted-injury death. Household composition of case and control children was compared by using multivariate logistic regression. We hypothesized that children residing in households with adults unrelated to them are at higher risk of inflicted-injury death than children residing in households with 2 biological parents. RESULTS: We identified 149 inflicted-injury deaths in our population during the 8-year study period. Children residing in households with unrelated adults were nearly 50 times as likely to die of inflicted injuries than children residing with 2 biological parents (adjusted odds ratio: 47.6; 95% confidence interval: 10.4-218). Children in households with a single parent and no other adults in residence had no increased risk of inflicted-injury death (adjusted odds ratio: 0.9; 95% confidence interval: 0.6-1.9). Perpetrators were identified in 132 (88.6%) of the cases. The majority of known perpetrators were male (71.2%), and most were the child's father (34.9%) or the boyfriend of the child's mother (24.2%). In households with unrelated adults, most perpetrators (83.9%) were the unrelated adult household member, and only 2 (6.5%) perpetrators were the biological parent of the child. CONCLUSIONS: Young children who reside in households with unrelated adults are at exceptionally high risk for inflicted-injury death. Most perpetrators are male, and most are residents of the decedent child's household at the time of injury.

Caregivers↗
PubMed2004

Practice-based research networks: the laboratories of primary care research.

Medical research has traditionally been based in academic centers, and the findings are frequently not applicable in community primary care settings. The result is a large gap between the possible and the practical in delivering high-quality primary medical care in the United States. Practice-based research networks (PBRNs), laboratories for primary care clinical research, are the appropriate vehicles for uniting the worlds of community primary care practice and clinical research. Although they have received little attention in the mainstream of clinical and health services research, PBRNs have already reported a variety of findings useful for primary care providers, and these networks have helped to identify key issues in healthcare delivery that affect important outcomes. In this report, we outline the rationale for and history of PBRNs. We describe the organization and work of several productive PBRNs, giving examples of their studies that have changed the standards of modern primary care practice. Finally, we describe a developing electronic process for identifying research questions obtained directly from primary care providers that can be used to focus the national primary care research agenda on questions of clinical relevance and importance. As electronic technologies are fully developed and tested, they will facilitate communication between clinicians and researchers, thereby improving the effectiveness and efficiency of practice-based research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Child death review. The state of the nation.

BACKGROUND: Child death review (CDR) is a mechanism to more accurately describe the causes and circumstances of death among children. The number of states performing CDR has more than doubled since 1992, but little is known about the characteristics of these programs. The purpose of this study was to describe the current status of CDR in the United States and to document variability in program purpose, scope, organization, and process. METHODS: Investigators administered a written survey to CDR program representatives from 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC), followed by a telephone interview. RESULTS: All 50 states and DC participated; 48 states and DC have an active CDR program. A total of 94% of programs agreed that identifying the cause of and preventing future deaths are important purposes of CDR. Assistance with child maltreatment prosecution was cited as an important purpose by only 13 states (27%). Twenty-two states (45%) review deaths from all causes, while six states (12%) review only deaths due to child maltreatment. CDR legislation exists in 33 states. Fifty-three percent of the CDR programs were implemented since 1996, and 59% report no or inadequate funding. CDR contributes to the death investigation process in seven states (14%), but the majority (59%) of reviews are retrospective, occurring months to years after the child's death. CONCLUSIONS: CDR programs in the United States share commonalities in purpose and scope. Without national leadership, however, the wide variation in organization and process threatens to limit CDR effectiveness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Household composition and risk of fatal child maltreatment.

OBJECTIVE: Approximately 2000 children die annually in the United States from maltreatment. Although maternal and child risk factors for child abuse have been identified, the role of household composition has not been well-established. Our objective was to evaluate household composition as a risk factor for fatal child maltreatment. METHODOLOGY: Population-based, case-control study using data from the Missouri Child Fatality Review Panel system, 1992-1994. Households were categorized based on adult residents' relationship to the deceased child. Cases were all maltreatment injury deaths among children <5 years old. Controls were randomly selected from natural-cause deaths during the same period and frequency-matched to cases on age. The main outcome measure was maltreatment death. RESULTS: Children residing in households with adults unrelated to them were 8 times more likely to die of maltreatment than children in households with 2 biological parents (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 8.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.6-21.5). Risk of maltreatment death also was elevated for children residing with step, foster, or adoptive parents (aOR: 4.7; 95% CI: 1.6-12.0), and in households with other adult relatives present (aOR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). Risk of maltreatment death was not increased for children living with only 1 biological parent (aOR: 1.1; 95% CI: 0.8-2.0). CONCLUSIONS: Children living in households with 1 or more male adults that are not related to them are at increased risk for maltreatment injury death. This risk is not elevated for children living with a single parent, as long as no other adults live in the home.

Adult↗