INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this research study was to describe parents' behaviors, knowledge, and beliefs related to unintentional firearm injuries among children and youth. METHOD: A convenience sample of 80 parents whose children were attending one of six Kindercare Learning Centers in a Southwestern city was surveyed during the summer of 1995 to learn about their behaviors, knowledge and beliefs about unintentional firearm injuries among children and youth. Data on demographic characteristics, behaviors, knowledge, and beliefs, were collected with a questionnaire. RESULTS: Men and parents who had grown up with a gun in the house were more likely to be gun owners. Forty-eight percent of parents kept at least one gun in the home. Twenty-six percent of gun owners reported that the gun was loaded at all times, and 18% reported that a gun was kept within reach of a child. The most common reason given by parents for having a gun was for protection (61%). Only 8% of parents reported having discussed firearm safety with a health care worker. None of the parents had discussed firearm safety with a pediatrician. A test of knowledge about firearm injuries revealed some gaps in knowledge, with no significant differences between men and women or gun owners and non-gun owners. DISCUSSION: Results suggest that firearms in the home continue to pose a significant risk to children. Anticipatory guidance from NPs and pediatricians is needed to protect children from unintentional firearm injuries.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship between pain sensitivity and resting arterial blood pressure in patients with painful temporomandibular disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Patients experiencing temporomandibular disorders (TMD) show greater sensitivity to painful stimuli than age- and gender-matched control subjects. This enhanced pain sensitivity may result, at least in part, from an alteration in pain regulatory systems that are influenced by resting arterial blood pressure. In this study, we examined the relationship between resting systolic blood pressure and pain perception in 64 female TMD and 23 age-matched pain-free female subjects. METHOD: Resting arterial blood pressure and measures of thermal and ischemic pain threshold and tolerance were determined for each participant. Subjective ratings of thermal pain evoked by suprathreshold noxious thermal stimuli (45-49 degrees C) using a magnitude matching procedure were also obtained for both groups. RESULTS: TMD patients had lower thermal and ischemic pain thresholds and tolerances than pain-free subjects (ps < .05). Both groups provided equivalent intensity ratings to suprathreshold noxious thermal stimuli. A median split of each group based on resting systolic blood pressure revealed an influence of blood pressure on both thermal and ischemic pain perception for the Pain-Free group. The Pain-Free high resting blood pressure subgroup had higher thermal pain tolerances, higher ischemic pain thresholds, and provided lower magnitude estimates of the intensity of graded heat pulses compared with the Pain-Free low blood pressure subgroup. A trend toward a significant effect of blood pressure level on ischemic pain tolerance was also observed for the Pain-Free group. In contrast to the Pain-Free group, blood pressure level did not influence ischemic or thermal pain perception for TMD patients. Similar to the lack of effect of resting blood pressure on experimental pain perception in TMD patients, resting blood pressure was not related to measures of clinical orofacial pain in TMD patients. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm our previous findings that TMD patients are more sensitive to noxious stimuli and suggest that painful TMD may result, at least in part, from an impairment in central pain regulatory systems that are influenced by resting arterial blood pressure.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Ischemic but not thermal pain sensitivity varies across the menstrual cycle.

OBJECTIVE AND METHOD: Findings from both animal and human research suggest that pain sensitivity changes across the menstrual cycle; however, among humans the nature of these menstrual cycle effects remains unclear. The present study used a repeated-measures design to evaluate changes in thermal and ischemic pain responses during three phases of the menstrual cycle, midfollicular (postmenstrual), ovulatory, and mid-to-late luteal (premenstrual), in 11 healthy women. The cycle phase during which subjects began their participation was determined randomly. Plasma levels of estrogen, progesterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone, and beta-endorphin were determined at each experimental session. Participants also completed a daily diary of physical and emotional symptoms for two complete menstrual cycles before the experimental sessions. RESULTS: The results indicated that women showed less ischemic pain sensitivity during the midfollicular compared with the ovulatory and mid-to-late luteal phases, but thermal pain responses did not vary significantly across menstrual cycle phases. Physical and emotional symptoms were minimal and did not change significantly across the menstrual cycle. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate greater ischemic but not thermal pain sensitivity among women after the midcycle LH surge. The practical relevance and potential mechanisms of these findings are discussed.

Adult↗