Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R A Goodman

Publications and source records attributed to R A Goodman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Transmission of blood-borne pathogens during sports: risk and prevention.

Publicity about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in athletes has focused attention on the potential for transmission of blood-borne pathogens during sports and athletic competitions. Existing information suggests that the potential risk for such transmission is extremely low and that the principal risks athletes have for acquiring HIV and hepatitis B virus are related to off-the-field activities. Therefore, efforts to prevent transmission of blood-borne pathogens among athletes should emphasize prevention in off-the-field settings. We summarize technical and other information about this issue, and provide recommendations for the education of sports participants, for infection control in athletic settings, and for training of coaches and officials.

Disease Transmission, Infectious↗
PubMed1994

Workplace-related homicide among health care workers in the United States, 1980 through 1990.

OBJECTIVE: To improve understanding of the epidemiology of fatal violence directed toward physicians and other health care workers (HCWs) in health care settings. DESIGN: Analyses of data for 1980 through 1990 from the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities surveillance system. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Overall occurrence of occupational injury deaths and occurrence of workplace-related homicides among HCWs. RESULTS: From 1980 through 1990, a total of 522 HCWs died from injuries sustained while working. The most common causes of death were motor vehicle crashes (122 [23.4%]), homicide (106 [20.3%]), and suicide (88 [16.9%]). Firearms were used in the greatest number (78 [73.6%]) of workplace-related homicides among HCWs. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the need for strengthened surveillance and more accurate estimates of the risks of workplace-related violent injury for HCWs in the United States.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1992

Infectious diseases and injuries in child day care. Opportunities for healthier children.

OBJECTIVE: To provide pertinent background information on infectious diseases and injury in child day care and outline measures to address these health care needs. DESIGN: We reviewed published English-language literature identified through a MEDLINE bibliographic search, major literature summaries, and bibliographies from identified articles. SETTING: Child day-care settings reviewed included family child care homes, centers, special facilities for ill children, and facilities for children with special needs. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Primarily children in a variety of day-care settings, often compared with children cared for at home. MAIN OUTCOMES: The occurrence of outbreaks and illness related to infectious disease and injury. RESULTS: Compared with preschool-aged children reared at home, among children in day care the risk of some infectious diseases was two to four times greater. Rates of both intentional and unintentional injuries in day-care settings were somewhat lower than those for children cared for at home. CONCLUSIONS: Because preschool-aged children spend increasing time in structured day-care settings, the risk for some infectious diseases has increased. At the same time, child day-care settings present opportunities for ensuring healthier children through enhanced development, safer environments, better nutrition, increased vaccination coverage, and health promotion.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed1991

Transmission of infectious diseases in outpatient health care settings.

Increased provision of health care in outpatient settings and concerns about occupational transmission of infections have focused attention on the risk of transmission of infectious diseases in ambulatory health care settings. In contrast to inpatient nosocomial infections, infections transmitted in outpatient settings are neither systematically monitored nor likely to be detected by routine qi surveillance. To better define the spectrum of such events, we reviewed the literature to identify cases and clusters of infections associated with outpatient health care. In this review, we identified and epidemiologically characterized 53 such reports that occurred from 1961 through 1990. Transmission occurred in general medical offices, clinics, and emergency departments (23); ophthalmologists' offices and clinics (11); dental offices (13); and alternative-care settings (six). Our findings suggest that inpatient infection-control practices should be extended to outpatient health care settings by assigning specific responsibility for infection control and by adapting surveillance methods and prevention measures.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗
PubMed1991

Alcohol and fatal injuries in Oklahoma.

To assess the usefulness of medical examiner data in describing the relationship between alcohol use and fatal injuries, 1978-84 data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (ME), State of Oklahoma, was examined. In each year in the study period, approximately 1,500 deaths resulted from unintentional injuries (UI) and 800 deaths resulted from intentional injuries (i.e., suicides and homicides). For persons who died on the same day they were injured, testing for blood alcohol ranged from 90% of homicide victims, to 73% of suicide victims and to 66% of UI victims. Alcohol was associated with 52% of homicides, 49% of UI and 40% of suicides. Alcohol was detected most often in samples from Hispanic men and from Native Americans of both sexes. This study suggests that state public health agencies and researchers should consider the use of ME data for epidemiologic information on the relationship between alcohol and injury-related mortality and for surveillance of these problems.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The epidemiologic field investigation: science and judgment in public health practice.

Epidemiologic field investigations are often done in response to acute public health problems. When outbreaks of disease occur, there usually is an urgent need to identify the source and/or cause of the problem as a basis for control. Alternatively, the identification of environmental or occupational hazards frequently demands evaluation of exposed persons and assessment of the risks of disease. In this commentary, the authors present a perspective on the public-sector practice of epidemiology by considering the factors that influence epidemiologic prospectively planned studies; and examining the complexities of the relations between epidemiology and public health practice.

Causality↗
PubMed1989

Fatal injuries in Oklahoma: descriptive epidemiology using Medical Examiner data.

To characterize mortality associated with injuries and other health problems in Oklahoma, we examined data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the State of Oklahoma for the years 1978 through 1984. Each year, approximately 1,500 and 800 deaths resulted from unintentional injury (UI) and intentional injury (ie, suicide and homicide), respectively. The medical examiner (ME) data differed substantially from the state's vital statistics (VS); over the seven years, the ME records showed 2,021 (16%) fewer UI deaths than did the VS, as well as 24 (1%) more cases of suicide and 499 (23%) more cases of homicide. Rates for UI and suicide were highest for young adults and for the elderly; in contrast, rates for homicide were highest for young adults, and then decreased with age. For each of the three categories of injury-related deaths, rates for male subjects were approximately three times those for female subjects; rates also varied by race-ethnic group. Deaths due to UI and homicide occurred more often in the summer and on weekends, though suicides did not vary by month and were slightly more common on weekdays. This study indicates that ME data represent an important source of epidemiologic information for the surveillance and study of injury-related mortality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

An evaluation of the use of medical examiner data for epidemiologic surveillance.

To assess the value of medical examiner (ME) data bases for use in epidemiologic surveillance, we compared data from non-injury deaths that became ME cases to all non-injury deaths occurring in 1984 among Fulton County, Georgia residents. The decedents in the ME series were younger and included a large proportion of Black males. Although not representative of all deaths in a community, ME data bases include demographic and medical information that is often difficult to collect in community studies and in other surveillance systems.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Prevention and control of type A influenza infections in nursing homes. Benefits and costs of four approaches using vaccination and amantadine.

We developed a model to project morbidity, mortality, and costs attributable to type A influenza virus infections in nursing homes and to evaluate the relative benefits and costs of programs for prevention and control. Influenza vaccination was the most cost-effective intervention under various simulations in the model but usually allowed for higher rates of morbidity and mortality compared with other alternatives. The combined use of previous vaccination and chemoprophylaxis during outbreaks in the nursing home was associated with significantly fewer cases than use of vaccination alone, with only modest increases in net program costs. The use of chemoprophylaxis throughout the influenza season (without vaccination) resulted in the fewest number of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths but would cost at least 650% more than alternatives involving vaccination. Regardless of which strategy is chosen, our model suggests that influenza control programs in nursing homes are both beneficial and cost-effective and should be considered a part of standard care.

Amantadine↗
PubMed1986

Cognitive processes in verbal-number production: inferences from the performance of brain-damaged subjects.

This article presents a model of the cognitive processes involved in the spoken production of verbal numbers (e.g., thirteen thousand four hundred two). On the basis of single-case studies of two brain-damaged subjects with number production deficits, we argue that verbal-number production involves the generation of a syntactic frame that constitutes a plan for the production of the appropriate sequence of words. The syntactic frame specifies each to-be-retrieved word in terms of a number-lexical class (i.e., ones, teens, or tens) and a position within that class. These class/position-within-class specifications guide the retrieval of lexical representations from a production lexicon that is partitioned into functionally distinct ones, teens, and tens classes. We conclude with a brief discussion of the rationale for, and advantages of, using patterns of impaired performance as a basis for drawing inferences about normal cognition.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Drug use and interpersonal violence. Barbiturates detected in homicide victims.

To characterize patterns of barbiturate use in homicide victims, we used data from the Los Angeles City Police Department and the Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office to study 4,950 victims of criminal homicide committed in that city in 1970-1979. Barbiturates were detected in 323 (7.9 per cent) of the 4,063 victims who were tested. Detectable levels were present most often in black victims (10.4 per cent), in equal proportions of Anglos and Hispanics (6 per cent), and least often among victims in other race-ethnic groups (4.1 per cent). Among specific subgroups, barbiturate use was greatest in black female victims (15.1 per cent). The detection of barbiturates more commonly among certain subgroups and in specific types of homicidal encounters suggests that barbiturate use may be linked to specific behaviors that precede homicide.

Barbiturates↗