Biomedical subjects

S M Naureckas

Publications and source records attributed to S M Naureckas.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1995

Children's and women's ability to fire handguns. The Pediatric Practice Research Group.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether strength differences between children and women might keep children from firing handguns and to determine how many young children can fire available handguns. DESIGN: One- and two-index finger trigger-pull strength was tested using a standard protocol. Data on trigger-pull settings of 64 commercially available handguns were obtained. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Convenience sample of well children and their mothers at four Chicago (Ill)-area pediatric practices for health supervision visits, and of siblings of emergency department patients, during an 8-week period. INTERVENTION: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: One- and two-index finger trigger-pull strength of mothers and children. RESULTS: Twenty-five percent of 3- to 4-year-olds, 70% of 5- to 6-year-olds, and 90% of 7- to 8-year-olds have a two-finger trigger-pull strength of at least 10 lb, the fifth percentile one-finger trigger-pull strength of adult women. Forty (62.5%) of 64 handguns require trigger-pull strength of less than 5 lb; 19 (30%) of 64 require 5 to 10 lb. CONCLUSIONS: Significant overlap exists in the trigger-pull strength of young children and women, limiting the potential use of increased trigger-pull settings to discourage firearm discharge by children. Young children are strong enough to fire many handguns now in circulation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Firearm injuries in children and adolescents: epidemiology and preventive approaches.

Firearm injury, now a leading cause of death in childhood and adolescence, had jointed the ranks of pediatric conditions that threaten child health and development. This paper reviews articles on epidemiology (of firearm injuries and the firearms themselves) and prevention. Epidemiology of injuries: 5356 Americans under 20 years of age died of firearm injuries in 1991; most of these were homicides, and most involved 15 to 19 years olds. The same year, firearm deaths exceeded motor vehicle deaths in seven states and the District of Columbia. Case-control studies showed that handguns in the home raised the risk of homicide threefold, and that handguns raised the risk of suicide ninefold; for suicide, the risk was greatest (13-fold) in those without psychiatric problems. In Iowa, handguns were used disproportionately often in suicides (as compared with other firearms). Hospitalized pediatric shooting victims often had social as well as medical problems. Epidemiology of firearms: gun ownership was higher among incarcerated youths than in community controls (83% vs 22%), but the patterns of gun acquisition were similar: mainly handguns for self-protection, most often from a friend or family member, or "off the street," cost under $100 per gun. Among 5000 families attending pediatric offices, 32% owned handguns or rifles; 13% of handguns and 1% of rifles were stored unlocked and loaded. In a school survey, three-fourths of first and second graders who knew there was a gun at home knew where it was. Gun sales are very loosely under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; no regulations affect gun design, and oversight of commerce is extremely lax.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Nasogastric or gastrostomy feedings in children with neurologic disabilities.

Although pediatricians are increasingly aware of the problem of undernutrition in children with neurologic disabilities, many of these children remain poorly nourished despite prolonged attempts at oral feedings. We studied the effects of tube feeding on such children, using either nasogastric (NG) or gastrostomy (GT) feedings. Twenty-six patients (16 male, mean age at first visit 40.7 months) were followed while receiving tube feedings for a mean of 23 months. Thirteen children in the NG group were tube fed by nasogastric tube. The GT group consisted of two groups of children: 10 who began with nasogastric feedings and then changed to gastrostomy because of intolerance or need for reflux surgery, and three who were always tube fed via gastrostomy. Mean percent ideal body weight for height age (%IBWH) for the whole group improved from 73.2% to 94.2% (P < .0001), for the NG group from 72.1% to 89.3% (P < .002), and for the GT group from 74.2% to 98.8% (P < .0001). One patient died of unrelated severe upper airway obstruction. No patients reported hospitalization due to tube-feeding complications. Seventeen of the parents perceived that their child's mood was improved and that they spent less time in child care after NG or GT feedings were begun. We conclude that (1) both nasogastric and gastrostomy feedings safely improved nutrition in these children and (2) this objective improvement was often accompanied by subjective improvement. We suggest aggressive use of tube feedings in selected patients.

Child↗

PubMed1993

Drowning.

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Child↗