Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Cities”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Source apportionment of PM10 and PM2.5 in five Chilean cities using factor analysis.

Chile is a fast-growing country with important industrial activities near urban areas. In this study, the mass and elemental concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 were measured in five major Chilean urban areas. Samples of particles with diameter less than 10 microm (PM10) and 2.5 microm (PM2.5) were collected in 1998 in Iquique (northern Chile), Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Rancagua (central Chile), and Temuco (southern Chile). Both PM10 and PM2.5 annual mean concentrations (PM10: 56.9-77.6 microg/m3; PM2.5: 22.4-42.6 microg/m3) were significantly higher than the corresponding European Union (EU) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air quality standards. Moreover, the 24-hr PM10 and PM2.5 U.S. standards were exceeded infrequently for some of the cities (Rancagua and Valparaiso). Elements ranging from Mg to Pb were detected in the aerosol samples using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). For each of the five cities, factor analysis (FA) was applied to identify and quantify the sources of PM10 and PM2.5. The agreement between calculated and measured mass and elemental concentrations was excellent in most of the cities. Both natural and anthropogenic sources were resolved for all five cities. Soil and sea were the most important contributors to coarse particles (PM10-PM2.5), whereas their contributions to PM2.5 were negligible. Emissions from Cu smelters and oil refineries (and/or diesel combustion) were identified as important sources of PM2.5, particularly in the industrial cities of Rancagua, Valparaiso, and Viña del Mar. Finally, motor vehicles and wood burning were significant sources of both PM2.5 and PM10 in most of the cities (wood burning was not identified in Iquique).

Agriculture↗
PubMed1998

Etiology of genital ulcers and prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus coinfection in 10 US cities. The Genital Ulcer Disease Surveillance Group.

To determine the etiology of genital ulcers and to assess the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in ulcer patients in 10 US cities, ulcer and serum specimens were collected from approximately 50 ulcer patients at a sexually transmitted disease clinic in each city. Ulcer specimens were tested using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay to detect Haemophilus ducreyi, Treponema pallidum, and herpes simplex virus (HSV); sera were tested for antibody to HIV. H. ducreyi was detected in ulcer specimens from patients in Memphis (20% of specimens) and Chicago (12%). T. pallidum was detected in ulcer specimens from every city except Los Angeles (median, 9% of specimens; range, 0%-46%). HSV was detected in >/=50% of specimens from all cities except Memphis (42%). HIV seroprevalence in ulcer patients was 6% (range by city, 0%-18%). These data suggest that chancroid is prevalent in some US cities and that persons with genital ulcers should be a focus of HIV prevention activities.

Female↗
PubMed2005

Inner city, middle-aged African Americans have excess frank and subclinical disability.

BACKGROUND: Healthy People 2010 seeks to decrease or eliminate the health disparities experienced by disadvantaged minority groups. METHODS: African American Health (AAH) is a population-based panel study of community-dwelling African Americans born between 1936 and 1950 from two strata. The first encompasses a poor, inner city area, and the second involves a suburban population with higher socioeconomic status. The authors recruited 998 participants (76% recruitment). Frank disability was assessed for 25 tasks and defined as inability or difficulty performing that task. Subclinical disability was assessed for 12 tasks and defined as no difficulty but a change in either manner or frequency of task performance. Frank disability prevalences were compared with national data for community-dwelling non-Hispanic white persons (NHW) and African American persons in the same age range. RESULTS: Compared with the suburban sample, the inner city group had a higher prevalence of frank disability for all 25 tasks (p<.05 for 16) and subclinical disability for 11 of the 12 tasks (p<.05 for 5). Both strata had more frank disability compared with the national NHW population. The inner city area had higher frank disability proportions than did the national African American sample, whereas the suburban group had similar disability levels. CONCLUSIONS: The AAH inner city group experiences more frank disability than other populations of African Americans and NHWs. The increased prevalence of subclinical disability in the inner city group compared with the suburban group suggests that the disparity in frank disability will continue. These findings indicate that African Americans living in poor inner city areas in particular need intensive and targeted clinical and public health efforts.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1990

Effect of long-term community health education on blood pressure and hypertension control. The Stanford Five-City Project.

The Stanford Five-City Project was initiated in 1978 to evaluate the effects of a community-wide health education program on cardiovascular risk factors, including blood pressure. Two treatment cities received an education program, which used the mass media, various community-based programs, and health professionals, designed to encourage individuals to learn their blood pressure levels, stay in the care of a physician if hypertensive, achieve ideal weight, exercise regularly, and reduce dietary sodium. Physicians were encouraged to follow national hypertension treatment guidelines and were provided with a range of patient education materials. To evaluate the effect of the intervention on cardiovascular risk factors, four independent cross-sectional surveys of randomly selected households and four repeated surveys of a cohort were conducted in both treatment cities and in two of the three control cities. After 5-1/3 years of intervention, blood pressure in the treatment cities exhibited an overall decline of 7.4 and 5.5 mmHg systolic and 5.0 and 3.7 mmHg diastolic in the cohort and independent surveys, respectively. These declines produced net changes between the treatment and control cities ranging from -1.1 to -3.8 mmHg. While the magnitude of these changes is not large, the results are significant from a public health perspective because they reflect changes in the overall community.

Blood Pressure↗
PubMed1990

Alcohol problems and the city.

Alcohol problems have long been especially associated with city life, although this perception is not always supported empirically in comparisons of urban and rural rates. Potential explanations of higher urban rates include: more complete reporting of problems in the city; that problems may occur in the city, but involve non-inhabitants; that migrants to the city may be especially attracted by or vulnerable to heavy drinking; and characteristics of city lifestyles that are conducive to heavy drinking, and to heavy drinking being defined as problematic. On the other hand, there are also potential explanations of higher rural rates, such as the ready availability associated with home production. Collective efforts to reduce rates of alcohol problems have often focused on the city or its neighborhoods; these local communities bear many of the costs of the problems, while alcohol tax revenues tend to go to national governments. Three forms of urban alcohol problems prevention are briefly discussed: local alcohol control through municipal public-houses or sales license controls; community action movements to reduce rates of alcohol-related problems; and AA and other mutual-help movements, which are particularly attuned to counteracting characteristically urban problems.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1981

Public policy and residential mobility in Dutch cities.

"The role of government policy in the housing market is examined for its impact on residential mobility in medium-sized Dutch cities. Mobility rates for these cities are regressed against in-migration rates, age and family composition variables, housing stock characteristics and measures of policy. There is little relationship between in-migration and intra-urban movement. After controlling for demographic and housing stock characteristics, the policy measures (the provision of subsidies for new construction and renewal subsidies) do explain a significant proportion of the variation in mobility rates across cities." It is also found that "when the cities are grouped by mobility rate, the policy measures account for important proportions of the variance in two of the three groups of cities. For the other group of cities housing stock characteristics are important explanatory variables."

Demography↗
PubMed2004

Social inclusion and the City of Swan public libraries in Western Australia.

The focus of this paper is on an understanding of social exclusion/inclusion: the concept and how a specific public library service, namely the City of Swan Public Library service, has responded to this social issue. The terms social inclusion/exclusion are explored and clarified from an international, Western Australian State Government, and public library perspective. This is followed by a brief overview of Western Australia as an Australian state, and how public libraries operate based on a partnership with the State Library of Western Australia and Local Government. The City of Swan Public Libraries are described in some depth and also portrayed in their local setting namely the City of Swan, a city of extensive growth that offers a unique environment of both rural and urban areas. The concept of social inclusion is then applied to the City of Swan Public Library service and how the library service addresses social inclusion within its physical environment, policies, operations, future planning, programmes and services. This includes the results of a Library Non-user Survey that was conducted in 2001. The aims of this survey were to: ascertain why non-users within the City of Swan do not make use of the library facilities; explore why past members were not using the library services; examine the effectiveness of library promotions; and investigate the access to and usage of the Internet. The paper concludes with a list of the potential social conditions of which public libraries need to be aware in their strategic planning activities so that community members are not excluded from participating and accessing the public library service.

Community Networks↗
PubMed2004

The politics of preventable deaths: local spending, income inequality, and premature mortality in US cities.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between (1) local political party, (2) urban policies, measured by spending on local programmes, and (3) income inequality with premature mortality in large US cities. DESIGN: Cross sectional ecological study. OUTCOME MEASURES: All cause death rates and death rates attributable to preventable or immediate causes for people under age 75. PREDICTOR MEASURES: Income inequality, city spending, and social factors. SETTING: All central cities in the US with population equal to or greater than 100 000. RESULTS: Income inequality is the most significant social variable associated with preventable or immediate death rates, and the relation is very strong: a unit increase in the Gini coefficient is associated with 37% higher death rates. Spending on police is associated with 23% higher preventable death rates compared with 14% lower death rates in cities with high spending on roads. CONCLUSIONS: Cities with high income inequality and poverty are so far unable to reduce their mortality through local expenditures on public goods, regardless of the mayoral party. Longitudinal data are necessary to determine if city spending on social programmes reduces mortality over time.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

The prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Sicily. II: Agrigento city.

The prevalence of probable multiple sclerosis in Agrigento city on the south-west coast of Sicily is at least 2 per 100 000. This is likely to be a considerable underestimate of the true prevalence because the study presented particular difficulties in that the city is far from the neurological centres of Palermo. Catania, and Messina. There is no neurological department at either the general or the psychiatric hospital in Agrigento and there was a low awareness of the disease among the doctors in the city. Most of the patients were diagnosed in other centres. Agrigento is a good example of the difficulties of studying multiple sclerosis in a rural city which has no special interest in neurological problems and is far from a neurological centre. Studies in such centres must be pursued with great enthusiasm and over a long period of time, and all available sources of information in the city, medical and lay, and in other cities, must be utilised if a high proportion of the patients is to be found.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Medical genetics services in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The city of Sao Paulo is located in the center of a metropolitan area with nearly 18 million inhabitants and 300,000 births/year. The currently existing medical genetics services are unable to meet the demand, due to their insufficient physical and personnel infrastructure. Institutions and experts in medical genetics could give short training and refresher courses to health professionals to enable them to work in the public health network. The city has a reasonably well developed health care network, represented by the Single Health System (Sistema Unico de Saude - SUS) and by the Family Health Program (Programa de Saude da Familia - PSF). The financial resources for such actions originate in the budget of the managing agencies of such systems. The limitations of genetic services provided to the population of the city could be overcome in a short period of time by developing programs within the public health care network. The city has institutions, professionals and financial resources to make this project feasible. To that end, the competent authorities of the Sao Paulo State and City Secretariats of Health should take managerial responsibility for the genetic services in the city.

Brazil↗
PubMed1995

LDL size and subclass pattern in Mexico City residents and San Antonio Mexican Americans.

Recent studies suggest that a relative abundance of small dense LDL is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. We compared LDL size in Mexico City residents (n = 191) and San Antonio Mexican Americans (n = 282), two genetically similar populations that differ markedly in dietary behaviors: in Mexico City approximately 62% of calories are from carbohydrate and approximately 19% from fat, and in San Antonio approximately 40% of calories are from carbohydrate and approximately 40% from fat. Mean LDL size in Mexico City was 258.6 +/- 0.9 A, and in San Antonio, 255.9 +/- 0.6 A (P = .013). After adjustment for the higher triglyceride and lower HDL cholesterol levels (the two most important predictors of LDL size) in Mexico City, LDL size was significantly lower in San Antonio than in Mexico City by -8.33 +/- 0.84 A (P < .001). Our data suggest that the higher triglyceride concentrations in Mexico City residents that are associated with a higher carbohydrate diet may not be associated with atherogenic changes in LDL.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Comparison of probability of stroke between the Copenhagen City Heart Study and the Framingham Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We wished to test the validity of a stroke probability point system from the Framingham Study for a sample of the population of Copenhagen, Denmark. In the Framingham cohort, the regression model of Cox established the effect on stroke of the following factors: age, systolic blood pressure, the use of antihypertensive therapy, diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking, prior cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation, and left ventricular hypertrophy. Derived from this model, stroke probabilities were computed for each sex based on a point system. The authors claimed that a physician can use this system for individual stroke prediction. METHODS: The Copenhagen City Heart Study is a prospective survey of 19,698 women and men aged 20 years or older invited to two cardiovascular examinations at 5-year intervals. The baseline examination included 3015 men and 3501 women aged 55 to 84 years; 474 stroke events occurred during 10 years of follow-up. In both cohorts initial cases of stroke and transient ischemic attack recorded during 10 years of follow-up were used. We used the statistical model from the Framingham Study to establish a corresponding stroke probability point system using data from the Copenhagen City Heart Study population. We then compared the effects of the relevant risk factors, their combinations, and the corresponding stroke probabilities. We also assessed stroke events during 10 years of follow-up in several subgroups of the Copenhagen population with different combinations of risk factors. RESULTS: For the Copenhagen City Heart Study population some of the risk factors (diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking, atrial fibrillation, and left ventricular hypertrophy) had regression coefficients different from those of the Framingham Study population. Consequently, the probability of stroke for persons presenting these risk factors and their combinations varied between the two studies. For some other risk factors (age, blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease), no major differences were found. The recorded frequency of stroke events in subgroups of the Copenhagen population was compatible with the estimated probability intervals of stroke from the Copenhagen City Heart Study and with those from the Framingham Study, but these intervals were very large. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of risk factors for stroke identified by the Framingham Study also had a significant effect in the Copenhagen City Heart Study population. The differences found could be due partly to different definitions of these factors used by the two studies. Although estimated stroke probabilities based on point systems from the Copenhagen City Heart Study and the Framingham Study were similar, the points scored in the two systems did not always correspond to the same combination of risk factors. Such systems can be used for estimating stroke probability in a given population, provided that the statistical confidence limits are known and the definitions of risk factors are compatible. However, because of the large statistical uncertainty, a prognostic index should not be applied for individual prediction unless it is used as an indicator of high relative risk associated with the simultaneous presence of several risk factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Improved access to care for the uninsured poor in large cities: do public hospitals make a difference?

This study compares the volume of uncompensated care provided to the uninsured poor in cities with public hospitals to that provided in cities without a public hospital in order to determine whether public hospitals increase access to care. Multiple regression analysis is used to control for selected variables that also influence utilization of hospital care. Cities with public hospitals were found to provide between 31 and 34 uncompensated adjusted admissions per 100 uninsured poor; in cities without a public hospital, 24 such admissions were provided. In the regression analysis the coefficients for dummy variables representing three types of public hospital governance structures were all positive and statistically significant. The coefficient measuring teaching commitment among a city's hospitals was also positive and statistically significant. This analysis suggests that local tax support for public hospitals does not merely offset philanthropic or other revenue sources for voluntary hospital uncompensated care but is also likely to increase the amount of uncompensated care offered. We also find that public hospital closures may reduce access to care for the uninsured poor in large cities.

Education, Medical, Graduate↗
PubMed1996

The social and health characteristics of California cities.

This DataWatch presents information from nationally recognized sources on sociodemographic characteristics, crime, and hospitals for the sixteen largest cities in California. Recognizing that effective health system changes will require attention to these critical issues, the report identifies their status in a single year and documents changes since 1980. It also provides comparisons among these cities and for the 100 largest U.S. cities. Synthesis of information indicates a wide range in status among these cities for most characteristics but concludes that, on a number of specific measures, the largest California cities have lost ground compared with their U.S. city counterparts.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Environmental exposure of commuters in Mexico City to volatile organic compounds as assessed by blood concentrations, 1998.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent of exposure for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) among nonoccupationally exposed commuters in Mexico City. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Blood concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m-/p-xylene, o-xylene and methyl tert-butyl ether were determined on samples collected from participants after the morning commute. RESULTS: Median blood concentrations of benzene (0.11 microg/l), ethylbenzene (0.081 microg/l), m-/p-xylene (0.32 microg/l) and toluene (0.56 microg/l) in the Mexico City participants were all approximately two times higher than in a nonsmoking subset of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey population of the United States. On the other hand, median VOC blood levels were similar to medians observed in other studies involving commuters in specific U.S. cities, despite the fact that only half the Mexico City study participants commuted by personal vehicles compared with all U.S. commuters. CONCLUSIONS: These results reflect the extent of the air pollution problem in Mexico City. The surrounding topography exacerbates the problems caused by heavy vehicular traffic, poor emission-control devices on older vehicles, and poor maintenance practices. Elevated levels of gasoline components in the blood of nonoccupationally exposed commuters emphasize the need for regulatory initiatives and mass-transit options to reduce hydrocarbon emissions and thus reduce the risk for nonoccupational exposure for the residents of Mexico City.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

[Exposure to fluorides from drinking water in the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico].

OBJECTIVE: Determine the fluoride content in all the wells that supply drinking water to the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico, in order to establish the population's degree of exposure. METHODS: The fluoride content of the 126 wells that supply drinking water to the city of Aguascalientes was determined, using the SPADNS method, in accordance with two Mexican regulations, NMX-AA-77-1982 and NMX-014-SSAI-1993. Using that data, we created fluoride isopleth maps showing the distribution of fluoride concentrations in the water supplies for the city of Aguascalientes. We also estimated exposure doses for the city's inhabitants. RESULTS: The mean analysis uncertainty was 3.9%. Seventy-three wells had a fluoride concentration of" 1.5 mg/L, which was the maximum permissible value set by the Mexican standards then in effect. All the maximum exposure doses surpassed the minimum risk level set by Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States of America. In the children under 1 year of age, even the minimum does was slightly higher than the ATSDR risk level. CONCLUSIONS: From estimating the fluoride exposure doses caused by water consumption in the city of Aguascalientes and comparing those doses with ones from other states in Mexico, we concluded that the fluoride intake in Aguascalientes represents a potential risk for inhabitants' health. The fluoride content of the city's drinking water should be reduced to 0.69 mg/L.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Equity of access to health care for older adults in four major Latin American cities.

OBJECTIVES: To identify if older adults have equitable access to health services in four major Latin American cities and to determine if the inequities that are found follow the patterns of economic inequality in each of the four nations studied. METHODS: Data from persons age 60 and over in the cities of São Paulo, Brazil (n = 2,143); Santiago, Chile (n = 1,301); Mexico City, Mexico (n = 1,247); and Montevideo, Uruguay (n = 1,450) were collected through a collaboration led by the Pan American Health Organization. For our study, three process indicators of access (availability, accessibility, and acceptability) and one indicator of actual health services use (visit to a medical doctor in the past 12 months) were analyzed by wealth quintiles, health insurance type, education, health status, and demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Each of the four cities had a different level of access to care, and those levels of access were only weakly related to per capita national wealth. Given the relatively high level of wealth inequality in Brazil and the lower level in Uruguay, older persons in São Paulo had better-than-expected equity in access to care, while older persons in Montevideo had less equity than expected. Inequity in Mexico City was driven primarily by low levels of health insurance coverage. In Santiago, inequity followed socioeconomic status more than it did health insurance. CONCLUSIONS: In the four cities studied, health insurance and the operation of health systems mediate the link between economic inequality and inequitable access to health care. Therefore, special attention needs to be paid to equity of access in health services, independent of differences in economic inequality and national wealth.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1992

Community AIDS/HIV risk reduction: the effects of endorsements by popular people in three cities.

OBJECTIVES: It is critical to extend community-level acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevention efforts beyond education alone and to develop models that better encourage behavioral changes. Gay men in small cities are vulnerable to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection due to continued high rates of risk behavior. This research introduced an intervention that trained popular people to serve as behavioral change endorsers to peers sequentially across three different cities. METHODS: Populationwide surveys were conducted of all men patronizing gay clubs in each city to establish risk behavior base rates. After a small cadre of popular "trendsetters" were identified, they received training in approaches for peer education and then contracted to communicate risk reduction recommendations and endorsements to friends. Surveys were repeated at regular intervals in all cities, with the same intervention introduced in lagged fashion across each community. RESULTS: Intervention consistently produced systematic reductions in the population's high-risk behavior (unprotected anal intercourse) of 15% to 29% from baseline levels, with the same pattern of effects sequentially replicated in all three cities. CONCLUSIONS: This constitutes the first controlled, multiple-city test of an HIV prevention model targeting communities. The results support the utility of norm-changing approaches to reduce HIV risk behavior.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗