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External Causes (external + cause)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	53%
Psychology	13%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	13%

Selected Abstracts

Patterns and trends in alcohol-related hospitalizations in Victoria, Australia, 1987/88,1995/96

DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 4 2000
KIRSTEN HANLIN
Abstract The objective of this study was to examine patterns and yearly trends in alcohol-related hospitalization rates during the period 1987/88,1995/96 for men and women living in metropolitan and rural/remote Victoria. Alcohol-related hospitalizations were extracted from the Victorian Inpatient Minimum Dataset (VMD) for the years 1987/88,1995/96 (public hospitals) and 1993/94,1995/96 (private hospitals), and adjusted by the appropriate aetiological fractions. Sex-specific age-adjusted rates we expressed per 10000 residents/year. During 1993/94,1995/96, alcohol-related hospitalizations comprised 1.0% of all Victorian hospitalizations (about 12000/year), with men accounting for over two-thirds of alcohol-related hospitalizations. Approximately half of the alcohol-related hospitalizations were for disease conditions and the other half for external cause (injury) conditions. About 80% of all alcohol-related hospitalizations were to public hospitals, with the exception of alcohol dependence (63% to private hospitals). Alcohol-related hospitalization rates were generally higher for people living in rural/remote areas compared to urban areas. During 1987/88,1995/96, the age-adjusted alcohol-related hospitalization rates in public hospitals did not change significantly for disease conditions (14.8,14.7 for men and 6.3,6.4 for women) or female external cause conditions (6.7,6.1), but decreased for external cause conditions (18.4,15.5). In private hospitals during 1993/94,1995/96, the age-adjusted alcohol-related hospitalization rates for disease conditions decreased (5.4,4.1 for men and 3.7,3.0 for women) but increased for external cause conditions (1.8,2.4 for men and 1.0,1.2 for women). These patterns and time-trends in Victorian alcohol-related hospitalizations reflect a combination of alcohol-related morbidity levels, hospital admission practices and patterns and levels of service provision. They suggest a potential need to focus on services and programmes in rural/remote Victoria. [source]

Global m= 1 instabilities and lopsidedness in disc galaxies

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2008
V. Dury
ABSTRACT Lopsidedness is common in spiral galaxies. Often, there is no obvious external cause, such as an interaction with a nearby galaxy, for such features. Alternatively, the lopsidedness may have an internal cause, such as a dynamical instability. In order to explore this idea, we have developed a computer code that searches for self-consistent perturbations in razor-thin disc galaxies and performed a thorough mode-analysis of a suite of dynamical models for disc galaxies embedded in an inert dark matter halo with varying amounts of rotation and radial anisotropy. Models with two equal-mass counter-rotating discs and fully rotating models both show growing lopsided modes. For the counter-rotating models, this is the well-known counter-rotating instability, becoming weaker as the net rotation increases. The m= 1 mode of the maximally rotating models, on the other hand, becomes stronger with increasing net rotation. This rotating m= 1 mode is reminiscent of the eccentricity instability in near-Keplerian discs. To unravel the physical origin of these two different m= 1 instabilities, we studied the individual stellar orbits in the perturbed potential and found that the presence of the perturbation gives rise to a very rich orbital behaviour. In the linear regime, both instabilities are supported by aligned loop orbits. In the non-linear regime, other orbit families exist that can help support the modes. In terms of density waves, the counter-rotating m= 1 mode is due to a purely growing Jeans-type instability. The rotating m= 1 mode, on the other hand, grows as a result of the swing amplifier working inside the resonance cavity that extends from the disc centre out to the radius where non-rotating waves are stabilized by the model's outwardly rising Q profile. [source]

Somnolence effects of antipsychotic medications and the risk of unintentional injury,,

PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 4 2008
Qayyim Said PhD
Abstract Purpose This study examined the relationship between antipsychotic medications, categorized by published somnolence effects, and unintentional injury (UI). Methods The study population included patients of 18,64 years of age in a healthcare insurance database with claims from 2001 to 2004 and diagnoses of schizophrenia or affective disorder. A nested case-control design was used with cases defined by an E-code claim (a specified external cause of injury) for selected UIs. For cases, the index date referred to the first injury. For controls, the "control index date" was the date of claim if there was only a single medical claim; for patients with ,2 claims, one was selected at random as the "control index date." Both groups had a prescription for a first-generation antipsychotic (FGA) or second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) overlapping the index date. Potential somnolence effects were defined as: low (referent) , aripiprazole/ziprasidone; medium , risperidone; high , olanzapine/quetiapine: or any single FGA. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for UI, adjusted for gender, age, concomitant drug, and psychiatric diagnosis. Results Among 648 cases and 5214 controls, high-somnolence SGAs were associated with an OR of 1.41 95%CI (1.03,1.93) for risk of UI, while medium-somnolence SGAs, and FGAs had ORs of 1.17 95%CI (0.83,1.64) and 1.17 95%CI (0.79,1.74), respectively. When quetiapine and olanzapine were disaggregated, ORs were 1.61 95%CI (1.15,2.25) and 1.25 95%CI (0.89,1.74), respectively. Conclusions High-somnolence SGAs may lead to UI among patients. When prescribing antipsychotics, clinicians should consider potential somnolence. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Population-based drug-related anaphylaxis in children and adolescents captured by South Carolina Emergency Room Hospital Discharge Database (SCERHDD) (2000,2002),

PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 12 2007
Suzanne L. West MPH
Abstract Purpose Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening condition; drug-related anaphylaxis represents approximately 10% of all cases. We assessed the utility of a statewide emergency department (ED) database for identifying drug-related anaphylaxis in children by developing and validating an algorithm composed of ICD-9-CM codes. Methods There were 1,314,760 visits to South Carolina (SC) emergency departments (EDs) for patients <19 years in 2000,2002. We used ICD-9-CM disease or external cause of injury codes (E-codes) that suggested drug-related anaphylaxis or a severe drug-related allergic reaction. We found 50 cases classifiable as probable or possible drug-related anaphylaxis and 13 as drug-related allergic reactions. We used clinical evaluation by two pediatricians as the ,alloyed gold standard'1 for estimating sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) of our algorithm. Results ED-treated drug-related anaphylaxis in the SC pediatric population was 1.56/100,000 person-years based on the algorithm and 0.50/100,000 person-years based on clinical evaluation. Assuming the disease codes we used identified all potential anaphylaxis cases in the database, the sensitivity was 1.00 (95%CI: 0.79, 1.00), specificity was 0.28 (95%CI: 0.16, 0.43), and the PPV was 0.32 (0.20, 0.47) for the algorithm. Sensitivity analyses improved the measurement properties of the algorithm. Conclusions E-codes were invaluable for developing an anaphylaxis algorithm although the frequently used code of E947.9 was often incorrectly applied. We believe that our algorithm may have over-ascertained drug-related anaphylaxis patients seen in an ED, but the clinical evaluation may have under-represented this diagnosis due to limited information on the offending agent in the abstracted ED records. Post-marketing drug surveillance using ED records may be viable if clinicians were to document drug-related anaphylaxis in the charts so that billing codes could be assigned properly. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

External cause-specific summaries of occupational fatal injuries.

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2003
Part I: An analysis of rates
Abstract Background Industries and occupations vary with respect to the incidence of fatal injuries and their causes. Methods Fatalities from the National Traumatic Occupational Fatality database (years 1983,1994) serve as the basis for examining external cause of death code specific rates. Industries and occupations are compared with respect to rate and frequency of fatal injuries. In addition, external causes of injury (E-codes) are examined across all industries and occupations as well as within industries and occupations to evaluate which events would be identified by frequency ordered comparisons versus injury rate ordered comparisons. Results Machinery, electric current, homicide, falls, and transportation-related events are identified by high frequency and rate of occurrence. Conclusions The external cause categories of homicide, machinery-related, motor-vehicle-related, electric current, and falls, account for over one-half of all occupational fatal injuries. Targeted interventions in homicide may be especially warranted in sales and service occupations and in the retail trade and services industries. In addition, younger workers might be targeted for special interventions designed to identify hazardous practices, procedures, and solutions to reduce fatalities associated with electrocution or falls from buildings. Am. J. Ind. Med. 43:237,250, 2003. Published 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

External cause-specific summaries of occupational fatal injuries.

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2003
Part II: An analysis of years of potential life lost
Abstract Background Fatal injury surveillance data provide an opportunity to assess the impact of occupational injuries and may indicate which industries or occupations are appreciably more hazardous than others, and thus should be given priority in public health intervention. Methods Fatalities from the National Traumatic Occupational Fatality surveillance system served as the basis for examining external cause (E-code) specific impact summaries. Years of potential life lost (YPLL) were calculated for fatal injuries in the years 1983,1994. Industries and occupations were compared with respect to frequency of fatal injuries. In addition, injuries in categories of external causes are examined across all industries and occupations. Results Machinery, electric current, homicide, falls, and transportation-related are the external cause groups highlighted by high frequency/rate of occurrence. Electric current event groups are also characterized by high average YPLL. Poisoning, conflagration, and lightning were also identified in several occupations as having high associated average YPLL. Conclusions The external-cause-specific analysis of average YPLL identified industries and occupations where, on average, younger workers were dying in fatal injuries. Noteworthy in this assessment were homicides and falls. The YPLL measure coupled with more commonly employed indices (e.g., rates) may provide a fuller description of the impact of occupational fatal injuries. Am. J. Ind. Med. 43:251,261, 2003. Published 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Opportunism in Capital Budget Recommendations: The Effects of Past Performance and Its Attributions,

DECISION SCIENCES, Issue 3 2001
Joanna L. Ho
Abstract This study uses an experiment to examine the separate and combined effects of managers' loss aversion and their causal attributions about their divisions' performance on tendencies to make goal-incongruent capital budget recommendations. We find that managers' recommendations are biased by their loss aversion. In particular, managers of high-performing divisions are more likely than managers of low-performing divisions to propose investments that maximize their division's short-term profits at the expense of the firm's long-term value. We also find that managers' recommendations are biased by their causal attributions. In particular, managers are more likely to propose investments that maximize their division's short-term profits at the expense of the firm's long-term value when they attribute their division's performance to external causes (e.g., task difficulty or luck) rather than to internal causes (e.g., managerial ability or effort). Further, the effects of causal attributions are greater for managers of high-performing divisions than for managers of low-performing divisions. The study's findings are important because loss aversion and causal attributions are often manifested in firms. Thus, they may bias managers' decisions, which in turn may be detrimental to the firms' long-term value. [source]

Three-year mortality and predictors after release: a longitudinal study of the first-time drug offenders in Taiwan

ADDICTION, Issue 5 2010
Chuan-Yu Chen
ABSTRACT Aims To assess the possible increase in mortality rate and associated socio-demographic and judiciary determinants among first-time drug offenders during the first 3 years after release from correctional facilities. Setting and participants A total of 22 224 male and 4444 female adults who had served a sentence of at least 1 day in correctional facilities for illegal drug-related offences were identified from the judiciary records of the Ministry of Justice, Taiwan. Design and measurements The underlying causes of death were defined by the International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision. Findings All-cause standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were 7 for schedule I (e.g. heroin) and 3 for schedule II (e.g. methamphetamine) drug offenders, respectively; accidents, suicide and circulatory diseases were three leading causes of death. After release, the risk of death among those drug offenders without subsequent incarceration increased gradually until the 9th month. Those who were aged 30 years or older, had an engagement with a higher-ranked schedule substance or who received severe sentences were two to three times more likely to die. Substantial reduction in the risk of death was linked with re-imprisonment. Conclusions The SMR estimates for external causes were greater than those for disease-related causes in drug offenders, and schedule I drugs-related mortality rate was twice as high as that with schedule II drugs. In transitioning from the correctional setting to the community, the health needs of drug offenders should be addressed by the provision of continuous, adequate medical care tailored to individual background, medical history and drug experience. [source]

The recent declines of farmland bird populations in Britain: an appraisal of causal factors and conservation actions

IBIS, Issue 4 2004
Ian Newton
In this paper, the main aspects of agricultural intensification that have led to population declines in farmland birds over the past 50 years are reviewed, together with the current state of knowledge, and the effects of recent conservation actions. For each of 30 declining species, attention is focused on: (1) the external causes of population declines, (2) the demographic mechanisms and (3) experimental tests of proposed external causal factors, together with the outcome of (4) specific conservation measures and (5) agri-environment schemes. Although each species has responded individually to particular aspects of agricultural change, certain groups of species share common causal factors. For example, declines in the population levels of seed-eating birds have been driven primarily by herbicide use and the switch from spring-sown to autumn-sown cereals, both of which have massively reduced the food supplies of these birds. Their population declines have been associated with reduced survival rates and, in some species, also with reduced reproductive rates. In waders of damp grassland, population declines have been driven mainly by land drainage and the associated intensification of grassland management. This has led to reduced reproductive success, as a result of lowered food availability, together with increased disturbance and trampling by farm stock, and in some localities increased nest predation. The external causal factors of population decline are known (with varying degrees of certainty) for all 30 species considered, and the demographic causal factors are known (again with varying degrees of certainty) for 24 such species. In at least 19 species, proposed causal factors have been tested and confirmed by experiment or by local conservation action, and 12 species have been shown to benefit (in terms of locally increased breeding density) from options available in one or more agri-environment schemes. Four aspects of agricultural change have been the main drivers of bird population declines, each affecting a wide range of species, namely: (1) weed-control, mainly through herbicide use; (2) the change from spring-sown to autumn-sown cereal varieties, and the associated earlier ploughing of stubbles and earlier crop growth; (3) land drainage and associated intensification of grassland management; and (4) increased stocking densities, mainly of cattle in the lowlands and sheep in the uplands. These changes have reduced the amounts of habitat and/or food available to many species. Other changes, such as the removal of hedgerows and ,rough patches', have affected smaller numbers of species, as have changes in the timings of cultivations and harvests. Although at least eight species have shown recent increases in their national population levels, many others seem set to continue declining, or to remain at a much reduced level, unless some relevant aspect of agricultural practice is changed. [source]

The Burden of Disease and the Cost of Illness Attributable to Alcohol Drinking,Results of a National Study

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 8 2010
Helena Cortez-Pinto
Background and Aims:, The World Health Organization estimated that 3.2% of the burden of disease around the world is attributable to the consumption of alcohol. The aim of this study is to estimate the burden of disease attributable to alcohol consumption in Portugal. Methods:, Burden and costs of diseases attributable to alcohol drinking were estimated based on demographic and health statistics available for 2005, using the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) lost generated by death or disability. Results:, In Portugal, 3.8% of deaths are attributable to alcohol (4,059 of 107,839). After measuring the DALY generated by mortality data, the proportion of disease attributable to alcohol was 5.0%, with men having 5.6% of deaths and 6.2% of disease burden, while female figures were, respectively, 1.8 and 2.4%. Considering the sum of death and disability DALYs, liver diseases represented the main source of the burden attributable to alcohol with 31.5% of total DALYs, followed by traffic accidents (28.2%) and several types of cancer (19.2%). As for the cost of illness incurred by the health system, our results indicate that ,95.1 millions are attributable to alcohol-related disease admissions (liver diseases, cancer, traffic accidents, and external causes) while the ambulatory costs of alcohol-related diseases were estimated in ,95.9 million, totaling ,191.0 million direct costs, representing 0.13% of Gross Domestic Product and 1.25% of total national health expenditures. An alternative analysis was carried out using higher consumption levels so as to replicate aggregate alcohol consumption statistics. In this case, DALYs lost increased by 11.7% and health costs by 23%. Conclusion:, Our results confirm that alcohol is an important health risk factor in Portugal and a heavy economic burden for the health system, with hepatic diseases ranking first as a source of burden of disease attributable to alcohol. [source]

Promoting eco manufacturing: an Australian case

JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Issue 4 2008
Roumen Dimitrov
This paper analyses the communication campaign of a small industry plant, the Fuji Xerox Eco Manufacturing Center in Sydney, Australia. Disproportionably to its size, it has become a national and world leader in the push for waste free, sustainable manufacturing. The rarity of the case,a resource-poor for-profit organization taking the role of an influential advocate,helps to highlight the centrality of public relations in the promotional mix. I examine ,remanufacturing' not as a one-off technical innovation, but as prolonged internal and external communication campaign. I also stress on the public character of internal communication, where public relations is instrumental from the start. I draft and discuss an alternative model of integrated marketing communications for small businesses and nonprofits. Integration happens here on personnel rather than organizational (interdepartmental) level. The more such organizations turn towards external causes and multiple publics,as in this case of industrial advocacy and public affairs,the more likely public relations transforms from a component into the organizing principle of the communication strategy. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

External cause-specific summaries of occupational fatal injuries.

Psychological processes and paranoia: implications for forensic behavioural science

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 3 2006
Richard P. Bentall Ph.D.
Paranoid delusions have recently become the focus of empirical research. In this article, we review studies of the psychological mechanisms that might be involved in paranoid thinking and discuss their implications for forensic behaviour science. Paranoia has not been consistently associated with any specific neuropsychological abnormality. However, evidence supports three broad types of mechanism that might be involved in delusional thinking in general and paranoia in particular: anomalous perceptual experiences, abnormal reasoning, and motivational factors. There is some evidence that paranoia may be associated with hearing loss, and good evidence that paranoid patients attend excessively to threatening information. Although general reasoning ability seems to be unaffected, there is strong evidence that a jumping- to-conclusions style of reasoning about data is implicated in delusions in general, but less consistent evidence specifically linking paranoia to impaired theory of mind. Finally, there appears to be a strong association between paranoia and negative self-esteem, and some evidence that attempts to protect self-esteem by attributing negative events to external causes are implicated. Some of these processes have recently been implicated in violent behaviour, and they therefore have the potential to explain the apparent association between paranoid delusions and offending. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

,Violent' deaths of children in England and Wales and the major developed countries 1974,2002: possible evidence of improving child protection?

CHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 5 2008
Colin Pritchard
Abstract Child protection services are criticised for failing to prevent abuse but demonstrating successful prevention is impossible as it is trying to prove a ,negative'. The alternative is to examine ,failures', i.e. the ,violent' deaths of children (0,14 years) to indicate whether matters are improving or deteriorating. This paper uses the latest World Health Organisation data to compare children's ,violent' deaths in England and Wales with those in other major developed countries. To account for possible ,hidden' under-reported abuse deaths, undetermined, i.e. ,other external causes of death' (OECD) and fatal accidents and adverse events (AAE), deaths are also analysed along with homicides, to compare all ,violence-related' deaths between 1974,76 and 2000,02. England and Wales infant (<1 year) homicide rates were annually 57 per million but fell to 17 per million, a 74% fall. Infant AAE deaths fell in every country with England and Wales falling from 341 per million to 71 per million, a 76% reduction. Both these results were significantly better than those of eight other major developed countries, although England and Wales infant OECD at 26 per million, were high compared to the major developed countries. In the 1970s, combined ,violent' deaths of all children (0,14 years) (homicide, OECD and AAE) in England and Wales were 203 per million, they are now 61 per million, a 70% decline with only Italy having lower rates. The worst rates were in the USA which had the highest combined ,violent' death rate. These overall results in the major reductions of ,violence-related' deaths in England and Wales can be a boost to the morale of front-line staff and provide the public with an indication of the progress being made. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]