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N Stout

Publications and source records attributed to N Stout.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Comparison of fatalities from work related motor vehicle traffic incidents in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the extent and characteristics of motor vehicle traffic incidents on public roads resulting in fatal occupational injuries in Australia, New Zealand (NZ), and the United States (US). DESIGN AND SETTING: Information came from separate data sources in Australia (1989--92), NZ (1985--98), and the US (1989--92). METHODS: Using data systems based on vital records, distributions and rates of fatal injuries resulting from motor vehicle traffic incidents were compared for the three countries. Common inclusion criteria and occupation and industry classifications were used to maximize comparability. RESULTS: Motor vehicle traffic incident related deaths accounted for 16% (NZ), 22% (US), and 31% (Australia) of all work related deaths during the years covered by the studies. Australia had a considerably higher crude rate (1.69 deaths/100,000 person years; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.54 to 1.83) compared with both NZ (0.99; 95% CI 0.85 to 1.12) and the US (0.92; 95% CI 0.89 to 0.94). Industry distribution differences accounted for only a small proportion of this variation in rates. Case selection issues may have accounted for some of the remainder, particularly in NZ. In all three countries, male workers, older workers, and truck drivers were at higher risk. CONCLUSIONS: Motor vehicle traffic incidents are an important cause of work related death of workers in Australia, NZ, and the US. The absolute rates appear to differ between the three countries, but most of the incident characteristics were similar. Lack of detailed data and inconsistencies between the data sets limit the extent to which more in-depth comparisons could be made.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2001

Comparison of work related fatal injuries in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand: method and overall findings.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the extent, distribution, and nature of fatal occupational injury in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. SETTING: Workplaces in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. METHODS: Data collections based on vital records were used to compare overall rates and distribution of fatal injuries covering the period 1989-92 in Australia and the United States, and 1985-94 in New Zealand. Household labour force data (Australia and the United States) and census data (New Zealand) provided denominator data for calculation of rates. Case definition, case inclusion criteria, and classification of occupation and industry were harmonised across the three datasets. RESULTS: New Zealand had the highest average annual rate (4.9/100,000), Australia an intermediate rate (3.8/100,000), and the United States the lowest rate (3.2/ 100,000) of fatal occupational injury. Much of the difference between countries was accounted for by differences in industry distribution. In each country, male workers, older workers, and those working in agriculture, forestry and fishing, in mining and in construction, were consistently at higher risk. Intentional fatal injury was more common in the United States, being rare in both Australia and New Zealand. This difference is likely to be reflected in the more common incidence of work related fatal injuries for sales workers in the United States compared with Australia and New Zealand. CONCLUSIONS: The present results contrasted with those obtained by a recent study that used published omnibus statistics, both in terms of absolute rates and relative ranking of the three countries. Such differences underscore the importance of using like datasets for international comparisons. The consistency of high risk areas across comparable data from comparable nations provides clear targets for further attention. At this stage, however, it is unclear whether the same specific occupations and/or hazards are contributing to the aggregated industry and occupation group rates reported here.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2001

From strategy to reality: 25 years of planning and progress in occupational injury research.

Injury as a major public health problem, although noted as early as the 1930s, was not widely accepted by the public health community until the 1980s. Over recent decades, there have been a number of strategic plans developed to prevent and control occupational injuries. These plans have been remarkably consistent in that many of the same recommendations surfaced despite different planners from different eras. The recommendations also generally align with the steps in the public health approach. Although recognition of the relevance of the public health approach to traumatic occupational injury came decades ago, significant barriers have inhibited its full implementation. Today, these barriers are being overcome, due to improved surveillance, increased collaborations among disciplines, increasing partnerships with industry, improved prevention evaluation methods, cost analysis models, and increasing funding. Of course, many of the experiences in the United States are paralleled in other countries in the Western world, and even in some developing countries. Substantial progress has been made in recent years in identifying problems and developing solutions, in addressing the recommendations of decades of planning, and of building the scientific foundation necessary to guide prevention. As a result, traumatic occupational injury research must begin to increase focus on bringing the public health process full circle, including the implementation and evaluation of preventive strategies and interventions. Now, the final steps of the process need our attention-evaluating the effectiveness of these solutions and then getting knowledge and products onto the shop floor, the construction site, and the farm, the convenience store, and the delivery truck; getting effective prevention into the workplace. Now is the time to close the loop, from science to prevention.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

Use of narrative analysis for comparisons of the causes of fatal accidents in three countries: New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the utility of narrative analysis of text information for describing the mechanism of injury and to compare the patterns of the mechanism of injury for work related fatalities in three countries. METHODS: Three national collections of data on work related fatalities were used in this study including those for New Zealand, 1985-94 (n=723), for Australia, 1989-92 (n=1,220), and for the United States, 1989-92 (16,383). The New Zealand and Australian collections used the type of occurrence standard code for the mechanism of injury, however the United States collection did not. All three databases included a text description of the circumstances of the fatality so a text based analysis was developed to enable a comparison of the mechanisms of injury in each of the three countries. A test set of 200 cases from each country dataset was used to develop the narrative analysis and to allow comparison of the narrative and standard approaches to mechanism coding. RESULTS: The narrative coding was more useful for some types of injury than others. Differences in coding the narrative codes compared with the standard code were mainly due to lack of sensitivity in detecting cases for all three datasets, although specificity was always high. The pattern of causes was very similar between the two coding methods and between the countries. Hit by moving objects, falls, and rollovers were among the five most common mechanisms of workplace fatalities for all countries. More common mechanisms that distinguished the three countries were electrocutions for Australia, drowning for New Zealand, and gunshot for the United States. CONCLUSION: Narrative analysis shows some promise as an alternative approach for investigating the causes of fatalities.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1997

Three perspectives on work-related injury surveillance systems.

This paper reviews surveillance approaches for occupational injuries and evaluates three emerging methodologies for the enhancement of work-related injury surveillance: (1) narrative data analysis, (2) data set linkage, and (3) comprehensive company-wide surveillance systems. All three methods are the result of new applications of computer hardware and software that have apparent strengths and limitations. A major strength is the improved description of work exposures and related injuries leading to better understanding of injury etiology. This understanding, however, is limited by the data quality and completeness entered on records at the time of the injury. We recommend (1) more widespread inclusion of narrative text in databases, analyses of which can be a valuable supplement to injury coded data; (2) the increased use of data set linkage studies to combine injury and work-history data; and (3) the development of comprehensive company-wide surveillance systems to expedite the use of epidemiologic data for occupational injury prevention activities. Further development of these methods and others is encouraged, especially in light of technological advancements in data capture, analysis and presentation. Only through such efforts can we best apply epidemiologic principles to preventing injuries in the workplace.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1994

Adolescent occupational injuries requiring hospital emergency department treatment: a nationally representative sample.

Data from a nationally representative sample of emergency departments for the 6-month period July through December 1992 were used to examine nonfatal occupational injuries sustained by adolescents aged 14 through 17 years. There were 679 occupational injuries, corresponding to an estimated 37,405 injuries nationwide. Males constituted 65.8% of the injury victims. The injury rate for males was 7.0 per 100 full-time employees, compared with 4.4 for females. Lacerations to the hand or finger accounted for 25.6% of all injuries. The majority of injuries occurred in retail trades (53.7%), which also had the highest rate (6.3 per 100 full-time employees). Seventy-one percent of the injuries in retail trade occurred in eating and drinking establishments.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1993

Parvalbumin and calbindin D-28k in the human motor system and in motor neuron disease.

Calbindin D-28k and parvalbumin are neuronal calcium binding proteins of interest in relation to neurodegenerative diseases. Expression of calbindin and parvalbumin may be one of the determinants of selective vulnerability in these disorders. The distribution of these proteins was surveyed in the normal human motor system and in motor neuron disease (MND) using immunocytochemistry in formalin fixed post-mortem tissues. CNS tissues from 14 MND patients (mean age 61.2 years, mean post-mortem delay 24.6 h) and seven controls (mean age 62.6 years, mean post-mortem delay 25.3 h) were studied. Preliminary studies on the effects of fixation were performed. In normal cases upper and lower motor neurons showed absent expression of both proteins. Several neuronal groups characteristically spared in MND showed varying patterns of immunoreactivity: oculomotor neurons showed parvalbumin staining of the perikaryon; the thoracic preganglionic sympathetic neurons showed calbindin staining in perikarya. Onuf's nucleus showed calbindin staining in the neuropil only. In motor neuron disease a loss of ventral horn interneurons and calbindin immunoreactive processes was observed with no other disease related changes in the spinal cord, brain-stem, or motor cortex. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the distribution of these proteins is one determinant of selective vulnerability to the neurodegenerative processes in MND acting via disturbance of neuronal calcium homeostasis.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis↗
PubMed1993

Traumatic fatalities at work. American Indians and Alaska natives, 1980 through 1988.

To define the rates and characteristics of fatal occupational injuries among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) in the United States, we examined death certificates included in the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities data base for deaths occurring from 1980 to 1988. Two hundred and seventy-four work-related deaths among AI/AN civilians (259 men, 15 women) were identified. In 1980, the fatality rate among employed AI/AN was 5.5/100,000 workers compared with 7.7/100,000 workers for the United States. Ninety percent of the AI/AN deaths were from unintentional injury, 6% from homicide, and 3% from suicide. The pattern of fatal occupational injuries among AI/AN differs from that for all races combined, especially with regard to the larger percent of AI/AN fatalities in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry and the high proportion of water transportation incidents.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1991

Effectiveness of source documents for identifying fatal occupational injuries: a synthesis of studies.

BACKGROUND: The complete and accurate identification of fatal occupational injuries among the US work force is an important first step in developing work injury prevention efforts. Numerous sources of information, such as death certificates, Workers' Compensation files, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) files, medical examiner records, state health and labor department reports, and various combinations of these, have been used to identify cases of work-related fatal injuries. Recent studies have questioned the effectiveness of these sources for identifying such cases. METHODS: At least 10 studies have used multiple sources to define the universe of fatal work injuries within a state and to determine the capture rates, or proportion of the universe identified, by each source. Results of these studies, which are not all available in published literature, are summarized here in a format that allows researchers to readily compare the ascertainment capabilities of the sources. RESULTS: The overall average capture rates of sources were as follows: death certificates, 81%; medical examiner records, 61%; Workers' Compensation reports, 57%; and OSHA reports 32%. Variations by state and value added through the use of multiple sources are presented and discussed. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis of 10 state-based studies summarizes the effectiveness of various source documents for capturing cases of fatal occupational injuries to help researchers make informed decisions when designing occupational injury surveillance systems.

Accidents, Occupational↗