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AJPH NEWS Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL October 29, 2002, 4:00 PM (ET)
CONTACT: For copies of articles, call Natalie Raynor, (202) 777-2511

All articles are online at www.ajph.org

American Journal of Public Health: November 2002 Highlights

• Red light cameras help prevent crashes
• Less-educated women are the most likely to smoke before, during and after pregnancy
• Many poor teens not receiving the sexual health services they need
• Drunk drivers who complete treatment program are less likely to be rearrested for DWI
• Most children don't receive adequate dental care

The articles highlighted below appear in the November 2002 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of the American Public Health Association.

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Red light cameras help prevent crashes
Cameras designed to stop people from running red lights also are effective at reducing crashes at those intersections, according to a new study. Researchers studied changes in the number of motor vehicle crashes in Oxnard, CA., where red light cameras were first installed in 1997. They analyzed crash data for four cities, including Oxnard, and found that not only were crashes reduced at the intersections with red light cameras, but drivers also used more care at other intersections because they were used to driving in a community with red light cameras. Right-angle crashes, which most often are caused when a driver runs a red light, were reduced by 32 percent in Oxnard, and those crashes involving injuries were reduced by 68 percent. The researchers said publicizing camera enforcement is a key ingredient in reducing crashes at intersections. Red light cameras are used in about 75 communities nationwide.
[From: "Reductions in Injury Crashes Associated With Red Light Camera Enforcement in Oxnard, California." Contact: Richard A. Retting, MS, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, rretting{at}iihs.org.]

Less-educated women most likely to smoke before, during and after pregnancy
A woman's level of education rather than income or race is the strongest predictor of whether she will smoke before, during and after her pregnancy. In a study of 8,285 women who had given birth in 1988, researchers found that women with less than a high school education were most likely to be smokers before becoming pregnant. Even if they did quit during pregnancy, those women who had never attended college were the most likely to start smoking once the baby was born. Of the 29 percent of women surveyed who smoked in the year before becoming pregnant, 56 percent quit smoking for at least a short period during pregnancy. But the majority (72 percent) of women who quit were smoking again by 17 months postpartum, and an additional 17 percent were smoking again by 35 months postpartum. Compared with women who had graduated from college, women who had not graduated from high school were more than four times as likely to smoke during the 12 months before delivery. Women who continued to smoke often faced multiple additional barriers to quitting, including depression and other household smokers. "Ensuring continuous and comprehensive health services is critical for these women and for their children."
[From: "A Reexamination of Smoking Before, During and After Pregnancy." Contact: Robert S. Kahn, MD, MPH, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, robert.kahn{at}chmcc.org.]

Many poor teens are not receiving the sexual health services they need
In a study of more than 1,000 adolescents who receive health care through Medicaid managed care plans, fewer than one-third received such sexual health services as STD screenings and contraceptive counseling. Girls who did not speak English were especially unlikely to receive sexual health services, even if they admitted to being sexually active. While earlier studies have shown that only 40 percent of all adolescents are screened for sexual activity during routine office visits, low-income teens are even less likely to be asked about their sexual history or receive sexual health services. This is despite the fact that adolescents are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior than older patients and that in 1999, chlamydia rates for girls age 15-19 were higher than all other age groups. "Interventions to improve sexual health services to enrollees in Medicaid managed care are needed."
[From: "Provision of Sexual Health Services to Adolescent Enrollees in Medicaid Managed Care." Contact: William E. Lafferty, MD, University of Washington, billlaf@u.washington.edu.]

Drunk drivers who complete treatment program are much less likely to be rearrested for DWI
Drunk drivers who completed a treatment program in one New Mexico county were less likely to be arrested again for driving under the influence than those who did not undergo treatment, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed records for all driving while intoxicated arrests in San Juan County, N. M., from August 1994 through March 2001. The county instituted a DWI treatment program in 1994 that includes 28 days jail time as well as individual and group treatment. The population is very mixed, including Anglos, Hispanics and Native Americans.. According to the study, the offenders who completed treatment were almost 40 percent less likely to be rearrested for DWI in the five years following their first arrest than those who did not complete the treatment program. Similar programs have been effective in other states.
[From: "Rearrest Rates After Incarceration for DWI: A Comparative Study in a Southwestern U.S. County." Contact: W. Gill Woodall, PhD, The University of New Mexico, gwoodall{at}unm.edu.]

Most children don't receive adequate dental care
Most low-income children not only don't see a dentist often enough, many suffer from dental problems long before they receive dental care, according to a study of 9,265 children age 2-18. Researchers found that more than half the children studied who were under age 6 had never seen a dentist. The most obvious barriers to care were economic, but also many parents did not realize their child should have regular dental checkups starting at age 1. Once a child developed tooth decay, toothaches or other dental problems, that child was still less likely to visit a dentist than a child who already regularly received dental checkups, according to the study. "Barriers to dental care increase as oral health problems go untreated," the researchers wrote. One main problem, according to the study's authors, is a lack of access to dental care even among those low-income children covered by Medicaid or other subsidized services.
[From: "Relationship Between Children's Dental Needs and Dental Care Utilization: United States, 1988-1994." Contact: Clemencia M. Vargas, DDS, PhD, University of Maryland Dental School, cmv001{at}dental.umaryland.edu.]

The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly Journal of the American Public Health Association, the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world and the foremost publisher of public health-related books and periodicals promoting high scientific standards, action programs and policy for good health. The Journal is online at www.ajph.org.

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