Jim P. Stimpson

Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United States, 1999 to 2008

OBJECTIVESnWe examined trends in distracted driving fatalities and their relation to cell phone use and texting volume.nnnMETHODSnThe Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) records data on all road fatalities that occurred on public roads in the United States from 1999 to 2008. We studied trends in distracted driving fatalities, driver and crash characteristics, and trends in cell phone use and texting volume. We used multivariate regression analysis to estimate the relation between state-level distracted driving fatalities and texting volumes.nnnRESULTSnAfter declining from 1999 to 2005, fatalities from distracted driving increased 28% after 2005, rising from 4572 fatalities to 5870 in 2008. Crashes increasingly involved male drivers driving alone in collisions with roadside obstructions in urban areas. By use of multivariate analyses, we predicted that increasing texting volumes resulted in more than 16,000 additional road fatalities from 2001 to 2007.nnnCONCLUSIONSnDistracted driving is a growing public safety hazard. Specifically, the dramatic rise in texting volume since 2005 appeared to be contributing to an alarming rise in distracted driving fatalities. Legislation enacting texting bans should be paired with effective enforcement to deter drivers from using cell phones while driving.

Mortality of Foreign-Born and US-Born Hispanic Adults at Younger Ages: A Reexamination of Recent Patterns

OBJECTIVESnWe sought to determine whether mortality rates among immigrant and US-born Hispanic young adults were higher or lower compared with non-Hispanic Whites. We also sought to identify which causes of death accounted for the differences in mortality rates between groups. Measures. We used Texas and California vital registration data from 1999 to 2001 linked to 2000 census denominators. We calculated cause-specific, indirectly standardized rates and ratios and determined excess/deficit calculations comparing mortality rates among US- and foreign-born Hispanic men and women with rates among non-Hispanic White men and women.nnnRESULTSnMortality rates were substantially lower among Hispanic immigrant men (standardized mortality ratio [SMR]=0.79) and women (SMR=0.59) than among non-Hispanic White men and women. Most social and behavioral and chronic disease causes in Texas and California other than homicide were noteworthy contributors to this pattern. Mortality rates among US-born Hispanics were similar to or exceeded those among non-Hispanic Whites (male SMR=1.17, female SMR=0.91).nnnCONCLUSIONSnMortality rates among younger Hispanic immigrants in Texas and California were lower than rates among non-Hispanic Whites. This pattern was not observed among US-born Hispanics, however.

Trends In Health Care Spending For Immigrants In The United States

The suspected burden that undocumented immigrants may place on the U.S. health care system has been a flashpoint in health care and immigration reform debates. An examination of health care spending during 1999-2006 for adult naturalized citizens and immigrant noncitizens (which includes some undocumented immigrants) finds that the cost of providing health care to immigrants is lower than that of providing care to U.S. natives and that immigrants are not contributing disproportionately to high health care costs in public programs such as Medicaid. However, noncitizen immigrants were found to be more likely than U.S. natives to have a health care visit classified as uncompensated care.

Unauthorized Immigrants Spend Less Than Other Immigrants And US Natives On Health Care

Unauthorized immigrants and other immigrants who have been in the United States for less than five years have few options for accessing health care through public programs. In light of the ongoing national debate about immigration reform and the impact of the Affordable Care Act on immigrants, we examined differences in health care spending by nativity and legal status using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data for the period 2000-09. We found that unauthorized, legal, and naturalized immigrants together accounted for

Gasoline Prices and Their Relationship to Rising Motorcycle Fatalities, 1990-2007

96.5 billion in average annual health care spending, compared to slightly more than

Reducing Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Colorectal Cancer Screening Is Likely To Require More Than Access To Care

1 trillion for US natives. Unauthorized immigrants share of health care spending was

Acculturation and self-esteem among older Mexican Americans

15.4 billion-the smallest of the groups. Just 7.9 percent of unauthorized immigrants benefited from public-sector health care expenditures (receiving an average of

Ethnic differences in in-hospital place of death among older adults in California: Effects of individual and contextual characteristics and medical resource supply

140 per person per year), compared to 30.1 percent of US natives (who received an average of

Depression and mental health among older Mexican American spouses.

1,385). Policy solutions could include extending coverage to unauthorized immigrants for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases or granting them access to the Affordable Care Acts insurance marketplaces, which start in 2014. The final version of federal immigration reform might also include strategies to expand immigrants access to health care.

Quality of diabetes care for immigrants in the U.S.

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among young adults. Although automobile fatalities have declined in recent years, motorcycle fatalities are rapidly increasing. The purpose of our research was to quantify the relationship between changing fuel prices and motorcycle fatalities. Our findings suggest that people increasingly rely on motorcycles to reduce their fuel costs in response to rising gasoline prices. We estimate that use of motorcycles and scooters instead of 4-wheeled vehicles results in over 1500 additional motorcycle fatalities annually for each dollar increase in gas prices. Motorcycle safety should receive more attention as a leading public health issue.