Joanne Banfield

Effectiveness of the P.A.R.T.Y. (Prevent alcohol and risk-related trauma in youth) program in preventing traumatic injuries: a 10-year analysis

BACKGROUND The P.A.R.T.Y. (Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth) program is a 1-day injury awareness and prevention program for youth aged 15 years and older. The goal is to teach adolescents to recognize their injury risks and make informed decisions to reduce them. This study assessed the effectiveness of the P.A.R.T.Y. Program in preventing traumatic injuries during a period of 10 years (1992-2004). METHODS P.A.R.T.Y. participants (STUDY) were matched with subjects having the same age, gender, residential area, and initial year in database, who did not attend the P.A.R.T.Y. Program (CONTROL). Data from hospital discharge database, and provincial health claims, were searched to determine the incidence of traumatic injuries in both groups. Statistical comparisons were made for the two groups, gender, calendar year, and before and after the graduating driver licensing system was implemented, using the χ and conditional logistic regression analysis with a p<0.05 considered significant. RESULTS Of 3,905 P.A.R.T.Y. participants, 1,281 were successfully randomly matched on the above 4 variables with 1,281 controls. The most frequent injury was injury by other or homicide 373 of 2,562 (14.8%). There were fewer traumatic injuries in the STUDY group than in the CONTROL group (43.3% vs. 47.4%; p=0.02; OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.03-1.45). This difference was stronger in females (44.4% vs. 49.0%; p=0.04) and before the graduating driver licensing system implementation (60.1% vs. 67.2%; p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS The P.A.R.T.Y. Program effectively reduced the incidence of traumatic injuries among its participants. This effectiveness was stronger among females and before the driver licensing system was implemented.

Work-related burn injuries in Ontario, Canada: A follow-up 10-year retrospective study

Work-related burn injuries contribute to a quarter of all burns in the USA. In 2009, the provincial Workplace Safety and Insurance Board reported 64,824 work-related injuries that resulted in time lost, 1188 injuries (2%) were a result of burns. There were two previous studies performed at a regional burn centre (1984-1990 and 1998-2000) that examined incidence and characteristics of work-related burns. There was no significant change between these two groups. The purpose of this study was to identify the recent pattern of work-related burns from 2001 to 2010 and to compare it to the previous studies. During the study period, 1427 patients were admitted for an acute injury to the regional burn centre. Of these, 330 were due to a work-related incident (23%). The mean age of patients was 40.5±11.9 years, 95% were male. The mean total body surface area burn was 11.9±16.2%. The most common mechanism of injury was flame (32.7%) followed by electrical (27%) and scald (19.7%), inhalation injury was present in 4.8% of patients and the mortality was 1.8%. Our study shows a significant decrease in the incidence in work-related burns treated at the regional burn centre (23.1% vs. 28.2% vs. 30.2%, p<0.01), flame burns have now become the leading cause of injury, there was a significant reduction in inhalation injury (4.8% vs. 23% vs. 14.8%, p<0.00001), and mortality over time (1.8% vs. 4% vs. 6.7% p=0.02). These findings strongly suggest a change in the cause of work-related burns, improvement in burn care, and that prevention strategies may have been more effective.

Incidence of hot tap water scalds after the introduction of regulations in Ontario

Hot water scalds can be quite debilitating for a prolonged period of time. It has been previously determined that the severity of hot water scalds increases in a logarithmic trend with water temperature, which has led to legislations requiring changes to the physical environment to reduce the temperature of hot water. In September 2004, Ontario changed its Building Code, requiring all new or renovated residential buildings to lower the maximum setting of their hot water heaters to 49°C (120°F). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the legislation at reducing both the overall incidence and hospitalizations caused by hot tap water scalds. Hot tap water scald cases were identified from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System and Discharge Abstract Database databases provided by Canadian Institute for Health Information for April 2002 to March 2010. Annual incidences, hospitalizations, and outcomes were recorded. There were a total of 6952 hot tap water scald cases in Ontario, including 408 hospitalizations in the 8-year period. The average annual incidence rate for hot tap water scalds for the study period was 6.93 cases per 100,000 population and the average hospitalization rate was 0.4 cases per 100,000 population. The high-risk population group of children and elderly comprised the majority of hospitalization cases (60%); however, adults are responsible for the majority of the ambulatory cases (67%). There was a significant decrease in the age-standardized monthly ambulatory scald cases per 100,000 population after the intervention of 0.01055 (95% confidence interval [CI] [0.004, 0.017]; P = .0018) with a rate of change of 0.9455 (95% CI [0.90, 0.98]; P < .0001) and a long-term decrease of 0.19 per 100,000. There was no significant difference in length of stay of hospitalized cases after the intervention (rate ratio = 0.91; 95% CI (0.70, 1.18); P = .4624). Overall, the regulation of limiting the maximum hot water temperature in residential homes has had a positive impact on reducing the overall number of hot tap water scalds; however, they still cause a considerable amount of morbidity because the number of hospitalized cases did not change significantly. In addition to implementing regulations, active prevention and educational campaigns are still necessary to eliminate this preventable injury.

Healthcare costs of burn patients from homes without fire sprinklers.

The treatment of burn injuries requires high-cost services for healthcare and society. Automatic fire sprinklers are a preventive measure that can decrease fire injuries, deaths, property damage, and environmental toxins. This study’s aim was to conduct a cost analysis of patients with burn or inhalation injuries caused by residential fires and to compare this with the cost of implementing residential automatic fire sprinklers. We conducted a cohort analysis of adult burn patients admitted to our provincial burn center (1995–2012). Patient demographics and injury characteristics were collected from medical records and clinical and coroner databases. Resource costs included average cost per day at our intensive care and rehabilitation program, transportation, and property loss. During the study period, there were 1557 residential fire-related deaths province-wide and 1139 patients were admitted to our provincial burn center as a result of a flame injury occurring at home. At our burn center, the average cost was CAN

Effectiveness of the Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y) program in preventing traumatic injuries: a Ten-year analysis

84,678 per patient with a total cost of CAN

1024 Effective use of social media in injury prevention

96,448,194. All resources totaled CAN

332 Innovative strategies to reduce traffic related injuries and deaths in youth

3,605,775,200. This study shows the considerable healthcare costs of burn patients from homes without fire sprinklers.

A survey of risk factors for burns in the elderly and prevention strategies

Objective The Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y) program is a 1-day injury awareness and prevention program for youth ages 15 and older, with the goal to educate adolescents to recognise their injury risks and make informed choices to reduce them. This study assessed the effectiveness of the P.A.R.T.Y. program in preventing traumatic injuries during a 10 year period. Methods P.A.R.T.Y. participants (study) were matched with a group of subjects having the same age, gender, residential area and initial year in database, who did not attend the P.A.R.T.Y. program (control). Data from two different sources were searched to determine the incidence of traumatic injuries in both groups. Statistical comparisons were made for both groups, gender, calendar year and before and after the two, and graduating driver licensing system was implemented, using the, conditional logistic regression analysis with a p<0.05 considered significant. Results Of 3905 P.A.R.T.Y. participants, 1281 were successfully randomly matched on the above 4 variables with 1281 controls. The most frequent injury was homicide or injury by other 381/2562 (14.9%). There were fewer traumatic injuries in the study group than in the control group (43.3% vs 47.4%, p=0.02, OR=1.22, 95% CI 0.03 to 1.45). This difference was stronger in females (44.4% vs 49.0%, p=0.04), and before the graduated licensing system was implemented (60.1% vs 67.2%, p=0.04). Conclusions The P.A.R.T.Y. program effectively reduced the incidence of traumatic injuries among its participants. This effectiveness was stronger among females, and before the driver licensing system was implemented in the province.

Effectiveness of a burn prevention campaign for older adults

Background With enough Facebook users to form the third largest country on the planet the question is not should we be using social media but rather how can we best use it. Social media is not a universal remedy for preventing injury, but it provides the opportunity for very real and untapped benefits to education, communication, and collaboration on a large-scale basis. The world of social connectedness allows for injury prevention organisations to share information, engage, ask questions, post links, videos, and much more. Methods Explore the points where injury prevention and social media intersect. Sometimes the point is with the individual and sometimes it’s with the organisations. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, provide the mechanism for organisations to share messages and engage their communities, but it is in knowing how to use these tools effectively and efficiently that make the difference between success and failure. Results Participants will learn the three golden rules to social media: (1) how to listen; (2) how to engage; and (3) how to measure. In addition learning about: defining your social media strategy; thinking about conversations instead of campaigns; crafting messages that resonate; overcoming organisational challenges; and when and who to ask for help. Conclusions Social media is today’s most transparent, engaging and interactive form of public relations. It combines real time content with authentic peer-to-peer communication. Social media is not about what each one of us does or says, but about what we do and say together, worldwide.

T68. Hope and Borderline-Personality Disorder as Predictors of Study Drop-Out Among Inpatient Youth Receiving Psychotherapy Treatment for an Episode of Deliberate Self-Harm

Background Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among young people, aged 15–29 years. Studies have shown young drivers are more likely to underestimate the probability of specific risks caused by traffic situations, as well as to overestimate their own driving skills making them more vulnerable to trauma. The P.A.R.T.Y. (Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth) Program, developed in 1986 is a one day, in hospital injury awareness and prevention program for youth aged 15 and older. The goal is to provide young people with information about trauma that will enable them to recognise their injury risks, make prevention-oriented choices and adopt behaviours that minimise unnecessary risks through vivid clinical reality. Methods Several research studies have been undertaken to determine effectiveness and changes in attitudinal risk behaviour from youth attending the P.A.R.T.Y. A ten-year longitudinal study was conducted to determine whether students who attended P.A.R.T.Y. had a reduction in injuries compared with a matched control group of students based on age, gender and geographic area who did not attend the program. Students follow the course of injury from occurrence through transport, treatment, rehabilitation and community re-integration phases. Additionally by augmenting a didactic format through a technologically innovative approach including but not limited to vivid clinical reality, social media, interactive websites and simulators we see attitudinal and behavioural changes. Results The 10 year longitudinal study showed P.A.R.T.Y. participants had a lower incidence of traumatic injuries than a control group of non-P.A.R.T.Y. participants of the same age, gender, residential area, and initial year in database, during the 10-year study. Conclusions Research-driven, psycho-social theories of behaviour and technologically innovative approaches have proven it is possible to influence behaviour through the delivery of well-designed and well-executed road safety strategies, programs and campaigns. Providing students with real-life education to depict the vivid clinical reality of injuries was shown to be a compelling and effective method of education.