California Survey Research Articles

Who Supports Local Growth and Regional Planning to Deal with Its Consequences?

Using 1989 and 2002 California survey data, this article offers a multivariate statistical analysis of factors that determine individual support for further growth in one's county as well as support for regional coordination of local land-use decisions. Women and residents of higher per capita income counties were more likely to believe that their county had reached its growth limit. In 2002 we also found that aging changes one's opinion on this issue. Additionally, people who believed “sprawl” to be a very important issue in their region in 2002 were more likely to favor a state mandate requiring the regional coordination of local land uses.

Health-Related Quality of Life after Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer: Comparison with Conventional and Conformal Radiotherapy

No previous studies have reported the longitudinal health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). We compared HRQOL after IMRT with that after conventional and after conformal radiation therapy (XRT). A total of 110 patients underwent XRT (34 patients underwent conventional radiation therapy and 76 underwent conformal radiation therapy) and 30 underwent IMRT for clinically localized prostate cancer between 2000 and 2002. We measured the general and disease-specific HRQOL using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Health Survey and University of California, Los Angeles, Prostate Cancer Index, respectively. There were no significant differences in the preoperative characteristics and HRQOL scores of the two groups. Repeated measure analyses of variance revealed significantly different patterns of alteration in several general HRQOL domains between XRT and the IMRT groups. In the urinary domain, there was no difference in the alteration patterns between the two groups. The XRT group suffered worse bowel function at 3 and 6 months than the IMRT group (P < 0.05). In the XRT group, sexual function decreased at 3 months and remained substantially lower than the baseline level. However, the IMRT group showed no significant difference from the baseline level at any of the observation periods. At 18 months the XRT group showed worse sexual function than the IMRT group. The two approaches showed different longitudinal profiles regarding general and disease-specific HRQOL during the first 2 years after treatment. The IMRT approach produced little impairment in bowel and sexual function.

Young People Driving After Drinking and Riding with Drinking Drivers: Drinking Locations—What Do They Tell Us?

Objective. The present study investigated the extent to which drinking in specific locations and heavy drinking mediated the effects of overall alcohol use on driving after drinking (DD) and riding with drinking drivers (RWDD) among young people. Additionally, this study examined the relationships among ethnicity, gender, drinking in specific locations, and DD and RWDD. Method. Using random-digit dialing procedures, participants were recruited to take part in a telephone survey in California, United States of America. Participants were 1,534 youth, ages 15–20 years (mean age = 17.6). Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans were over-sampled to allow cross-group comparisons. Along with background characteristics, overall alcohol use, heavy drinking, drinking in specific locations, DD, and RWDD were measured. Results. Latent variable structural equation modeling showed that European Americans, males, older adolescents, those who have a driver license, and those who drive more often were more likely to report drinking alcohol in the past year. Heavy episodic drinking and drinking in cars increased both DD and RWDD. Drinking in restaurants also increased DD. The effects of overall alcohol consumption on DD were entirely mediated through heavy episodic drinking and drinking in restaurants and cars. Alcohol consumption had both direct and indirect effects on RWDD. With the exception of being Latino and frequency of driving, the effects of the background variables on RWDD were all entirely mediated through alcohol consumption. Conclusions. Heavy drinking and drinking in specific locations appeared to be important unique predictors of both DD and RWDD. In light of the relationship between drinking in restaurants and in cars, and DD, prevention programs and policies aimed at underage drinking should focus on developing more effective responsible beverage service programs, increasing compliance with laws limiting alcohol sales to youth, and enforcing graduated driver licensing and zero tolerance laws.

Simulating a combination of feebates and scrappage incentives to reduce automobile emissions

This article explains a computer simulation analysis of financial incentives to promote the sale and use of cleaner vehicles. The analysis focuses first on feebates, a combination of fees and rebates to promote the sale of cleaner new vehicles. The analysis assumes that buyers of new cars may chose between vehicles fueled by gasoline, alcohol, electricity and compressed natural gas. The market shares for new car sales are based on a discrete-choice model estimated from a stated preference survey in California. The analysis is conducted for a hypothetical air shed to illustrate the feasibility of the simulation method. The simulation analysis shows that feebates can lead to important reductions in hydrocarbon emissions, but the reductions will appear gradually as the newer vehicles displace the older vehicles in the air shed. The analysis then focuses on the emissions reduction that could be achieved by scrappage payments to induce early retirement of older cars. The analysis shows that scrappage payments can lead to large, immediate reduction in emissions. The article concludes with a simulation analysis of a combination of scrappage payments and feebates to achieve both immediate and sustained reductions in vehicle emissions. The simulations demonstrate that the emissions reductions could be achieved with rebates and scrappage payments drawn from a single fund financed by the fees imposed on the sale of new cars with high emissions.

Advanced Practice Clinicians'Interest in Providing Medical Abortion: Results of a California Survey

Advanced Practice Clinicians'Interest in Providing Medical Abortion: Results of a California Survey

Advanced Practice Clinicians' Interest in Providing Medical Abortion: Results of a California Survey

Advanced Practice Clinicians' Interest in Providing Medical Abortion: Results of a California Survey

Advanced practice clinicians' interest in providing medical abortion: results of a California survey.

California's Reproductive Health Privacy Act, which became law in January 2003, clarified that advanced practice clinicians could legally provide medical abortion. Little is known about the characteristics associated with nonphysician clinicians' interest in receiving medical abortion training or their perceptions of barriers to medical abortion provision. In early 2003, a total of 1,176 licensed advanced practice clinicians in California-nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nurse-midwives-completed a mail-in survey assessing their personal characteristics, beliefs and clinical practices. Weighted univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to describe the respondents, their interest in receiving medical abortion training and their perceptions of barriers to providing such care. One-quarter of respondents desired training in medical abortion. A higher proportion of nurse-midwives than of nurse practitioners or physician assistants desired training (42% vs. 24% and 23%, respectively). The proportion of respondents desiring training also was elevated among clinicians who have prochoice attitudes, those who are familiar with medical abortion and those who spend at least one-third of their time providing care to women of reproductive age. Lack of training opportunities, legal uncertainties and clinical facility constraints were the most frequently reported perceived barriers to provision of medical abortion. Considerable proportions of advanced practice clinicians-especially of nurse-midwives-may be interested in receiving medical abortion training. Perceived barriers to providing medical abortion are amenable to change. Policies and programs are needed to ensure that interested, committed clinicians can overcome barriers to providing medical abortion for their patients.

PROBLEMS WITH SAMPLING DESERT TORTOISES: A SIMULATION ANALYSIS BASED ON FIELD DATA

Abstract The desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) was listed as a U.S. threatened species in 1990 based largely on population declines inferred from mark–recapture surveys of 2.59-km2 (1-mi2) plots. Since then, several census methods have been proposed and tested, but all methods still pose logistical or statistical difficulties. We conducted computer simulations using actual tortoise location data from 21-mi2 plot surveys in southern California, USA, to identify strengths and weaknesses of current sampling strategies. We considered tortoise population estimates based on these plots as “truth” and then tested various sampling methods based on sampling smaller plots or transect lines passing through the mile squares. Data were analyzed using Schnabel's mark–recapture estimate and program CAPTURE. Experimental subsampling with replacement of the 1-mi2 data using 1-km2 and 0.25-km2 plot boundaries produced data sets of smaller plot sizes, which we compared to estimates from the 1-mi2 plots. We also tested di...

Practice Patterns Across the Clinical Life Span: Results From the California Survey of Psychological Practice.

Recent surveys among psychologists and historical accounts of the profession document important practice pattern differences among psychologists on the basis of years of postlicensure experience. Evidence for these differences across 4 groups of psychologists was examined from responses to the 2000 California Survey of Psychological Practice. Psychologists with fewer than 5 years of experience were found to treat on a weekly basis a greater percentage of patients with childhood disorders and substance abuse disorders and to spend a greater percentage of practice time in public health and/or mental health settings than other psychologists. No differences were found in the use of 3 dominant forms of psychotherapy. The implications of these results for practicing psychologists, graduate faculty and students, and representatives of state psychological associations are discussed.

Flaws in a Recent Vertebral Artery Dissection Study by Smith et al

Flaws in a Recent Vertebral Artery Dissection Study by Smith et al

Consequences of Declining Survey Response Rates for Smoking Prevalence Estimates

Response rates have been declining in statewide tobacco surveys. This study investigated whether there was associated evidence of increasing bias in smoking prevalence estimates. Demographic characteristics of respondents to tobacco surveys in Massachusetts and California were compared to population data in the early 1990s, when response rates were high, and in more recent years, when response rates were lower. State estimates of smoking prevalence at three times were compared with estimates from the Current Population Survey Tobacco Use Supplement (CPS-TUS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Under- and over-representation of population subgroups has not changed as response rates have declined. Smoking prevalence estimates from state surveys remain relatively close to the state-specific CPS-TUS estimates. There is no evidence that declining response rates have resulted in less accurate or biased estimates of smoking behavior.

Suzanne F. Delbanco on the Leapfrog Group and employer purchasing power. Interview by Pamela K. Scarrow.

Suzanne F. Delbanco, PhD MPH, is the first executive director of The Leapfrog Group, founded by the Business Roundtable. The Leapfrog Group's goal is to mobilize employer purchasing power to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and overall value of healthcare for American consumers. The group's growing consortium of more than 155 Fortune 500 companies and other large private and public healthcare purchasers provides health benefits to more than 34 million Americans; these companies spend more than 62 billion dollars on healthcare annually. Dr. Delbanco is a member of the National Committee for Quality Assurance Purchaser Advisory Council and a board member of Bridges to Excellence. Before joining The Leapfrog Group, she was a senior manager at the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), where she worked on the quality team. Prior to joining PBGH, she worked on reproductive health policy and the changing healthcare marketplace initiative at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. She has also consulted on health insurance coverage in the temporary employment industry and on the first statewide survey in California of MediCal beneficiaries, and worked as a community Liaison for Kaiser Permanente during the establishment of one of California's first County Organized Health Systems. She holds a PhD in public policy from the Goldman School of Public PoLicy and a MPH from the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley.

Licensed caregiver characteristics and staffing in California acute care hospital units.

Concerns about declining quality of care and nurse staffing shortages led to legislation mandating minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in the state of California. Although research finds that better registered nurse (RN) staffing results in higher quality of care, little evidence exists on which to base specific nurse-patient ratios. The authors describe the results of a California survey characterizing licensed caregivers, identifying staffing levels by unit type, and describing how staffing levels vary across hospital types. A stratified random sample of general acute care hospitals was surveyed to collect cross-sectional data on hospitals' nursing workforce and staffing practices and to assess the impact of potential patient-to-nurse staffing ratios. All academic medical centers; rural, private, and city/county hospitals; and hospitals affiliated with a large group-model health maintenance organization (HMO) were eligible for inclusion. Eighty hospitals were surveyed, representing all major metropolitan areas in the state. Acute care hospitals in California have diverse nursing staffs with variations in education, experience, and employment status. Considerable variations in skill mix were identified, with the proportion of RNs ranging from 30% to 84%, depending on the unit type surveyed. As states struggle with an anticipated critical shortage of RNs, these results have several implications for health and education policy. Future studies of this type will be needed to evaluate the impact of anticipated changes in the regulation of nurse staffing.

Community-based participatory research on smoking cessation among Chinese Americans in Flushing, Queens, New York City

In the first phase of the present study, household interviews in Chinese languages of 2,537 adults ages 18 – 74 in Flushing, Queens and Sunset Park, Brooklyn found a smoking rate of 30.3% for men. This smoking prevalence is consistent with results from surveys in California (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1992) and Chicago, Illinois (Yu et al., 2002) showing 28 and 34% of Chinese-American men smoking, respectively. The smoking rate for Chinese-American men is higher than that of any other ethnic group in the USA except for Native Americans (MMWR, 2003). Six focus groups with men in Flushing, Queens who smoke, three conducted in Mandarin and three in Cantonese, revealed a low level of awareness of approaches to quitting smoking and where to go for assistance in quitting. Both the household survey and focus groups found a low level of knowledge about the health consequences of smoking. These baseline survey and focus group data point to a disparity in information and services for smoking cessation available to the Chinese-American population compared with other populations in the USA. The baseline household survey also found that 87.8% speak Chinese at home and 79.6% read Chinese newspapers at least once a week, documenting a specific need for Chinese language information.

Clarence King's Geology

Clarence King (1842-1901) studied geology at Yale, served as a volunteer on Josiah Dwight Whitney's (1819-1896) Geological Survey of California, and directed the Fortieth Parallel Survey (1867-1872) from the Sierra Nevada across the Rocky Mountains, topo-graphically and geologically mapping some 100,000 square miles. He established a framework for orogenic history of the American Cordillera that has remained unchanged. Within this framework he recognized what we know today as the Sonoma, Sevier, and Laramide orogenies. He noted that folding of Paleozoic strata in the Great Basin recorded east-west crustal shortening, he delineated trends of Laramide folds, he determined that extensional Tertiary faulting that accompanied rhyolitic volcanism resulted in dislocation of old folds, and that ranges were broken into irregular blocks with considerable vertical displacement. King rejected strict Lyellian uniformitarianism and related Darwinian evolution to episodes of enhanced selection pressure engendered by natural catastrophes. His refinement to 24 Ma (million years) of Kelvin's earth age estimate from terrestrial refrigeration reinforced his conception that inadequate time existed to explain the Fortieth-Parallel geologic record by uniformitarianism, and that accelerated geologic processes best accounted for episodes of uplift/subsidence, faulting, volcanism, and landscape degradation. King thus stands out as an early actualist, quite modern in his approach to event stratigraphy.

Effects of Regulations on the Choice of Ergonomic Methods: A Comparative Survey of California and New York Ergonomists

A survey of 57 ergonomists in California and 28 ergonomists in New York State compared which of 19 ergonomic methods were used to assess potential injury risks. Results showed great variability in methods chosen by practitioners both within and between States. The Cal/OSHA regulation apparently has not standardized method selection in California. Apart from use of the NIOSH lifting equation for assessments of lifting and the Borg RPE scale for assessing exertion, there was no evidence of any standardization among practitioners in either State. There was no consensus on methods for assessing posture, repetitiveness, or force. Significant confusion was found among California practitioners regarding the content of the current Cal/OSHA regulation.

Decadal variability in abundances of the dominant euphausiid species in southern sectors of the California Current

Abstract Euphausiid abundance data from broadly based California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation surveys in California and Baja California sectors of the California Current provided a time series distinguishing periodic, rhythmic and irregular species patterns. Comparisons with environmental indexes indicate significant correlations with warm-water species, most notably in coastal Nyctiphanes simplex. Oceanic warm-water species were similarly, but less extremely, allied with an index. Coastal warm-water N. simplex was uncommon off southern California before the atmospheric regime shift of the 1970s. It assumed a post-1978 pattern of rhythmic biannual abundance increases and decreases during 1981–2000. The near-tropical oceanic Euphausia eximia and Pacific Central subtropicals patterned similarly, but was more periodic than rhythmic. Euphausia pacifica, the most dominant and broadly ranging Euphausia species, peaked at irregular but distinct bi-decadal abundances during 6 strong La Nina episodes. The peaks uniformly collapsed by 90%, becoming El Nino-associated minima. The cold-water coastal northern species Thysanoessa spinifera frequently ranged far south off Baja California before 1960 but became limited to Central California in the 1980s. The importance of T. spinifera off the Californias is small compared with northern regions, but it extends to southern upwelling centers contributing to dominance, here, by cold-water euphausiids. Decadal periodicity of species abundances decreased in the 1990s, when trends became more common. Differences among sectors were minimal between the two Californias, but were often distinct between southern California and Central Baja California. Species abundances, comparing pre- and post-climate shift species averages, differed insignificantly for all species when logarithmic values were used. With arithmetic values, most 1977–1998 average values were the greater, but with large standard deviations.

Parental risk factors and social assimilation in alcohol dependence of Mexican Americans.

This study examines the reciprocal relationship of social assimilation and four parental behavioral risk factors in the intergenerational development of alcohol abuse or dependence (AAD) among adults of Mexican origin in the United States. Whereas many studies have shown U.S. nativity and English language use are markers for enhanced risk of AAD among Mexican Americans, such studies have not examined the extent to which predisposing biobehavioral factors are conditioned by social assimilation in the United States. Language use patterns as a proxy of cultural assimilation and length of time in the U.S. as a proxy for social assimilation were used to compare the distribution of parental behavioral factors (alcohol, drug abuse, depression and anxiety) and the influence of these factors on AAD onset in adult children of Mexican immigrants. Data were obtained from an epidemiologic field survey in Central California of 3,012 Mexican origin adults. Complex effects structured by gender were found: parental behavioral risk factors predicted AAD onset; Mexican American adults born in the U.S. were much more likely than were immigrants to report parents with behavioral risk factors; women were more susceptible to the effects of parent risk factors in the context of social and cultural assimilation. Women required more total risk factor exposure, including parent risk factors, for AAD onset. Reciprocal influences of parent risk factors on assimilation were found, suggesting that parental behavioral factor effects on AAD in adult children of Mexican Americans are subordinate to social and cultural assimilation.

Prior cigarette smoking initiation predicting current alcohol use: Evidence for a gateway drug effect among California adolescents from eleven ethnic groups

Gateway drug theory provides a useful framework for understanding drug use among adolescent populations. Studies have reported a gateway effect of cigarette smoking on alcohol use among adolescents; but there is a lack of knowledge regarding ethnic differences in this effect. Using data from a cross-sectional survey in California, 11,239 subjects (46.3% male) from 31 high schools with at least 25% of total enrollment of Asian and at least 200 students with Asian ancestry entered the analysis. Among them, 6016 were ninth graders (mean age=14.3, S.D.=0.49) and 5223 were twelfth graders (mean age=17.3, S.D.=0.54). After controlling for seven variables, the risk ratio of last 30-day alcohol use among prior smoking initiators vs. noninitiators was 5.82 for non-Hispanic Whites, 4.25 for Blacks, 8.37 for Asian Indians, 3.99 for Chinese, 3.45 for Filipinos, 3.48 for Japanese, 5.41 for Koreans, 7.57 for Vietnamese, 4.02 for Mexicans, 2.64 for South/Central Americans, and 5.95 for adolescents with multiethnic background. Comparison of the 11 ethnic groups indicated that adolescents from different ethnic groups but with similar cultural background had a similar risk level; such pattern existed after controlling for acculturation, parents' monitoring, and school performance. The risk ratio did not differ by gender and grade. There is an association between prior cigarette smoking initiation and current alcohol use among adolescents from different ethnic backgrounds, including those of multiethnicity, which supports the generalizability of gateway drug effect of cigarette smoking on alcohol use. Studies should be conducted to investigate factors attributable to the ethnic variations of this association.

Foreign exploration for Scirtothrips perseae Nakahara (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and associated natural enemies on avocado (Persea americana Miller)

Scirtothrips perseae Nakahara was discovered attacking avocados in California,USA,in 1996. Host plant surveys in California indicated that S. perseae has a highly restricted host range with larvae being found only on avocados,while adults were collected from 11 different plant species. As part of a management program for this pest,a ‘‘classical’’ biological control program was initiated and foreign exploration was conducted to delineate the home range of S. perseae,to survey for associated natural enemies and inventory other species of phytophagous thrips on avocados grown in Mexico,Guatemala,Costa Rica,the Dominican Republic, Trinidad,and Brazil. Foreign exploration efforts indicate that S. perseae occurs on avocados grown at high altitudes (>1500 m) from Uruapan in Mexico south to areas around Guatemala City in Guatemala. In Costa Rica, S. perseae is replaced by an undescribed congener as the dominant phytophagous thrips on avocados grown at high altitudes (>1300 m). No species of Scirtothrips were found on avocados in the Dominican Republic,Trinidad,or Brazil. In total,2136 phytophagous thrips were collected and identified, representing over 47 identified species from at least 19 genera. The significance of these species records is discussed. Of collected material � 4% were potential thrips biological control agents. Natural enemies were dominated by six genera of predatory thrips (Aeolothrips, Aleurodothrips, Franklinothrips, Leptothrips, Scolothrips,and Karnyothrips). One genus each of parasitoid (Ceranisus) and predatory mite (Balaustium) were found. Based on the results of our sampling techniques,prospects for the importation of thrips natural enemies for use in a ‘‘classical’’ biological control program in California against S. perseae are not promising. 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.