Participant Survey Responses Research Articles

A gradient of acute gastroenteritis was characterized, to assess risk of long-term health sequelae after drinking bacterial-contaminated water

Objective A municipal water system became contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Campylobacter spp. Beginning 2 years after an outbreak, all residents from the region were invited to participate in a cohort study assessing the risk of long-term sequelae. We aimed to develop a method to grade the accuracy and severity of self-reported acute symptoms. Study Design and Setting We corroborated participant survey responses with health records at the time of the outbreak. Of the 4,135 participants, 1,388 were asymptomatic during the outbreak, 1,752 had symptoms of acute self-limited gastroenteritis that could neither be confirmed nor refuted by prior health records, and 995 had symptoms that necessitated medical attention (and thus were confirmed by prior health records). Results The gradient related to the severity of acute symptoms. Compared to those with unconfirmed gastroenteritis, participants with confirmed gastroenteritis were more likely to describe fever, bloody diarrhea, and prolonged diarrhea (all P < .03). The gradient also correlated with long-term plausible outcomes, including chronic gastrointestinal symptoms, chronic symptoms of arthritis or depression, and the avoidance of municipal water ingestion after the outbreak ( P for trend consistently < .03). Conversely, for the outcome of chronic tinnitus, an association was neither expected nor observed ( P for trend = .26). Conclusion We successfully characterized a gradient to be used in future primary analyses assessing the risk of long-term health sequelae after an outbreak.

Community participation in Landcare policy in Australia: The Victorian experience with regional Landcare plans

An estimated 30% of the Australian farming community is currently participating in the on‐ground work of more than 1,900 landcare groups. The landcare program is grounded in the community participation approach to rural development and has renewed optimism about reversing land and water degradation in rural Australia. Until recently, landcare groups had not participated in any real sense in landcare policy development, and it is in this context that we discuss recent experience in the state of Victoria where more than 130 community representatives contributed to the development of nine regional landcare plans. These plans will form the basis of Victoria's response to the commonwealth landcare initiative. Indeed, much of the forthcoming legislation for integrated catchment management in Victoria is based on the regional landcare action plan (RLAP) experience. Analysis of participant observation and survey responses revealed a generally positive view of agency/community relationships, that landcare groups w...

Improving future preventive care through educational efforts at a women's community screening program.

Cervical cancer mortality continues to be a significant problem in the United States. Pap Test screening programs have been effective in attracting high risk women, but the impact of these programs on subsequent health care has seldom been explored. This follow up study examined the impact of a cervical cancer screening and education program on preventive health behaviors of New Hampshire women in the 24 months following the screening program. A mailed survey was sent to a random sample of 750 women from program participants to evaluate both their recent preventive health care practices and to identify perceived barriers to obtaining preventive health services. Of these, 71.1 percent responded. Survey responses of the original program participants were linked to each subject's previous answers to the same questions asked 24 months earlier. A comparison group was derived by asking follow up study participants to identify a female acquaintance within five years of her age. Seventy-four percent of the comparison group responded. Survey responses of original program participants were then compared to those of the comparison group. Results indicate that women who participated in the original Project received significantly more preventive health care services in the two years since the Project than in the two years prior to it. Women in the comparison group received more Paps and clinical breast examinations than women in the participant group, perhaps because all participants had received a Pap test two years before. Having a regular health care provider was the most significant characteristic associated with obtaining indicated preventive services. An important contribution of community screening programs may be to encourage women to establish a regular source of care.

Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems to Investigate the Detectability of Burmese Pythons in South Florida

Burmese pythons are an invasive, non-native species of snake to southern Florida and attempts at eradicating the snakes had yielded mixed results. The current rate of detection had been reported as 0.05%. The purpose of this research project was to determine if a UAS equipped with a near-infrared (NIR) camera could be used to detect pythons at a higher rate when compared to a RGB camera. The approach involved collecting 55 images from RGB and NIR cameras, over carcass pythons at flying heights of 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 meters. A likelihood ratio consisting of a true positive rate over false positive rate was calculated from 101 participant survey responses. Participants were able to detect pythons from an NIR camera with greater likelihood (M = 6.05, SD = 1.94) than a RGB camera (M = 4.74, SD = 1.32), t(10) = 1.77, p = .048. The data suggests that survey participants could correctly detect pythons in images containing the pythons at a 1.3x greater rate with the NIR sensor than with the RGB sensor. Also, a true positive rate (TPR) showed the observation rate of correctly detecting a python when one was present in the image. The NIR camera images had higher TPR rates compared to RGB images. The largest difference between camera types was observed at the 15 meters flying height over an outstretched python; there was a 35% increase in participant detection accuracy using the NIR camera compared to the RGB camera. These results suggest that a UAS equipped with an NIR camera flying between 3 and 15 meters in a nadir-oriented position of 90 degrees can be used to detect pythons. Using a UAS equipped with an NIR camera over levees searching for exposed pythons may help biologists responsible for managing these invasive species determine if a python is present.