The 2001 National Household Travel Survey: a look into the travel patterns of older Americans

INTRODUCTION: The main objective of this paper is to highlight travel patterns of older adults living in the United States as depicted in the 2001 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). The NHTS is a national data collection program sponsored by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the Federal Highway Administration. It is the first national comprehensive household survey of both daily and long-distance travel, allowing for analysis of the full continuum of personal travel by Americans. To better understand the transportation needs of older Americans, it is useful to examine how travel patterns differ across age groups. The intent is to present basic travel characteristics of older adults (age 65+) and allow for comparisons with younger adults (ages 19-64). Travel-related characteristics of older adults in the United States: Results of the 2001 survey showed that older Americans travel extensively and rely on personal vehicles as heavily as their younger counterparts. Older Americans conduct 89% of their travel in personal vehicles. CHARACTERISTICS OF DAILY TRIPS TAKEN BY OLDER ADULTS: Older adults tend to be less mobile in that they take fewer trips, travel shorter distances, and have shorter travel times. This pattern is even more pronounced among older women. They are also more likely to suffer from self-reported medical conditions that further limit their travel. Characteristics of long-distance travel by older adults: Older men and women take long-distance trips at about the same rates and show a strong preference for using personal vehicles. And, while men and women take an equal percentage of their trips by air, older women show a strong preference for bus travel. CONCLUSIONS: Although older Americans travel extensively, they are less mobile than their younger counterparts. This pattern is more pronounced among older women and among those with self-reported medical conditions that affect their ability to travel outside their home. Older women consistently take the least number of trips per day, have the lowest driving rates, travel the shortest distances, and are more likely to report medical conditions that limit their travel. For men and women who have to give up driving, alternative means of transportation becomes a necessity. Yet, use of alternative transportation is relatively low; excluding personal vehicle and walking, all other means of transportation account for about 2% of daily travel. Further, of those with medical conditions that affect their travel, only about 12% use special transportation services such as dial-a-ride.     

The “Golden Hour” and field triage pattern for road trauma patients

Introduction: Although the term “golden hour” is a well-known concept among trauma system and emergency medical service providers, the relationship between time and trauma patient outcome and the process of prehospital care for road trauma patients in rural settings are poorly understood. As the underlying basis for triage decision-making, the estimated transport interval to trauma center is usually absent in the existing studies. Method: In this study, the crash data between 2013 and 2017 were obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, and the estimated intervals were calculated by using a Geographic Information System software. By comparing the estimated intervals with actual emergency medical services records, the field triage patterns for road patients were investigated at the state and county levels. Results and Conclusions: With the help of the interval prediction maps, the different triage patterns among counties were identified. Further, the average fatalities per 100,000 population by county from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were adopted to clarify the associated outcomes. The linear regression analysis results revealed that, for most states, all intervals except the notification interval had a significant correlation with the mortality. The estimated interval had a more significant relationship with the mortality than the actual transport interval. Practical applications: These findings indicated that adhering to the “golden hour” without regarding the destination may not be helpful for the survival of road trauma patients. The regression analyses and the interval maps can be used to identify patterns of inappropriate destination selection so that prospective decision-making can be improved.     

中国特色养老旅游地功能内涵及体系探讨——基于“五老功能”多样化诉求视角

基于人们日益增长的"老有所养、老有所医、老有所学、老有所为、老有所乐"多样化诉求,依据马斯洛需求层次理论,构建我国养老型旅游地功能体系,提出在已有旅游目的地中融入养老旅游所需元素的"嵌入式"发展路径和在城郊、小城镇、乡村等适宜场地专门建设养老型旅游地的"专业式"发展路径。从日常生活、医疗保健、学习氛围、老年就业、愉悦体验5个维度提出养老型旅游地的发展目标,从健康服务体系、分类医养体系、终身教育体系、科学劳动体系、旅游产品体系5个方面给出发展建议。     

基于SVM的居家老人跌倒预测方法研究

为减少老年人跌倒事件,在实验室采集54位老年人行进过程中的运动学数据;着眼于胸椎、膝盖、肩胛骨、骨盆等4个位置,以关节点在矢状面、冠状面、横断面的平均位移作为特征维度构建预测模型,应用支持向量机(SVM)算法对易跌倒老人进行识别预测;并通过数据对比,得到可以实现较高预测精度的最小维度。结果表明:通过粒子群算法(PSO)和基因算法(GA)优化SVM参数后,模型预测精度为87.5%;通过骨盆位置建立的3个维度可以达到同样的预测精度。     

探讨老年患者的心里压力及对策

目的:探讨老年患者的压力及心理护理.方法:对我院2010年元月至2011年12月收治298例老年患者,采用问卷调查和观察法,了解老年患者的心理压力,采取心理护理收到良好的效果.结果:298例中,配合治疗的199例痊愈,42例好转,8例无效;欠配合治疗的2例痊愈,6例好转,41例无效.结论:针对老年患者的压力,做好心理护理是我们义不容辞的责任,我们不仅要有精通的医学知识和丰富的心理学知识,还要有一颗爱心,这样才能做好老年心理护理,才能适应现代医学发展的需要.表2,参5.     

谈特殊病区HIV患者集中静脉采血

目的总结高效率集中采集HIV患者静脉血标本.方法回顾性总结389例患者静脉采血,从采血前准备、怎样选择静脉、采血时的体位配合,到扎止血带、穿刺技巧、拔针,以及防标本溶血,预防职业暴露及交叉感染.结果一次性成功采血89.5%,标本符合要求100%,未发生职业暴露及交叉感染.结论从吸毒的艾滋病患者静脉采血难于常人,采血过程及其前后准备与处理均须?小心谨慎.参4.     

Assessing the relationship between global warming and mortality: lag effects of temperature fluctuations by age and mortality categories

Although interests in assessing the relationship between temperature and mortality have arisen due to climate change, relatively few data are available on lag structure of temperature-mortality relationship, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. This study identified the lag effects of mean temperature on mortality among age groups and death categories using polynomial distributed lag models in Brisbane, Australia, a subtropical city, 1996-2004. For a 1 °C increase above the threshold, the highest percent increase in mortality on the current day occurred among people over 85 years (7.2% (95% CI: 4.3%, 10.2%)). The effect estimates among cardiovascular deaths were higher than those among all-cause mortality. For a 1 °C decrease below the threshold, the percent increases in mortality at 21 lag days were 3.9% (95% CI: 1.9%, 6.0%) and 3.4% (95% CI: 0.9%, 6.0%) for people aged over 85 years and with cardiovascular diseases, respectively. These findings may have implications for developing intervention strategies to reduce and prevent temperature-related mortality.