As Pedestrian's Age Rises, So Does Odds of Dying in Traffic Accident

THURSDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- Elderly pedestrians face a much higher risk of being killed in a traffic accident than the young do, a new government report finds.

The analysis of 2001-2010 U.S. data showed that traffic-related death rates for men and women aged 75 and older were more than double those of people aged 34 and younger.

Overall, pedestrians make up 4,000 of the nearly 34,000 traffic-related deaths occurring in the United States each year, according to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of elderly killed while walking on America's road could even increase given the aging of the U.S. population, said CDC experts commenting on the finding.

They noted that older adults actually take fewer walks than younger people, "however, when struck, older adult pedestrians are more likely to die from their injuries."

Increasing frailty may leave the elderly more vulnerable to being hit by traffic, as well. Age-linked declines in mental function, vision and physical disabilities "might place older adult pedestrians at greater risk for being struck by a vehicle," the CDC added.

Between 2001 and 2010, more than 47,000 Americans died in traffic-related pedestrian deaths, with males having more than double the risk of being hit and killed versus females. It's been suggested that this may be because males tend to walk in more dangerous settings or take more chances when walking.

About three-fourths of pedestrian deaths occurred in cities, the researchers said.

The study appears in the April 19 issue of the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

When the researchers looked at ethnic/racial groups, they found that American Indians/Alaskan Natives had the highest death rates, while whites had the lowest death rates.

Pedestrian fatalities can be prevented, the CDC said, and efforts to do so should include installing speed bumps on certain roadways, enforcing speeding and distracted driving laws, and "creating pedestrian safety zones and streets designated for walking."

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, news release, April 18, 2013

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ADHD Rises by Almost 25% in 1 Decade

Jan. 21, 2013 -- The number of children with ADHD is rising rapidly, according to a study of more than 840,000 California children.

While the research findings echo those of nationwide studies, the new study is stronger than some other studies, says researcher Darios Getahun, MD, PhD, a scientist at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, a large health plan.

"We relied on the clinical diagnosis of ADHD [by doctors] and medication prescriptions rather than teacher or parent report," he says.

From 2001 to 2010, the rate of new cases of doctor-diagnosed ADHD rose from 2.5% to 3.1%, an increase of 24%.

"It's an increase that warrants attention," he says. Growing awareness of the condition is one reason for the rise, he speculates.

The study is published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

ADHD is one of the most common childhood neurobehavioral disorders, according to the CDC.

Children with ADHD have trouble paying attention or act impulsively, or both.

While the American Psychiatric Association estimates that 3% to 7% of school-aged children have ADHD, other studies have found higher rates.

The Kaiser researchers looked at the health records of 842,830 children in the health plan. They ranged from 5 to 11 years old.

Of those, nearly 5%, or 39,200, had an ADHD diagnosis.

When they looked at the rates of a new diagnosis, they found the 24% rise, from 2.5% in 2001 to 3.1% in 2010.

White and African-American children were both more likely to be diagnosed than were Hispanics or Asian-Pacific Islanders.

Typically, more boys than girls are diagnosed with ADHD. In the new study, they found an overall boy-to-girl ratio of 3 to 1, similar to other research.

However, they also found a 90% rise in ADHD in African-American girls.

Growing awareness and cultural norms may help explain the findings, Getahun says.

He says parents, teachers, and doctors are all more aware of the condition.

As for Asian children being less likely to have a diagnosis, Getahun says that could be partly due to the reluctance of some Asian parents to seek out mental health care.

One strength of the new study is the large number of children, says Craig Garfield, MD, a pediatrician at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

He has also studied the rise in ADHD.

"What I would advise parents is that if they notice their child suffering in school or in a situation where they have trouble with attention, to discuss this with their doctor," he says.

The doctor can ask more pointed questions and get input from teachers, he says.

Parents should take away from the study the need to be alert to possible symptoms of ADHD, says Roberto Tuchman, MD, director of the autism and neurodevelopmental program at Miami Children's Hospital Dan Marino Center.

"Parents need to be aware that ADHD is a disorder that can interfere with the development of a child's educational potential," he says.

However, if identified early, treatments can help, he says.

These include medications and educational and behavioral treatments.

"The other side of it is that ADHD can be overdiagnosed as people become more and more aware," he says.

Parents also need to know that ADHD often is accompanied by other problems, Tuchman says, such as learning disabilities.

For those reasons, Tuchman says, a parent who hears a diagnosis of ADHD needs to ask the doctor:

Are you sure this is ADHD?Does my child also have a learning disability or other problem?

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