title: Safety practices in relation to home ownership among urban Mexican immigrant families.
abstract: We examined home safety hazards, comparing renter- to owner-occupied housing among urban, immigrant Mexican families.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interviews and home inspections were conducted among urban, Spanish-speaking immigrant families with children. We estimated weighted hazard prevalence and used logistic regression to compare owner- and renter-occupied homes. Of 313 eligible households, 250 (80%) enrolled. Respondents were predominantly Mexican-born (99%), low income (72.6%) and lower education (92.3%). Most homes had fire, burn, fall, poisoning, electrocution and fire escape hazards, including high tap water temperatures (76.4%; 95% CI: 69.0, 83.7%), no working smoke alarms (60.0%; 51.3, 68.8%), slippery bathtub/shower surfaces (58.7%; 49.9, 67.5%), blocked fire escape routes (55.9%; 47.2, 64.5%) and child-accessible medications (71.0%; 60.1, 81.3%). After adjustment for sociodemographics, fire escape (OR = 8.8; 95% CI: 2.8, 27.7), carbon monoxide poisoning (OR = 2.9; 1.4, 6.2) and drowning (OR = 3.5; 1.3, 9.4) hazards were more likely in owner- than renter-occupied homes. Housing age and type explained most differences. Many urban, immigrant Spanish-speaking families live in unsafe homes. For this population, housing safety programs should be targeted based on housing age and type rather than tenure.
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. Carolyn.DiGuiseppi@ucdenver.edu
authors: Carolyn
authors: C
authors: Diguiseppi
authors: Cynthia W
authors: CW
authors: Goss
authors: Lihong
authors: L
authors: Dao
authors: Amanda
authors: A
authors: Allshouse
authors: Robert A
authors: RA
authors: Bardwell
authors: Edward
authors: E
authors: Hendrikson
authors: Shelly L
authors: SL
authors: Miller
authors: Jill
authors: J
authors: Litt
mesh_terms: D000061:Accidents, Home; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010067:Ownership / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011203:Poverty; D011482:Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012449:Safety; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult