As part of a statewide effort to increase primary prevention around lead poisoning, every month the Boston Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program sends an informational packet to the families of all children who tested with a pb level of 10 to 14 ug/dl. BCLPPP decided to do a six-month pilot project with the 10-14 population to collect demographic information to better serve this population. From January to July 1999, we mailed surveys to families with children that had a BLL between 10-14 (n=479) along with the informational packet. The survey asked five questions: number of children, primary language spoken, secondary language spoken, race/ethnicity; and health insurance status. The incentive to complete the survey was a free copy of BCLPPP’s video “Lead Poisoning: The Thief of Childhood”, which is available in five languages. Fifty-three surveys were returned (11.1%), and 52 videos were sent out.
Thirty-seven percent of families reported that English was not their first language. More than 15 different racial and ethnic groups were reported with the majority of families (21%) identifying themselves as black. Insurance status of the children showed that 43.4% of the children belonged to an HMO; while 39.7 % had public insurance (Medicaid or Mass Health) and 5% were uninsured.
The results of this pilot survey show that the population that BCLPPP serves is linguistically and ethnically diverse. A more-extensive follow-up survey is warranted, and educational efforts will need to be evaluated to target the needs of this diverse community.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this poster session, participants will be able to
Keywords: Lead, Ethnicity
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.