NSW Public Health Bulletin Vol. 13 No. 1–2 1 NSW Public Health Bulletin CONTENTS Volume 13, Numbers 1–2 January–February 2002 ISSN 1034 7674 State Health Publication PH 020026 INDEX MEDICUS AND MEDLINE RECOGNISE NSW PUBLIC HEALTH BULLETIN Lynne Madden Editor Michael Giffin Managing Editor We are very proud to announce that the NSW Public Health Bulletin will be indexed in Index Medicus and MEDLINE. This follows a successful review in February by the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC) of the National Library of Medicine, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, situated in Maryland, USA. For authors, inclusion of the Bulletin in Index Medicus and MEDLINE means that their work is more readily accessible to a larger audience—nearly all literature reviews in the public health and biomedical fields start with a search of these indexes. We hope that this will make the Bulletin an even more attractive journal for high quality articles, and hence even more valuable for regular readers. The primary focus on NSW and Australia will, however, remain. Index Medicus, a bibliographic index, was established in the 1870s, 1 and its electronic form MEDLINE was established in the 1960s. 1 They are major sources of citation and provide access to the international biomedical journal literature covering areas such as public health, medicine, health care systems, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. About 4,300 journals are included on the MEDLINE database and 3,400 in Index Medicus. 2 The purpose of the LSTRC is to review the quality of journals and make recommendations regarding their inclusion in MEDLINE; journals may be added or removed. The LSTRC meets three times a year and at each meeting considers about 120 journals. Only 15– 20 per cent of applications to be included in MEDLINE are successful. 3 In a range of between 0 and 5 the LSTRC gave the Bulletin a score of 3.5–3.9, a ranking equivalent to ‘very good’. The quality of a journal is assessed using the following measures: scope and coverage (relevance to the biomedical field); quality of content (the scientific merit of the papers); quality of the editorial work (including processes such as peer review); production quality (layout, design, and graphics); audience (intended for health 1 Index Medicus and MEDLINE recognise NSW Public Health Bulletin 2 Guest editorial: The big falls issue 3 Changing health resource demands for injury due to falls in an ageing population 7 NSW fall injury indicators—15 year projections 8 Poor vision and risk of falls and fractures in older Australians: The Blue Mountains Eye Study 10 Reaching the Community and Specific Populations 11 Make a Move : Enhancing falls prevention through working in partnership 12 A collaborative approach: The Rural Falls Injury Prevention Program 13 Staying Active—Staying Safe : Development of a physical activity and falls prevention resource for older people who dwell in the community 15 Improve Your Bone and Muscle Tone : Evaluation of a strength training program on the Central Coast of NSW 19 Central Sydney Tai Chi Trial : Methodology 20 Step out with confidence 21 NHMRC Health Research Partnership : Prevention of Older People’s Injuries 23 EpiReview : Tuberculosis in NSW, 1991–2000 27 FactaSheet : Rabies and Bat Lyssavirus infection 28 Communicable Diseases Report, January–February 2002 continued on page 2