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Living With Hypertension: Experiences Of Black Men Related To Their Perceptions Of The Clinical Encounter At Diagnosis, Glenda Mccartney Feild

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: In the U.S., hypertension (HTN) is the most common primary diagnosis and HTN related illnesses are the number one cause of death. Being a member of the Black population increases the risk for developing HTN. Black males are reported to develop HTN earlier in life and have a high incidence of undiagnosed, untreated, and uncontrolled HTN. Sociocultural and gender barriers influence this population’s perceptions of medical experiences, which affects their participation in health-promoting behaviors such as eating a healthy diet, engaging in regular physical activity, avoiding tobacco, limiting alcohol consumption, and decreasing stress.

Purpose: The purpose of this study …

Social Support In An Internet-Based Weight Loss Intervention Among College Students, Yijia Zhang

Masters Theses

Objective: To assess college students’ perceptions regarding online social support in an 8-week Internet-based weight loss intervention.

Participants: Participants were those randomized to the intervention group of an online weight loss intervention targeting overweight and obese college students.

Methods: Members of the intervention group had access to a private discussion forum and weekly live chat sessions, allowing for anonymous interactions. Following the 8-week intervention, intervention group members were invited to complete an online focus group, discussing these tools. The transcripts were directly copied from the live chat conversation history. Using thematic analysis, perceptions regarding online social support were identified, coded …

The Phenomenon Of Outbound Medical Tourism In The United States, Tanner Douglas Cabbage

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Associations Between Local Health Department Maternal And Child Health Programs And Low Birth Weight In Rural Communities, Krista Marie Cowan

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Communication, Control, And Time: The Lived Experience Of Uncertainty In Adolescent Pregnancy, Elizabeth Dortch Dalton

Doctoral Dissertations

This study qualitatively examined the lived experience of uncertainty among pregnant adolescents. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, long interviews were conducted with 10 pregnant adolescent women between the ages of 15-18 years. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the process of phenomenological explication. Data, emergent themes, memos, and a detailed audit trail were maintained using the qualitative data analysis package Nvivo 10 for Mac (beta version). Findings can be summarized with eight themes that underlie the essence of uncertainty in adolescent pregnancy: suspicion and denial, disclosure and reactions, controlling the flow of information, relational renegotiation, the emerging reality of pregnancy, information …

Intimacy Uncertainty And Identity In Gay Male Couples Dealing With A Serodiscordant Hiv Status, Scott Allen Eldredge

Doctoral Dissertations

When individuals are diagnosed with a chronic illness, their lives instantly change. Daily routines are interrupted and attendance to the symptoms and side effects of illness and medication becomes a daily chore. However, the patient is not the only one that feels the disruptive effects of illness and the partner of the chronically ill patient must also contend with the daily effects of an illness that they themselves do not have. In the case of HIV, the infectious nature of the disease, along with the stigma associated with the disease, serve to be additional sources of stress in an already-stressful …

Hospital Competitive Strategies And Performance Outcomes, Wei Wu

Doctoral Dissertations

Hospitals are under increasing pressure to improve performance and healthcare outcomes. The existing literature does not point to a clear conclusion on whether competition can help address the performance challenges of hospitals which lead to improvements in clinical outcomes. Prior research on the effects of hospital competitive strategies usually focuses on one strategy or one type of outcome at a time. As such, there is a dearth of systematical studies on different hospital competitive strategies and their consequent performance outcomes.

The main objective of this dissertation is to examine several hospital competitive strategies and quantitatively validate the implications of each …

College Environment Behavioral And Perceptions Survey (Cebps): Using In-Depth Interviews As A Validation Method For Survey Development, Mackenzie Rae Ruppert

Masters Theses

Background: Although there are some validation procedures based in qualitative approaches (e.g. asking what someone thinks about the structure of a survey question during face, content validation, or cognitive interviews), there are no approaches to validate a subject’s responses by a “gold standard assessment”. The purpose of this study was to use a mix-methodology approach to validate subjects’ perceptions, which used indepth interviews as a criterion-based validation method.

Methods: 30 participants (15 male and 15 female) completed the CEBPS survey and an indepth interview with questions mirroring those in the survey. A priori coding was used to develop …

Physical Activity In Individuals With Down Syndrome, Chelsea B. Spurgeon

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Energy Expenditure And Feasibility Of Two Prenatal Yoga Programs, Doree Lynn Gardner

Masters Theses

Purpose: To determine the energy expenditure and feasibility of two different DVD-­‐ based prenatal yoga programs (static yoga practice and vinyasa practice). Methods: Participants were 25 women in their second trimester (13-­‐28 weeks) who werescreened for pregnancy-­‐related risk factors. The two DVDs used were “Prenatal Yoga with Shiva Rea” (DVD A) which is a static yoga practice, and “Jennifer Wolfes Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga” (DVD B) which is a flow yoga practice. Both DVDs were approximately 50-­‐55 minutes, and included three phases (warm up, main, cool down). Each subject completed both prenatal DVD routines approximately two weeks apart. The …

Development Of The Biostatistics And Clinical Epidemiology Skills Assessment For Medical Residents, Patrick Brian Barlow

Doctoral Dissertations

This study developed the Biostatics and Clinical Epidemiology Skills (BACES) assessment, and established its preliminary item characteristics and validity evidence. Unlike previous instruments, the BACES assessment was developed and tested using an item response theory (IRT) approach to measurement to create a new, adaptive biostatistics and clinical epidemiology knowledge assessment for graduate medical professionals. Thirty multiple-choice questions were written to focus on interpreting relevant examples of clinical epidemiology and statistical methods. A four person expert panel reviewed these items for content validity. After this review, the BACES assessment was administered to 147 medical residents across three academic medical centers. Results …

Associations Of Total Activity Counts And Physical Activity Intensity Levels With The Metabolic Syndrome: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach, Dana Lizbeth Wolff

Doctoral Dissertations

To clarify the protective benefits of physical activity (PA), epidemiologists and public health researchers continue to seek improved methods of assessing PA. In particular, accelerometers have gained acceptance with researchers as they provide reliable estimates of PA and can record both the amount and intensity of ambulatory movement. However, there is concern that accelerometer data reduction techniques may not provide quantitatively accurate measurements of time spent in various PA intensity categories. One way to circumvent these inaccuracies is to use the accelerometer-derived total activity counts (TAC), which is a more direct expression of what the monitor records.

In order to …

Physical Activity And Its Effect On Reducing Disease: A Literature Review Of The National Runner's Health Study, Graham William Edson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Health Care Delivery And The Hispanic Community In Knox County, Sean C. Barton

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.