Digital Commons Network^™

Socioeconomic Characteristics Of Farmers And Agrochemical Use In Grenada, Lindonne Marcia Glasgow

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The World Health Organization classified carbaryl, glyphosate, and paraquat as hazardous to human health. In the Agriculture Health Study in the United States, health problems were associated with the use of these 3 agrochemicals 12 or more times per year. These 3 agrochemicals were commonly used in Grenada. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between the social and economic characteristics of the farmers who participated in the 2012 agriculture survey and the use of agrochemicals at frequencies that could pose health risks. Five constructs of the social cognitive theory were used as the premise …

Public Health Providers' Perceptions Of Electronic Health Records In A Disaster, Sherhonda Yvette Harper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The introduction of federal initiatives and incentives regarding health information technology fostered a movement towards the adoption of electronic health records (EHR). Implementation of EHRs sparked discussions among healthcare providers, patients, and others about the benefits or challenges of the move from the traditional paper method to the electronic version in healthcare settings. A knowledge gap in research involving the usefulness of EHRs and their impact to the delivery of care in other settings exists. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore public health providers' perceptions of the meaningful use of EHRs in a disaster setting. Study participants …

Perceptions Of Chiropractors In Mississippi Regarding Obesity, Phelesia Nakita Foster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity continues to be a growing problem across the United States. Chiropractors have made claims of providing health promotion services within their treatment protocol; however, there is a lack of empirical research regarding a need for the chiropractic profession to train chiropractors to address Healthy People 2020 public health initiatives. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of Mississippi Delta Region chiropractors regarding their role in obesity management as nonmedical practitioners that implement public health objectives in their practice. The research questions aimed at addressing possible barriers and limitations that influenced chiropractors' perceptions regarding their role …

Evaluación Del Financiamiento Del Régimen Subsidiado En El Sector De La Salud En Colombia Durante El Periodo 2013-2017, William Leonardo Barrera Salazar

Finanzas y Comercio Internacional

La ley 100 de 1993 dio paso a la creación del sistema de seguridad socialintegral y estableció dos formas de afiliación a dicho sistema, en primera instancia elrégimen contributivo y en segundo lugar al régimen subsidiado. En este documentose describe el esquema y evolución del financiamiento del régimen subsidiado,identificando el flujo de recursos por cada fuente de financiación y contrastándolosempíricamente frente a sus respectivos costos por departamento. Además delanálisis fundamentado en la normatividad y la literatura, así como en las falencias yavances que se evidencian en el régimen, se utiliza como herramienta el análisisestadístico basado en regresiones. En este sentido, …

Examining Publicly Accessible Data Resources And Applications In Healthcare, Sarah Siddiqui

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This thesis is a study of popular data resources in healthcare and their applications toward health information system design and development. The first section reviews the way data is collected with a list of websites where health datasets can be obtained; along with a summary of the recognized vocabulary standards that make it easier to understand and share this data. The next section discusses ways of data categorization for better analysis, recognizing that a significant proportion of health data is unstructured. The Recent Findings section highlights the changes in the data over the years and the ways in which their …

Modeling The Impact Of 13rs-Hb358: Hpv Vaccination For School Entry In A High-Prevalence State, Stacy Lee Ware

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Prophylactic cancer vaccination presents novel opportunities to improve the health and well-being of populations. Since the approval of a cervical cancer vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) in 2006, only three states have passed legislation adding it to their school-entry schedules of required vaccinations. Despite ample evidence of its safety and efficacy, the vaccine remains controversial, and national vaccination rates among both girls and boys remain low. Risk for HPV-related cancers varies by population, and Appalachian Kentucky has among the highest HPV-related morbidity and mortality in the nation. Annual attempts to pass HPV vaccine legislation in Kentucky have so far failed …

Impact Of The School Health Innovations Grant Act On Healthcare Access, Outcomes, And Cost In The District Of Columbia, Robert West

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

This paper provided a prospective policy analysis of the Washington, D.C. School Health Innovations Grant Act. This act establishes a grant program to facilitate the formation of school-based telehealth centers to provide mental health services to District school children. The purpose of this act is to improve access to mental health services for children, especially children in disadvantaged populations, such as those low-income, predominantly African American neighborhoods in eastern Washington, D.C., where a high burden of need is compounded by a shortage of health professionals.

This analysis was guided by the Bardach framework of policy analysis. The various factors affecting …

Association Between Reproductive Factors And Breast Cancer Subtypes: A Meta-Analysis, Xihua Mao

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Introduction: Hormone-related reproductive factors have been reported to be associated with breast cancer subtypes. However, the direction and magnitude of these associations were inconsistent. Additionally, for breast cancer defined by estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR): ER+PR+, ER+PR-, ER-PR+, and ER-PR- subtypes, no meta-analysis was available for ER+PR-and ER-PR+ subtypes. For ER+PR+ and ER-PR- subtypes, only a few reproductive risk factors have been examined in meta-analyses.

Methods: Primary studies published from 2011 to 2017 were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, and Scopus. Following PRISMA guidelines, a total of 98 eligible studies investigated the association between reproductive factors and breast cancer …

Implementing The National Diabetes Prevention Program In Mason County, Kentucky, Cassandra Yelton

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The program’s goal is to reduce the incidence of diabetes through dietary modification and physical activity. On one hand, the DPP is currently offered by various organizations through the country. On the other hand, the DPP is mostly unavailable in rural areas, especially the Diabetes Belt. The Diabetes Belt is in the eastern Appalachian region of the United States. People who live in this area of the country are more likely to develop diabetes than those who do not. Mason County, Kentucky has …

Implementation Of An Evidenced-Based Opioid Treatment Program To Improve Maternal-Child Outcomes In Eastern Kentucky, Jordan Rice

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The Kentucky River Area District Health Department proposes implementation of CHARM-Kentucky, a treatment program for pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD), in eastern Kentucky. Over 115 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose, resulting in approximately 42,000 deaths in 2016. In addition to an overall increase in opioid use in recent years, the use of opioids in pregnancy has also increased from 1.19 per 1,000 hospital births in 2000 to 5.63 in 2009. Opioid use during pregnancy results in poor neonatal outcomes including: low birth weight, preterm delivery, small head circumference, increased child maltreatment, and risk for long-term …

Reducing Depression And Suicide Ideation Among College Students, Andrew Ritzel

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Suicide rates have been on the rise for the past 30 years; 42,773 Americans dying every year by suicide. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death among all ages, but the second leading cause of death among Americans ages 15-24. College students traditionally fall within this age group, and are especially at risk for suicide due to stressful life conditions. The University of Kentucky, located centrally within Kentucky in the city of Lexington, is an ideal location for a suicide prevention intervention. Students demonstrated an increased rate of depression compared to the national population (15.13% of students surveyed reported …

Aps’Aalooke Led Diabetes Prevention Program, Lucy Hollingsworth Williamson

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The primary objective of this proposed program is to decrease the burden of diabetes mellitus type II among the Crow Indian tribe members in Montana by preventing the progression of prediabetes to diabetes. Type II diabetes mellitus (DMII), is a debilitating disease that contributes to increased morbidity and mortality, in addition to billions of healthcare costs annually. In the United States, minority populations carry a higher burden of DMII, however American Indians have the highest prevalence of all. In fact, American Indians are 2.4 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than white people.

In Montana, the Crow Indian …

The Effect Of Rescheduling Of Hydrocodone On Prescription Writing Among University Of Kentucky Dentists, Robert Taylor

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Opioid abuse has become a public health crisis over the last two decades. Hydrocodone is the most frequently prescribed opioid to patients whose deaths are related to prescription drug abuse. On October 6, 2014, Federal law changed hydrocodone, an opioid-based analgesic, from Schedule III to Schedule II. This limits the number of ways it can be prescribed, including eliminating refills. This study examined hydrocodone and oxycodone prescriptions written across all dental clinics associated with the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry and analyzed three different dental disciplines that perform procedures that require pain management. Prescription data was obtained through axiUm, …

Consultation Experience In Public Health, Hannah Bellamy

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The following portfolio is an overview of my consulting experience in public health. My experiences include making frequency tables, producing summary statistics, conducting Chi- Square and T-Test, and reproducing a demographics table. Working with investigators, I have conducted a power analysis for a pilot study, assisted with a study design consultation, used the Kappa coefficient to test for inter-rater reliability, presented survey results with answer distributions, and produced summary statistics for an investigator’s research poster.

Working in the Applied Statistics Laboratory and with investigators has taught me the process of consulting. It begins by meeting with an investigator and determining …

Vitamin D Deficiency And Segregation Status In Prisoners, Zelda Doyle, John Dearin, Joe Mcgirr

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate if any exposure to segregation minimal association in a single male prison population had any association with an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Design/methodology/approach: A retrospective case study was undertaken with all inmates who had a 25-hyrdoxy-vitamin D test taken during the study period deemed eligible. Hand searching of the medical records by an independent party identified eligible participants whose data were recorded for analysis.

Findings: In total, 124 prisoners were deemed eligible for inclusion; 67 were vitamin D sufficient and 57 were vitamin D deficient by Australian standards. Time …

What Drives Food Insecurity In Western Australia? How The Perceptions Of People At Risk Differ To Those Of Stakeholders, Lucy M. Butcher, Maria M. Ryan, Therese A. O'Sullivan, Johnny Lo, Amanda Devine

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Food insecurity is considered a “wicked” problem due to the highly complex and at times undefined casual factors. Although many stakeholders are working to address the problem, a possible divergence exists between their views on food insecurity and those of the people who are actually experiencing the problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was a difference between the opinions of those “at risk” and stakeholders. A total of seven focus groups (two stakeholder groups n = 10, five “at-risk” groups n = 34) and three interviews (stakeholders n = 3) were conducted to ascertain perceptions. …

Lead In Tap Water From The City Of Dayton, Ohio, Kayla Marie Haman

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Lead (Pb) in public tap water is a national health concern and is the main pathway of human exposure to Pb. The City of Dayton has verified Pb pipelines and homes with Pb plumbing; thus, residents are at risk to Pb leaching into their tap water. I sampled water from 130 residential and 24 public water taps and measured Pb and copper (Cu). Five percent of samples exceeded the action level for Pb (> 15 [micro]g/L) and none exceeded the action level for Cu. The City of Dayton's lead pipeline map identifies potential Pb exposure from Pb distribution pipes. However, …

Witch Doctors, Zombies, And Oracles: Rethinking Health In America, Ali S. Khan

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

To the extent we can even refer to an American healthcare "system," it functions brilliantly ... to make money. The system is designed to reward executives or major shareholders of pharmaceutical & health insurance companies, healthcare facilities, and related entities. With a rapidly aging population, healthcare will soon surpass a fifth of our economy. Of course, the American healthcare system does not function brilliantly when one considers the perspective of patients and over-extended primary care providers. Prices are growing faster than inflation or wages, healthcare is twice as costly as other comparable nations, and one third is a result of …

The Effect Of Fast Food Restaurants On Type 2 Diabetes Rates, Grace Bailey

CMC Senior Theses

This paper conducts an analysis of county level data to determine the effect of fast food restaurants on type 2 diabetes rates. Due to endogeneity concerns with respect to the location of fast food restaurants, this paper follows the work of Dunn (2010) and uses the number of interstate exits in a given county to serve as an instrument for fast food restaurants. The strength of the instrument, which is theoretically and empirically tested in this paper, imposes some restraints on the interpretation of the findings. Using the Two-Stage Least Squares estimation method, I find that the presence of fast …

Teaching Health Disparities Awareness In Undergraduate Public Health Courses, Anuli Njoku

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Disparities in health outcomes between U.S. population subgroups, related to factors like race/ethnicity, income, and geographic location, are alarming. By integrating health disparities awareness content into the curriculum, academic institutions can play an important role in developing conscious health practitioners to help close gaps in health outcomes. This paper presents the implementation, results and feedback of efforts to incorporate health disparities awareness content into two undergraduate public health courses at a rural Midwestern U.S. university. Throughout this process, the author’s work was supported by a faculty development program. Students completed pre- and post-surveys to report health disparities knowledge and attitudes …

Improving Public Health Readiness For Sea Level Rise: A New Initiative In Coastal Virginia, Steven M. Becker

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Sea level has been rising around the world, and in recent decades, the rate has been accelerating. Because rising seas have the potential to directly or indirectly affect the health of vast numbers of coastal communities and inhabitants, public health agencies and professionals—in conjunction with other fields—have a pivotal role to play in helping to protect populations, reduce and prevent health impacts, and foster resilience. This article discusses a novel effort that has been undertaken in Coastal Virginia to help prepare the next generation of public health professionals to grapple with sea level rise issues. The effort grew out of …

A Little Dab Will Do Ya: An Exploration Of First Time Dabbers On Youtube, Christopher L. Coker

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis project is an in-depth examination of a rising subculture within cannabis users. With this research project, my aim was to explore and provide insight into the initial experiences of novice cannabis concentrate use as represented on YouTube while they are initiated into this emerging cannabis subculture. Referred to as “dabbing” or “dabs,” this highly potent and concentrated form of cannabis is being utilized by cannabis users to achieve greater highs and effects than those from the traditional cannabis flower. In this study I explored first-time “dabbers” by drawing from social media content in the form of YouTube videos …

Detection Of Borrelia Burgdorferi In Historic Tick Samples And Its Relevance To The White-Tailed Deer Population In New Hampshire, Tasya Rakasiwi

Honors Theses and Capstones

The cases of Lyme disease in New Hampshire have increased over time. There are speculations that increasing number of Lyme disease cases in New Hampshire are due to environmental factors, such as warmer climate, white-footed mouse population, white-tailed deer population, opossum population, and forestation coverage. In this study, we processed whole tick samples from 2000, 2001, and 2003 for Borrelia burgdorferi by Real-Time TaqMan PCR. In addition, we also processed homogenized tick samples from 2010, that previously tested positive for B. burgdorferi and had been stored at -80°C since 2010, for repeat B. burgdorferi testing by Real-Time TaqMan PCR. Then, …

Adolescent Perceptions Of Addiction: A Mixed-Methods Exploration Of Instagram Hashtags And Adolescent Interviews, Colleen Marie Brazill-Murray

Theses and Dissertations

Addictive disorders are a public health crisis that affects our society by draining our workforce, health care, judicial, education, and law enforcement, resources. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to social influence - for better and for worse - and addiction. Through social media, today’s youth experience a whole new way of communicating. Not enough is known about adolescent perceptions of addiction, and messages of addiction they are exposed to on social media. Social Learning Theory and the Learning Theory of Addiction provided the framework for understanding how adolescents are at risk for developing unhealthy practices that create numerous psychological, social and …

Public Health Implications Of Metal Ash Concentrations From Prescribed Burns: A Study Of Open Jarrah Forests, John Edwards

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Ash is not a homogenous product. It is the solid residue of combustion and contains a complex mixture of chemical products. The fire that produces ash is non-discriminatory in that it will burn anything that is combustible. The ash residue resulting from fires varies and is dependent on its source, and burn characteristics such as the temperature of the fire. Ash comprises particles of carbon, soot and trace elements. Ash presents public health risk to people and communities, through direct and indirect ingestion, inhalation and absorption. The health effects of ash exposure are not limited to symptoms affecting the eyes, …

The Built Environment, Justin Gundlach, Jennier Klein

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The built environment, which includes not only buildings but infrastructure, mediates several important climate impacts on public health and is also subject to diverse legal requirements. It is a subject of particular focus for policy efforts aimed at promoting adaptive responses to climate change on the part of institutions and individuals. This chapter presents key examples of public health impacts that arise from climate change but are mediated – possibly mitigated, possibly exacerbated - by elements of the built environment. It also describes the process and substance of adaptive responses to those impacts. Having presented these physical and policy contexts …

Measuring Sexual Minority Stressors In Lesbians Women's Daily Lives: Initial Scale Development, Kristin Heron, Abby L. Braitman, Robin J. Lewis, Alexander T. Shappie, Phoebe T. Hitson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Lesbian women face unique sexual minority stressors (SMS) because of their stigmatized and marginalized status in society. Existing studies of SMS are primarily cross-sectional and use global measures of SMS. The goal of the present study was to develop a brief daily measure of SMS for use in daily diary or ecological momentary assessment studies. Existing retrospective measures of SMS were reviewed, resulting in an initial pool of 29 items. Thirty-eight lesbian women (Mage = 24.3 years, range: 19–30 years) completed a daily web-based survey including the SMS items for 12 days. Two response scales were tested; participants were randomized …

Sexual Coercion, Drinking To Cope Motives, And Alcohol-Related Consequences Among Self-Identified Bisexual Women, Michelle L. Kelly, Sarah J. Ehlke, Robin J. Lewis, Abby L. Braitman, Wendy Bostwick, Kristin E. Heron, Cathy Lau-Barraco

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Given higher sexual victimization and greater alcohol use among bisexual women, a critical public health challenge is to understand within-group variation that may heighten or explain these associations in bisexual women. Objectives: The present study tested a moderated-mediation model in which sexual coercion was hypothesized to be associated with alcohol-related consequences via drinking to cope motives in self-identified bisexual women who reported at least occasional binge drinking. Negative affect was hypothesized to moderate the sexual coercion-drinking to cope motives association. Methods: Participants were a community sample of 107 self-identified bisexual women (age M = 20.97, SD = 2.11) who …

Quarantine And The Federal Role In Epidemics, Michael R. Ulrich, Wendy K. Mariner

SMU Law Review

Every recent presidential administration has faced an infectious disease threat, and this trend is certain to continue. The states have primary responsibility for protecting the public’s health under their police powers, but modern travel makes diseases almost impossible to contain intrastate. How should the federal government respond in the future? The Ebola scare in the U.S. repeated a typical response—demands for quarantine. In January 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued final regulations on its authority to issue Federal Quarantine Orders. These regulations rely heavily on confining persons who may …

: Investigating The Influence Of Abiotic Variability On Escherichia Coli Population Dynamics In Three Denver, Co Springs, Tamara C. Burke

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Humans risk exposure to microbial pathogens when they use freshwater for recreation or as a drinking water source. In developing nations where monitoring and treatment of microbe-contaminated water is weak or unavailable, 1.8 million humans die each year from waterborne illnesses. In developed nations where public and private utilities treat drinking water, residents still remain vulnerable to these illnesses when they use recreational waters contaminated with sewage or animal feces. To assess whether streams and lakes should be closed to recreation, cities and counties closely monitor likely pathogen presence by testing for the indicator bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). …