Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Stem Cell Matching For Patients Of Mixed Race, Ted C. Bergstrom

Ted C Bergstrom

Patients with leukemia and other blood diseases stand a good chance of recovery and a return to normal life if they receive a stem cell transplant from a living donor. In the absence of a transplant, their survival prospects are grim. For a transplant to be successful, the human leukocyte antigens (HLA) of the donor and recipient must be a close genetic match. To facilitate non-sibling matches, the developed nations of the world have set up national volunteer registries. The larges such registry is the NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program). We estimate the distribution of HLA types for individuals of …

Community Demographics And Access To Care Among Us Hispanics, Carole Gresenz, J. Rogowski, Jose Escarce

Carole Roan Gresenz

No abstract provided.

Counting On Care Work: Human Infrastructure In Massachusetts, Randy Albelda, Mignon Duffy, Nancy Folbre

Center for Social Policy Publications

In Massachusetts, as in every other place in the world, all children need to be cared for and educated, everybody has physical and mental health needs that require attention, and some individuals need assistance with the daily tasks of life because of illness, age, or disability. The labor of meeting these needs – which we call care work – is a complex activity that has profound implications for personal, social and economic well-being. Care work is not just a cornerstone of our economy – it is a rock-bottom foundation. Care work provides the basis for our human infrastructure, and we …

One Chance In A Million: Altruism And The Bone Marrow Registry, Ted Bergstrom, Rod Garratt, Damien Sheehan-Connor

Ted C Bergstrom

Transplants of donated stem cells save the lives of many patients with blood diseases. Donation is somewhat painful, butrarely has lasting adverse effects. Patients can accept transplants only from donors with compatible immune systems. Those lacking a sibling match must seek donations from the population at large. The probability that two persons of the same race are compatible is less than 1/10,000. Health authorities maintain a registry of several million genetically-tested potential donors who have agreed to donate if asked. We study the peculiar structure of voluntary public good provision represented by the registry, and compare the marginal benefits and …

Public Health H1n1 Response Research Protocol, Glen Mays

Glen Mays

This research protocol was developed to analyze local variation in the public health response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak in the United States. The protocol was fielded in North Carolina and Kentucky through practice-based research networks (PBRNs) operating in these states.

Efficient Parameter Estimation In Longitudinal Data Analysis Using A Hybrid Gee Method, Denis H. Y. Leung, You Gan Wang, Min Zhu

Research Collection School Of Economics

The method of generalized estimating equations (GEEs) provides consistent estimates of the regression parameters in a marginal regression model for longitudinal data, even when the working correlation model is misspecified (Liang and Zeger, 1986). However, the efficiency of a GEE estimate can be seriously affected by the choice of the working correlation model. This study addresses this problem by proposing a hybrid method that combines multiple GEEs based on different working correlation models, using the empirical likelihood method (Qin and Lawless, 1994). Analyses show that this hybrid method is more efficient than a GEE using a misspecified working correlation model. …

Complexity, Cofactors, And The Failure Of Aids Policy In Africa, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

Global AIDS policy still treats HIV as an exceptional case, abstracting from the context in which infection occurs. Policy is based on a simplistic theory of HIV causation, and evaluated using outdated tools of health economics. Recent calls for a health systems strategy – preventing and treating HIV within a programme of comprehensive health care – have not yet influenced the silo approach of AIDS policy.

Evidence continues to accumulate, showing that multiple factors, such as malnutrition, malaria and helminthes, increase the risk of sexual and vertical transmission of HIV. Moreover, complementary interventions that reduce viral load, improve immune response, …

Opportunities For Comparative Research In Public Health Pbrns: A Baseline Analysis Of Local Practice Settings, Glen P. Mays, Sharla A. Smith

Glen Mays

This anaysis describes the organizational and operational characteristics of local public health agencies participating in an initial cohort of five (5) public health PBRNs in the U.S. We examine variation in practice settings within and between PBRNs; compare practice settings to state and national norms; and identify opportunities for comparative research that can be conducted through PBRNs

Opportunities For Comparative Research In Public Health Pbrns : A Baseline Analysis Of Local Practice Settings, Glen P. Mays, Sharla A. Smith, Elaine B. Wootten, Sylvia J. Porchia

Health Management and Policy Presentations

This analysis describes the organizational and operational characteristics of local public health agencies participating in an initial cohort of five (5) public health PBRNs in the U.S. We examine variation in practice settings within and between PBRNs; compare practice settings to state and national norms; and identify opportunities for comparative research that can be conducted through PBRNs.

Does Unemployment Decrease Cancer Mortality?, Benjamin Torres Galick

Economics Honors Projects

Recent research indicates that healthier lifestyles during recessions decrease the most common U.S. mortalities, but not cancer. However, they combine specific cancer mortalities with different progressions into one, possibly obscuring cancer’s link to unemployment. This paper estimates a fixed-effects regression model on unemployment and the nine most prevalent cancers between 1988 and 2002 using state-level panel data. Five cancers and total cancer are procyclical, and suggest that unemployment affects both incidence and gestation for some cancers. Consistent with the medical literature, this paper contradicts previous economic research and suggests that behavioral factors significantly impact cancer mortality.

The Effect Of Obesity On State Health Care Expenditures: An Empirical Analysis, Kristen Collins

Honors Projects in Economics

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of obesity rates on per capita state health care expenditures. A two-stage least square regression model is used. In the first stage of the estimation, factors influencing obesity rates are determined. The determinants of obesity rates are outlined throughout the research process. In the second stage, the impact of obesity rates on per capita health expenditures across states is evaluated. The empirical results indicate that obesity rates do indeed have a direct effect on state health care expenditures. After reviewing the project’s results, various solutions are proposed as possible methods …

Advancing The Fiscal Health Of Low-Income Families: A Public And Community Health Approach, Doreen Treacy

Center for Social Policy Publications

For decades, health researchers have documented the links between individual and household income/wealth and clinical health outcomes. The research and literature consistently point to both income inequality (i.e. individual household income/wealth as compared to other households in the same state) and individual household income as predictors of diminished health and morbidity. And yet the current framework for providing financial education, disseminating asset building information, and overall responding to the financial health of individuals and households takes no cues from public health and community health best practices. Further, the documented links between financial stress and compromised physical health are compelling enough …

Initial Research And Evaluation Concepts For Public Health Pbrns, Glen Mays

Glen Mays

Initial research and evaluation activities of the Public Health PBRN Program are intended to provide a descriptive characterization of networks during their early stages of development. This descriptive ‘network analysis’ will provide a baseline for tracking changes in network structure and function over time. The information generated through these activities is intended to be useful for a variety of audiences, including current grantees and others interested in developing or expanding public health PBRNs, as well as policy and practice stakeholders interested in using the evidence and insight to be produced through PBRNs.

Three State-Run Green Building Programs: A Comparative Case Study Analysis And Assessment, Haidee N. Janak

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis explores three state-run green building programs (California, Minnesota and New York) through comparative case-study analysis. Main topics discussed include cost benefits, health benefits, certification (i.e. LEED or other), and lessons learned from direct interviews with program staff.

The Benefits Of Risk Factor Prevention In Americans Aged 51 Years And Older, Dana P. Goldman, Yuhui Zheng, Federico Girosi, Pierre-Carl Michaud, S. Jay Olshansky, David Cutler, John W. Rowe

Yuhui Zheng

Objectives. We assessed the potential health and economic benefits of reducing common risk factors in older Americans.

Methods. A dynamic simulation model tracked a national cohort of persons 51 and 52 years of age to project their health and medical spending in prevention scenarios for diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and smoking.

Results. The gain in life span from successful treatment of a person aged 51 or 52 years for obesity would be 0.85 years; for hypertension, 2.05 years; and for diabetes, 3.17 years. A 51- or 52-year-old person who quit smoking would gain 3.44 years. Despite living longer, those successfully treated …

Understanding The Economic Consequences Of Shifting Trends In Population Health, Pierre-Carl Michaud, Dana P. Goldman, Darius N. Lakdawalla, Yuhui Zheng, Adam Gailey

Yuhui Zheng

No abstract provided.

International Differences In Longevity And Health And Their Economic Consequences, Pierre-Carl Michaud, Dana P. Goldman, Darius N. Lakdawalla, Adam Gailey, Yuhui Zheng

Yuhui Zheng

No abstract provided.

Start-Up Activities For Public Health Pbrns, Glen Mays

Glen Mays

Launching a successful public health practice-based research network requires a planned approach to developing the necessary infrastructure, relationships, and scientific direction.

Rescuing Baby Doe, Mary Crossley

Articles

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Baby Doe Rules offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on how much has changed during the past two-and-one-half decades and how much has stayed the same, at least in situations when parents and physicians face the birth of an infant who comes into the world with its life in peril.

The most salient changes are the medical advances in the treatment of premature infants and the changes in social attitudes towards and legal protections for people with disabilities. The threshold at which a prematurely delivered infant is considered viable has advanced steadily earlier into pregnancy, …

Consumer Protection In An Era Of Globalization, Cary Coglianese, Adam M. Finkel, David T. Zaring

All Faculty Scholarship

With expanding global trade, the challenge of protecting consumers from unsafe food, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products has grown increasingly salient, necessitating the development of new policy ideas and analysis. This chapter introduces the book, Import Safety: Regulatory Governance in the Global Economy, a multidisciplinary project analyzing import safety problems and an array of innovative solutions to these problems. The challenge of protecting the public from unsafe imports arises from the sheer volume of global trade as well as the complexity of products being traded and the vast number of inputs each product contains. It is further compounded by the …

Anemia In Low-Income Countries Is Unlikely To Be Addressed By Economic Development Without Additional Programs, Sebastian Linnemayr, Harold Alderman

Sebastian Linnemayr

Although governments may decline to invest in iron fortification or supplementation influenced by the view that income growth will address the problem, the data do not support this view. Looking at the rates of anemia among children and adult women across 40 Demographic and Health Surveys from 32 countries, this study found that although anemia rates do decrease as income increases, the decrease is modest. Indeed, overall anemia rates decline roughly a quarter as fast as income increases and at only half the speed at which rates of underweight decline.

Zoning For Health? The Year-Old Ban On New Fast-Food Restaurants In South La, Roland Sturm, Deborah Cohen

Roland Sturm

No abstract provided.

Affordability And Obesity: Issues In The Multifunctionality Of Agricultural/Food Systems, Roland Sturm

Roland Sturm

No abstract provided.