Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Dental Safety Net In Montgomery County: A Status Report, Sequoia Y. Butcher

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Adult oral health has been identified as a major public health problem by the United States Surgeon General. A substantial number of adults between the ages of 20 and 64 have untreated tooth decay. There are limited treatment options for adults without dental insurance. Low-income adults must turn to free/low cost clinics, or private dentists that accept Medicaid to receive dental care. However, these resources are often limited. When the resources are not available these adults are left to deal with untreated tooth decay which can lead to worsening conditions and other health issues.

Methods: Eleven key-informant interviews were …

The Effectiveness Of Health Education Materials In Influencing Hiv Testing Behavior: The Unlv-Siphi Study, Rebecca Tsegay

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The UNLV-SIPHI (Sexual Health Internet-Based Public Health Intervention) Study focused on HIV prevention by improving HIV testing behavior through the development and dissemination of health education materials. The goal of the UNLV-SIPHI Study was to develop effective, custom-made HIV health education materials that promote the knowledge, intention and practice of HIV testing among UNLV students. The UNLV-SIPHI Study was conducted during Spring 2012 semester in selected UNLV undergraduate classes. An online quasi-randomized-control trial (RCT) was used to measure the difference in HIV testing behavior contributing factors among students exposed to the health education materials. Several nonparametric tests were used to …

A 'Snip' In Time: What Is The Best Age To Circumcise?, Brian J. Morris, Jake H. Waskett, Joya Banerjee, Richard G. Wamai, Aaron A. R. Tobian, Ronald H. Gray, Stefan A. Bailis, Robert C. Bailey, Jeffrey D. Klausner, Robin J. Willcourt, Daniel T. Halperin, Thomas E. Wiswell, Adrian Mindel

Richard G. Wamai

Background Circumcision is a common procedure, but regional and societal attitudes differ on whether there is a need for a male to be circumcised and, if so, at what age. This is an important issue for many parents, but also pediatricians, other doctors, policy makers, public health authorities, medical bodies, and males themselves. Discussion We show here that infancy is an optimal time for clinical circumcision because an infant's low mobility facilitates the use of local anesthesia, sutures are not required, healing is quick, cosmetic outcome is usually excellent, costs are minimal, and complications are uncommon. The benefits of infant …

'Everything I Love Is Illegal, Immoral Or Against The Advice Of The Surgeon General', Roberto Hugh Potter

UCF Forum

The recent situation of TV anchor Jennifer Livingston in La Crosse, Wisc., offers a glimpse into how external indicators of health are becoming stigmatized in the public-health efforts to battle the “epidemic of obesity.”

Joint Effect Of Genetic And Lifestyle Risk Factors On Type 2 Diabetes Risk Among Chinese Men And Women, Raquel Villegas, Ryan Delahanty, Yu-Tang Gao, Jirong Long, Scott M. Williams, Yong-Bing Xiang, Hui Cai, Hong-Lan Li, Frank Hu, Qiuyin Cai, Wei Zheng, Xiao-Ou Shu

Dartmouth Scholarship

More than 40 genetic susceptibility loci have been reported for type 2 diabetes (T2D). Recently, the combined effect of genetic variants has been investigated by calculating a genetic risk score. We evaluated 36 genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified SNPs in 2,679 T2D cases and 3322 controls in middle-age Han Chinese. Fourteen SNPs were significantly associated with T2D in analysis adjusted for age, sex and BMI. We calculated two genetic risk scores (GRS) (GRS1 with all the 36 SNPs and GRS2 with the 14 SNPs significantly associated with T2D). The odds ratio for T2D with each GRS point (per risk allele) …

Tuskegee Redux: Evolution Of Legal Mandates For Human Experimentation, Robert S. Levine, Jamila C. Williams, Barbara A. Kilbourne, Paul D. Juarez

Sociology Faculty Research

Human health experiments systematically expose people to conditions beyond the boundaries of medical evidence. Such experiments have included legal-medical collaboration, exemplified in the U.S. by the Public Health Service (PHS) Syphilis Study (Tuskegee). That medical experiment was legal, conforming to segregationist protocols and specific legislative authorization which excluded a selected group of African Americans from any medical protection from syphilis. Subsequent corrective action outlawed unethical medical experiments but did not address other forms of collaboration, including PHS submission to laws which may have placed African American women at increased risk from AIDS and breast cancer. Today, anti-lobbying law makes it …

Target Repurposing For Neglected Diseases, Michael P. Pollastri, Robert K. Campbell

Michael Pollastri

Infectious diseases are an enormous burden to global health, and since drug discovery is costly, those infectious diseases that affect the developing world are often not pursued by commercial drug discovery efforts. Therefore, pragmatic means by which new therapeutics can be discovered are needed. One such approach is target repurposing, where pathogen targets are matched with homologous human targets that have been pursued for drug discovery for other indications. In many cases, the medicinal chemistry, structural biology, and biochemistry knowledge around these human targets can be directly repurposed to launch and accelerate new drug discovery efforts against the pathogen targets. …

The Long-Term Coercive Effect Of State Community Benefit Laws On Hospital Community Health Orientation, Charles B. Moseley, Jay J. Shen, Gregory O. Ginn

Nevada Journal of Public Health

This study is an examination of the long-term coercive effect of state community benefit laws (CB Laws) on the provision of community health activities in U.S. acute care hospitals. The sample included all the not-for-profit and investor owned acute care hospitals for which 1994 and 2006 AHA Annual Survey data were available. A panel design was used to longitudinally examine the effect that state CB Laws had on hospital community health orientation activities and the provision of health promotion services, after controlling for the influence of other organizational and environmental variables that might affect these activities and services. The authors …

Kerin O’Dea: Improving The Health Of Indigenous Australians, Tony Kirby

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

No abstract provided.

Environmental Health Information Systems: More Than Just Gigabytes, Christopher R. Cook

Christopher Cook

Environmental health professionals are concerned about bites. Animal bites, mosquito bites, and tick bites to name a few. But what about bytes of data? Environmental health information systems (EHIS) are often the "silent partners" in an environmental health (EH) department's daily protection of public health. By Webster's dictionary definition, a silent partner is a cohort that does not have the right to participate in an organization's management process. The purpose of this study was to encourage public health officials to make EHIS full partners in their EH departments. Through the use of five surveys, this study was designed to increase …

Measuring Infertility In Populations: Constructing A Standard Definition For Use With Demographic And Reproductive Health Surveys, Maya N. Mascarenhas, Hoiwan Cheung, Colin D. Mathers, Gretchen A. Stevens

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Infertility is a significant disability, yet there are no reliable estimates of its global prevalence. Studies on infertility prevalence define the condition inconsistently, rendering the comparison of studies or quantitative summaries of the literature difficult. This study analyzed key components of infertility to develop a definition that can be consistently applied to globally available household survey data.

Methods: We proposed a standard definition of infertility and used it to generate prevalence estimates using 53 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). The analysis was restricted to the subset of DHS that contained detailed fertility information collected through the reproductive health calendar. …

The Impacts Of Social Enterpriseled Activity On Health And Wellbeing: An Integrative Review, Michael J. Roy, Cam Donaldson, Rachel Baker, Susan M. Kerr

Michael J Roy

No abstract provided.

Environmental Health Information Systems: More Than Just Gigabytes, Christopher R. Cook

Christopher Cook

Environmental health professionals are concerned about bites. Animal bites, mosquito bites, and tick bites to name a few. But what about bytes of data? Environmental health information systems (EHIS) are often the "silent partners" in an environmental health (EH) department's daily protection of public health. By Webster's dictionary definition, a silent partner is a cohort that does not have the right to participate in an organization's management process. The purpose of this study was to encourage public health officials to make EHIS full partners in their EH departments. Through the use of five surveys, this study was designed to increase …

Microbiological Components In Mainstream And Sidestream Cigarette Smoke, Lennart Larsson, Christina Pehrson, Tenzin Dechen, Mardi Crane-Godreau

Dartmouth Scholarship

Research has shown that tobacco smoke contains substances of microbiological origin such as ergosterol (a fungal membrane lipid) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria). The aim of the present study was to compare the amounts of ergosterol and LPS in the tobacco and mainstream (MS) and sidestream (SS) smoke of some popular US cigarettes. We measured LPS 3-hydroxy fatty acids and fungal biomass biomarker ergosterol in the tobacco and smoke from cigarettes of 11 popular brands purchased in the US. University of Kentucky reference cigarettes were also included for comparison.

Are Maternal Child Health Outcomes Affected By Adequacy Of Prenatal Care In Montgomery County, Oh?, Amy Rouse

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Prenatal Care has been recommended by the World Health Organization for all pregnant women in order to improve health outcomes of the mother and the child. However, recommendations for the number of visits required to provide adequate health care and improve outcomes continue to be debated. Understanding if adequate prenatal care is improving maternal child outcomes is essential before making these recommendations. This research aims to determine if in Montgomery County, OH the adequacy of prenatal care influenced gestational age at birth, birth weight, breastfeeding rate, rate of cesarean sections, and smoking cessation rates.

Methods: De-indentified birth data was …

Patterns Of Interaction Public Health Pbrns: Insight From Network Analysis, Rachel A. Hogg, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Reports

This report presents data from a network analysis survey conducted with public health practice-based research networks (PBRNs) to examine patterns of interaction among researchers and public health practitioners who participate in the networks. These data provide a baseline for tracking the types and frequencies of interaction that occur within networks, and reveal opportunities for promoting more productive patterns of engagement in applied public health research. Over time, these types of data can reveal how and under what circumstances PBRNs facilitate the production and application of research about public health services and delivery systems. The analysis includes data on more than …

A Comparison Of Individual Versus Community Influences On Youth Smoking Behaviours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study, Anna M. Adachi-Mejia, Heather A. Carlos, Ethan M. Berke, Susanne E. Tanski, James Sargent

Dartmouth Scholarship

Objectives: To compare individual with community risk factors for adolescent smoking. Design: A cross-sectional observational study with multivariate analysis.Setting: National telephone survey.Participants: 3646 US adolescents aged 13–18 years in 2007 recruited through a random digit-dial survey.

Making The Case For Public Health: Estimating Roi And Value, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

This presentation describes recent progress and new directions for estimating the value of public health strategies and infrastructure.

The Future Of Health Care? Lessons Of A Simple Model, Roberto Hugh Potter

UCF Forum

Transforming health care is as much about social change and resistance as it is about individual health and party politics.

From Engagement To Action: Assessing Community Readiness For Disparities Mobilization, Linda S. Sprague Martinez, Elmer Freeman, Flavia C. Perea

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

In an effort to engage communities across the state of Massachusetts in tackling health disparities, Critical MASS (CM), in partnership with local researchers piloted a readiness assessment to identify community assets, perceptions of disparities, and interest in partnership. The research process was used to facilitate the development of partnerships between outside organizers, researchers, and community stakeholders. Partnership outcomes included a disparities conference aimed at bringing attention to concerns in the community, and a grant submission aimed at addressing community identified disparities. Despite the successes the partnership faced challenges. Logistics and limited resources hindered partner efforts to sustain the relationship. This …

An Innovative Approach For Community Engagement: Using An Audience Response System, Jenna L. Davis, Kara E. Mcginnis, Margaret L. Walsh, Coni Williams, Kevin B. Sneed, Julie A. Baldwin, B. Lee Green

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Community-based participatory research methods allow for community engagement in the effort to reduce cancer health disparities. Community engagement involves health professionals becoming a part of the community in order to build trust, learn from the community and empower them to reduce disparities through their own initiatives and ideas. Audience Response Systems (ARS) are an innovative and engaging way to involve the community and obtain data for research purposes using keypads to report results via power point. The use of ARS within communities is very limited and serves to widen the disparity gap by not delivering new advances in medical knowledge …

Food Deserts And Their Association With Obesity And Diabetes In Ohio, Alexis Holmes, Detra Thompson

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Objective- The purpose of this study was to explore the association of food access, and availability, on prevalence of diabetes and obesity in Ohio census tracts designated as food deserts.

Methods- County and census tract-level data were combined from the USDA Food Environment Atlas and USDA Food Desert Locator respectively. Statistical analysis was conducted using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Non-normally distributed variables were assessed using the Mann-Whitney nonparametric U-test and Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Significance was considered at the p

Results- The mean rate of obesity and diabetes in Ohio in food deserts are 29.5% and 10.7%, when …

Evidence On The Human Health Effects Of Low-Level Methylmercury Exposure, Margaret R. Karagas, Anna L. Choi, Emily Oken, Milena Horvat, Rita Schoeny, Elizabeth Kamai, Whitney Cowell, Philippe Grandjean, Susan Korrick

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Methylmercury (MeHg) is a known neuro-toxicant. Emerging evidence indicates it may have adverse effects on the neuro-logic and other body systems at common low levels of exposure. Impacts of MeHg exposure could vary by individual susceptibility or be confounded by bene-ficial nutrients in fish containing MeHg. Despite its global relevance, synthesis of the available literature on low-level MeHg exposure has been limited.

Objectives: We undertook a synthesis of the current knowledge on the human health effects of low-level MeHg exposure to provide a basis for future research efforts, risk assessment, and exposure remediation policies worldwide.

Data sources and extraction: …

Narrative Health Communication And Behavior Change: The Influence Of Exemplars In The News On Intention To Quit Smoking., Hyun Suk Kim, Cabral A. Bigman, Amy E. Leader, Caryn Lerman, Joseph N. Cappella

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

This study investigated psychological mechanisms underlying the effect of narrative health communication on behavioral intention. Specifically, the study examined how exemplification in news about successful smoking cessation affects recipients' narrative engagement, thereby changing their intention to quit smoking. Nationally representative samples of U.S. adult smokers participated in 2 experiments. The results from the 2 experiments consistently showed that smokers reading a news article with an exemplar experienced greater narrative engagement compared to those reading an article without an exemplar. Those who reported more engagement were in turn more likely to report greater smoking cessation intentions.

Obesity In The United States: The Food Environment And How It Is Linked To Obesity, Meredith Allenick

Honors Theses

The rising obesity rates have been constantly discussed in the media, academia, science, and society in the United States; from root causes and possible solutions to effects on individual health and the health of our nation. In my thesis, I focus on the social and economic causes of obesity, especially on the food environment in the United States. My ultimate goal is to effectively argue that obesity a problem rooted in society, often caused by factors such as the price of food, the availability of food, and the mass marketing of food to both children and adults.

Do Cigarette Taxes Make Smokers Happier Than Nonsmokers?, Mark Chaskes

Honors Theses

Public health advocates justify cigarette taxes, claiming they discourage smoking, which results in a healthier population. However, the more pertinent issue with which health advocates should be concerned is that of smoker well‐being. In this paper, I investigate whether cigarette taxes make smokers relatively more satisfied than nonsmokers. Additionally, because poor smokers have a higher discount rate than wealthy smokers, and therefore, perceive the tax differently, I explore the effect that income, in conjunction with a cigarette tax increase, has on smokers’ life‐satisfaction. Using cross‐sectional and time‐series data from the 2005‐2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, this paper utilizes …

Achieving High Coverage In Rwanda's National Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Programme, Agnes Binagwaho, Claire Wagner, Maurice Gatera, Corine Karema, Cameron T. Nutt, Fidele Ngabo

Dartmouth Scholarship

Problem: Virtually all women who have cervical cancer are infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Of the 275000 women who die from cervical cancer every year, 88% live in developing countries. Two vaccines against the HPV have been approved. However, vaccine implementation in low-income countries tends to lag behind implementation in high-income countries by 15 to 20 years.

Approach: In 2011, Rwanda’s Ministry of Health partnered with Merck to offer the Gardasil HPV vaccine to all girls of appropriate age. The Ministry formed a “public–private community partnership” to ensure effective and equitable delivery.

Local setting: Thanks to a strong national …

Examination Of Racial Disparities In Childhood Asthma Management Practices, Crystal N. Piper, Saundra Glover, Kieth Elder, Jong-Deuk Baek

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Objective: To analyze asthma management plan practices for children with asthma in the United States considering race and other demographic and person-level characteristics.

Methods: Univariate/Bivariate/Multivariate analysis was performed to examine asthma management plan physician recommendations among children in the United States utilizing secondary data analysis of the 2002 and 2003 National Health Interview Survey.

Results: The majority of the study participants reported not having an asthma management plan at (59.00%). In multivariate analysis using SAS callable SUDAAN, Whites were significantly more likely to have an asthma management plan (OR=1.66, p=.0031).

Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate that Black and Hispanic …

Fostering Aging In Place: "Healthy Naturally Occurring Retirement Community" (H-Norc) Qualities In A Southwest Ohio Suburb, Laura A. Previll

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

This community assessment uses the concept of “H-NORCs” or Healthy Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities as a framework to analyze supports for aging (Masotti, Johnson-Masotti, Fick, & MacLeod, 2006) in Kettering, Ohio -- a first tier suburb of Dayton where the proportion of people over the age of 60 was 23.8% in 2010. In this study, I used focus groups and interviews to collect qualitative data on five H-NORC attributes: (1) economic policies that benefit seniors; (2) types of transportation support for seniors; (3) neighborhood design for physical activity; (4) opportunities for social integration and sense of belonging; and (5) health …

School Based Nutrition And Exercise Program, Darlene L. Amalfitano

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

The purpose of this project was to develop a school-based nutrition and exercise program aimed at encouraging and teaching healthful lifestyle choices and facilitating behavior change. A premise of the program was that sustainable changes in diet and physical activity accomplished in childhood may be carried into adulthood and may assist in the prevention of obesity in later years. The Ecological Theory by Urie Bronfenbrenner and Nola Pender's Health Promotion Model (2006) were the frameworks that guided this program development. The program duration was six weeks, and sessions met two times per week with 4th, 5th, and 6th grade participants. …