Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2008

Theses and Dissertations

Public Health

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Social Support, Weight Loss Attempts And Satisfaction, Allison Drew Dec 2008

Social Support, Weight Loss Attempts And Satisfaction, Allison Drew

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the presence of social support correlates with attempts at weight loss in the past 12 months, attempts not to gain weight in the past 12 months, and participants’ satisfaction with their weight status. Methods: We used a cross-sectional study design using data collected by the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) (CDC). For this study we included males and females, of multiple ethnicities, and a range of ages from 40 to 70 + years. Participants with missing data on height and weight were …

Go to article

Effect Of Metro Living On Oral Cancers In Virginia: 2001-2005, Preeti Sastry Dec 2008

Effect Of Metro Living On Oral Cancers In Virginia: 2001-2005, Preeti Sastry

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Forty percent of all head and neck cancers occur in the oral cavity. According to ICD-O (International classification of diseases for oncology) C00-C14 includes cancers of the lip, oral cavity and pharynx. Studies have indicated that increased population density or Metro living have increased oral cancer incidence. The objectives of this study are to look at the distribution of Oral and Oro pharyngeal Cancers in Virginia from 2001-2005 The study aims to determine if there is an association between metro living (beale code 3) and advanced Oral Cancers. This study is also being done to determine if Metro living …

Go to article

Medicare Managed Care Penetration And Prevalence Of Older Adult Disability, Christine Moe Dec 2008

Medicare Managed Care Penetration And Prevalence Of Older Adult Disability, Christine Moe

Theses and Dissertations

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between Medicare Managed Care (MMC) penetration and percentage of disability in older adults (individuals age 65 and older). Considering disability as an indicator of one or more unsuccessfully managed chronic diseases, this study investigates the assumption that managed care improves coordination of care, as well as access to preventive care. If managed care’s mandate is being met, then it should be evidenced in decreased prevalence of older adult disability. METHOD: Taking an ecological approach, this study used data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ, 2003) to compare the percentage of older adult …

Go to article

Season Of Birth And Risk For Schizophrenia, Seth Roberts Dec 2008

Season Of Birth And Risk For Schizophrenia, Seth Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic, debilitating mental disorder characterized by positive (e.g., hallucinations, delusions) and negative (e.g., catatonia, flat affect) signs and symptoms. Many studies suggest that individuals born in winter or spring months are at increased risk for schizophrenia. Study Objectives: 1) To determine whether season of birth affects risk for schizophrenia in the Irish Study of High Density Schizophrenia Families (ISHDSF). 2) To examine, by computer simulation, power to detect genetic associations with schizophrenia under a variety of conditions and using different analytic strategies. 3) To test whether specific genes are associated with schizophrenia in the Irish Case …

Go to article

Do Black Msm Have More Idu And Hiv Positive Partners Compared To White Men Having Sex With Men ?, Shankar Krishnappa Dec 2008

Do Black Msm Have More Idu And Hiv Positive Partners Compared To White Men Having Sex With Men ?, Shankar Krishnappa

Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: This study estimates the proportion of intravenous drug use (IDU) partners and HIV positive sexual partners among black and white and examine the association between repeat HIV testing and sex with high risk partners. Methods: A cross-sectional study of MSM was conducted by using pooled data from counseling, Testing, Referral services in Virginia, USA 2002-2007. Results: We obtained a sample of 19679 MSM out of which 10924(56%) and 6739(34%) were white and black MSM respectively. The proportion of IDU partners and HIV positive partners were among white MSM (5% and 11%) and black MSM (3% and 9%) respectively. Age …

Go to article

Fetal And Early Neonatal Death: Do The Determinants Vary?, Ashley Carter Dec 2008

Fetal And Early Neonatal Death: Do The Determinants Vary?, Ashley Carter

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: To compare the determinants and distribution of fetal and early neonatal deaths in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Background: Much attention is devoted to reducing the infant mortality rate which was declining up until 2002. The recent rise was parsed and found to stem from an increase in deaths during the early neonatal period. Fetal deaths are not well understood and are not routinely included when evaluating infant mortality. Methods: Using data collected from 2001 to 2006 fetal death and linked infant birth and death certificates by the Virginia Department of Health, crude mortality rates and leading causes of death …

Go to article

The Relationship Between Perceived Personal Risk Of Getting Prostate Cancer And Prostate-Specific Antigen (Psa) Screening, Yeatoe G. Mcintosh Aug 2008

The Relationship Between Perceived Personal Risk Of Getting Prostate Cancer And Prostate-Specific Antigen (Psa) Screening, Yeatoe G. Mcintosh

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Title: The Relationship between Perceived Personal Risk of getting Prostate cancer and Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Screening Yeatoe G. McIntosh, MPH Candidate Advisor: Emmanuel Anum, MBChB, MPH, PHD Preceptor: Emmanuel Anum, MBChB, MPH, PHD Background: Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancer diagnoses in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008 28,660 deaths would be attributed to prostate cancer, projecting it to be the leading cause of cancer deaths in U.S. men. Despite the potential threat this cancer presents to men and the potential for improved disease outcomes from early detection, guidelines for screening …

Go to article

In Vitro Toxicity Of Aluminum Nanoparticles In Human Keratinocytes, Stephanie Mccormack-Brown Mar 2008

In Vitro Toxicity Of Aluminum Nanoparticles In Human Keratinocytes, Stephanie Mccormack-Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Nanotechnology promises to be the defining technology of the 21st century. At an annual investment of $1B, it provides significant contributions to manufacturing, medicine, energy conservation, and the environment. Nanoparticles are structures with at least one dimension in the 1 to 100 nanometer (nm) range. DoD and US Air Force interest in aluminum nanoparticles (AL NPs) stems from its ability to enhance combustion jet fuel, thus increasing fuel efficiency. The addition of AL NPs to JP-8 may pose a unique dermal hazard to aircraft maintenance workers. There is no published data on AL NP toxicity effects on human skin. This …

Go to article

Assessment Of Seminary Education On End Of Life Issues, Stefan Hakon Pomrenke Jan 2008

Assessment Of Seminary Education On End Of Life Issues, Stefan Hakon Pomrenke

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The US health care system faces increased costs from end of life (EOL) care. The intensive approach to EOL treatment with greater use of procedures in ICUs has led to decedent spending six times greater than that of survivors in the hospital. Experts in ICU and Palliative care fields have called for greater utilization of end of life planning and education. To date, EOL education has been dominated by the technologically driven medical field and the church has been under-utilized. The US population relies on clergy support for many mental health and EOL issues. Clergy report feeling uncomfortable in …

Go to article