Public Health Commons^™

Factors Associated With Parental Decision Making And Childhood Vaccination, Zuwen Qiu-Shultz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In order to better understand factors affecting immunization status, logistic regression was used to assess the association of various socio-demographic factors and whether parents would have their child immunized if not a state mandate. Factors included in the study were race, household income, number of children in the household, number of adults in the household, if the child had a primary provider, if the child had a health check-up in the last twelve months, and medical insurance status of the child. The combined Nevada Kindergarten Health Survey Result of 2009-2010 (Year Two) and 2010-2011 (Year Three) conducted by the Nevada …

The Effect Of Marriage On Stage At Diagnosis And Survival In Women With Cervical Cancer, Sanae El Ibrahimi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Marriage is associated with improved health outcomes for many conditions. Married persons enjoy financial stability, social and emotional support, and tend to have better control of health risk behaviors compared to the unmarried. The marriage scene is changing continuously. Americans are marrying less or delaying the engagement to an older age. They are divorcing more, they choose cohabitation as an alternative to marriage, or engage in premarital relationships. As a consequence, barely half of Americans were married in 2011 compared to close to three quarters of Americans were married in the sixties. With the increase of the unmarried population - …

Weight Gain In Pregnancy And Pre-Menopausal Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Case-Control Study, Arash Ardalan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: The risk of breast cancer increases transiently after pregnancy and then falls to a lower level than for age-matched nulliparous women. Higher levels of estrogen are known as the primary reason. Several pregnancy characteristics are thought to be confounding the above link; however, except for the age at first pregnancy no other pregnancy-related factor has been proved to be significant. Specifically, it has not been established that an excessive weight gain in pregnancy is linked to the maternal risk of breast cancer.

Objectives: To identify independent influence of weight gain in pregnancy on the risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer …

An Examination Of Walkability In The Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, Courtney Coughenour

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction: The benefits to regular physical activity are well established. Walkability is one element of the built environment that has been correlated with increased levels of physical activity. The auto-centric design of Las Vegas Metropolitan area (LVMA) is unique in ways that may influence walkability. The purpose of this study was to determine which urban design characteristics are associated with walking and physical activity in moderate income neighborhoods in LVMA. Methods: The standard walkability measure developed by Frank et al. (2010) was used to calculate the walkability index of seven neighborhoods. Residents of the two most walkable and two least …

Perceptions Of Police Responses To Domestic Violence, Kelly Rae Stout

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Domestic violence, also known as, intimate partner violence (IPV), has become an epidemic in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC), about 24 women and men are victimized by an intimate partner each minute, equaling about 12 million victims every year (2012b). In recent years, the public has become more aware of IPV situations. An increase in public service announcements has helped to inform the public and has brought these dangerous situations out from behind closed doors. In the age of technology, information is more easily distributed and exchanged which has also increased public …

A Comparison Of Nursing Service Demand In Title 1 Schools And Non-Title 1 Schools, Karen Ray Stratford

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Children from low-income families are known to struggle academically, but lack of health services may also impact their education. School nurses must identify and manage health problems in the school-age child to improve academic success. Unfortunately, the school nurse-to-student ratio may limit the amount of time nurses can give to the recognition of health problems and appropriate follow-up. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provides Title 1 funding to schools whose enrollment includes at least 40% of low-income families. These federal funds are intended to be used to bridge the achievement gap between low-income students and other students. …

The Presence Of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (Mrsa) On Environmental Surfaces In Healthcare Facilities Pre- And Post-Cleaning, Aaron Thomas Hunt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria is a serious public health issue affecting millions of people. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) is a leading cause of healthcare acquired infections today. Research has shown that patients infected or colonized with MRSA shed the bacteria into the environment, where the bacteria can survive for long periods of time and become potential sources of infection. Currently, infection prevention efforts focus on active surveillance, hand hygiene, personal protective equipment use and antimicrobial stewardship, with less attention given to environmental cleaning. Nevertheless, environmental cleaning is essential to remove infectious agents from environmental surfaces and prevent transmission. The …

Firefighter Fitness-For-Duty Medical Screening: A Peer Review Quality Improvement Pilot, Julie Collings Rochefort

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite the overwhelming evidence that sudden cardiac death is the most frequent cause of firefighter fatalities, many fire departments do not have a program to measure or maintain basic firefighter fitness and health. This project evaluated and compared medical screening outcomes of four industrial fire brigades within a multinational oil and gas corporation and introduced a quality improvement plan. The goal of this project was to apply the evidence and measure outcomes to determine the most effective way to ensure that firefighters in a corporate setting are healthy. This was accomplished by utilizing established guidelines in developing an educational program …

Implementing A Bystander Awareness Program On A University Campus, Robert Joseph Vadovic

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Between 17% and 62% of college students experience some form of violence during their time at school. About 25% of female college students experience a sexual assault before graduating. One university had seen an increase in violence, including assaults and bias events. Administrators and nurses implemented a bystander awareness program to help alleviate this growing problem. Members of the college's residence life staff and its Greek organizations (fraternities and sororities) participated in the Step Up program, a prosocial training program to get people to intervene safely when witnessing acts of violence. Participants (N=236) completed surveys prior to the program, immediately …