Epidemiology Commons^™

Nonparametric Estimation Of Transition Probabilities In Illness-Death Model Based On Ranked Set Sampling, Ying Ma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ranked set sampling (RSS) design is applied widely in agriculture, environmental science, and medical research where the exact measurements of sampling units is costly, but sampling units can be ranked by a correlated concomitant variable. RSS is usually a cost-efficient alternate to simple random sampling (SRS) for selecting more representative samples. This study presents a novel methodology to investigate the nonparametric estimation of transition probabilities in illness-death model using the RSS design. We study the Aalen–Johansen estimator of transition probabilities in illness-death Markov model based on RSS design under random right censoring time and propose nonparametric estimators of the …

Angiostrongylus Cantonensis: Epidemiologic Review, Location-Specific Habitat Modelling, And Surveillance In Hillsborough County, Florida, U.S.A., Brad Christian Perich

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a parasitic nematode endemic to tropical and subtropical regions and is the leading cause of human eosinophilic meningitis. The parasite is commonly known as rat lungworm because the primary host in its lifecycle is the rat. A clinical overview of rat lungworm infection is presented, followed by a literature review of rat lungworm epidemiology, risk factors, and surveillance projects. Data collected from previous snail surveys in Florida was considered alongside elevation, population per square kilometer, median household income by zip code territory, and normalized difference vegetation index specific to the geographic coordinates from which the snail samples …

Uncontrolled Hypertension And Associated Factors In Hypertensive Patients At The Primary Healthcare Center Luis H. Moreno, Panama: A Feasibility Study, Roderick Ramon Chen Camano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), renal impairment, peripheral vascular disease, and blindness. In Panama, a recent study estimated the prevalence of hypertension at 38.5% in the two main provinces of the country, with a rate of uncontrolled hypertension of 47.2%.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to assess the feasibility of the study design and to describe the characteristics of the hypertensive population and the physician's adherence to Panamanian antihypertensive protocols and their relationship with uncontrolled hypertension.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of adult hypertensive …

Gender Differences In Lung Cancer Treatment And Survival, Margaret Anne Kowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this research were to test treatment and survival differences between women and men with lung cancer as there is minimal investigation in the literature. Three research questions were developed with statistical testing for gender differences based on similar cancer type, stage, treatment assignment and survival. Data for 44,863 primary lung cancer cases were collected from eight U.S. state-based cancer registries to investigate the research questions. The lung cancer incidence data included the morphological cell-types of adenocarcinoma (AC); squamous cell carcinoma (SCC); large cell carcinoma (LCC) and small cell carcinoma (SCC). Stage, grade, treatment type, as well as, …