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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™

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2019

Medicine and Health Sciences

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Articles 1 - 15 of 15

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Hazardous Waste Site Proximity And Type 2 Diabetes: From Youths To Adults, Theresa Ann Johnson Jan 2019

Hazardous Waste Site Proximity And Type 2 Diabetes: From Youths To Adults, Theresa Ann Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in adults and youths. Persistent organic pollutants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as pesticides, dioxins, and organochlorines, are omnipresent and persist in the environment with potential for human exposure via contaminated air, waterways, soil, and human food supply. EDCs have been correlated with diabetes incidence and risks. Residential proximity to hazardous waste sites (HWS) has been correlated with increased hospital admission rates for diabetes. The study used a sample population (N = 1,724), ages ≥ 12 years from the 2005-2012 Continuous NHANES and HWS data from the National Priorities List of Superfund Sites. …

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Noise Pollution/Reduction Education For Frontline Staff In The Acute Care Setting, Lopa Patel Jan 2019

Noise Pollution/Reduction Education For Frontline Staff In The Acute Care Setting, Lopa Patel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Noise levels in hospital settings have risen beyond the recommended range of 35-40 decibels, resulting in poor patient healing outcomes and other health conditions ranging from sleep deprivation, anxiety, agitation, delirium, depression, and high heart rate and blood pressure. These negative patient health experiences are evidenced by poor scores for the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, which are indicators of patients' perceptions of care. This project explored whether an educational activity for 48 direct care staff, who include registered nurses and nursing assistants, in a cardiac unit on the impact of noise pollution on patient healing would …

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The Impacts Of Race, Residence, And Prenatal Care On Infant Mortality, Mary Christine Dorley Jan 2019

The Impacts Of Race, Residence, And Prenatal Care On Infant Mortality, Mary Christine Dorley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Tennessee ranks high for infant mortality (IM) in the United States. Despite public health efforts, the IM rate for Blacks is twice that of Whites mimicking what is observed nationally. Several risk factors for IM have been identified; however, it was still unclear how places of residence and prenatal care (PNC) affect IM for Tennesseans. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between places of residence (conceptualized by rurality and racial concentration), PNC, and IM among racial groups across Tennessee and to determine if race modified these associations. This was a cross-sectional study using data from the …

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Wellness Paradigms In Predicting Stress And Burnout Among Beginning Expatriate Teachers, Kimala Proctor Jan 2019

Wellness Paradigms In Predicting Stress And Burnout Among Beginning Expatriate Teachers, Kimala Proctor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research indicates that the current teacher shortage is in part due to stress and burnout. A topic that has not been examined is beginning expatriate English medium teachers (EMTs) with 5 years or less of teaching experience in the United Arab Emirates and the relationship between using individualized, self-initiated wellness paradigms and stress, job burnout, and intent to leave the teaching profession. The transactional model of stress and coping, Maslach's multidimensional theory of burnout, and the health promotion model were used to evaluate the moderating effects of the EMTs' burnout and stress levels on their wellness and intent to leave. …

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The Role Of Glucose Level On The Performance Of The Framingham Risk Score, Uohna June Thiessen Jan 2019

The Role Of Glucose Level On The Performance Of The Framingham Risk Score, Uohna June Thiessen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are responsible for more deaths than any other disease, continue to threaten the quality of life for many, and is a major burden to the health care system. The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) identified the major CVD risk factors that became essential to effective CVD screening strategies and the Framingham Risk Score (FRS), is used to assess CVD risk. Based on the concepts of the health behavior model and CVD as a cardiometabolic disorder, multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels and a CHD event, and to determine …

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A Geographic Study Of Lung And Bronchus Cancer Rates In Kentucky, Gabriel Njoh Dikong Jan 2019

A Geographic Study Of Lung And Bronchus Cancer Rates In Kentucky, Gabriel Njoh Dikong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The average age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates of lung and bronchus cancer is 55% and 56% higher in Kentucky than the national averages in the United States, respectively. Populations with low income and educational attainment, and those who live close to the mining regions across Kentucky are more affected by the high prevalence and resulting mortality rates of lung and bronchus cancer. This study was conducted because of the high incidence of lung and bronchus cancer and resulting mortality rates in the state of Kentucky that may not be caused solely by social and demographic factors. The theoretical foundation for …

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Natural Environment Associations With Mental Health And Obesity Status, Adam Edwin London Jan 2019

Natural Environment Associations With Mental Health And Obesity Status, Adam Edwin London

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental health and obesity were ranked among the health priorities of the 2014 and 2017 Community Health Needs Assessments in Kent County, Michigan. Exposure to nature is correlated to improved health outcomes across a variety of morbidities including poor mental health and obesity. This cross-sectional study set within the frameworks of attention restoration theory, environmental health, and pathways to health benefits from nature assessed county survey data including self-reported nature exposures/interactions separated into 3 domain areas: access to nature, attitudes about nature, and physical activity in nature or in nature-based activities. Binary logistic regression analyses of the 653 respondents found …

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Reducing Errors With Blood Administration Transfusion Systems, Kim D. Stevens Jan 2019

Reducing Errors With Blood Administration Transfusion Systems, Kim D. Stevens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The intention of implementing technology into healthcare practices is to reduce opportunity for errors in the delivery of providing health care. However, errors still occur, and many times are preventable. Configurations of health information technology systems should match clinical workflows to promote usage as intended. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the impact of revised system configurations and use of a blood product transfusion system for the administration of blood products after one year of implementation. The method of heuristic evaluation is a usability engineering method for finding problems in a user interface design with the …

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Improving Disaster Preparedness And Planning For Chronic Disease Populations, Gladys N. Gichomo Jan 2019

Improving Disaster Preparedness And Planning For Chronic Disease Populations, Gladys N. Gichomo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The significant rise of both chronic diseases and disasters in the last 20 years and the healthcare outcomes of individuals with chronic diseases during and in the aftermath of disasters have raised concerns among public health practitioners, healthcare providers, the U.S government, and the general public. Researchers have indicated that during disasters, the health outcomes of individuals with chronic diseases are significantly unfavorable compared to the general public. However, there is inadequate information on the management of chronic diseases, quality of care, and resource identification and allocation by disaster responders. This qualitative, grounded theory study, explored how the study participants …

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A Geographic Study Of Lung And Bronchus Cancer Rates In Kentucky, Gabriel Njoh Dikong Jan 2019

A Geographic Study Of Lung And Bronchus Cancer Rates In Kentucky, Gabriel Njoh Dikong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The average age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates of lung and bronchus cancer is 55% and 56% higher in Kentucky than the national averages in the United States, respectively. Populations with low income and educational attainment, and those who live close to the mining regions across Kentucky are more affected by the high prevalence and resulting mortality rates of lung and bronchus cancer. This study was conducted because of the high incidence of lung and bronchus cancer and resulting mortality rates in the state of Kentucky that may not be caused solely by social and demographic factors. The theoretical foundation for …

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Mobile Technology Deployment Strategies For Improving The Quality Of Healthcare, Won K. Song Jan 2019

Mobile Technology Deployment Strategies For Improving The Quality Of Healthcare, Won K. Song

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective deployment of mobile technology jeopardizes healthcare quality, cost control, and access, resulting in healthcare organizations losing customers and revenue. A multiple case study was conducted to explore the strategies that chief information officers (CIOs) used for the effective deployment of mobile technology in healthcare organizations. The study population consisted of 3 healthcare CIOs and 2 healthcare information technology consultants who have experience in deploying mobile technology in a healthcare organization in the United States. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was Wallace and Iyer's health information technology value hierarchy. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and document reviews, …

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A Delphi Study Analysis Of Best Practices For Data Quality And Management In Healthcare Information Systems, Olivia L. Pollard Jan 2019

A Delphi Study Analysis Of Best Practices For Data Quality And Management In Healthcare Information Systems, Olivia L. Pollard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare in the US continues to suffer from the poor data quality practices processes that would ensure accuracy of patient health care records and information. A lack of current scholarly research on best practices in data quality and records management has failed to identify potential flaws within the relatively new electronic health records environment that affect not only patient safety but also cost, reimbursements, services, and most importantly, patient safety. The focus of this study was to current best practices using a panel of 25 health care industry data quality experts. The conceptual lens was developed from the International Monetary …

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Safe Chemical Handling By Agrochemical Users In Plateau State, Nigeria, Adaobi Ifeoma Ekwempu Jan 2019

Safe Chemical Handling By Agrochemical Users In Plateau State, Nigeria, Adaobi Ifeoma Ekwempu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Agrochemical use has been increasing in both developing and the developed nations. The unsafe handling and use of agrochemicals can lead to accumulation of hazardous chemicals in the body, causing adverse effects on health. This quantitative cross sectional study sought to understand the level of awareness, practices, and perceptions of safe chemical handling by agrochemical using the Theory of Planned Behavior. This study was conducted among 260 farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria. Data on background knowledge and practices of safe agrochemical handling by farmers were collected using a structured paper based, interviewer-€administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics revealed that the most practiced …

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Hydraulic Fracturing And Cause-Specific Mortality: A Multicity Comparative Epidemiological Study, Uzoma C. Nduka Jan 2019

Hydraulic Fracturing And Cause-Specific Mortality: A Multicity Comparative Epidemiological Study, Uzoma C. Nduka

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cause-specific mortality (CSM), among other global health estimates, has garnered prominence in the contemporary public health field. CSM has been associated with several factors, however, research comparing CSM for prefracking versus postfracking periods is sparse. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a technique of extracting oil and gas from deep underground. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the difference among mean CSM scores from 1975 through 2015 in the available cities and counties of residence in Colorado and to determine the impact of gender, marital status, county of residence, and city of residence on CSM scores (prefracking period 1975-1977 …

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Successful Strategies For Implementing Health Information Technology In Primary Care Practice, Samuel O. Otoo Jan 2019

Successful Strategies For Implementing Health Information Technology In Primary Care Practice, Samuel O. Otoo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Health information technology (HIT) owner-practitioners who adopt effective strategies for HIT implementation can improve primary facility care delivery and profitability. However, some HIT owner-practitioners have ineffective implementation strategies, so they have not realized the total revenue increases of more than 8%. Grounded in general systems theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore successful strategies primary care practitioners (PCPs) use to implement HIT to improve primary facility care delivery and profitability. The participants included 6 owner-practitioners located in Queens County, NY, who successfully implemented HIT to improve facility care delivery and profitability. Data were collected through face-to-face …

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