Medicine and Health Commons^™

Pediatric Obesity In The United States: Age–Period–Cohort Analysis, Ashley W. Kranjac, Dinko Kranjac, Roxanne I. Aguilera

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

The rates of obesity among American children aged 2–5 years has reached a historic high. It is crucial to identify the putative sources of population-level increases in obesity prevalence among preschool-aged children because early childhood is a critical window for obesity prevention and thus reduction of future incidence. We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data and hierarchical age–period–cohort analysis to examine lifecycle (i.e., age), historical (i.e., period), and generational (i.e., cohort) distribution of age- and sex-specific body mass index z-scores (zBMI) among 2–5-year-olds in the U.S. from 1999 to 2018. Our current findings indicate that period effects, …

Highlighting Health And Diversity: Curating Digital Exhibits To Promote Online Resources Across Cultural Months, Ivan Portillo, David Carson

Library Presentations, Posters, and Audiovisual Materials

This poster presentation demonstrates how digital exhibits can be leveraged to promote health literacy and enhance health education by creating awareness of resources to benefit diverse cultural and ethnic groups. It showcases examples of online exhibits that highlight health-related information, history, and resources to address health disparities and promote health equity among different populations.

Socioeconomic Constraints On Low-Income Individuals' Perceptions Toward Food Safety, Uyen Thuy Xuan Phan, Cuc Thuy Thi Tran, Nguyet Minh Thi Nguyen

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Food safety has emerged as a critical concern in Vietnam, posing a significant threat to public health due to the prevalence of unsafe foods in the market. Among those most vulnerable to contaminated foods, low-income individuals are significantly affected. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of food safety among this demographic, utilizing qualitative and quantitative approaches, including focus groups, survey questionnaires, and behavioral experiments using steamed bun as a stimulus. Participants were generally from low-income classes with certain variations in household monthly income. Results from focus groups and the survey highlighted that the factors influencing food purchases included perception …

Mortality In Medicine, Maren Dougherty

Honors Projects

Practitioners in the medical field attend to health issues across one’s lifespan from birth to death and everything in between. A common conflict in today’s practice of medicine is establishing the true function of medicine. The complete reliance on medicine to ward off death proliferates the biomedicalization of natural life processes, like death. Biomedicalization is the process in which medical authority and its accompanying technology begin to control other aspects of daily life. With medicine’s ultimate goal being to cure disease and fight death, it interferes with the inevitability of human mortality. End-of-life treatment can be taken too far without …

Unintentional Fatal Overdoses And Prior Incarceration, Amy Donley Phd, Alexandria Mcclarty Ba

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

This report shares analysis of unintentional fatal overdose victims from 2018-2022 in Orange County, Florida who had been incarcerated in the Orange County Jail at least once in the 365 days prior to their death. Specifically, this report examines the number of times the victim had been incarcerated in their lifetime in the jail and if they had flags in their files for mental health, persistent mental health, substance abuse, and/or detoxification. Data for this analysis were provided by Orange County Corrections and the Orange County Medical Examiner.

Foster Inclusivity And Equity:Strategiesfor Retaining Racialized Workers In Ontario’S Healthcare Sector, Kiannah Kerr-Mccarthy, Natasha Bonnick

Capstone Research Posters

This research endeavors to explore the factors influencing the retention of racialized workers within Ontario's long-term care sector, recognizing the imperative of fostering an inclusive and supportive workplace environment. Employing a mixed-methods approach, survey data was collected to unravel the unique challenges faced by racialized workers and discern the determinants influencing their decision to remain in the sector or seek employment elsewhere. The study delves into various facets such as workplace culture, organizational policies, and interpersonal dynamics, elucidating their pivotal role in retention. Furthermore, the research evaluates the potential impact of mentorship programs, diversity training initiatives, and career development opportunities …

Health Care Use Experiences Of Ethnoculturally Diverse Immigrant Older Adults: A Meta-Ethnography, Lorna De Witt, Kathryn A. Pfaff, Roger Reka, Noeman Ahmad Mirza

Nursing Publications

Purpose

Current and predicted continued dramatic increases in international migration and ethnocultural diversity of older adult cohorts pose challenges for health care services. Review studies on ethnoculturally diverse older adults and health care show a lack of focus on their service use experiences. This study aims to report a meta-ethnography that addresses this knowledge gap through answering the review question: How do ethnoculturally diverse older adults who are immigrants experience health care services?

Design/methodology/approach

The authors applied a seven-phase method of meta-ethnography to guide the review. The authors conducted two literature searches (April 2018 and June 2020) in MEDLINE, CINAHL, …

Close Contacts Of Xenograft Recipients: Ethical Considerations Due To Risk Of Xenozoonosis, Daniel J Hurst, Luz Padilla, Daniel Rodger, Tamar Schiff, David K C Cooper

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

With decades of pre-clinical studies culminating in the recent clinical application of xenotransplantation, it would appear timely to provide recommendations for operationalizing oversight of xenotransplantation clinical trials. Ethical issues with clinical xenotransplantation have been described for decades, largely centering on animal welfare, the risks posed to the recipient, and public health risks posed by potential spread of xenozoonosis. Much less attention has been given to considerations relating to potentially elevated risks faced by those who may care for or otherwise have close contact with xenograft recipients. This paper examines the ethical and logistical issues raised by the potential exposure to …

Non-Fatal Intimate Partner Violence In Seminole County, Fl, 2016-2020, Jonzelle Bell Bs, Julio Montanez Ma, Amy Donley Phd

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

In 2024, the University of Central Florida's Institute for Social and Behavioral Science developed a white paper summarizing Uniform Crime Reports data for Seminole County, FL from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The white paper tabulates intimate partner violence offenses by victim-offender relationship, offense severity, and offense type.

What Factors Increase Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease And Related Dementia?, Elizabeth Vásquez, Kai Zhang

Population Health Research Brief Series

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and ranks 7th in the leading causes of death in the United States (U.S.). This data slice uses nationwide data from 3,155 counties in the U.S. to identify the factors that best predict county-level rates of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRDs) in 2018. The results indicate that insufficient sleep, consuming less than one serving of fruits and vegetables per day, having no high school diploma, Black population percentage, and social vulnerability were among the leading factors predicting county-level ADRD prevalence.

Beyond ‘Heightism’ And ‘Height Premium’: An Anthropology And Sociology Of Human Stature, Gideon Lasco

Development Studies Faculty Publications

This review article examines the meanings and materialities of human stature, from serving as a marker of human difference to shaping the socio-spatial experiences of individuals. I introduce existing perspectives on height from various disciplines, including biomedical discourses on the factors (e.g. nutrition, genetics) that determine height, economic discourses on how the average heights of populations have changed over time, sociobiological and psychological discourses that assume a pre-cultural, evolutionary “height premium”, and popular discourses on heightism and height discrimination. Drawing from a diverse range of scholarship since Saul Feldman called for a “sociology of stature” in the 1970s, I then …

Human Zoo Healthcare At The 1904 World’S Fair, Angel Blake

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Human Zoo Healthcare at the 1904 World’s Fair

Were precautions taken or put into place for the Human Zoo performers at the 1904 World’s Fair? This topic has been overlooked and understudied by historians, there are few articles written and we do not know the true death toll which shows the racism towards these indigenous peoples. The research for this project was conducted at the State Historical Society of Missouri, the St. Louis Mercantile Library, Newspapers.com, Archives.com, St. Louis Public Library, and the Missouri Historical Society, including research on primary sources such as official World’s Fair committee meeting minutes, hospital …

Pain Limits Family Caregivers’ Daily Activities, Shelbie G. Turner, Karl A. Pillemer, Jamie Robinson, M. Cary Reid

Population Health Research Brief Series

Family caregivers are the main providers of home care to older adults, especially as the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia rises. Caregiving can take a toll on caregivers’ physical and mental health, which impacts both their own well-being and their care recipients’ health outcomes. This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from the 2017 National Study on Caregiving (NSOC) to estimate the prevalence of arthritis and activity-limiting pain among 1,930 family caregivers to older adults. Over half of all caregivers reported bothersome pain in the previous month, 24% of whom had pain that limited their …

Perceived Neighborhood Disorder And Type 2 Diabetes Disparities In Hispanic, Black, And White Americans, Min Ying Yu, Alfredo J. Velasquez, Belinda Campos, Jennifer W. Robinette

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction: Approximately 32 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, and that number continues to grow. Higher prevalence rates are observed among certain subgroups, including members of marginalized racial/ethnic groups as well as residents of disordered neighborhoods (i.e., those with more trash and vandalism). Institutionalized discriminatory practices have resulted in disproportionate representation of marginalized racial/ethnic groups in disordered neighborhoods compared to non-Hispanic Whites. These neighborhood disparities may partially contribute to health disparities, given that signs of neighborhood disorder often relate to a general withdrawal from the neighborhood, minimizing opportunities for both physical and social engagement. Yet, research suggests variability across …

Collateral Effects Of Covid-19 Stay-At-Home Orders On Violence Against Women In The United States, January 2019 To December 2020, Patricia C. Lewis, Yuk F. Cheong, Nadine J. Kaslow, Kathryn M. Yount

Health Science Faculty Publications

Background: The necessary execution of non-pharmaceutical risk-mitigation (NPRM) strategies to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 has created an unprecedented natural experiment to ascertain whether pandemic-induced social-policy interventions may elevate collateral health risks. Here, we assess the efects on violence against women (VAW) of the duration of NPRM measures that were executed through jurisdictional-level orders in the United States. We expect that stay-at-home orders, by reducing mobility and disrupting non-coresident social ties, are associated with higher incident reporting of VAW.

Methods: We used aggregate data from the Murder Accountability Project from January 2019 through December 2020, to estimate count models examining …

Representation In Healthcare Matters: Perspectives On Inadequate Physician Diversity And Its Potential Impact On Minority Patients, Madison Andrews

Sociology Honors Papers

Disparities in access to healthcare among U.S. racial and ethnic groups, including access to quality services, have existed for centuries (Gibbons, 2005), leading to inequality in health outcomes as race/ethnicity intersects with gender and socioeconomic status (Wellons et al., 2009; Yan et al., 2023). Patients from minority communities face disadvantages due to the lack of diversity amongst physicians, including communication barriers, lack of trust, lesser rapport, and lower level of comfort with doctors who are non-representative of patients’ demographics (Ha & Longnecker, 2010; Lopez et al., 2023; Maldonado et al., 2014; Weech-Maldonado et al., 2003). It is important, then, to …

Self-Perception Of Mental Health, Covid-19 And Associated Sociodemographic-Contextual Factors In Latin America, Pablo Roa, Guillermo Rosas, Gloria Isabel Niño-Cruz, Sergio Mauricio Moreno-López, Juliana Mejía-Grueso, Haney Aguirre-Loaiza, Javiera Alarcón-Aguilar, Rodrigo Reis, Adriano Akira Ferreira Hino, Fernando López, Deborah Salvo, Andrea Ramírez-Varela

Journal Articles

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of alterations in self-perceived mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and their associated factors in four Latin American countries. This is a cross-sectional study based on data collected from adults in 2021 through the Collaborative Response COVID-19 Survey by the MacDonnell Academy at Washington University in St. Louis (United States). The sample was composed of 8,125 individuals from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Chile. A generalized linear model for a binary outcome variable with a logistic link and fixed country effects was used. There were 2,336 (28.75%) individuals who considered having suffered alterations in …

Colonial Drivers And Cultural Protectors Of Brain Health Among Indigenous Peoples Internationally, Rita Henderson, Joyla A Furlano, Shayla Scott Claringbold, Ashley Cornect-Benoit, Anh Ly, Jennifer Walker, Lisa Zaretsky, Pamela Roach

Journal Articles

Despite relatively higher rates of dementia among Indigenous populations internationally, research into drivers of disparities in brain health and cognitive function has tended to focus on modifiable risk factors over cultural understandings and contextual determinants. By seeking to characterize social and cultural factors that shape brain health and cognition in Indigenous populations, this mini scoping review expands prevailing schools of thought to include Indigenous knowledge systems. This reveals important gaps in culturally aligned care. It also reclaims horizons for research important to Indigenous Peoples that have garnered diminished attention in biomedical approaches. Twenty-three sources were included for data extraction. This …