Digital Commons Network^™

Firearms, Youth Homicide, And Public Health, Robert S. Levine, Irwin Goldzweig, Barbara Kilbourne, Paul Juarez

Sociology Faculty Research

Homicide is seven times as common among U.S. non-Hispanic Black as among non-Hispanic White youth ages 15 to 24 years. In 83% of these youth homicides, the murder weapon is a firearm. Yet, for more than a decade, the national public health position on youth violence has been largely silent about the role of firearms, and tools used by public health professionals to reduce harm from other potential hazards have been unusable where guns are concerned. This deprives already underserved populations from the full benefits public health agencies might be able to deliver. In part, political prohibitions against research about …

Does Place Of Residence Affect Risk Of Suicide? A Spatial Epidemiologic Investigation In Kentucky From 1999 To 2008, Daniel M. Saman, Sabrina Walsh, Anna Borówko, Agricola Odoi

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Approximately 32,000 people take their own lives every year in the United States. In Kentucky, suicide mortality rates have been steadily increasing since 1999. Few studies in the United States have assessed spatial clustering of suicides. The purpose of this study was to identify high-risk clusters of suicide at the county level in Kentucky and assess the characteristics of those suicide cases within the clusters.

METHODS: A spatial epidemiological study was undertaken using suicide data for the period January 1, 1999 to December 31, 2008, obtained from the Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics. Descriptive analyses using Pearson's chi-square test …

A Spatial Cluster Analysis Of Tractor Overturns In Kentucky From 1960 To 2002, Daniel M. Saman, Henry P. Cole, Agricola Odoi, Melvin L. Myers, Daniel I. Carey, Susan C. Westneat

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Agricultural tractor overturns without rollover protective structures are the leading cause of farm fatalities in the United States. To our knowledge, no studies have incorporated the spatial scan statistic in identifying high-risk areas for tractor overturns. The aim of this study was to determine whether tractor overturns cluster in certain parts of Kentucky and identify factors associated with tractor overturns.

METHODS: A spatial statistical analysis using Kulldorff's spatial scan statistic was performed to identify county clusters at greatest risk for tractor overturns. A regression analysis was then performed to identify factors associated with tractor overturns.

RESULTS: The spatial analysis …

Intermediate Epidemiology - Course Syllabus 2011-2012

Teaching Materials

No abstract provided.

Alcohol Availability And Neighborhood Poverty And Their Relationship To Binge Drinking And Related Problems Among Drinkers In Committed Relationships, Christy M. Mckinney, Karen G. Chartier, Raul Caetano, T. Robert Harris

Social Work Publications

The authors examined the relationship of alcohol outlet density (AOD) and neighborhood poverty with binge drinking and alcohol-related problems among drinkers in married and cohabitating relationships and assessed whether these associations differed across sex. A U.S. national population couples survey was linked to U.S. Census data on AOD and neighborhood poverty. The 1,784 current drinkers in the survey reported on their binge drinking, alcohol-related problems, and other covariates. AOD was defined as the number of alcohol outlets per 10,000 persons and was obtained at the zip code level. Neighborhood poverty was as having a low (<20%) or high (≥20%) proportion of residents living in poverty at the census tract level. We used logistic regression for survey data to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals and tested for differences of associations by sex. Associations of neighborhood poverty with binge drinking were stronger for male than for female drinkers. The association of neighborhood poverty with alcohol-related problems was also stronger for men than for women. We observed no relationships between AOD and binge drinking or alcohol-related problems in this couples survey. Efforts to reduce binge drinking or alcohol-related problems among partners in committed relationships may have the greatest impact if targeted to male drinkers living in high-poverty neighborhoods. Binge drinking and alcohol-related problems, as well as residence in an impoverished neighborhood are risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) and other relationship conflicts.

The Toxicity Of Acetaminophen, Caffeine And Carbendazim In Earthworms (Eisenia Fetida), Matthew M. Bulman

Masters Theses

There has been a need for the assessment of ground water contamination risk on terrestrial organisms. One terrestrial organism, Eisenia fetida, was chosen as a test species and exposed to three common pharmaceutical and/or pesticide related contaminants: acetaminophen (CAS#103-90-2), caffeine (CAS#58-08-2) and carbendazim (CAS#10605-21-7), respectively. Levels of contamination varied from grams per liter to micrograms per liter (ppb) using distilled water as the solvent. Eisenia fetida was examined through a 28 day range/index toxicity test. A Benchmark Dose (BMD) dichotomous probit analysis, using a 95% confidence interval, was calculated for all three contaminants. All three contaminants were found to have …

Efficacy Of Infection Control Interventions In Reducing The Spread Of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms In The Hospital Setting, Joanna R. Wares, Erika M.C. D'Agata, Mary Ann Horn, Shigui Ruan, Glenn F. Webb

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) continue to spread in hospitals globally, but the population-level impact of recommended preventive strategies and the relative benefit of individual strategies targeting all MDRO in the hospital setting are unclear. To explore the dynamics of MDRO transmission in the hospital, we develop a model extending data from clinical individual-level studies to quantify the impact of hand hygiene, contact precautions, reducing antimicrobial exposure and screening surveillance cultures in decreasing the prevalence of MDRO colonization and infection. The effect of an ongoing increase in the influx of patients colonized with MDRO into the hospital setting is also quantified. We …

The Parasite That Causes Whirling Disease, Myxobolus Cerebralis, Is Genetically Variable Within And Across Spatial Scales, Nilanjan Lodh, Billie L. Kerans, Lori Stevens

Clinical Lab Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Understanding the genetic structure of parasite populations on the natural landscape can reveal important aspects of disease ecology and epidemiology and can indicate parasite dispersal across the landscape. Myxobolus cerebralis (Myxozoa: Myxosporea), the causative agent of whirling disease in the definitive host Tubifex tubifex, is native to Eurasia and has spread to more than 25 states in the USA. The small amounts of data available to date suggest that M. cerebralis has little genetic variability. We examined the genetic variability of parasites infecting the definitive host T. tubifex in the Madison River, MT, and also from …

Political And Social Determinants Of Life Expectancy In Less Developed Countries: A Longitudinal Study, Ro-Ting Lin, Ya-Mei Chen, Lung-Chang Chien, Chang-Chuan Chan

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Disparities In Park Availability, Features, And Characteristics By Social Determinants Of Health Within A U.S.-Mexico Border Urban Area, Amir Kamel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: Parks have been shown to be a key feature in the built environment that promote physical activity and positively influence health. However, a number of studies have highlighted that park availability, park features (e.g., park facilities, amenities, and aesthetic features), and park characteristics (e.g., quality/safety concerns of the park and surrounding neighborhood) are not equally distributed across neighborhoods in the U.S, specifically areas of low socioeconomic status and diverse racial/ethnic composition. The overall aim of this study was to examine and describe park availability, park features, and park characteristics, and determine their association with two social determinants of health …

The Association Between Reading Comprehension And Prerequisite Skills For Children In Poverty, Hyo Jin Yoon

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between reading comprehension and the prerequisite skills typically assessed by a school based speech pathologist with a focus on children raised in poverty. Based upon previous studies, three hypotheses were developed. First, children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds would not perform as well as children from the standardization sample on norm referenced language tests although the language tests would predict reading comprehension. Second, decoding would not be as good a predictor of reading comprehension for children from low SES backgrounds as it is in typically developing children from middle …

Implementation Of A Novel Continuous Fetal Doppler (Moyo) Improves Quality Of Intrapartum Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring In A Resource-Limited Tertiary Hospital In Tanzania: An Observational Study, Benjamin A. Kamala, Hege L. Ersdal, Ingvild Dalen, Muzdalfat Abeid, Matilda M. Ngarina, Jeffrey M. Perlman, Hussein Kidanto

Faculty of Health Sciences, East Africa

Background

Intrapartum Fetal Heart Rate (FHR) monitoring is crucial for the early detection of abnormal FHR, facilitating timely obstetric interventions and thus the potential reduction of adverse perinatal outcomes. We explored midwifery practices of intrapartum FHR monitoring pre and post implementation of a novel continuous automatic Doppler device (the Moyo).

Methodology

A pre/post observational study among low-risk pregnancies at a tertiary hospital was conducted from March to December 2016. In the pre-implementation period, intermittent monitoring was conducted with a Pinard stethoscope (March to June 2016, n = 1640 women). In the post-implementation period, Moyo was used for continuous FHR monitoring …

Social Goals In Urban Physical Education: Relationships With Effort And Disruptive Behavior, Alex C. Garn, Nate Mccaughtry, Bo Shen, Jeffrey J. Martin, Mariane Fahlman

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

This study investigated the relationships among four distinct types of social goals, effort, and disruptive behavior in urban physical education. Social responsibility, affiliation, recognition, status goals, along with effort and disruptive behavior in physical education were reported by high school physical education students (N = 314) from three urban schools. Findings from correlation and structural equa- tion modeling analyses revealed that social responsibility goals had a positive relationship with effort and an inverse relationship with disruptive behavior. Social status goals demonstrated a positive relationship with disruptive behavior and no relationship with effort. Social recognition goal results were mixed, as …

La Etnia Y Las Cesáreas En Los Partos En El Hospital Público De Arica, Chile, Marisa Westbrook

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The principal objective of this project was to explore the relationship between ethnicity and the causes for Caesarean section in the regional public hospital in Arica, Chile. All births recorded in the maternity register (n=907) were analyzed over a 4-month period in 2011. The regional public hospital had a 27% caesarean section rate, higher than the WHO-recommended 15%. Last names were analyzed and deemed to be either of Aymara descent (n=275) or of European descent (n=632) based on criteria used from CONADI, the National Corporation for Indigenous Development. The overall rate of Caesarean section did not differ between Aymara and …

Download Entire Pdf: The Medicine Forum, Vol 8, 2006

The Medicine Forum

Download entire PDF: The Medicine Forum, Vol 8, 2006

Coronary Heart Disease Prediction And Prevention, Dae Hyun Kim, Md, Mph, Andrew N. Lee, Md

The Medicine Forum

Introduction

Prediction of coronary heart disease (CHD) is based on multivariable risk equations developed from population-based observational studies in which people without clinical CHD at the initiation of study were examined and followed until their first CHD events. The risk equations from the Framingham Heart Study have been widely used in our clinical practice1-3 and research.4,5 The recent report of the third National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP-ATP) incorporated the Framingham risk equations to predict ten-year absolute CHD risk and to identify certain patients who are at high risk and more likely to benefit from primary prevention with aggressive …

Oral Ingestion Of Hexavalent Chromium Through Drinking Water And Cancer Mortality In An Industrial Area Of Greece - An Ecological Study, Athena Linos, Athanassios Petralias, Costas A. Christophi, Eleni Christoforidou, Paraskevi Kouroutou, Melina Stoltidis, Afroditi Veloudaki, Evangelia Tzala, Konstantinos C. Makris, Margaret R. Karagas

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Hexavalent chromium is a known carcinogen when inhaled, but its carcinogenic potential when orally ingested remains controversial. Water contaminated with hexavalent chromium is a worldwide problem, making this a question of significant public health importance.

Methods: We conducted an ecological mortality study within the Oinofita region of Greece, where water has been contaminated with hexavalent chromium. We calculated gender, age, and period standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for all deaths, cancer deaths, and specific cancer types of Oinofita residents over an 11-year period (1999 - 2009), using the greater prefecture of Voiotia as the standard population.

Results: A total of …

Neonatal Resuscitation And Immediate Newborn Assessment And Stimulation For The Prevention Of Neonatal Deaths: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis And Delphi Estimation Of Mortality Effect, Anne C. C. Lee, Simon Cousens, Stephen N. Wall, Susan Niermeyer, Gary L. Darmstadt, Waldemar A. Carlo, William J. Keenan, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Christopher Gill, Joy E. Lawn

Woman and Child Health

Background: Of 136 million babies born annually, around 10 million require assistance to breathe. Each year 814,000 neonatal deaths result from intrapartum-related events in term babies (previously "birth asphyxia") and 1.03 million from complications of prematurity. No systematic assessment of mortality reduction from tactile stimulation or resuscitation has been published. Objective:To estimate the mortality effect of immediate newborn assessment and stimulation, and basic resuscitation on neonatal deaths due to term intrapartum-related events or preterm birth, for facility and home births.

Methods:

We conducted systematic reviews for studies reporting relevant mortality or morbidity outcomes. Evidence was assessed using GRADE criteria …

The Effect Of Providing Skilled Birth Attendance And Emergency Obstetric Care In Preventing Stillbirths, Mohammad Yawar Yakoob, Mahrukh Ayesha Ali, Mohammad Usman Ali, Aamer Imdad, Joy E. Lawn, Nynke Van Den Broek, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Woman and Child Health

Background:Of the global burden of 2.6 million stillbirths, around 1.2 million occur during labour i.e. are intrapartum deaths. In low-/middle-income countries, a significant proportion of women give birth at home, usually in the absence of a skilled birth attendant. This review discusses the impact of skilled birth attendance (SBA) and the provision of Emergency Obstetric Care (EOC) on stillbirths and perinatal mortality.

Methods:

A systematic literature search was performed on PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Database and the WHO regional libraries. Data of all eligible studies were extracted into a standardized Excel sheet containing variables such as participants' characteristics, sample size, location, …

Information-Seeking Behaviors Of First-Semester Veterinary Students: A Preliminary Report, Sharon A. Weiner, Gretchen Stephens, Abdelfattah Y.M. Nour

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Although emphasis in veterinary education is increasingly being placed on the ability to find, use, and communicate information, studies on the information behaviors of veterinary students or professionals are few. Improved knowledge in this area will provide valuable information for course and curriculum planning and the design of information resources. This article describes a survey of the information-seeking behaviors of first-semester veterinary students at Purdue University. A survey was administered as the first phase of a progressive semester-long assignment for a first semester DVM course in systemic mammalian physiology. The survey probed for understanding of the scientific literature and its …

Beliefs About Racism And Health Among African American Women With Diabetes: A Qualitative Study, Julie A. Wagner, Lisa M. Budris, Sophia Belay, Howard A. Tennen

UCHC Articles - Research

Exposure to racism has been linked to poor health outcomes. Little is known about the impact of racism on diabetes outcomes. This study explored African American (AA) women’s beliefs about how racism interacts with their diabetes self-management and control. Four focus groups were conducted with a convenience sample of 28 adult AA women with type 2 diabetes who were recruited from a larger quantitative study on racism and diabetes. The focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by the authors. Women reported that exposure to racism was a common phenomenon, and their beliefs did in fact link racism to …

The Relationship Between Sunlight And Cerebrovascular Health, Shia T. Kent

All ETDs from UAB

Sunlight radiation may be related to stroke risk through increased vitamin D production. The latter has been associated with a number of conditions including stroke, cognitive function and cardiovascular disease. We performed three sets of analyses to determine whether higher levels of sunlight radiation were associated with lower rates of stroke incidence, all-cause mortality, and cognitive decline. We explored these relationships using the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, a national longitudinal cohort of 30,239 participants. We merged the participants' residential histories with a ground and satellite-derived NASA dataset to characterize 15-year average sunlight radiation and …

Mapping And Modeling Of Neglected Tropical Diseases In Brazil And Bolivia, Paula Mischler

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Accurately defining disease distributions and calculating disease risk is an important step in the control and prevention of diseases. This study used geographical information systems and remote sensing technologies within the MaxEnt ecological niche modeling program to create predictive risk maps for leprosy and Schistosomiasis in Brazil and Chagas disease in both Brazil and Bolivia. New disease cases were compiled for leprosy, Schistosomiasis, and Chagas disease from the Brazilian ministry of Health for 2001 to 2009 and the data was stratified to a 10,000 population for each municipality. Bolivian Chagas prevalence rates were calculated from 2007 to 2009 survey data. …

Ixodes Affinis (Acari: Ixodidae) In Southeastern Virginia And Implications For The Spread Of Borrelia Burgdorferi, The Agent Of Lyme Disease, Robyn M. Nadolny, Chelsea L. Wright, Wayne L. Hynes, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Holly Gaff

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ixodes affinis Neumann is a hard-bodied (ixodid) tick known to be a competent vector for Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, and agents of other human diseases (Keirans et al. 1999). Ixodes affinis has been reported in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina and throughout coastal North Carolina (Clark et al. 1998, Harrison et al. 2010). Harrison et al. (2010) indicated that I. affinis was established throughout the coastal plain of North Carolina up to the Virginia border and suggested that I. affinis might occur in Virginia.

Groundwater Uranium And Cancer Incidence In South Carolina, Sara E. Wagner, James B. Burch, Matteo Bottai, Robin C. Puett, Dwayne E. Porter, Susan Bolick-Aldrich, Tom Temples, Rebecca C. Wilkerson, John E. Vena, James R. Hébert

Faculty Publications

Objective

This ecologic study tested the hypothesis that census tracts with elevated groundwater uranium and more frequent groundwater use have increased cancer incidence.

Methods

Data sources included: incident total, leukemia, prostate, breast, colorectal, lung, kidney, and bladder cancers (1996–2005, SC Central Cancer Registry); demographic and groundwater use (1990 US Census); and groundwater uranium concentrations (n = 4,600, from existing federal and state databases). Kriging was used to predict average uranium concentrations within tracts. The relationship between uranium and standardized cancer incidence ratios was modeled among tracts with substantial groundwater use via linear or semiparametric regression, with and without stratification …

The Risk Of Pedestrian Injury And Fatality In Collisions With Motor Vehicles: A Social Ecological Study Of State Routes And City Streets In King County, Washington, Anne Vernez Moudon, Lin Lin, Junfeng Jiao, Philip Hurvitz, Paula Reeves

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This study examined the correlates of injury severity using police records of pedestrian-motor-vehicle collisions on state routes and city streets in King County, Washington. Levels of influence on collision outcome considered (1) the characteristics of individual pedestrians and drivers and their actions; (2) the road environment; and (3) the neighborhood environment. Binary logistic regressions served to estimate the risk of a pedestrian being severely injured or dying versus suffering minor or no injury. Significant individual-level influences on injury severity were confirmed for both types of roads: pedestrians being older or younger; the vehicle moving straight on the roadway. New variables …

Cesarean And Vbac Rates Among Immigrant Vs. Native-Born Women: A Retrospective Observational Study From Taiwan Cesarean Delivery And Vbac Among Immigrant Women In Taiwan, Jung Chung Fu, Sudha Xirasagar Mbbs., Ph.D, Jihong Liu Sc.D., Janice C. Probst

Publications

Background. Cultural and ethnic roots impact women's fertility and delivery preferences This study investigated whether the likelihood of cesarean delivery, primary cesarean, and vaginal delivery after cesarean (VBAC) varies by maternal national origin. Methods. We conducted a nation-wide, population-based, observational study using secondary data from Taiwan. De-identified data were obtained on all 392,246 singleton live births (500 g; 20 weeks) born to native-born Taiwanese, Vietnamese and mainland Chinese-born mothers between January 1 2006 and December 31 2007 from Taiwan's nation-wide birth certificate data. Our analytic samples consisted of the following: for overall cesarean likelihood 392,246 births, primary cesarean 336,766 (excluding …

Concurrent Sexual Partnerships Do Not Explain The Hiv Epidemics In Africa: A Systematic Review Of The Evidence, Larry Sawers, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

The notion that concurrent sexual partnerships are especially common in sub-Saharan Africa and explain the region’s high HIV prevalence is accepted by many as conventional wisdom. In this paper, we evaluate the quantitative and qualitative evidence offered by the principal proponents of the concurrency hypothesis and analyze the mathematical model they use to establish the plausibility of the hypothesis.

We find that research seeking to establish a statistical correlation between concurrency and HIV prevalence either finds no correlation or has important limitations. Furthermore, in order to simulate rapid spread of HIV, mathematical models require unrealistic assumptions about frequency of sexual …

Ecology: A Prerequisite For Malaria Elimination And Eradication, Heather M. Ferguson, Anna Dornhaus, Arlyne Beeche, Christian Borgemeister, Michael Gottlieb, Mir S. Mulla, John E. Gimnig, Durland Fish, Gerry F. Killeen

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Existing front-line vector control measures, such as insecticide-treated nets and residual sprays, cannot break the transmission cycle of Plasmodium falciparum in the most intensely endemic parts of Africa and the Pacific. The goal of malaria eradication will require urgent strategic investment into understanding the ecology and evolution of the mosquito vectors that transmit malaria. Priority areas will include understanding aspects of the mosquito life cycle beyond the blood feeding processes which directly mediate malaria transmission. Global commitment to malaria eradication necessitates a corresponding longterm commitment to vector ecology.

Strategies For Deriving A Single Measure Of The Overall Burden Of Antimicrobial Resistance In Hospitals, Alessandro Orlando

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Antimicrobial-resistant infections result in hospital stays costing between $18,000 and $29,000. As of 2009, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services no longer upgrade payments for hospital-acquired infections. Hospital epidemiologists monitor and document rates of individual resistant microbes in antibiogram reports. Overall summary measures capturing resistance within a hospital may be useful. Objectives: We applied four techniques (L1- and L2-principal component analysis (PCA), desirability functions, and simple summary) to create summary measures of resistance and described the four summary measures with respect to reliability, proportion of variance explained, and clinical utility. Methods: We requested antibiograms from hospitals participating in the …