Digital Commons Network^™

Call Me Dr Ishmael: Trends In Electronic Health Record Notes Available At Emergency Department Visits And Admissions, Brian W Patterson, Daniel J Hekman, Frank J Liao, Azita G Hamedani, Manish N Shah, Majid Afshar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: Numerous studies have identified information overload as a key issue for electronic health records (EHRs). This study describes the amount of text data across all notes available to emergency physicians in the EHR, trended over the time since EHR establishment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of EHR data from a large healthcare system, examining the number of notes and a corresponding number of total words and total tokens across all notes available to physicians during patient encounters in the emergency department (ED). We assessed the change in these metrics over a 17-year period between 2006 and …

Measurement-Based Mental Health In Adolescents, Ayzia Lynn Taylor

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Adolescent mental health is a growing concern. Children and adolescents are commonly diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and depression. Some youth may also experience co-occurring symptoms that their primary healthcare provider must distinguish to appropriately diagnose and treat.

Purpose: The project aimed to implement measurement-based care for adolescents between the ages of 12 to 18 in a pediatric outpatient facility that is not currently utilizing post-assessment screening tools. The project seeks justification for treatment options utilizing pre-assessment screening tools and therapeutic relief with medication intervention determined by post-assessment screening results.

Methods: Adolescents between the ages …

Discret: Synthesizing Faithful Explanations For Treatment Effect Estimation, Yinjun Wu, Mayank Keoliya, Kan Chen, Neelay Velingker, Ziyang Li, Emily J Getzen, Qi Long, Mayur Naik, Ravi B Parikh, Eric Wong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Designing faithful yet accurate AI models is challenging, particularly in the field of individual treatment effect estimation (ITE). ITE prediction models deployed in critical settings such as healthcare should ideally be (i) accurate, and (ii) provide faithful explanations. However, current solutions are inadequate: state-of-the-art black-box models do not supply explanations, post-hoc explainers for black-box models lack faithfulness guarantees, and self-interpretable models greatly compromise accuracy. To address these issues, we propose DISCRET, a self-interpretable ITE framework that synthesizes faithful, rule-based explanations for each sample. A key insight behind DISCRET is that explanations can serve dually as database queries to identify similar …

Spcl 3800: Introduction To Counseling Professions, Gerald Corbin

Open Educational Resources

This course introduces students to the practice of various counseling professions including school counseling, school psychology, clinical mental health counseling, clinical social work, substance abuse counseling, and clinical psychology. Foundations of these professions are explored including job descriptions, typical duties, education requirements, and licensure.  The role of these various professions and settings will be explored.

Implementation Of Depression Screening For The Puerperal Woman During The Fourth Trimester, Ashley Tidwell Bowlin

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Postpartum depression is a mental illness that most commonly develops in the first twelve weeks postpartum, known as the “fourth trimester.” Nationally, one in five women suffers from postpartum depression, with 50 percent going undiagnosed and untreated due to fear of stigmatization and lack of consistent screenings among healthcare providers.

Purpose: The evidence-based Doctor of Nursing Practice quality improvement project included screening for postpartum depression between seven to 14 days postpartum to increase the identification of women likely to have postpartum depression before their scheduled postpartum visit over six weeks.

Methods: The project used a quantitative design as the …

An Examination Of Self-Identity In Relation To Smoking And Vaping In South Carolina, Jaron Hoani King

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND

This dissertation examines self-identity in the context of smoking and vaping among adults in South Carolina (SC) using data from the 2023 SC Adult Tobacco Survey (n=1370). The conceptual model created to guide this dissertation is called the “Smoker and Vaper Behavior-Identity Model” and draws constructs from theoretical frameworks in health behavior and social identity theories. Behavior was defined as lifetime and past 30 day cigarette or e-cigarette use. Self-identity was defined by asking respondents with a history of cigarette or e-cigarette use “Do you consider yourself a smoker/vaper”, respectively.

METHODS

First, this study assesses the prevalence of mismatching …

Lexical Access In Women With The Fmr1 Premutation, Nadia Sabeh Ayon

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Emergent research indicates that women carrying the FMR1 premutation (FXpm) may encounter difficulties in language skills, including increased dysfluencies, a reduction in the quantity and diversity of words produced, and increased word retrieval errors with age (Sterling et al., 2013; Bredin-Oja et al., 2021). Objectives: The present study aims to assess semantic and phonological lexical access skills in FXpm women as well as to examine the impact of cognitive load (time pressure) on lexical access.

Methods: Forty-two FXpm women and 25 control women, aged 26-65 years (M=46.22, age-matched: p=.115), participated. The Network Production Task (Oomen & Postma, 2001), featuring …

Nonverbal Iq Test Performance In Preschool-Age Children With Varying Language, Sandra Danelle Irvin

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the impact of two types of factors on IQ test performance in children with variation in language ability. The two types of factors studied here are: a) test characteristics (i.e., complexity of test directions) and test-taker characteristics (i.e., language ability). Method – Four participants, ages 4-7, completed norm referenced assessments for language and intelligence. Results – Descriptive results suggest no discernable trends between performance on language assessments and nonverbal IQ measures. The results demonstrated a discernable negative trend between performance on nonverbal IQ measures and linguistic complexity of instructions. Implications – While the …

Does Differential Privacy Prevent Backdoor Attacks In Practice?, Fereshteh Razmi, Jian Lou, Li Xiong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Differential Privacy (DP) was originally developed to protect privacy. However, it has recently been utilized to secure machine learning (ML) models from poisoning attacks, with DP-SGD receiving substantial attention. Nevertheless, a thorough investigation is required to assess the effectiveness of different DP techniques in preventing backdoor attacks in practice. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of DP-SGD and, for the first time, examine PATE and Label-DP in the context of backdoor attacks. We also explore the role of different components of DP algorithms in defending against backdoor attacks and will show that PATE is effective against these attacks due …

Persevering Through Communication Challenges: A Qualitative Descriptive Exploration Of Communication Experiences In Aphasia, Tyson G. Harmon, Camille Williams, Garrett Cardon, William S. Evans

Faculty Publications

Background

People with aphasia often experience activity limitations and participation restrictions despite wanting to engage in communication activities that are satisfying and meaningful. Communication partner support, the complexity of the communication environment, and the thoughts and feelings of people with aphasia have important implications for both language processing and communicative participation. The perspectives of PWA about the role that environmental and personal factors (e.g. thoughts and feelings) play in their communication experiences could inform clinical practice.

Aims

To qualitatively explore the communication experiences of people with aphasia and how environmental demands and personal factors (especially emotional responses) affect these experiences. …

Perceived Barriers And Enablers To Utilising The Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme For Adults With An Intellectual Disability And Their Families: A Scoping Review, Alice Zubrinich, Gideon De Jong, Nasim Salehi, Richard Lakeman

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: The introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in Australia in 2013 promised significant improvements in the lives of adults with intellectual disabilities. Although the scheme enables support, there are challenges associated with establishing eligibility and administering funds. This scoping review explored perceived barriers and enablers to effectively utilising the NDIS for adults with intellectual disabilities and their families. Method: A scoping review of the empirical literature on the NDIS and intellectual disabilities included nine studies in this review. These papers were subjected to thematic analysis and the findings were presented as a narrative synthesis. Results: The key …

Working With Bilingual Populations: Clinical Practices Of Speech-Language Pathologists In New Mexico, Wylie L. Skillman

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

New Mexico is uniquely positioned as a state that has more bilingual speakers than the United States on average, meaning that Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) here are more likely to work with bilingual speakers than elsewhere. Best practices for bilingual evaluation and treatment are taught in graduate education for SLPs but the extent to which they are known and utilized by school-based SLPs differs based on many factors.

As the body of research supporting culturally responsive bilingual assessment and intervention continue to grow, it is unknown how or if clinicians are using this knowledge to assess and treat students who …

The Reading And Phonological Awareness Skills Of Elementary English Language Learners Post Covid-19 Pandemic, Mollie Virginia Jane Breckenridge

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the reading skills of English language learning (ELLs) elementary students post-COVID-19. Furthermore, this study analyzed the relationship between phonological awareness (PA) and the reading skills of the students. The participants included 22 ELL students in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade that attended an after-school program offered by the local Hispanic Center in Jonesboro, Arkansas. To measure the participants’ literacy skills, the primary investigator administered select portions of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Third Edition (WRMT-III: (Woodcock, 2011) as well as select portions of the DIBELS (DIBELS: University of Oregon, n.d.) assessment. According to …

Impact Of A Novel Structured Transfusion Medicine Curriculum On Pediatric Residents’ Knowledge And Self-Reported Confidence Levels, Amanda Herrmann, Sepideh Saroukhani, Katherine Addy, Samuel Neher, Yu Bai, Neethu Menon

Teaching in Clinics

Purpose: Previous studies have shown low levels of comfort and knowledge regarding transfusion medicine among physicians in training. Pediatric hematology and Blood Bank teams at our institution collaborated to create a structured curriculum for pediatric residents, consisting of an interactive lecture followed by a problem-based learning (PBL) session with pediatrics-specific case vignettes. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of this curriculum on residents’ knowledge and impact on transfusion management (TM). Knowledge improvement was assessed using a previously validated test. Confidence levels regarding TM and curriculum feedback were assessed using surveys. Transfusion practices at our center were …

A Taxonomy For Advancing Systematic Error Analysis In Multi-Site Electronic Health Record-Based Clinical Concept Extraction, Sunyang Fu, Liwei Wang, Huan He, Andrew Wen, Nansu Zong, Anamika Kumari, Feifan Liu, Sicheng Zhou, Rui Zhang, Chenyu Li, Yanshan Wang, Jennifer St Sauver, Hongfang Liu, Sunghwan Sohn

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Error analysis plays a crucial role in clinical concept extraction, a fundamental subtask within clinical natural language processing (NLP). The process typically involves a manual review of error types, such as contextual and linguistic factors contributing to their occurrence, and the identification of underlying causes to refine the NLP model and improve its performance. Conducting error analysis can be complex, requiring a combination of NLP expertise and domain-specific knowledge. Due to the high heterogeneity of electronic health record (EHR) settings across different institutions, challenges may arise when attempting to standardize and reproduce the error analysis process.

Objectives: This study …

Lived Experiences, Perceptions, And Caregiving Trajectories Of Family Caregivers Of Youth With Substance Use Disorders (Suds) In Zambia, Ireen Manase Kabembo

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

There is unequivocal evidence that family caregivers contribute to healthcare systems worldwide by providing care for persons with chronic illnesses in the home setting. his study explores the lived experiences, perceptions, and caregiving trajectories of 30 family caregivers of youth aged 16-24 diagnosed with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) in Zambia. Data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, a caregiving timeline, and participant observation and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Guided by the integrated theoretical framework of positioning theory and the theory of caregiving dynamics, this study offers a new lens for understanding caregiver’s experiences regarding caregiver identity, self-perceptions, interpersonal relationships, …

Clinical Trial Recruitment Of People Who Speak Languages Other Than English: A Children's Oncology Group Report, Melissa P. Beauchemin, Maria Ortega, Sheila J. Santacroce, Joanna M. Robles, Jenny Ruiz, Anurekha G. Hall, Justine M. Kahn, Cecilia Fu, Manuela Orjuela-Grimm, Grace C. Hillyer, Samrawit Solomon, Wendy Pelletier, Raul Montiel-Esparza, Lindsay J. Blazin, Cassie Kline, Alix E. Seif, Paula Aristizabal, Lena E. Winestone, Maria C. Velez

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Persons who speak languages other than English are underrepresented in clinical trials, likely in part because of inadequate multilevel resources. We conducted a survey of institutions affiliated with the Children's Oncology Group (COG) to characterize current research recruitment practices and resources regarding translation and interpretation services. METHODS: In October 2022, a 20-item survey was distributed electronically to institutions affiliated with COG to assess consent practices and resources for recruiting participants who speak languages other than English to COG trials. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize responses; responses were compared by institution size and type as well as respondent role. …

Speech & Language Services: Examining The Experiences Of Deaf / Hard Of Hearing People, Milayna N. Barker

University Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) adults and parents of Deaf/HoH children related to speech and language services, and their recommendations for service providers. Historically, professionals have focused on the development of speech and aural/oral skills of Deaf and HoH people. As such, when working with families of newly-identified children with hearing loss, hearing professionals may be ill-equipped to provide culturally-responsive, fully inclusive information and education regarding communication options and opportunities.

Method: This study used a qualitative research design to examine participant experiences related to speech and language services …

Flattening Morrison's Beloved: The Limits Of Psychoanalysis In Literary Criticism, A Literature Review, Isaac Vanhook

University Honors Theses

Toni Morrison's Beloved was first published in 1987 and has amassed a wide range of scholarship throughout the years; with some literary scholars using psychoanalysis to suggest a reading of Beloved. Because of the volume of scholarship and Beloved's plot--dealing with a mother who represses the memory of killing her daughter, Beloved--I found it to be perfect for the scope of this project. This literature review focuses on the sometimes reductive qualities of psychoanalyzing Beloved (such as the Freudian universal psychoanalytic subject, and the 'drawbacks' of object relations theory), while also discussing some revelatory qualities via the same …

The Covid-19 Pandemic & Language Development Of Preschool Children Living In The Arkansas Delta, Molly Grace Williams

Student Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on preschool children’s language development. Children from the Arkansas Delta Region were examined to determine the significance. Existing data consisting of BRIGANCE III screeners from the 2019 cohort and 2022 cohort were analyzed. Researchers examined the scores from the screener's language and cognitive/academic sections. BRIGANCE III screeners from 73 three-year-olds were collected from the School of the 21st Century Preschool in Paragould, AR. Data from the screeners analyzed the 2019 and 2022 cohorts. A two-tailed t-test was used to measure the relationship between the eight dependent variables. The results yielded …

Exploring Cultural, Health, And Technology Intersections: A Focus On Migrant Experiences, Merna Mina, Sahij Gill

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Despite the plethora of theories and frameworks addressing culture, health, and technology adoption, there remains a notable absence of a unifying theory that comprehensively encompasses all three aspects, particularly concerning newcomers. The Health Belief Model, for example, underscores individual perceptions and attitudes toward health yet fails to consider the intricate interplay between cultural factors and technology adoption among immigrant populations. The Healthy Immigrant Effect, which posits that immigrants often exhibit better health outcomes than native-born individuals, does not mention the role of technology on health outcomes. Acculturation theories, while shedding light on the adaptation process, often fall short of explaining …

Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evaluation Of Community-Based Screening Program, Mehmet Aki̇f Sezerol, Seli̇n Davun

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: This study was conducted to evaluate the results of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) screenings conducted in a region of İstanbul between 2018 and 2023.Materials and methods: This descriptive study was conducted between April 2018 and February 2023 among 25,839 children aged between 18–36 months who had been screened for autism spectrum disorder in Sultanbeyli, İstanbul. Children between 18–36 months are examined and a form consisting of 5 questions and typical symptoms of ASD is filled. Each question is answered as yes or no. Answering yes to at least one of the questions is sufficient to direct them to child …

Under Pressure: The Interplay Of Hypertension And White Matter Hyperintensities With Cognition In Chronic Stroke Aphasia, Jade Hannan, Natalie Busby, Rebecca Roth, Janina Wilmskoetter, Roger Newman-Norlund Ph.D., Chris Rorden, Leonardo Bonilha, Julius Fridriksson Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

While converging research suggests that increased white matter hyperintensity load is associated with poorer cognition, and the presence of hypertension is associated with increased white matter hyperintensity load, the relationship among hypertension, cognition and white matter hyperintensities is not well understood. We sought to determine the effect of white matter hyperintensity burden on the relationship between hypertension and cognition in individuals with post-stroke aphasia, with the hypothesis that white matter hyperintensity load moderates the relationship between history of hypertension and cognitive function. Health history, Fazekas scores for white matter hyperintensities and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Matrix Reasoning subtest scores for …

Teen Pregnancy Involvement Among African, Caribbean And Black Adolescent Boys And Girls: A Scoping Review Protocol, Emmanuela Ojukwu, Eunice Bawafaa, Emily Mckay, Harsimran Grewal, Sara Afsah, Shivangi Singh, Elizabeth Saewyc

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the incidence, associated factors and interventions to address teen pregnancy involvement (TPI) among African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) adolescents in North America.

DESIGN: We conducted a scoping review of the literature, guided by the social-ecological model.

DATA SOURCES: Studies were retrieved from databases such as Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, CINAHL, CAB Direct and Google Scholar and imported into COVIDENCE for screening.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: The Joanna Briggs Institute scoping reviews protocol guided the establishment of eligibility criteria. Included studies focused on rates, associated factors and interventions related to TPI among ACB boys and girls aged …

Speech-Language Pathology In China: An Overview, Guanyu Wei

Student Scholarship

Purpose: China is a middle-income developing country that is aging rapidly. Speech-language pathology is a developing field in China. The article aims to provide a brief overview of the current status of speech-language pathology in China.

Method: This article presents the authors' viewpoint, bolstered by insights from nine speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in China. To enrich the depth of the discussion on achievements and challenges within the Chinese speech-language pathology field, the authors also conducted a review of relevant articles in Standard Chinese–based databases.

Result and Discussion: The authors have delineated both the major achievements and barriers in …

Abstract Book (Pdf), Department Of Psychiatry

Dept. of Psychiatry Research Symposium

Abstract book for the 2nd Annual Department of Psychiatry Research Symposium held June 2024.
Abstracts are in alphabetical by last name of the lead author.

Accessibility statement: The attached document has been formatted to meet PDF/UA v1 accessibility compliance standards. Please contact [email protected] if further assistance is needed.

Representation Of Nouns And Verbs During Play Between Caregivers And Children With Developmental Language Disorder, Alaina Grissom

Alternative Theses and Dissertations (AETDs)

Purpose. This project compared how children and caregivers use gestures and objects to contribute to the representation of nouns and verbs during play interactions between children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their caregivers. Observations were used to determine if there was any differentiation in how children or caregivers used gestures and/or objects when nouns and verbs were presented within the play context.

Methods. Observations of parent-child dyads were recorded at a local children’s museum. All dyads included children with DLD between four and six years of age. The child and caregiver’s use of gestures and objects within the interaction …

Building Language Learning: Relations Between Infant Attention And Social Contingency In The First Year Of Life, Lillian R. Masek, Elizabeth V. Edgar, Brianna T.M. Mcmillan, James Torrence Todd, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Lorraine E. Bahrick, Kathy A. Hirsh-Pasek

Psychology: Faculty Publications

In Western societies, social contingency, or prompt and meaningful back-and-forth exchanges between infant and caregiver, is a powerful feature of the early language environment. Research suggests that infants with better attentional skills engage in more social contingency during interactions with adults and, in turn, social contingency supports infant attention. This reciprocity is theorized to build infant language skills as the adult capitalizes on and extends the infant’s attention during socially contingent interactions. Using data from 104 infants and caregivers, this paper tests reciprocal relations between infant attention and social contingency at 6- and 12-months and the implications for infant vocabulary …

Accessible Real-Time Eye-Gaze Tracking For Neurocognitive Health Assessments, A Multimodal Web-Based Approach, Daniel C. Tisdale

Master's Theses

We introduce a novel integration of real-time, predictive eye-gaze tracking models into a multimodal dialogue system tailored for remote health assessments. This system is designed to be highly accessible requiring only a conventional webcam for video input along with minimal cursor interaction and utilizes engaging gaze-based tasks that can be performed directly in a web browser. We have crafted dynamic subsystems that capture high-quality data efficiently and maintain quality through instances of user attrition and incomplete calls. Additionally, these subsystems are designed with the foresight to allow for future re-analysis using improved predictive models, as well as enable the creation …

I See You! Play: A Therapeutic Playgroup For Caregivers And Their Intensive Care Group Infants, Mariana Cerqueira Aokalani

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This paper articulates a new therapeutic playgroup for caregivers of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) infants, named I See You! Play. This intervention is an adaptation of WePlay! (Gross et al., 2021), a cooperative learning and therapeutic playgroup for caregivers and their children from 6 to 36 months old. Dr, Tracy Vozar developed this program inspired by Saleem Penny’s program with the same name in Chicago. Parents of ICU infants face several challenges that can affect their experience of parenthood, their parenting skills, caregivers' sensitivity, their mental health, and their relationship with their premature infant. This in turn affects infant’s attachment …