Digital Commons Network^™

Mental Health Impact Of Disasters, Saman Faisal

Public Health Theses

It is very important to study the mental health impact of disasters to provide adequate mental health services when there is an increased demand of mental health services and a concurrent deterioration of mental healthcare capacity after disasters. This study examined the mental health impact of 9/11 attacks among the individuals living close to the disaster area and compared them to the individuals living farther from the disaster area. New York (NY) state and Washington DC were selected as the disaster areas and Illinois (IL) was selected to study individuals living farther from the disaster area. The study also assessed …

Examining Correlations With Frequency Of Walking Trips In Metropolitan Areas, Michelle J. Marcus

Public Health Theses

This research assessed correlations between funding for pedestrian facilities, presence of walkways, and daily and weekly walking trips in a sample of United States residents living in metropolitan areas. The purpose of the research was to identify factors at the policy and environmental level which are associated with a greater frequency of walking trips, and therefore may influence physical activity levels. Data from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s 2001 National Household Travel Survey and the Thunderhead Alliance’s 2007 Benchmarking Report: Bicycling and Walking in the U.S. were combined to provide variables for the number of daily and weekly walking trips, …

Examining The Association Between Parental Smoking And Adolescent Age Of Smoking Initiation In Africa, Jessica Lauren Howell

Public Health Theses

Tobacco use is responsible for millions of preventable illnesses and deaths throughout the world. Nevertheless, multitudes of people begin smoking every day, most before reaching the age of 18. Previous research suggests that parental smoking status is a significant predictor of adolescent smoking. Furthermore, parental smoking status may also be associated with a younger age of smoking initiation, which increases a person’s risk of nicotine dependence, cancer, and death. This study examines the association between parental smoking and adolescent age of smoking initiation in 14 African countries. Data for this study was obtained from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey from …

Factors Associated With Traffic Crashes In Pasto, Colombia: 2005-2006, Adam L. O'Bryant

Public Health Theses

Road traffic injuries (RTI) currently rank as the 11th leading cause of death world wide and the leading cause of injury related deaths worldwide. Globally, road traffic crashes kill over 1.2 million people per year with over 90% of the deaths occurring in low and middle income countries. Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists, collectively called vulnerable road users, are often times the victims. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the factors that are associated with traffic fatalities as well as the factors that are associated with being a vulnerable road user in traffic injuries and traffic fatalities in …

An Analysis Of Georgia Schools’ Compliance And Implementation Of Federally Mandated School Wellness Policies, Eryn M. Marchiolo

Public Health Theses

Our nation’s youth face health challenges today that are drastically different from the health problems of youth in generations past. The drastic rise in childhood obesity rates prompted the 108th Congress to look for an innovative solution to the problem, mandating that each school district receiving federal funding for Free and Reduced Lunch must create and adopt a local wellness policy. This study examines whether relationships exist between Georgia’s school districts’ wellness policies and specific demographic characteristics of the district. Dependent variables include compliance, phase of implementation, and presence of a school health council. This study conducted univariate analysis using …

Index Of Central Obesity As A Parameter To Evaluate Metabolic Syndrome For White, Black, And Hispanic Adults In The United States, Rebecca Lynn Griesemer

Public Health Theses

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of disorders including central obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia. Today's metabolic syndrome definitions identify central obesity by waist circumference (WC) measurements. A recent pilot study suggests that cut-points derived from a waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), or Index of Central Obesity (ICO), is a more accurate measurement of central obesity. This study compared the association between the metabolic syndrome components and central obese parameters (ICO and WC) among the white, black, and Hispanic adults in the United States. The subjects' data was obtained from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. ICO was highly correlated with …

A Geographic Information System (Gis) Analysis Of Cancer Clinical Trial Locations In The State Of Georgia By Major Cancer Type, Shaunta Shanell Parker

Public Health Theses

Improving cancer care through clinical research is a major public health issue. However, in Georgia, the exact number of cancer clinical trials is unknown, indicating the need for baseline data regarding cancer clinical trial locations and cancer burden. This study provides the first statewide analysis of cancer clinical trial locations using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This study examines cancer clinical trial locations by county, according to incidence rates, racial patterns and mortality rates of the four major cancer types: breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate. Findings from this study suggest that metro-Atlanta counties have higher densities of cancer clinical trials. This …

Tuberculosis (Tb)Progress Toward Millennium Development Goals (Mdgs) And Dots In Who Eastern Mediterranean Region (Emr), Khoaja M. Khaled

Public Health Theses

Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne infection. Though effective anti-TB drugs have been available for more than 50 years, over one-third of the world’s population is exposed to TB bacterium; deaths due to TB infection occur at high frequency every day worldwide. Today, drug-resistant TB, TB/HIV co-morbidity and poor health infrastructure are major challenges worldwide, particularly in less developed countries. The primary objective of the study was to assess the progress of TB control programs in twenty-two Eastern Mediterranean Region countries toward Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including implementation of the Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course (DOTS). Also, the study was designed to …

An Assessment Of Atlanta Area Emergency Operations Plans For Emergency Relief Services Utilized By Senior Citizens, Carline P. Richardson

Public Health Theses

The emergency response readiness of the public health and emergency management systems have become increasingly important topics for research, development and action in the United States. Senior citizens represent a large and growing population group in the United States. Older persons are likely to be disproportionately vulnerable during disasters because they are more likely to have chronic illnesses, functional limitations, and sensory, physical and cognitive disabilities than those of younger ages. Elderly health and safety have become the responsibility of the elderly themselves, of the community in which they live, and the various agencies and organizations charged with preparedness planning. …

Understanding The Hiv Risk Behaviors In Haiti:A Rural-Urban Comparison, Regine Alexandra Emilien

Public Health Theses

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the extent and potential correlates of sexual risk taking behaviors related to condom use and number of sexual partners among Haitians aged 15 to 49 years old living in the urban and rural areas.

Methods: Data were obtained from the 2005-2006 cross-sectional survey conducted by the Demographic Health survey. Our study population (15143) was analyzed based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) theory using a bivariate and multiple logistic regression analysis with SPSS for windows.

Results: In both rural and urban areas dwellers had an accurate knowledge of the …

Childhood Maltreatment And Early Alcohol Use Among High-Risk Adolescents, Merle E. Hamburger, Rebecca T. Leeb, Monica H. Swahn

Public Health Faculty Publications

Objective: Child maltreatment (CM) is prevalent among U.S. youth and has been associated with subsequent maladaptive behaviors, including substance use. The current study examines the associations between early child maltreatment and (1) preteen alcohol-use initiation and (2) heavy episodic drinking among students in a large study of adolescents. Method: The Youth Violence Survey is a cross-sectional survey of public school students enrolled in Grades 7,9, 11, and 12 in a school district in a high-risk community. The analysis sample was limited to students who provided complete data on all relevant variables (N = 3,559). Fifty-two percent of the analysis sample …

Mathematical Assessment Of Canada’S Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan, Abba B. Gumel, Miriam Nuño, Gerardo Chowell

Public Health Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: The presence of the highly pathogenic avian H5N1 virus in wild bird populations in several regions of the world, together with recurrent cases of H5N1 influenza arising primarily from direct contact with poultry, have highlighted the urgent need for preparedness and coordinated global strategies to effectively combat a potential influenza pandemic. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the Canadian pandemic influenza preparedness plan.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A mathematical model of the transmission dynamics of influenza was used to keep track of the population according to risk of infection (low or high) and infection status (susceptible, exposed …

Optimization Of Epidemiologic Interventions: Evaluation Of Spatial And Non-Spatial Methods That Identify Johne’S Disease-Infected Subpopulations Targeted For Intervention, Ariel L. Rivas, Marcelo Chaffer, Gerardo Chowell, Daniel Elad, Ori Koren, Stephen Smith, Steven J. Schwager

Public Health Faculty Publications

The potential costs and/or benefits associated with two epidemiological methods were compared. Using the same epidemiologic dataset (74 Israeli dairy herds tested for bovine paratuberculosis of which 57 farms were regarded to be infected, and 619 non-tested herds), the efficacy associated with the identification of the target population where control or preventive measures could be applied was evaluated by: 1) A method that applied geographical information systems (GIS), spatial statistics, network analysis (infective spatial links or ISL); and 2) A method that only partially applied spatial techniques. Based on the herd size of tested and non-tested farms, the geographical area …

Protecting Residential Care Facilities From Pandemic Influenza, Miriam Nuño, Thomas A. Reichert, Gerardo Chowell, Abba B. Gumel

Public Health Faculty Publications

It is widely believed that protecting health care facilities against outbreaks of pandemic influenza requires pharmaceutical resources such as antivirals and vaccines. However, early in a pandemic, vaccines will not likely be available and antivirals will probably be of limited supply. The containment of pandemic influenza within acute-care hospitals anywhere is problematic because of open connections with communities. However, other health care institutions, especially those providing care for the disabled, can potentially control community access. We modeled a residential care facility by using a stochastic compartmental model to address the question of whether conditions exist under which nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) …

Rurality And Pandemic Influenza: Geographic Heterogeneity In The Risks Of Infection And Death In Kanagawa, Japan (1918–1919), Hiroshi Nishiura, Gerardo Chowell

Public Health Faculty Publications

Aim

To characterise the impact of rurality on the spread of pandemic influenza by exploring both the numbers of cases and deaths in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, from October 1918 to April 1919 inclusive.

Method

In addition to the numbers of influenza cases and deaths, population sizes were extracted from census data, permitting estimations of morbidity, mortality, and case fatality by 199 different regions (population 1.4 million). These outcomes were compared between four groups; cities (n=6), larger towns (38), smaller towns (101), and villages (54).

Results

Whereas crude mortality in villages was lower than those of other population groups, the morbidity …