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Examining The Feasibility Of Integrating An Alcohol Detoxification Protocol Within Primary Care, Emily A. Miller, Dnpc, Bsn, Rn

College of Nursing and Health Sciences Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Publications

Purpose: Medically supervised, in-home alcohol detoxification is safe, efficacious, cost-effective, and satisfying for patients. However, it remains underutilized within primary care practices. This feasibility study aimed to examine clinician perceptions of adopting a standardized outpatient alcohol detoxification protocol at a rural primary care clinic where no internal protocol exists.

Methods: An ambulatory alcohol detoxification protocol was created using the American Society of Addiction Medicine guideline on alcohol withdrawal management and presented to 38 providers and 11 nurses. Twelve participants (six providers and six nurses) completed a modified version of the Implementation Process Assessment Tool. The instrument measured stakeholder perceptions of …

Bayesian Experimental Design For Control And Surveillance In Epidemiology, Bren Case

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Effective public health interventions must balance an array of interconnected challenges, and decisions must be made based on scientific evidence from existing information. Building evidence requires extrapolating from limited data using models. But when data are insufficient, it is important to recognize the limitations of model predictions and diagnose how they can be improved. This dissertation shows how principles from Bayesian experimental design can be applied to surveillance and control efforts to allow researchers to get more out of their data and direct limited resources to best effect. We argue a Bayesian perspective on data gathering, where design decisions are …

Nonlinear Relationships Between The Environment And Health, Levi N. Bonnell

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Relationships between the environment and health outcomes are complex and likely nonlinear in nature. However, until recently, most studies used ordinary linear regression to model these relationships. The overall goal of this research was to investigate nonlinear relationships between the environment and health. To accomplish this goal, we used several large, national datasets across varying populations and local environments.

Destination accessibility is an important measure of the built environment that is associated with active transport and body mass index (BMI). In the first study, we sought to determine the relationship between the density of nonresidential destinations (a proxy for walkability) …

How To Analyze Parental Conversation Online: A Computational Stack For Studying Vaccine Hesitancy., Carter Willets Ward

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Despite national and international organizations such as the CDC and WHO recognizing the value of vaccines and their importance in addressing public health concerns, there has been a decline in coverage for even the most established vaccines over the past three years. The global COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to this decline via decreases in medical resource accessibility and an increase in vaccine hesitancy. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO had recognized vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten threats to public health. In the present work, we introduce a background account of (1) vaccine hesitancy and (2) anti-vax activism, …

Low Birth Weight Status Combined With Socioeconomic Factors Influences Future Diagnosis Of Learning Disability, Sinead Donnelly, Nisagini Logendran, Anel Peco, Maris Sagamang, Elizabeth Sparks

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objective: To determine if there is correlation between low birth weight and the development of learning disabilities in later stages of life.

Methods: Data from the National Child Health Survey from 2018-2020 was used with data from

59,963 U.S. households looking at children aged six to eleven years. A multiple linear regression model was used to assess the relationship between low birth weight (<2500g) and learning disabilities and developmental delays when controlling for ethnicity, family structure, and household income.

Results: The results indicate 7.2% of those surveyed reported a child with a diagnosed learning disability. In response to the low birth weight category, 8.2% of the children involved were in the category …

The Role Of Food Insecurity With Hunger And Physical Activity Level On Binge Drinking Among Vermont High School Students, Joe Stacy, Codi Williams, Zyakkiriah Rhoden, Han Naung Tun

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objective: To determine the association of hunger, physical activity, Black Indigenous People Of Color (BIPOC) status , and BMI percentile on binge drinking among Vermont high schoolers.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on Vermont high school students aged between 12 to 18 years (n=18,540) using data obtained from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of the Vermont Department of Health. Multiple logistic regression models were utilized to investigate the correlation between binge drinking status and hunger status, physically active status, BIPOC status, and Body Mass Index percentile.

Results: Binge drinkers had significantly higher levels of hunger …

Cardiovascular Disease Deaths Of Vermonters Aged 65+ Years By Rurality Status Of Residency, Francene Zavala, Katherine Rampone, Kailene Cruden, Tyler Flores, Mark Gauthier

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objective: To analyze cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality amongst individuals 65 years and older living in different areas of Vermont.

Methods: Using the state of Vermont's Electronic Death Registration System, the cross-sectional analysis compared the rate of CVD death for older Vermonters in urban and rural areas between 2015 and 2019.

Results: The binomial logistic regression model demonstrated statistically significant findings among the predictor variables: rurality (p

Conclusions: These findings suggest a need for increased research and awareness of the impact CVD mortality has among Vermonters 65 years and older in rural areas as this population continues to increase.