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How Should Health Departments Manage Prenatal Care?, Julianne Nesbit

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Objective: To compare how health departments in the southwest district of Ohio manage prenatal care, defined as preventative care provided immediately preceding, during, and following pregnancy, to determine if there is a better management technique based on cost and/or characteristics of jurisdictions.

Design: Qualitative descriptive analysis of prenatal services at local health departments in the southwest district of Ohio for 2004.

Setting and Participants: Health Departments in the southwest district of Ohio.

Main Outcome Measures: Comparison of the types of services currently being used to provide prenatal care services (i.e., direct, contracted, combination, or no service) including budgeting and cost …

Understanding The Relative Importance Of Positive And Negative Social Exchanges: Examining Specific Domains And Appraisals, Jason T. Newsom, Karen S. Rook, Masami Nishishiba, Dara H. Sorkin, Tyrae Mahan

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Negative social exchanges have been more reliably related to psychological health than have positive social exchanges. Little research, however, has sought to understand how underlying appraisal processes link such exchanges to psychological health. This study examined the frequencies of occurrence and appraisals of four parallel domains of positive and negative exchanges in relation to positive well-being and psychological distress in a national sample of 916 older adults. Structural equation analyses revealed that negative exchanges were related both to less well-being and greater psychological distress, whereas positive exchanges were related only to positive well-being. Furthermore, results supported a process in which …

The Effects Of Ppa And Nicotine Gum On Cessation Rates And Post Cessation Weight Gain In Women., Theodore Cooper, R. Klesges, M. Debon, S. Zbikowski, K. Johnson, L. Clemens

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Community-Based Participatory Research: Defining Community Stakeholders, Laurene M. Tumiel-Berhalter, Robert Watkins, Carlos J. Crespo

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Community-based participatory research requires the participation of community stakeholders to inform the process. The West Side Community Asthma Project, a community-based participatory research program to study the effects of the environment on asthma conducted in Buffalo, N. Y, identified a stakeholders group of community leaders and activists. Creative strategies have been implemented to reach out to other community residents to invite them to participate in the participatory process.

Survey Of Camera Phone Awareness In Outpatient Community Behavioral Health Facilities, Tara Lynn Overton

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of camera phone awareness in outpatient community behavioral health facilities in a medium sized Mid-Atlantic state. Camera phones have been shown to have a detrimental effect on the protection of privacy in areas such as corporations, gym locker rooms, and court houses, but privacy issues have not yet been addressed in behavioral health. Privacy is an important issue in healthcare as shown through the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This study used Rogers' (1995) Diftbsion of Innovations Theory as a framework for determining the stage …

Women And Family Health: The Role Of Mothers In Promoting Family And Child Health, Paula Y. Goodwin, Dean A. Garrett, Osman Galal

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

In many societies, women have been socialized to provide care and maintenance to the family unit by procuring and preparing food, giving care to dependent family members, and by socializing children to become productive adults. Thus, women's roles within families have positioned them to become health managers or promoters of overall family health, particularly for children in developing countries whose lives are directly linked to that of their mothers. The authors propose that efforts to improve the health of children should focus on the family unit as a whole, with a particular focus on the mother or mother figures of …

The Effects Of Childhood Obesity On Self-Esteem, Heather L. Paxton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Obesity is a growing health problem affecting children in the United States. The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically over the past 10 years across virtually all populations and age groups. Recent data suggest that 15 percent of U.S. children are severely overweight or obese (National Center for Health Statistics, 2002) . Obese children are at risk for significant health problems, but also face many psychological and social consequences, including low self-esteem. Children who are obese face an increased risk of emotional problems lasting well into adulthood. Factors such as peer rejection, weight-related teasing, and internalized social standards play a …

The Case Of South African And Chilean Health Systems: Comparison Of Financial, Economic And Health Indicators, Alberto Coustasse, Peter Hilsenrath, Patricio Silva Rojas

Management Faculty Research

The purpose of this study is to identify similarities and differences between healthcare systems of South Africa and Chile. The World Health Report 2000, the Human Development Index, and financial indicators were used for comparison. Chile showed better performance than South Africa in most of the measures used. Significant progress has been made in South Africa, bringing better education, healthcare and housing to the deprived black majority. However, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, weighs heavily on health indicators. Chile decentralized its health services and implemented economic reforms during the 1980's and has had steady improvement in its healthcare indicators. Finally, these counties …

Cover - Front Matter - Table Of Contents

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

No abstract provided.

Reassessing War Making In Our Post 9/11 World: Perspectives From Medicine And Public Health, Maureen Mccue

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

Despite December's association with peace, military conflicts rage around the world. War making is a central element resulting from and contributing to the bleak status of global health, the environment, human rights and ultimately global survival. War is the ultimate form of terrorism and thus ultimately counter-productive to securing peace. To further the search for healthy, sustainable alternatives to war and terrorism, war-making's too often hidden or obscured costs to human and environmental health are reviewed. National priorities are reassessed from a risk/benefit approach utilizing prevention based, medical and public health analytic frameworks including occupational and environmental health, community and …

Prenatal Malnutrition And Risk Of Schizophrenia, Andria Timmer

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

Characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized or catatonic behavior, schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that is estimated to have a lifetime risk of one percent (Liu et al., Allen 2002). Prevalence rates in different countries range from 0.2-2.0 percent with an average incidence rate of 28.1 per 100,000 remaining stable across a wide range of cultures, climates and ethnic groups (Thomas 2000). In the United States, at any given time there may be two to three million people who either have schizophrenia or are at risk of developing it (Allen 2002). The disease usually manifests itself in late …

Cover - Front Matter - Table Of Contents

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

No abstract provided.

Respiratory Hazards In Animal Confinement, Mary Kay Nissen

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

Production methods in animal farming have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. An emphasis on cheaper, more efficient ways of production has provided the impetus for larger, more concentrated systems. Improvements in building construction, heating and ventilation have been developed that provide the opportunity to increase the number of anima ls that can be raised in confinement. Improvements in animal health have reduced the risk of loss from disease. Confinement of large numbers of animals can have adverse effects on the environment and upon the health of employees exposed to such environments. As the trend toward large scale animal …

Massage Therapy For People With Hiv, Karen T. Boulanger

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

Massage therapists celebrated along with other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners at the release of Eisenberg et al.'s follow-up of a national survey on the trends in the use of CAM in the United States from 1990-1997. Not only did the use of CAM increase from 33.8 percent to 42.1 percent, massage was one of the therapies that increased the most (Eisenberg et al., 1998). In addition, although 71.5 percent of the visits were not covered by any insurance, massage therapy was the second most popular CAM therapy used, accounting for 18.1 percent of the 628.8 million total visits …

Childhood Cancer Rates And Exposure To Vehicle Pollutants, Sara Jo Hill

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

Cancer is the second leading cause of death among children ages zero to 15 in the United States (Gouveia-Vigeant & Tickner, 2003, p. 1). Rates for childhood cancer have increased nearly 21 percent between 1975 and 1998 (Gouveia-Vigeant & Tickner, p. 1). Multiple factors can be attributed to this increase. Possible explanations include: increased surveillance, changes in diagnostic criteria, improvements in medical imaging and diagnostic techniques, genetic predisposition as well as environmental factors. Experts recently concluded that genetic predisposition accounts for no more than 20 percent of all childhood cancers (Gouveia-Vigeant & Tickner, p. 1). While this demonstrates a significant …

Colorectal Cancer And Meat Consumption: Recent Views From Epidemiology, Rachel Horner

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the third most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in men and women (CDC 2003). The risk for developing colorectal cancer increases with age (90 percent of cases occur in individuals over 50) and with personal or familial predisposition to cancer. Numerous studies over the years also show connections between lifestyle factors-such as eating a diet high in saturated fat and low in fruits and vegetables, smoking and not exercising regularly-and the incidence of this cancer. However, the links between certain dietary factors and the risk …

Maternal Caffeine Intake And Low Birth Weight: Is There A Relationship?, Jessica Purcell

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

In 1974, the first studies looking at the effect of caffeine use on pregnancy were published. These studies have continued, partly due to the conflicting nature of the results. Some have concluded that caffeine use in pregnancy is safe, while others believe caffeine use can increase risks for intrauterine growth retardation and low birth weight infants. The hypothesis that caffeine may affect a fetus is plausible, as caffeine crosses the placental barrier, increases maternal epinephrine and is metabolized more slowly by the mother during pregnancy. There has also been the suggestion that a relationship between caffeine use and fetal growth …

Barriers To Combating Infectious Disease Globally: A Look At Dengue Fever, Rob J. Fernandez

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

Infectious disease remains one of the most important concerns in global health. Serious infectious diseases affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide each year. While attention is often focused on HIV/AIDS, malaria or TB, dengue fever and its more lethal variety dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are also a risk for the more than 2.5 billion people living in tropical and sub-tropical regions across the globe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Approximately 50 million cases, about 400,000 of which are DHF, are documented each year, with some countries reporting it as a leading cause of child mortality (1). Although …

Ethical Approaches To Gathering Information From Children And Adolescents In International Settings: Guidelines And Resources, Katie D. Schenk, Jan Williamson

HIV and AIDS

This publication provides practical guidance to help program managers and researchers understand and uphold ethical standards when planning and implementing information-gathering activities among children and adolescents, and promotes discussion of ethical issues among people of different backgrounds and training who gather information for different purposes. The publication, which is divided into three parts, is intended to be helpful to anyone who plans, manages, implements, analyzes, or funds any program or research activity that requires gathering information from children and adolescents, including monitoring and evaluation. Part 1 presents key issues that must be considered from the earliest stages of planning and …

Extended Vs. Small Field Irradiation In High Risk Post Esophagectomy Patients Receiving Combined Chemoradiation Therapy: A Decade Experience In Treatment Of Esophageal Cancer, Edward Yu, Patricia Tai, George Rodrigues, Robert Ash, Larry Stitt, Rashid A. Dar, Pauline Truong, Gregory M. Videtic, Richard Malthaner, Richard Inculet, Anna Tomiak, Jawaid Younus, Brian Dingle, Walter Kocha, Mark Vincent

Oncology Presentations

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of extended field irradiation with anastomotic coverage on local recurrence in high risk resected esophageal cancerpatients.

METHODS: From 1989-1999, high risk resected esophageal cancer cases receiving post-resection chemoradiation were reviewed. Adjuvant chemotherapy consisted of four cycles of fluorouracil-based regimens. Loco-regional irradiation with or without coverage of anastomotic site had radiation a dose range from 45-60 Gyat 1.8-2.0 Gy/fraction given with initial anterior-posterior/posterior-anterior arrangement with either extended (with anastomotic coverage), or small (without anastomotic coverage) field followed by oblique fields for boost.

RESULTS: One hundred eighty-eight charts were reviewed. Seventy-two patients were eligible for post-resection chemoradiation. …

The Effects Of Ppa And Nicotine Gum On Cessation Rates And Post Cessation Weight Gain In Women., Theodore Cooper, R. Klesges, M. Debon, S. Zbikowski, K. Johnson, L. Clemens

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Cost - Minimization Analysis Of Treprostinil Vs. Epoprostenol As An Alternate To Oral Therapy: Non - Responders For The Treatment Of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Lutchmie Narine, L. Hague, J. Walker, C. Vicente

Public Health, Food Studies, and Nutrition

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Treprostinil was compared to epoprostenol for the economic impact of treating IPAH patients who failed or were not candidates for bosentan. METHODS: The model was a cost-minimization analysis, assuming clinical equivalence was achieved by proper dosing of both drugs, in terms of survival and surrogate measures. Two theoretical cohorts of 270 patients were treated with subcutaneous treprostinil and intravenous epoprostenol, and were evaluated over 3 years using a spreadsheet model. Annual survival rates were estimated for the cohorts so that at endpoint 114 (42%) patients survived in both …

Genome Size And Organization In The Blacklegged Tick, Ixodes Scapularis And The Southern Cattle Tick, Boophilus Microplus, A. J. Ullmann, C. M. R. Lima, F. D. Guerrero, J. Piesman, W. C. Black Iv

United States Public Health Resources

Genome sizes and the organization of repetitive DNA were determined in the hard ticks Ixodes scapularis and Boophilus microplus using reassociation kinetics. The I. scapularis genome contains ~ 2.15 pg (2.1 × 10 ³ Mbp) of DNA and consists of no foldback (FB), 27% highly repetitive (HR), 39% moderately repetitive (MR), and 34% unique DNA. The B. microplus genome contains 7.5 pg (7.1 × 10 ³ Mbp) DNA, and consists of 0.82% FB, 31% HR, 38% MR, and 30% unique DNA. In both species, repetitive sequences occur in a mixture of long and short period interspersion but most (65–80%) of …

Evolutionary Genetics Of A New Pathogenic Escherichia Species: Escherichia Albertii And Related Shigella Boydii Strains, Katie E. Hyma, David W. Lacher, Adam M. Nelson, Alyssa C. Bumbaugh, J. Michael Janda, Nancy A. Strockbine, Vincent B. Young, Thomas S. Whittam

United States Public Health Resources

A bacterium originally described as Hafnia alvei induces diarrhea in rabbits and causes epithelial damage similar to the attachment and effacement associated with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Subsequent studies identified similar H. alvei-like strains that are positive for an intimin gene (eae) probe and, based on DNA relatedness, are classified as a distinct Escherichia species, Escherichia albertii. We determined sequences for multiple housekeeping genes in five E. albertii strains and compared these sequences to those of strains representing the major groups of pathogenic E. coli and Shigella. A comparison of 2,484 codon positions in 14 …

Non-O157 Shiga Toxin–Producing Escherichia Coli Infections In The United States, 1983–2002, John T. Brooks, Evangeline G. Sowers, Joy G. Wells, Katherine D. Greene Greene, Patricia M. Griffin, Robert M. Hoekstra, Nancy A. Strockbine

United States Public Health Resources

Background. Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 is a well-recognized cause of bloody diarrhea and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). Non-O157 STEC contribute to this burden of illness but have been underrecognized as a result of diagnostic limitations and inadequate surveillance.

Methods. Between 1983 and 2002, 43 state public health laboratories submitted 940 human non-O157 STEC isolates from persons with sporadic illnesses to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention reference laboratory for confirmation and serotyping.

Results. The most common serogroups were O26 (22%), O111 (16%), O103 (12%), O121 (8%), O45 (7%), and O145 (5%). Non-O157 STEC infections were …

Identification And Characterization Of Shigella Boydii 20 Serovar Nov., A New And Emerging Shigella Serotype, David L. Woodward, Clifford G. Clark, Richard A. Caldeira, Rafiq Ahmed, Geoff Soule, Louis Bryden, Helen Tabor, Pasquale Melito, Roger Foster, Julie Walsh, Lai-King Ng, Georgia B. Malcolm, Nancy Strockbine, Frank G. Rodgers

United States Public Health Resources

Analysis of 163 putative Shigella isolates from Canada and the USA showed biochemical reactions consistent with Shigella species, although none of the isolates reacted with antiserum raised against any of the well-established or provisional Shigella serotypes. All these isolates, provisionally designated serotype SH108, were positive for the ipaH gene and the invasion-associated locus. All fermented mannitol, were serologically indistinguishable from each other and showed no reaction in antisera prepared against Escherichia coli serotypes O1 to O181. PCR-RFLP analysis of the genes involved in O-antigen synthesis revealed a common pattern among these isolates that was distinct from recognized Shigella serotypes and …

Evaluating Current Policy For Detecting Mosaicism In Amniotic Fluid Cultures: Implications For Current Cell Counting Practices, Samuel P. Caudill, Daniel L. Van Dyke, Andrew T. L. Chen, John A. Reidy, Paul S. Ing, Stuart Schwartz, Gail H. Vance

United States Public Health Resources

Chromosomal mosaicism is one of the most vexing problems for clinical cytogenetic laboratories and personnel time used for analysis at the microscope is one of the principle costs in cytogenetic laboratories. We use data collected from 26 cytogenetic laboratories to evaluate whether the American College of Medical Genetics guidelines for minimum number of cells to count to exclude mosaicism in amniotic fluid specimens is appropriate. An accurate estimate of the number of mosaics that are missed by current cell counting practices is an important step in this process. Thus, we present a new method for estimating the number of mosaics …

Molecular Cloning And Characterization Of A Porcine Ul16 Binding Protein (Ulbp)-Like Cdna, Carmen N. Garcia-Borges, Bounleut Phanavanh, Sarika Saraswati, Richard A. Dennis, Mark D. Crew

United States Public Health Resources

UL16 binding proteins (ULBPs) are ligands for the NK cell activating receptor NKG2D. A cDNA encoding a porcine ULBP-like protein (PULBP) was cloned and the predicted amino acid sequence exhibited 35–52% identity to human ULBPs. Southern blot analysis suggested that there is only one ULBP-like gene in the pig genome. Transcripts of PULBP and another potential NKG2D ligand, MIC2, were detected by RT-PCR in a wide range of tissues. Recombinant PULBP-Fc and human ULBP2-Fc fusion proteins were made and used to examine PULBP binding to porcine PBMCs and a human NK cell line (NKL cells). PULBP-Fc bound to a subpopulation …

Phylogenetic Analysis Of North American West Nile Virus Isolates, 2001–2004: Evidence For The Emergence Of A Dominant Genotype, C. Todd Davis, Gregory D. Ebel, Robert S. Lanciotti, Aaron C. Brault, Hilda Guzman, Marina Siirin, Amy Lambert, Ray E. Parsons, David W.C. Beasley, Robert J. Novak, Darwin Elizondo-Quiroga, Emily N. Green, David S. Young, Lillian M. Stark, Michael A. Drebot, Harvey Artsob, Robert B. Tesh, Laura D. Kramer, Alan D.T. Barrett

United States Public Health Resources

The distribution of West Nile virus has expanded in the past 6 years to include the 48 contiguous United States and seven Canadian provinces, as well as Mexico, the Caribbean islands, and Colombia. The suggestion of the emergence of a dominant genetic variant has led to an intensive analysis of isolates made across North America. We have sequenced the premembrane and envelope genes of 74 isolates and the complete genomes of 25 isolates in order to determine if a dominant genotype has arisen and to better understand how the virus has evolved as its distribution has expanded. Phylogenetic analyses revealed …

Agricultural Pesticide Use And Risk Of Glioma In Nebraska, United States, W. J. Lee, J. S. Colt, E. F. Heineman, R. Mccomb, D. D. Weisenburger, W. Lijinsky, M. H. Ward

United States Public Health Resources

Background: To evaluate the risk of the adult glioma associated with farming and agricultural pesticide use, the authors conducted a population based case control study in eastern Nebraska.
Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted with men and women diagnosed with gliomas (n = 251) between 1988 and 1993 and controls (n = 498) randomly selected from the same geographical area. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for farming and for use of individual and chemical classes of insecticides and herbicides, including pesticides classified as nitrosatable (able to form N-nitroso compounds upon reaction with nitrite). Non-farmers were …