Digital Commons Network^™

Civic Attitude And Activity Of Loma Linda University Dental Graduates, Gregory W. Olson

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Introduction: Dentistry is regarded as a profession and granted certain privileges, such as self-regulation. Associated with this status are stated and implied responsibilities which are widely debated. In recent years, dental professionalism seems to be on the decline. Evidence cited includes access-to-care issues and decreased public trust in dentists. In response, academia and professional organizations have developed curricula and statements intended to bolster professionalism. Meanwhile little is known about practicing dentists’ attitudes or participation in health-related civic matters. Objectives: This study seeks to examine the importance Loma Linda University (LLU) dental graduates place on public roles, their reported participation in …

Thirdhand Tobacco Smoke: Emerging Evidence And Arguments For A Multidisciplinary Research Agenda, Georg E. Matt, Penelope J. Quintana, Hugo Destaillats, Lara A. Gundel, Mohamad Sleiman, Brett C. Singer, Peyton Jacob, Jonathan P. Winickoff, Prue Talbot, Suzaynn Schick, Yinsheng Wang, Bo Hang, Manuela Martins-Green, James F. Pankow, Melbourne F. Hovell, Neal L. Benowitz, Virender K. Rehan, Jonathan M. Samet

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is broad consensus regarding the health impact of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure, yet considerable ambiguity exists about the nature and consequences of thirdhand smoke (THS). We introduce definitions of THS and THS exposure and review recent findings about constituents, indoor sorption-desorption dynamics, and transformations of THS; distribution and persistence of THS in residential settings; implications for pathways of exposure; potential clinical significance and health effects; and behavioral and policy issues that affect and are affected by THS. Physical and chemical transformations of tobacco smoke pollutants take place over time scales ranging from seconds to months and include …

Elderly Patients And Their Health In Pakistan: Current Status, Issues, Challenges And Opportunities, Waris Qidwai, Tabinda Ashfaq

Department of Family Medicine

No abstract provided.

The Community Action Framework In Practice: An Illustration Based On The Ready By 21 Coalition Of Austin/Travis County, Raphael Travis Jr., Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

The field of positive youth development has expanded focus from articulating and measuring desired manifestations of positive well-being to assembling the environmental conditions known to promote these desired outcomes. Evidence of the effectiveness of community-level efforts promoting positive youth development is still emerging, in particular theory-driven examples of community-driven youth development. This study examined the Community Action Framework, one theory-based community youth development model, through the experiences of the Ready by 21 Austin/Travis County coalition (RB21). The coalition connects youth-serving organizations and also regional coalitions, while promoting the positive development of area youth. Participant observation, interviewing, and archival strategies were …

Colorectal Cancer (Crc) Vaccine Study: Aim 2 Internship Experience, Selasie Goka

Summer Training Program in Cancer Immunotherapy

Activities:

1. Conducted literature review

2. CRC vaccine study booklet and survey

3. Recruitment survey questionnaire

4. Prepare web-based decision counseling program

38 PowerPoint Slides.

The Holistic Complementary Structure Of Western Bio-Medicine And Traditional Healing And Achieving Complete Health, Candace Gail Oubre

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Achieving complete health requires a deep understanding of complementary cultural competency sensitivity between physician and patient. This may include but is not limited to access to preventative health care resources, access to health educational resources and access to cultural healing resources, for example, shamans, Ayurvedic physicians, and herbal healers. Advocates of cultural competency emphasize great importance on knowledge of the patients' cultural background; however, the transcendence of this knowledge can be explained further through complementary cultural competency sensitivity. This is when the cultures of the physician and patient complement each other in terms of understanding what is in the patients' …

Feasibility And Results Of A Computer-Based Driver Safety Assessment, Thomas J. Mahoney

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Benzodiazepine Use Among Adults Residing In The Urban Settlements Of Karachi, Pakistan: A Cross Sectional Study., Saleem P. Iqbal, Syed Ahmer, Salima Farooq, Yasmin Parpio, Ambreen Tharani, Rashid A. M Khan, Mohammad Zaman

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: There are hardly any studies carried out in Pakistan on the usage of benzodiazepines at the level of community. This research was aimed to determine the frequency of benzodiazepine use, along with its associations with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics among community dwelling adults, residing in two urban settlements of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: We performed a cross sectional study from August 2008 to December 2009, in 2 areas of Karachi, namely Garden and Sultanabad. We followed the systematic sampling strategy to randomly select the households, with an adult of either sex and of age 18 years or more. Data collection …

Perceived Parent-Child Relationship And High-Risk Behaviors Among Christian College Students, Karla G. Lavin Williams

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. Adolescents and young adults today are participating in high-risk behaviors such as dangerous sexual behaviors and drug and alcohol abuse at high rates. An increased incidence of negative effects associated with the aforementioned behaviors has led researchers to examine factors that influence and protect adolescents from certain devastating effects (Davis, Hendershot, George, Norris, & Heiman, 2007; Goldstein, Bamett, Pedlow, & Murphy, 2007; Hamilton, et al., 2007; Hingson, Heeren, & Winter, 2006; Hingson, Heeren, Winter, & Wechsler, 2003; Hingson, Heeren, Zakocs, Winter, & Wechsler, 2003; McCarty, et al., 2004; Mokdad, Marks, Stroup, & Gerberding, 2004; Mosher, Chandra, & Jones, 2005; …

Impact Of An Online Support System On Health Related Quality Of Life Among Men Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer, Daniel K. Osei

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Prostate cancer is a major public health issue worldwide and a significant cause of male cancer death in the USA. Though early screening and treatment has greatly enhanced the outcome, men diagnosed with prostate cancer face problems that compromise quality of life after treatment. Online support for prostate cancer clients is a convenient way to help because it is anonymous, inexpensive, and can be used at clients’ convenience. Yet few studies have explored how these supports impact these clients. This study used a longitudinal randomized experimental design to examine the impact of online services on quality of life of prostate …

Pathways To Sexual Risk Taking Among Female Adolescent Detainees, Vera Lopez, Albert M. Kopak, Alyssa G. Robillard, Mary Rogers Gillmore, Rhonda Conerly Holliday, Ronald L. Braithwaite

Faculty Publications

Sexual risk taking among female delinquents represents a significant public health problem. Research is needed to understand the pathways leading to sexual risk taking among this population. This study sought to address this issue by identifying and testing two pathways from child maltreatment to non-condom use among 329 White and 484 African American female adolescent detainees: a relational pathway and a substance use coping pathway. The relational pathway indicated that child maltreatment would be related to non-condom use via depressive self-concept and condom use self-efficacy. The substance use coping pathway suggested that depressive self-concept and alcohol-based expectancies for sexual enhancement …

Latent Growth Modeling Of A Nutrition And Physical Activity Intervention, Alicia Dea Sample

Dissertations

The health, economic, and social impacts of physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary patterns are quite significant and evidenced by the fact that only 3-4% of American adults follow all the dietary advice recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA; Kohatsu, Robinson, & Torner, 2004), and specific subpopulations, including the rural South, are affected even more drastically (McCabe-Sellers et al., 2007). Furthermore, the majority of the people in the United States do not currently meet recommended amounts of physical activity (PA) and have not since the mid 1980s (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2008). To address the …

Gambling With Lives: A History Of Occupational Health In Southern Nevada, 1905--2010, Michelle Ann Turk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In April 2009, the Pulitzer committee awarded its public service prize to the Las Vegas Sun for its coverage of the high fatalities on Las Vegas Strip construction sites. The newspaper attributed failures in safety policy to "the exponential growth in the Las Vegas market." In fact, since Las Vegas' founding in 1905, rapid development in the region has always strained occupational health standards. From transporting hazardous railroad cargoes to building Hoover Dam, chemical processing at Basic Magnesium, nuclear testing, and dense megaresort construction on the Strip, workers, residents, and tourists alike have been exposed to the threat of living …

Heterogeneity, Control, Social Infrastructure, And Possibilities Of Participation: Their Interplay In Modern Understandings Of Heredity And In Interpretation Of Science, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers on Science in a Changing World

This working paper is a prospectus for research, writing, and engagement. It consists of vignettes, sketches of lines of inquiry, and proposals for engagement, all of which concern modern understandings of heredity and development over the life course as well as the social interpretation of science. The various items address a range of areas of science and of its interpretation: heritability studies, the social uses of genetic information, gene-by-environment interaction, personalized medicine, IQ paradoxes, racial group membership, biobanks, and life events and difficulties research. Fresh perspectives in these areas are opened up by examining the ways that research and application …

How Many Steps/Day Are Enough? For Children And Adolescents, Catrine Tudor-Locke, Cora L. Craig, Michael W. Beets, Sarahjane Belton, Greet M. Cardon, Scott Duncan, Yoshiro Hatano, David R. Lubans, Timothy S. Olds, Anders Raustorp, David A. Rowe, John C. Spence, Shigeho Tanaka, Steven N. Blair

Faculty Publications

Worldwide, public health physical activity guidelines include special emphasis on populations of children (typically 6-11 years) and adolescents (typically 12-19 years). Existing guidelines are commonly expressed in terms of frequency, time, and intensity of behaviour. However, the simple step output from both accelerometers and pedometers is gaining increased credibility in research and practice as a reasonable approximation of daily ambulatory physical activity volume. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to review existing child and adolescent objectively monitored step-defined physical activity literature to provide researchers, practitioners, and lay people who use accelerometers and pedometers with evidence-based translations of these public …

Effectiveness Of A Combined Home Visiting And Group Intervention For Low Income African American Mothers: The Pride In Parenting Program, Kathy S. Katz, Marian H. Jarrett, Ayman El-Mohandes, Susan Schneider, Doris Mcneely-Johnson, Michele Kiely

Publications and Research

Intervention strategies are needed to improve maternal and infant outcomes in minority populations living in poverty. Home visiting by nurses has improved outcomes for mothers and young children, but use of professional staff makes these programs expensive. Pride in Parenting was a randomized controlled trial of paraprofessional home visitation to provide health and developmental intervention for high-risk African American mothers in Washington, DC. This study proposed to test whether paraprofessional visitors drawn from the community could effectively influence health and mothers; parenting behaviors and attitudes. African American mothers with inadequate prenatal care were recruited at delivery and randomized to intervention …

Comparing Cognitive Functioning And Adverse Metabolic Effects Of Consumers Taking Type 1 Or Type 2 Antipsychotic Medications With Un-Medicated Consumers, Muhammad Puri

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Obesity and metabolic side effects such as diabetes mellitus are major concerns in public health. Mentally ill people are a high risk subgroup for obesity and metabolic syndrome because of behavior, non treatment, and medication side effects. In this research, I conducted a retrospective chart review to compare the weight and body mass index of consumers who were prescribed antipsychotic Type 1 or Type 2 medications. The sample was drawn from consumers attending the Consumer Advocacy Model (CAM) program which is an outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment program in the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Department …

Prenatal Maternal Anxiety And Early Childhood Temperament, Megan M. Blair, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Elysia Poggi Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The consequences of exposure to prenatal maternal anxiety for the development of child temperament were examined in a sample of 120 healthy, 2-year-old children. Prenatal maternal state and pregnancy-specific anxiety (PSA) were measured five times during pregnancy, and maternal state anxiety was measured again at 2 years post partum. Child temperament was measured at 2 years using the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire. The relationship between the trajectory of maternal anxiety across gestation and negative affectivity was evaluated using hierarchical linear growth curve modeling. Higher maternal PSA between 13 and 17 weeks of gestation was associated with increased negative temperament …

Assessing Medicare Beneficiaries’ Strength‐Of‐Preference Scores For Health Care Options: How Engaging Does The Elicitation Technique Need To Be?, Trafford Crump, Hilary A. Llewellyn-Thomas

Dartmouth Scholarship

The objective was to determine if participants’ strength‐of‐preference scores for elective health care interventions at the end‐of‐life (EOL) elicited using a non‐engaging technique are affected by their prior use of an engaging elicitation technique.

Assessing Nutrition Knowledge, Skill And Attitudes In Adolescent Girls, Tatyana Jean

Master of Public Health Capstone Presentations

There is still much to be understood about the nutrition habits of adolescents who are just beginning to break away from familial habits and developing individual identities. The African American community in particular, is known to experience disproportionate amounts of overweight and obesity resulting in chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. This study used quantitative and qualitative measures to assess the nutrition skills, knowledge, and attitudesof African American girls aged 14-17. After data analysis, it was found that African American adolescent girls had high body image and self esteem but poor nutrition skill and knowledge. Body image and weight …

Variable Importance Analysis With The Multipim R Package, Stephan J. Ritter, Nicholas P. Jewell, Alan E. Hubbard

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

We describe the R package multiPIM, including statistical background, functionality and user options. The package is for variable importance analysis, and is meant primarily for analyzing data from exploratory epidemiological studies, though it could certainly be applied in other areas as well. The approach taken to variable importance comes from the causal inference field, and is different from approaches taken in other R packages. By default, multiPIM uses a double robust targeted maximum likelihood estimator (TMLE) of a parameter akin to the attributable risk. Several regression methods/machine learning algorithms are available for estimating the nuisance parameters of the models, including …

Toxic Chemicals Transported By Rail And Public Health Safety Using Gis In Montgomery County, Ohio, Jason Lipiec

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Hazardous chemicals transported by rail pass directly through urban cities and pose a safety and health threat to the community. Some of these chemicals can be in large quantities, extremely toxic, devastating to the environment and have the potential to cause mass casualties and death. Thousands of people could be in harm’s way. While there is always the possibility for accidental chemical release, they also have the potential to be used in acts of sabotage and terrorism. Evaluation of the rail line in Montgomery County, Ohio using standards in the 2008 Emergency Response Guidebook using geographic information systems (GIS) at …

Suburban Poverty: Barriers To Services And Injury Prevention Among Marginalized Women Who Use Methamphetamine, Miriam W. Boeri, Benjamin Tyndall, Denise R. Woodall

Faculty Articles

Objective: This paper aims to identify the needed healthcare and social services barriers for women living in suburban communities who are using or have used methamphetamine. Drug users are vulnerable to injury, violence and transmission of infectious diseases, and having access to healthcare has been shown to positively influence prevention and intervention among this population. Yet little is known regarding the social context of suburban drug users, their risks behaviors, and their access to healthcare.

Methods: The data collection involved participant observation in the field, face-to-face interviews and focus groups. Audio-recorded in-depth life histories, drug use histories, and resource needs …

Medical Pluralism In Morocco: The Cultural, Religious, Historical And Political-Economic Determinants Of Health And Choice., Tyler Martinson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco is a culturally diverse intersection between the African continent, the Arab world and Europe. This multiplicity is mirrored in the country’s pluralistic medical system and beliefs surrounding the concepts of illness and health. Explanations of health are endorsed by culturally specific knowledge and are then naturalized and taken as objective. A synthesis of theoretical descriptions and political-economic of medical pluralism, along with historical analysis, explains the presence of multiple health practices and how a person’s choice of medical practice is heavily influenced by dynamic socio-cultural, religious, historical, political and economic factors. This study will help improve practitioner/client narratives of …

The Referral Process: Rural Primary Care Physicians' Perspectives On Providing Counseling Referrals, Casey N. Tallent

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The advantages to collaborative care between physicians and mental health care providers have been known for many decades. Rural primary care physicians (RPCPs) are the first professionals that most patients contact when they have a mental health concern, particularly in rural communities. It is therefore important to understand the process that occurs when a referral for counseling is made from a RPCP and the subsequent collaboration that occurs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to generate a model that provides a better understanding of the counseling referral process from the perspective of RPCPs in private practice in the Midwest. …

A Pilot Study To Assess The Readiness And Barriers As Correlates To Participation In Rural Worksite Health Promotion Programming, Kayte L. Tranel

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

An increased risk of lifestyle-related conditions (hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer) is associated with overweight and obesity, which affect approximately two in three American adults (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2009). Worksite health promotion programming (WHPP) may be effective for reducing disease risk. Reaching adults in the worksite seems logical considering most spend approximately 40 hours each week in that setting. WHPP is linked to improved effectiveness for promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors, but often struggles with low participation and high attrition rates. Research regarding barriers to WHPP and physical activity is available, …

Prenatal Smoking And Drinking Implications For Subsequent Child Maltreatment, Nicholas Alexander Adams

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Prenatal smoking and drinking are very serious problems that have continued to plague society. They have multiple negative effects on the child both physically and cognitively. This study explored the relationship between prenatal abuse, i.e., prenatal smoking and prenatal drinking, and subsequent child physical abuse and official reports of child maltreatment. It was hypothesized that mothers who smoked or drank prenatally would be more likely to physically abuse their child postnatally and have official reports of child maltreatment. The sample included women participating in Wave III of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. N = 620 women who answered …

Preventing Workplace Injuries Commonly Sustained By Hotel Guestroom Attendants, Jennifer Daros

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction:

Hotels are generally organized into various departments. These provide specialized services to guests. Almost every hotel in the world has (in one form or another) a housekeeping department. Guestroom attendants (GRAs) are a primary component of any housekeeping department. GRAs (also known as maids, housekeepers, or room/suite service attendants) are employed by hotels to clean guestrooms, change bed linens, restock supplies, and provide turn down services when requested (see Appendix A). Those employed as GRAs frequently suffer injuries at work that can be costly to employers. This paper reviews some of the more common causes of GRA workplace injuries …

Results Of The "Active By Choice Today" (Act) Randomized Trial For Increasing Physical Activity In Low-Income And Minority Adolescents, Dawn K. Wilson, M. Lee Van Horn, Heather Kitzman-Ulrich, Ruth P. Saunders, Russell R. Pate, Hannah G. Lawman, Brent Hutto, Sarah Griffin, Nicole Zarrett, Cheryl L. Addy, Leslie Mansard, Gary Mixon, Porschia V. Brown

Faculty Publications

Objective - This study reports the results of the "Active by Choice Today" (ACT) trial for increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in low-income and minority adolescents.

Design - The ACT program was a randomized controlled school-based trial testing the efficacy of a motivational plus behavioral skills intervention on increasing MVPA in underserved adolescents. Twenty-four middle schools were matched on school size, percentage minorities, percentage free or reduced lunch, and urban or rural setting before randomization. A total of 1,563 6th grade students (mean age, 11.3 years, 73% African American, 71% free or reduced lunch, 55% female) participated in either a …

Adherence To Accelerometer Protocols Among Women From Economically Disadvantaged Neighborhoods, Patricia A. Sharpe, Sarah Wilcox, Laura J. Rooney, Donna Strong, Rosie Hopkins-Campbell, Jean Butel, Barbara E. Ainsworth, Deborah Parra-Medina

Faculty Publications

Background: Objective measurement of physical activity with accelerometers is a challenging task in community-based intervention research. Challenges include distribution of and orientation to monitors, nonwear, incorrect placement, and loss of equipment. Data collection among participants from disadvantaged populations may be further hindered by factors such as transportation challenges, competing responsibilities, and cultural considerations. Methods: Research staff distributed accelerometers and provided an orientation that was tailored to the population group. General adherence strategies such as follow-up calls, daily diaries, verbal and written instructions, and incentives were accompanied by population-specific strategies such as assisting with transportation, reducing obstacles to wearing the accelerometer, …