Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Review Of Kidney Disease Among Indigenous People, Sasha A. Stumpers, Neil J. Thomson

Research outputs 2013

Kidney disease is a significant health problem for all Australians, but severe kidney disease is more common among Indigenous people than among non- Indigenous people. In particular, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the overall levels of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are consistently reported as significantly higher than among other Australians. Information on CKD among Indigenous Australians is available from self-reported survey data, as well as from community-based studies and screening programs [10-20] but the main focus in the literature has been on ESKD. The incidence of ESKD is especially high …

Review Of Physical Activity Among Indigenous People, Caitlin A. Gray, Rona Macniven, Neil J. Thomson

Research outputs 2013

Physical activity is important for all Australians, particularly in the prevention, management and treatment of chronic conditions, and for social and emotional wellbeing. Chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular conditions, endocrine conditions (such as diabetes), and certain cancers, account for 70% of the observed difference in the burden of disease between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. Modifiable risk factors, particularly behavioural determinants such as physical activity, can help to reduce the extent and impact of these conditions, and assist in the prevention, management and treatment of disease. The levels and impacts of physical inactivity are greater for Indigenous people than they …

Snp-Snp Interaction Network In Angiogenesis Genes Associated With Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness, Hui-Yi Lin, Ernest K. Amankwah, Tung-Sung Tseng, Xiaotao Qu, Dung-Tsa Chen, Jong Y. Park

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Angiogenesis has been shown to be associated with prostate cancer development. The majority of prostate cancer studies focused on individual single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) while SNP-SNP interactions are suggested having a great impact on unveiling the underlying mechanism of complex disease. Using 1,151 prostate cancer patients in the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) dataset, 2,651 SNPs in the angiogenesis genes associated with prostate cancer aggressiveness were evaluated. SNP-SNP interactions were primarily assessed using the two-stage Random Forests plus Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (TRM) approach in the CGEMS group, and were then re-evaluated in the Moffitt group with 1,040 patients. …

Comparing Two-Year Community College And Four-Year University Student Social And Behavioral Sexually Transmitted Infection Risk Factors, Oswald M. Attin

Faculty Dissertations

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) could cause ectopic, cervical cancer, infertility, and organ damage to the heart, kidneys, and brain. This study compared several behavioral risk factors of STIs (condom use, number of sexual partners, type of sex (anal or vaginal) and drinking habits) between two distinct educational settings and their association with socioeconomic risk factors such as low income and parent’s lower level of education that are known to increase the incidence of STIs among college-aged students. This study was based on the precautionary-health-behavior model, where individuals act regardless of consequences, and the health-behavior-change model, where individual behaviors either increase …

Social And Behavioral Sti Risk Factors: Comparing A Two-Year Community College Setting To A Four-Year University Setting, Oswald M. Attin

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Emerging Technologies: Webcams And Crowd-Sourcing To Identify Active Transportation, J. Aaron Hipp, Deepti Adlakha, Bill Chang, Amy A. Eyler, Robert B. Pless

Brown School Faculty Publications

Over 25% of adults in the US are obese, contributing to 300,000 deaths and costing the US healthcare system $147 billion annually. Federal governments to local non-profit agencies have instituted policy and built environment (BE) changes in effort to reduce obesity and increase physical activity (PA). A challenge in evaluating the success of policy and BE change is the capacity to capture a priori PA behaviors and the ability to eliminate researcher and respondent bias in assessing post-change environments. A novel transdisciplinary collaboration between public health and computer science is presented here with the goal of automatically analyzing existing public …

Physical Activity Surveillance And Emerging Technologies, J. Aaron Hipp

Brown School Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Vitamin D And Biomarkers Of Sex Steroid Hormones Are Non-Linearly And Inversely Related To All-Cause Mortality: Results From Nhanes Iii, Hind A. Beydoun, Shaker M. Eid, Hueiwang Anna Jeng, Alan B. Zonderman, May A. Beydoun

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: In men, hypovitaminosis D as well as high and low testosterone levels have been linked to adverse events, including death. A biological interaction has been previously suggested between vitamin D and androgens. In a cohort study using Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, we simultaneously investigated circulating vitamin D and biomarkers of sex steroid hormones as predictors of all-cause mortality.

Methods: Age-adjusted and fully-adjusted Cox regression models were constructed to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI). Whereas the vitamin D sufficient group (25(OH)D3 ≥30 ng/ml) was selected as a referent, biomarkers of sex …

Ciclovía Initiatives: Engaging Communities, Partners, And Policy Makers Along The Route To Success, Susan G. Zieff Phd, J. Aaron Hipp, Amy A. Eyler, Mi-Sook Kim Phd

Brown School Faculty Publications

Recent efforts to increase physical activity through changes to the built environment have led to strategies and programs that use existing public space, including bicycle lanes, temporary parks, and the ciclovia initiative (scheduled events in which streets are closed to motorized vehicles and opened for recreational activities) popularized in South America. Objective: This article describes and compares the processes and structures involved in developing and implementing a ciclovia-type program in 2 US urban contexts: San Francisco, California, and St Louis, Missouri. Considering the current growth of and interest in ciclovia initiatives, important outcomes, lessons learned are offered for application in …

The Hispanic Paradox And Older Adults’ Disabilities: Is There A Healthy Migrant Effect?, Esme Fuller Thomson, Amini Nuru-Jeter, Dawn M. Richardson, Ferrah Raza, Meredeth Minkler

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

The “Hispanic Paradox” suggests that despite rates of poverty similar to African Americans, Hispanics have far better health and mortality outcomes, more comparable to non-Hispanic White Americans. Three prominent possible explanations for the Hispanic Paradox have emerged. The “Healthy Migrant Effect” suggests a health selection effect due to the demands of migration. The Hispanic lifestyle hypothesis focuses on Hispanics’ strong social ties and better health behaviors. The reverse migration argument suggests that the morbidity profile in the USA is affected when many Hispanic immigrants return to their native countries after developing a serious illness. We analyzed data from respondents aged …

Tailoring A Physical Activity Promotion Program For A Rural Area, Gavin T. Colquitt, Moya L. Alfonso, Ashley Walker, Vanessa Dunmore

Community Health Faculty Presentations

Background/Purpose: VERBTM Summer Scorecard (VSS) has used social marketing to successfully promote physical activity for urban and suburban youth. The purpose of this study was to adapt the program to meet the needs of a minority, rural population.

Method: Qualitative marketing research methods including focus groups were used to gather data from parents (N = 12) and their children (N =12) in April 2012. A structured, open-ended focus group guide was developed specific to parents and youth and based on the social marketing framework. Marketing topics covered included Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Attention was given to testing two previously …

Cultural Competency In Health Care: Framework, Training And Evaluation - A Review Of The Literature, Diana Salas Coronado

Center for Social Policy Publications

Healthcare professionals are now more aware of the challenges they face when providing healthcare services to a culturally and racially diverse population. Cultural competency has emerged as a framework for understanding health disparities among racial and ethnic groups in particular, but also for women, the elderly, sexual orientation and gender identity, people with disabilities, and religious minorities. Although there are several definitions of cultural competency, each emphasizes the need for healthcare systems and providers to be aware of and responsive to patients’ cultural perspectives and backgrounds. One example defines cultural competency as “a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies …

Precocious Puberty: Pathology, Related Risks, And Support Strategies, Linda B. Synovitz, Joanne Chopak-Foss

Community Health Faculty Publications

Children are currently starting pubertal development much earlier than 20 to 30 years ago. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted from 1988-1994 revealed that the median age for breast development in white girls was approximately 9.7 years and 8 years in African-American girls versus 10.9 years ago. More recent data, however, indicate that some children are starting pubertal development even earlier (age 7 or 8 in girls or age 9 in boys). Very early pubertal development is identified as precocious puberty, a phenomenon that brings great concern to others besides parents: the child, their …

Identifying Environmental Health Priorities In Underserved Populations: A Study Of Rural Versus Urban Communities, M. C. Bernhard, M. B. Evans, S. T. Kent, E. Johnson, S. L. Threadgill, S. M. Becker

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Objectives- Understanding and effectively addressing persistent health disparities in minority communities requires a clear picture of members' concerns and priorities. This study was intended to engage residents in urban and rural communities in order to identify environmental health priorities. Specific emphasis was placed on how the communities: defined the term environment; their perceptions of environmental exposures as affecting their health; specific priorities in their communities; and differences in urban versus rural populations.

Study design- A community-engaged approach was used to develop and implement focus groups and compare environmental health priorities in urban versus rural communities.

Methods- A total of eight …

The Community Mobilization For Preventive Action (Compact) Project In Zambia: A Midline Evaluation, Waimar Tun, Chabu Kangale, Scott Geibel, Meredith Sheehy, Ray Handema, Mwaka Monze

HIV and AIDS

The Population Council and its partner, Project Concern International, implemented the Community Mobilization for Preventive Action (COMPACT) HIV-prevention program in Zambia. The program works with communities to develop “compacts” through a participatory, community-led process, and assists them in working toward reaching HIV-related “benchmarks,” intended to result in a reduction in HIV-related risk behaviors and harmful norms and ultimately contribute over time to the reduction of HIV incidence. This mid-term evaluation in four of six COMPACT communities indicates that COMPACT is improving some HIV-related behaviors and attitudes, particularly those related to gender norms, multiple sex partnerships, and alcohol abuse. The report …

Extending Global Education Through Remote Laboratory Access, Uwe Reischl, Scott Harris

Public Health and Population Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Advanced software technologies that are integrated with physical laboratories now allow students and researchers to access laboratory equipment and instruments remotely through the Internet. While this capability has been used in engineering and science education successfully for some time, application of this approach to human factors engineering and ergonomics education is new. The development of a remote ergonomics laboratory based on such an Internet technology is described. The focus of this new laboratory is to provide a method of evaluating protective clothing heat stress using a thermal manikin technology. The laboratory has generated global interest and created international collaboration in …

Asbestos Risk Assessment In Pakistan: Current Scenario And Way Forward, Adeel Ahmed Khan, Asaad Ahmed Nafees, Zafar Fatmi

Community Health Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Agency In Community Health Outcomes: Local Health Departments And Childhood Immunization Coverage Rates, James Anthony Ransom

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Organizational culture is defined as a system of shared meaning held by members of an organization that distinguishes it from other organizations. How organizational culture is experienced in the public sector, particularly local health departments (LHDs), is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether LHD organizational culture impacts childhood immunization coverage rates. I used a modified organizational culture survey tool, the Organizational Management Survey, to quantify organizational culture and determine whether an LHD's organizational culture helps explain variations in childhood immunization coverage rates. In addition, qualitative data from an earlier study of LHD immunization staff …