Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

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 …

Racial Discrepancies In The Association Between Paternal Vs. Maternal Educational Level And Risk Of Low Birthweight In Washington State, Christina Nicolaidis, Cynthia W. Ko, Somnath Saha, Thomas D. Koepsell

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: The role of paternal factors in determining the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes has received less attention than maternal factors. Similarly, the interaction between the effects of race and socioeconomic status (SES) on pregnancy outcomes is not well known. Our objective was to assess the relative importance of paternal vs. maternal education in relation to risk of low birth weight (LBW) across different racial groups.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study using Washington state birth certificate data from 1992 to 1996 (n = 264,789). We assessed the associations between maternal or paternal education and LBW, adjusting for …

Precautionary Approaches For Health And The Environment: Making The Case For A Toxics Reduction Strategy At Multnomah County And City Of Portland, Stephanie Farquhar, Molly Chidsey, Neha Patel

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes an overview of the problem, local concerns, model policies, and best practices for toxic pollution prevention and provides recommendations for next steps to protect human health and the local environment in Portland and Multnomah County. This report accompanies the Multnomah County and City of Portland resolutions to "Recognize National Pollution Prevention Week and develop a Toxics Reduction Strategy jointly with City of Portland / Multnomah County using the Precautionary Principle."

Next-Of-Kin Perceptions Of Physician Responsiveness To Symptoms Of Hospitalized Patients Near Death, Joel C. Cantor, Jan Blustein, Matthew J. Carlson, David A. Gould

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many different medical providers visit critically ill patients during a hospitalization, and patients and family members may not feel any physician is truly in charge of care. This study explores whether perceiving that a physician was clearly in charge is associated with reports by surviving next of kin about the responsiveness of physicians to symptoms in hospitalized patients near the end of life. We conducted telephone interviews with surviving next of kin of adult patients (n = 1107) who died in one of five New York City teaching hospitals between April 1998 and June 1999 after a minimum 3-day inpatient …

A Comparative History Of Aids In Latin America: Brazil And Cuba, Shawn Smallman

International & Global Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

According to a joint report of the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization in September 2002 there were approximately 1.4 million HIV+ people in Latin America, and a further 420,000 HIV+ people in the Caribbean. The number of infections had increased by nearly 10% from the previous year in Latin America, and 16% in the Caribbean. While striking, these figures may obscure the diversity of the HIV epidemic in the region. Latin America has a varied pattern of infections, which means that the experience of Bolivia, Ecuador and Mexico is quite different from that of Honduras, Haiti …

Evaluation Of Accelerated Plethysmography As A Measure Of Health And Fitness, Angela Marie Humble

Dissertations and Theses

Plethysmography is a technique used for measuring alterations in the volume of organs or limbs. Japanese researchers have developed a relatively new application of plethysmography (accelerated plethysmography) that uses information from the pulse wave measured at the fingertip to make inferences about health and fitness status. The instrument used to collect data -- the Precaregraph (accelerated plethysmograph) -- provides an accelerated pulse waveform and APG index, a mathematical representation of the waveform. It was the purpose of this study to evaluate the validity of the Precaregraph by examining the relationship between the APG index and previously validated measures of health …

Pregnancy Outcomes: A Study Testing A Model For Predicting Health Outcomes In Pregnancy, Tamera Ann Hart-Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

There is a persistent relationship between socioeconomic status and physical health outcomes found in the literature; however the variables mediating this relationship are many, and ways that they interact with each other are complex. The goal of understanding this relationship is to decrease the disparity in health by socioeconomic status.

This study tested a biopsychosocial model proposed by David Williams (1990) to explain the relationship between socioeconomic status and physical health outcomes. The model included the following latent factors: demographics, socioeconomic status, biomedical risk, medical care, psychosocial variables, and health outcomes. The model was tested through a secondary data analysis. …

The First Publicly Funded, Government Sponsored Natural Medicine Clinic : A Descriptive Case Study, Jennifer Lynne Schneider

Dissertations and Theses

The Natural Medicine Clinic (NMC) is the first publicly funded, government sponsored clinic of its kind in the United States to integrate natural medicine and conventional medicine at the public health level. The purpose of this thesis was to provide a holistic, contextually-based, in-depth, and meaningful description of the emergence and development of the NMC.

For the purposes of illuminating and understanding the formation of the NMC, a descriptive case study was chosen. The case study approach is considered an excellent strategy for describing in-depth a unique, real-life phenomenon such as the NMC, and when posing how or why research …

The Role And Perception Of Risk In High-Risk Sports Participants: A Grounded Theory Study Of Rock Climbers, Ronald E. Baglien

Dissertations and Theses

Previous research examining high-risk sports participation has yielded discrepancies between the role assigned to risk and the perceptions of climbers regarding risk. Risk, as it applies to high-risk sport participation, has not been sufficiently defined in the literature. The current study sought to develop, by means of a grounded theory approach, a new, dynamic operational definition of risk as it applies to rock climbers, and to examine the role of risk management as a modifying factor in the perception of risk and its impact on motivation and participation. Nineteen subjects (twelve male and seven female) averaging 14.7 years of climbing …

Understanding Ki In The Daily Experience Of Advanced Practitioners Of Aikido: A Phenomenological Study, Steven C. Andress

Dissertations and Theses

Ki, Japanese for living energy (Chi in Chinese), is at the absolute core of the Oriental model of medicine and wellness. Complementary to this model, many Oriental martial art exercises have evolved to cultivate Ki for optimal health. However, the concept of Ki remains poorly understood and relatively unexplored in traditional Western health and medical literature. Further, the health focus of martial art research has remained primarily concerned with the arts' contribution to psychological health. This has left a significant gap in our understanding of the other health benefits that these arts and Ki have to offer. To begin closing …

The Development And Effects Of An Educational Audiovisual Presentation On Female Masturbation Upon The Attitudes And Masturbatory Behavior Of College Females, Catherine Ann Hogan

Dissertations and Theses

The current study was designed: (1) to develop an educational tool on female masturbation capable of reaching a wide audience of women with accurate and complete information on female masturbation; (2) to provide initial validation for the further educational usefulness of this tool and (3) to assess its potential ability for improving overall sexual functioning in women by possibly altering negative attitudes toward masturbation and/or by dis-inhibiting masturbatory behavior.

A Descriptive Study Of The Relationship Between Age And Problems Expressed By Women Seeking Out-Patient Mental Health Services, Linda M. Rodgers, Joyce Carey

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to provide a descriptive analysis of the problems presented by a specific group of women seeking out-patient mental health treatment and to relate these problems to the ontogenetic (age-related) developmental issues presented in a study of the literature. The researcher's involvement in this area developed from interest in current literature on adult development, and a personal commitment to life-long growth and acceptance of the inherent changes. In order to investigate whether developmental issues exist for this group of women, and if so to describe them, two distinct age groups--the decades of the 20's and …

Does Urban Noise Represent A Hazard To Health?, Frances J. Storlie

Dissertations and Theses

The problem of noise as a potential health hazard to urban man has been raised. The literature was used to establish two premises: that cities are noisy environments, and that noise-free societies have less coronary artery disease (CAD) than do industrialized sections of the world. These differences also hold for rural and urban areas of the United States.

Geographical questions concerning rate differentials for CAD have been addressed by numerous disciplines. Subsequently, social, psychological, and physical explanations have been put forth. Throughout this paper the emphasis has been placed on the physical aspects of noise exposure. The conceptual frame utilizes …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Population Density, Density Related Social Factors, And Physical Morbidities, Douglas King Huebner

Dissertations and Theses

The relationship between the number of persons per room in the home and the relative occurrence of stress-related morbidities of hospitalized patients is investigated. The social factors of age, social class, and level of social support also are examined as they relate to both density and morbidity type occurrence. The population under study is composed of all Kaiser-Permanente Medical Care Program members twenty years of age and older, discharged from Bess Kaiser Hospital during 1974, and whose diagnosed morbidity was included in specific morbidity categories. All data were obtained through the facilities of the Health Services Research Center, Kaiser Foundation …

Moving Toward Integration: A Study Of Theory And Practice In Feminist Therapy, Susan Amelia Thomas

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis describes a study designed to explore the emerging field of feminist therapy. The goal was not to test the validity of feminist therapy, to probe the assumptions on which it is based, or to compare it to other forms of therapy but to characterize the theory and practice of feminist therapy as it now exists. Feminist therapy was seen as growing out of the cultural and historical context of the feminist movement, which includes a critique of society with emphasis on the particular psychological consequences for women, and a critique of psychotherapy, particularly Freudian psychotherapy, as oppressive to …

Marital Status As A Discriminator And Treatment Variable Among Female Alcoholics, James C. Knapp

Dissertations and Theses

In this study marital status and the alcoholism or non-alcoholism of the spouse are hypothesized to be important factors affecting the female alcoholic's personality and treatability.

A Descriptive Study Of Educational Background, Contraceptive Knowledge, And Choice Of Agency Among Selected Girls 18 Years Old And Under Seeking An Abortion At The University Of Oregon Medical School, Carol A. Carter, Lititia J. Kirk, Jane F. Ogier

Dissertations and Theses

This study was conducted at the University of Oregon Medical School located in Portland, Oregon. This school has performed many abortions since Oregon liberalized its abortion law in 1969. In Oregon in 1968 before the abortion law was changed there were 238 abortions performed, 35% of these were for women under the age of 19. During 1971 there were 6,997 abortions of these 2,625 were for girls of age 19 and younger.

An Exploratory Study Of Children’S Mental Health Needs In The Pact Target Area Of Southeast Portland, Richard L. Bossardt, Clifford G. Larsen

Dissertations and Theses

The original, and still primary, purpose of this study was to provide a statistical data base for a grant proposal to fund a children's mental health service agency in the PACT target area of Southeast Portland. Since the conception, the plan has been subsumed under the planning auspices of a group whose aim is to work toward expanding and consolidating mental health services in all dimensions for the Southeast Portland area. The geographical focus of this study is on that section of Southeast Portland which has been designated by the Office of Economic Opportunity as a poverty pocket because of …