Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Gut Microbiota, Blood Metabolites, And Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction In Us Hispanics/Latinos, Kai Luo, Alkis Taryn, Eun-Hye Moon, Brandilyn A Peters, Scott D Solomon, Martha L Daviglus, Mayank M Kansal, Bharat Thyagarajan, Marc D Gellman, Jianwen Cai, Robert D Burk, Rob Knight, Robert C Kaplan, Susan Cheng, Carlos J Rodriguez, Qibin Qi, Bing Yu

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) is an important precursor of heart failure (HF), but little is known about its relationship with gut dysbiosis and microbial-related metabolites. By leveraging the multi-omics data from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), a study with population at high burden of LVDD, we aimed to characterize gut microbiota associated with LVDD and identify metabolite signatures of gut dysbiosis and incident LVDD.

RESULTS: We included up to 1996 Hispanic/Latino adults (mean age: 59.4 years; 67.1% female) with comprehensive echocardiography assessments, gut microbiome, and blood metabolome data. LVDD was defined through a composite criterion …

“It’S Not That We Care Less”: Insights Into Health Care Utilization For Comorbid Diabetes And Depression Among Latinos, Sharon Borja, Miriam G. Valdovinos, Kenia M. Rivera, Natalia Giraldo-Santiago, Robin Gearing, Luis R. Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite robust knowledge regarding the socio-economic and cultural factors affecting Latino* access to healthcare, limited research has explored service utilization in the context of comorbid conditions like diabetes and depression. This qualitative study, embedded in a larger mixed-methods project, aimed to investigate perceptions held by Latinos and their social support systems (i.e., family members) regarding comorbid diabetes and depression and to identify barriers and facilitators to their help-seeking behaviors and treatment engagement. Bilingual and bicultural researchers conducted eight focus groups with 94 participants in a large U.S. metropolitan area and were primarily conducted in Spanish. The participants either had a …

The Association Of Skin Cancer Prevention Knowledge, Sun-Protective Attitudes, And Sun-Protective Behaviors In A Navy Population, Rachel Newnam, Uyen Le-Jenkins, Carolyn Rutledge, Craig Cunningham

Nursing Faculty Publications

Introduction: U.S. Navy service members are primarily between the ages of 18 and 30 years and often required to be outside for extended periods of time in geographical locations with increased and often unfamiliar ultraviolet indexes that collectively increase their risk for skin cancer. Skin cancer is the country's most common form of cancer, yet there is a paucity of skin cancer prevention literature, especially within the U.S. Navy. The purpose of this study was to describe skin cancer risk and skin cancer prevention "cues-to-action" and to determine if skin cancer prevention knowledge was associated with sun-protective attitudes (e.g., prevention …

Social Determinants Of Health Predict Readmission Following Covid-19 Hospitalization: A Health Information Exchange-Based Retrospective Cohort Study, Micaela N Sandoval, Jennifer L Mikhail, Melyssa K Fink, Guillermo A Tortolero, Tru Cao, Ryan Ramphul, Junaid Husain, Eric Boerwinkle

Journal Articles

INTRODUCTION: Since February 2020, over 104 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection, or COVID-19, with over 8.5 million reported in the state of Texas. This study analyzed social determinants of health as predictors for readmission among COVID-19 patients in Southeast Texas, United States.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted investigating demographic and clinical risk factors for 30, 60, and 90-day readmission outcomes among adult patients with a COVID-19-associated inpatient hospitalization encounter within a regional health information exchange between February 1, 2020, to December 1, 2022.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In this cohort of 91,007 …

Us Adolescent Rest-Activity Patterns: Insights From Functional Principal Component Analysis (Nhanes 2011-2014), Chris Ho Ching Yeung, Jiachen Lu, Erica G Soltero, Cici Bauer, Qian Xiao

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: Suboptimal rest-activity patterns in adolescence are associated with worse health outcomes in adulthood. Understanding sociodemographic factors associated with rest-activity rhythms may help identify subgroups who may benefit from interventions. This study aimed to investigate the association of rest-activity rhythm with demographic and socioeconomic characteristics in adolescents.

METHODS: Using cross-sectional data from the nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2014 adolescents (N = 1814), this study derived rest-activity profiles from 7-day 24-hour accelerometer data using functional principal component analysis. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the association between participant characteristics and rest-activity profiles. Weekday and weekend …

Longitudinal Associations Between Cognitive Functioning And Depressive Symptoms Among Couples In The Mexican Health And Aging Study, Joan K Monin, Gail Mcavay, Katie Newkirk, Rafael Samper-Ternent

Journal Articles

OBJECTIVE: To examine the bidirectional associations between older adult spouses' cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms over time and replicate previous findings from the United States (US) in Mexico.

DESIGN: Longitudinal, dyadic path analysis with the actor-partner interdependence model.

SETTING: Data were from the three most recent interview waves (2012, 2015, and 2018) of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a longitudinal national study of adults aged 50+ years in Mexico.

PARTICIPANTS: Husbands and wives from 905 community-dwelling married couples (N = 1,810).

MEASUREMENTS: The MHAS cognitive battery measured cognitive function. Depressive symptoms were assessed using a modified nine-item Center …

Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions And Long-Term Opioid Treatment, Maria Ukhanova, Robert W Voss, Miguel Marino, Nathalie Huguet, Steffani R Bailey, Daniel M Hartung, Jean O'Malley, Irina Chamine, John Muench

Journal Articles

OBJECTIVES: One in 5 people in the United States lives with chronic pain. Many patients with chronic pain experience a subset of specific co-occurring pain conditions that may share a common pain mechanism and that have been designated as chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs). Little is known about chronic opioid prescribing patterns among patients with COPCs in primary care settings, especially among socioeconomically vulnerable patients. This study aims to evaluate opioid prescribing among patients with COPCs in US community health centers and to identify individual COPCs and their combinations that are associated with long-term opioid treatment (LOT).

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective …

Plasma Metabolites Associated With Cognitive Function Across Race/Ethnicities Affirming The Importance Of Healthy Nutrition, Einat Granot-Hershkovitz, Shan He, Jan Bressler, Bing Yu, Wassim Tarraf, Casey M Rebholz, Jianwen Cai, Queenie Chan, Tanya P Garcia, Thomas Mosley, Bruce S Kristal, Charles Decarli, Myriam Fornage, Guo-Chong Chen, Qibin Qi, Robert Kaplan, Hector M González, Tamar Sofer

Journal Articles

INTRODUCTION: We studied the replication and generalization of previously identified metabolites potentially associated with global cognitive function in multiple race/ethnicities and assessed the contribution of diet to these associations.

METHODS: We tested metabolite-cognitive function associations in U.S.A. Hispanic/Latino adults (n = 2222) from the Community Health Study/ Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) and in European (n = 1365) and African (n = 478) Americans from the Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (ARIC) Study. We applied Mendelian Randomization (MR) analyses to assess causal associations between the metabolites and cognitive function and between Mediterranean diet and cognitive function.

RESULTS: Six metabolites were consistently associated …

Dear Pandemic: A Topic Modeling Analysis Of Covid-19 Information Needs Among Readers Of An Online Science Communication Campaign., Aleksandra M Golos, Sharath Chandra Guntuku, Rachael Piltch-Loeb, Lindsey J Leininger, Amanda M Simanek, Aparna Kumar, Sandra S Albrecht, Jennifer Beam Dowd, Malia Jones, Alison M Buttenheim

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by an "infodemic"-an overwhelming excess of accurate, inaccurate, and uncertain information. The social media-based science communication campaign Dear Pandemic was established to address the COVID-19 infodemic, in part by soliciting submissions from readers to an online question box. Our study characterized the information needs of Dear Pandemic's readers by identifying themes and longitudinal trends among question box submissions.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of questions submitted from August 24, 2020, to August 24, 2021. We used Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling to identify 25 topics among the submissions, then used thematic analysis to …

Food Safety Attitudes, Behaviors, And Hygiene Measures Among Predominantly Low-Income Parents In Houston, Texas, Christina K Carstens, Joelle K Salazar, Shreela V Sharma, Wenyaw Chan, Charles Darkoh

Journal Articles

ABSTRACT: Foodborne infections in the United States affect racial-ethnic minority and low-income populations at higher rates than the general population. to identify the prevalence of food safety behaviors and demographic characteristics associated with food handling practices among a susceptible, high-risk population, a cross-sectional survey was administered to 106 parents with children enrolled at two elementary schools serving predominantly low-income families in Houston, Texas. Relationships between demographic characteristics and food safety behavioral outcomes were examined using cross-tabulations and Fisher's exact test. Most respondents were female (93.4%), Hispanic, Latino, or Mexican American (94.9%), and had no previous food handling employment experience (75.0%). …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In The Refusal Of Surgical Treatment In Women 40 Years And Older With Breast Cancer In The Usa Between 2010 And 2017, Pierre Fwelo, Zenab I Yusuf, Abigail Adjei, Gabriel Huynh, Xianglin L Du

Journal Articles

PURPOSE: Although surgical resection is the main modality of treatment for breast cancer, some patients elect to refuse the recommended surgery. We assessed racial and ethnic differences in women 40 years and older who received or refused to receive surgical treatment for breast cancer in the USA and whether racial disparities in mortality were affected by their differences in the prevalence of refusal for surgical treatment.

METHODS: We studied 277,127 women with breast cancer using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data and performed multivariable logistic regressions to investigate the association between surgery status of breast cancer and race/ethnicity. …

Better Care For Older Hispanics: Identifying Priorities And Harmonizing Care, Rafael Samper-Ternent, Mary Tinetti, Lee A Jennings, Rebeca Wong, Jennifer Arney, Aanand D Naik

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Harm Reduction In The Heartland: Public Knowledge And Beliefs About Naloxone In Nebraska, Usa, Allison Schlosser, Patrick Habecker, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Opioid-related overdose deaths have been increasing in the United States (U.S.) in the last twenty years, creating a public health challenge. Take-home naloxone is an effective strategy for preventing opioid-related overdose death, but its widespread use is particularly challenging in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas where it may be stigmatized and/or poorly understood.

Methods: We analyzed data on knowledge and beliefs about drug use and naloxone among the general public in Nebraska, a largely rural state in the Great Plains region of the U.S., drawing on the 2020 Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey.

Results: Respondents reported negative beliefs …

Diversity And Inclusion Or Tokens? A Qualitative Study Of Black Women Academic Nurse Leaders In The United States, Kechi Iheduru-Anderson, Florence O Okoro, Shawana S Moore

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

Severe under-representation of Black women academic nurse leaders persists in United States higher education, and a major research gap still exists regarding experiences of these leaders, and facilitators of and barriers to their success. Our objective was to examine how race and gender influence how Black women academic nurse leaders’ function in their leadership positions, how they are perceived by their peers, and how their perception of race, gender, class, and power influences diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the workplace. Critical race theory was used as a guiding theory, and the study design involved narrative inquiry followed by thematic …

Census Tract Patterns And Contextual Social Determinants Of Health Associated With Covid-19 In A Hispanic Population From South Texas: A Spatiotemporal Perspective, Cici Bauer, Kehe Zhang, Miryoung Lee, Susan Fisher-Hoch, Esmeralda Guajardo, Joseph Mccormick, Isela De La Cerda, Maria E Fernandez, Belinda Reininger

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that various social determinants of health (SDOH) may have contributed to the disparities in COVID-19 incidence and mortality among minorities and underserved populations at the county or zip code level.

OBJECTIVE: This analysis was carried out at a granular spatial resolution of census tracts to explore the spatial patterns and contextual SDOH associated with COVID-19 incidence from a Hispanic population mostly consisting of a Mexican American population living in Cameron County, Texas on the border of the United States and Mexico. We performed age-stratified analysis to identify different contributing SDOH and quantify their effects by …

Longitudinal Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Acceptability, Initiation And Adherence Among Criminal Justice-Involved Adults In The Usa: The Southern Prep Cohort Study (Specs) Protocol, Katherine Lemasters, Carrie B. Oser, Mariah Cowell, Katie Mollan, Kathryn Nowotny, Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein

Sociology Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: HIV prevalence among criminal justice (CJ)-involved adults is five times higher than the general population. Following incarceration, CJ-involved individuals experience multilevel barriers to HIV prevention. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a widely available, daily medication efficacious in preventing HIV. Little is known about PrEP knowledge, acceptability, initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved persons or about how these outcomes vary by multilevel factors. The Southern Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Study (SPECS) will investigate barriers and facilitators for PrEP initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved adults, building a foundation for PrEP interventions for this underserved population.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: SPECS uses a mixed-methods sequential …

Temporal Trends In Suicidal Ideation And Attempts Among Us Adolescents By Sex And Race/Ethnicity, 1991-2019, Yunyu Xiao, Julie Cerel, J. John Mann

Social Work Faculty Publications

Importance: Disparities by sex and racial/ethnic group in suicide death rates are present in US adolescents. Whether disparities in suicide death extend to groups targeted for suicide prevention efforts, namely, those with suicidal ideation or nonfatal suicide attempts, is unknown.

Objective: To examine differences in temporal trends between suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in US adolescents from 1991 through 2019 by sex and race/ethnicity subgroups.

Design, Setting, and Participants: A cross-sectional analysis of the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, weighted to represent US adolescents from 1991 to 2019, included 183 563 US high-school students in grades 9 to 12. Data …

Media Framing, Moral Panic And Covid-19: A Comparative Analysis Of China, South Korea, And The Us., Deena Devore, Sinyong Choi, Yudu Li, Hong Lu

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

COVID-19 is perhaps the single most impactful event defining 2020 globally. Drawing on theory on media typology involving freedom and responsibility, media framing and moral panic theories, this paper examines media coverage on COVID-19 in three countries, China, South Korea and the United States. Data were obtained from six news outlets, Xinhua News, South China Morning Post, Chosun, Hankyoreh, CNN and Breitbart, two from each of the three countries. More than 1,000 COVID-19 related reports, spanning six days (the last day of January to June, 2020) were selected and coded based on common priming themes such as tone, the othering, …

Usability Of Electronic Health Record-Generated Discharge Summaries: Heuristic Evaluation., Patrice Dolhonde Tremoulet, Priyanka D Shah, Alisha A Acosta, Christian W Grant, Jon T Kurtz, Peter Mounas, Michael Kirchhoff, Elizabeth Wade

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

BACKGROUND: Obtaining accurate clinical information about recent acute care visits is extremely important for outpatient providers. However, documents used to communicate this information are often difficult to use. This puts patients at risk of adverse events. Elderly patients who are seen by more providers and have more care transitions are especially vulnerable.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to (1) identify the information about elderly patients' recent acute care visits needed to coordinate their care, (2) use this information to assess discharge summaries, and (3) provide recommendations to help improve the quality of electronic health record (EHR)-generated discharge summaries, thereby increasing patient …

A Comparative Analysis Of Distribution And Allocation Of Covid-19 Vaccines Between Two Administrations, Leila Halawi, J. Mayanja, J. Chilipamushi, Y. Zhang, B Albury, Jude Edwards

Publications

The pandemic of COVID-19 is a life-threatening disease that entailed all governments but especially the U.S government, to quickly prevent methods of spreading the virus while strategically putting in place a plan for biological testing for a vaccine for immunity. The purpose was to determine how effective the formulation of a COVID-19 vaccine and the distribution would impact the mortality with efficacy rates. Besides, this research paper underlines the principles for ethical and equitable distribution for mass immunization. A comparative analysis between the Trump Administration and the Biden Administration will be presented regarding the funding stream, distribution of vaccinations, and …

Save The Rich, Connor Harris

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The problem of medication pricing and lobbying in the healthcare industry has caused millions of people within the United States to not be able to afford medications essential to their lives. Pharmaceutical companies are taking advantage of the need people have for certain drugs by setting the sale price far higher than it costs to produce. My suggested solution is to make lobbying illegal in the United States so that pharmaceutical companies would not have control over government officials who pass laws to help or hurt the issue of medication pricing. Illegalizing government lobbying will take away the incentive politicians …

Association Of Long-Term Trajectories Of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status With Weight Change In Older Adults, Dong Zhang, Cici Bauer, Tiffany Powell-Wiley, Qian Xiao

Journal Articles

IMPORTANCE: Studying long-term changes in neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) may help to better understand the associations between neighborhood exposure and weight outcomes and provide evidence supporting neighborhood interventions. Little previous research has been done to examine associations between neighborhood SES and weight loss, a risk factor associated with poor health outcomes in the older population.

OBJECTIVE: to determine whether improvements in neighborhood SES are associated with reduced likelihoods of excessive weight gain and excessive weight loss and whether declines are associated with increased likelihoods of these weight outcomes.

DESIGN, STUDY, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study was conducted using data from …

Social Determinants Of Health-Related Needs During Covid-19 Among Low-Income Households With Children, Shreela V Sharma, Ru-Jye Chuang, Melinda Rushing, Brittni Naylor, Nalini Ranjit, Mike Pomeroy, Christine Markham

Journal Articles

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the social needs of low-income households with children during the coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Our objective was to conduct a cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis of a rapid-response survey among low-income households with children on social needs, COVID-19-related concerns, and diet-related behaviors.

METHODS: We distributed an electronic survey in April 2020 to 16,435 families in 4 geographic areas, and 1,048 responded. The survey asked families enrolled in a coordinated school-based nutrition program about their social needs, COVID-19-related concerns, food insecurity, and diet-related behaviors during the pandemic. An open-ended question asked about their greatest concern. We …

Health Is Wealth: The Correlation Of Wellness Programs & Productivity In Canada And The U.S., Madeline Wert

Business and Economics Summer Fellows

Does health impact the productivity of workers? Are there differences between the U.S. and Canada? Firms both in Canada and the U.S. deal with issues of presenteeism and absenteeism. Presenteeism is when an employee shows up to work but they are distracted by their own or a family member’s health issue. One response to reduce presenteeism and absenteeism are workplace wellness programs. Workplace wellness programs are facilitated programs by a firm to promote the health and wellbeing of their employees, which benefits the employer and the employees. There are additional incentives for U.S. employers to implement workplace wellness programs as …

Evaluating The Feasibility And Acceptability Of Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Insomnia In Rural Women, Mairead Eastin Moloney, Madeline Dunfee, Matthew Rutledge, Nancy Schoenberg

Sociology Faculty Publications

Background: Insomnia, one of the most common sleep disorders among women in midlife, is associated with multiple negative health outcomes. Rural Appalachian women are disproportionately affected by insufficient sleep, but their barriers to care (e.g., health care shortages, cultural norms) may prevent intervention. This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of Sleep Healthy Using the Internet (SHUTi) an Internet-based version of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in Appalachian women ages 45+ years.

Materials and Methods: We used mixed methods to assess feasibility (through summaries of recruitment and retention data) and acceptability (quantitatively through online survey scales and qualitatively …

Congenital Chagas Disease In The United States: The Effect Of Commercially Priced Benznidazole On Costs And Benefits Of Maternal Screening, Victoria Perez-Zetune, Stephanie R. Bialek, Susan P. Montgomery, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is transmitted by insect vectors, and through transfusions, transplants, insect feces in food, and mother to child during gestation. An estimated 30% of infected persons will develop lifelong, potentially fatal cardiac or digestive complications. Treatment of infants with benznidazole is highly efficacious in eliminating infection. This work evaluates the costs of maternal screening and infant testing and treatment for Chagas disease in the United States, including the cost of commercially available benznidazole. We compare costs of testing and treatment for mothers and infants with the lifetime societal costs without testing and consequent morbidity and …

Us County-Level Agricultural Crop Production Typology, Courtney R. Hammond Wagner, Meredith T. Niles, Eric D. Roy

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Objectives: Crop production is an important variable in social, economic and environmental analyses. There is an abundance of crop data available for the United States, but we lack a typology of county-level crop production that accounts for production similarities in counties across the country. We fill this gap with a county-level classification of crop production with ten mutually exclusive categories across the contiguous United States. Data description: To create the typology we ran a cluster analysis on acreage data for 21 key crops from the United States Department of Agriculture's 2012 Agricultural Census. Prior to clustering, we estimated undisclosed county …

The Health Care Systems Of The United States And Spain: A Comparison, Tasia Harman

Senior Honors Theses

When it comes to understanding and improving the United States health care system, comparison and analysis with the health care system of another country provides valuable insights. In this thesis, the United States’ health care system was compared to that of Spain, as the health care system of Spain is generally ranked well above the United States in terms of quality, function, and cost. In the comparison, information such as the health of the population, the quality of health care received, accessibility, and health care costs indicate the state of the health care systems and their ability to function well …

Which Activities Count? Using Experimental Data To Understand Conceptualizations Of Physical Activity, Rachel Cusatis, Dana Garbarski

Sociology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

US health surveys consistently report that men and those with higher socioeconomic status (SES) engage in more physical activity than women and lower SES counterparts, using questions that ask about physical activity during leisure time. However, social characteristics such as gender and SES shape understandings of and access to leisure-based physical activity as well as other domains where healthy activity is available – namely house work, care work, and paid work. Thus, the physical activity of US adults may look different when what counts as physical activity expands beyond leisure activity.

The current study uses Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform …

A Longitudinal Analysis Of The Impact Of Child Custody Loss On Drug Use And Crime Among A Sample Of African American Mothers, Kathi L. H. Harp, Carrie B. Oser

Health Management and Policy Faculty Publications

This study examines the influence of child custody loss on drug use and crime among a sample of African American mothers. Two types of custody loss are examined: informal custody loss (child living apart from mother but courts not involved), and official loss (child removed from mother’s care by authorities).

Methods—Using data from 339 African American women, longitudinal random coefficient models analyzed the effects of each type of custody loss on subsequent drug use and crime.

Results—Results indicated that both informal and official custody loss predicted increased drug use, and informal loss predicted increased criminal involvement. Findings demonstrate …