Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Racial Disparities In Liver Disease In The Us: Addressing The High Prevalence Of Hepatitis B Infection In The Apia Community, Lindsey L. Trinh, Lindsey Trinh

Scripps Senior Theses

Chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma are some of the leading causes of death in the United States, resulting in a number of annual deaths that has only increased over the past several decades. A vast proportion of these liver-related deaths is due to chronic hepatitis B infection, which currently affects approximately 1.2 million people in the US. However, the hepatitis B virus does not affect every racial group in the United States equally: Asian Americans experience a disproportionately high prevalence of HBV infection. In fact, even though the APIA community comprises only 4% of the US population, they account …

Neither “Post-War” Nor Post-Pregnancy Paranoia: How America’S War On Drugs Continues To Perpetuate Disparate Incarceration Outcomes For Pregnant, Substance-Involved Offenders, Becca S. Zimmerman

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the unique interactions between pregnancy, substance involvement, and race as they relate to the War on Drugs and the hyper-incarceration of women. Using ordinary least square regression analyses and data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, I examine if (and how) pregnancy status, drug use, race, and their interactions influence two length of incarceration outcomes: sentence length and amount of time spent in jail between arrest and imprisonment. The results collectively indicate that pregnancy decreases length of incarceration outcomes for those offenders who are not substance-involved but not evenhandedly -- benefitting white …

Why Do You Wear A Mask? Children’S Conceptualizations Of Covid-19 And Contagion Avoidance Behaviors, Emily Hillman

Scripps Senior Theses

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a need has emerged for psychological research on children’s understanding of infectious disease transmission. However, little existing research examines the link between children’s cognitive reasoning about illness and their subsequent behaviors regarding its transmissibility. This study will examine children’s conceptualizations of contagious illnesses such as COVID-19 and their subsequent contagion avoidance. A mixed methods approach will be used to establish the content of children’s conceptualizations of contagion and level of causal reasoning related to illness transmission. Dyads will be constructed comprising 4-12-year-old children and their parents. It is expected that parental contagion avoidance …

When Disparities Become Deadly: Spatial Differences In Pm2.5 Levels Within The City Of Pomona, California, Pauline Bekkers

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis discusses the disparities in particulate matter concentrations between different neighborhoods in the city of Pomona, California, and explores the historical, political and social factors that have shaped these spatial patterns. I argue that urban growth patterns in Pomona, which are historically marked by race and class segregation as a consequence of past discriminatory housing practices, have led to the disproportionate concentrations of air pollutants in low-income, Latino communities in South Pomona.

Due to the absence of a local air quality monitoring system, there is a lack of information about and understanding of how poor air quality may be …

Exploring The Covid-19 Experience Of Young Adult Latinos In Rural California: Insights Into Mental Health & The Immigrant Health Paradox, Vivianna Plancarte

Pomona Senior Theses

This study expands the COVID-19 and Latino Immigrants in Rural California (CLIMA) Study at UC Merced by exploring how the mental health of young adult Latinos in rural CA has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and comparing the experiences of US-born Latinos to those of Latino immigrants to investigate an Immigrant Health Paradox. A convergent mixed methods design was first employed whereby qualitative and quantitative data was collected concurrently, and then merged. Then, the data collected from young adult Latinos was compared to that from Latino immigrants collected by CLIMA Study to explore the Immigrant Health Paradox in the …

More Than A Myth: The Benefits Of Incorporating Holistic Healing Methods From Native American And Mexican Cultures To Approach Opioid Use Disorder (Oud) Treatment, Juliana Favela

CMC Senior Theses

Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder that characterizes a dependence on and an addiction to opioids. Opioids attack the prefrontal cortex, the dopaminergic reward system, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis which is responsible for the body’s stress response. Opioids constantly shift one’s “set point” to the point where normal actions that cause joy and excitement no longer cause those feelings, resulting in craving and dependence. The opioid epidemic is currently ravaging the United States and has disproportionately affected Native American populations specifically in the rural areas (Tipps, et.al, 2018). The current methods for addressing OUD include medicine …

Viability Of Physiologically Timed Relaxation Interventions In Children With Asd, Nicholas Mendez

CMC Senior Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an increasingly common developmental disorder that changes how people experience the world and affects individuals’ social interactions and often leads to many adverse behaviors. Current literature dictates that a primary contributor to these adverse behaviors is that those with ASD have difficulty determining their own emotional states and determining the physiological signals that their body sends them. A study by Dr. Sarabadani et al. determined that it was possible to monitor the physiology of an individual with ASD and correlate certain signals to emotions, such as stress. These findings indicate the feasibility of establishing a …

Medical Knowledge As A Recalcitrant Epistemological System: An Application Of Standpoint Epistemology In The Analysis Of Marginalization Within U.S Healthcare, Abby Deshazo

CMC Senior Theses

Research on healthcare disparities outside the field of epistemology tend to miss the true origins of oppressions imposed on marginalized individuals by the U.S healthcare system. This happens because of the false belief that these oppressions are reducible to social or political oppressions. By employing the perspective of a standpoint epistemologist, we can better identify the origins of these oppressions and subsequently consider more appropriate solutions. The standpoint epistemologist’s perspective (1) provides an intuitive case for the role individuals’ schemas play in the evaluation of what healthcare professionals know; (2) situates medical knowledge within epistemology, leading us to …

Postpartum Depression Rates In Latine Birthing Parents During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Closer Look At Cultural Protective Factors And Acculturation, Perla Barajas

CMC Senior Theses

In the Latine community, the prioritization of social or familial support (familism) serves as a cultural protective factor that has typically guarded against unfavorable health outcomes. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, social interactions and familial support were substantially limited. A vulnerable population during this pandemic was Latine birthing parents because previous studies have shown that perception of social support directly impacts postpartum depression (PPD) in this group. This study will use data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System to compare PPD rates for Latine birthing parents from before the COVID-19 pandemic to the PPD rates during the pandemic. Moreover, …

Neuroimaging On Brain Aging And Neurodegeneration, Katelynn Nguyen

Scripps Senior Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that usually affects but not limited to the elder population. We see that when an individual develops AD, the brain cells are degenerating and dying at rates that are uncontrollable. Worldwide AD has affected at least 50 million people and we will continue to see this number increase. Although the research done on AD has made great strides, much is still unknown and being studied. Previous studies have allowed us to understand that many of the impacts of AD are correlated to various regions of the brain experiencing atrophy. This causes an …

The Impact Of The Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program On Healthy Days, Health Inequity, And Hospital Community Benefit Spending, Samhita Kadiyala

Scripps Senior Theses

The Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBP) is a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) program implemented in 2012 to reward acute-care hospitals with incentive payments for the quality of care provided to Medicare patients in inpatient settings. Under this policy, payment adjustments are made based on a variety of factors including clinical quality, patient experience, and cost reductions. This paper uses state-level variation in the implementation of HVBP to ascertain whether the policy led to improvements in Healthy Days (a CDC-designed composite measure of individuals’ self-reported number of physically and mentally “healthy” days per month), health disparities, and community …

The Association Between Social Capital And Depression, Abdulrahman Abudawood

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Mental health is an integral component of a healthy and balanced life, and deterioration in mental health has a significant impact on the quality of life. Being an active member of the community can positively impact personal mental health and emotional wellbeing. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers Social Capital (SC) a significant determinant of individual mental health. Despite that, there are limited studies analyzing the association between SC and the prevalence or severity of depressive symptoms experienced by suburban residents of the United States. This study aimed to assess the relationships between the six dimensions of SC introduced by …