Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Modifiable Barriers To Optimal Outcomes In Gout Management, Brian W. Coburn

Theses & Dissertations

Improving patient outcomes in chronic disease is of critical importance to the future of health care. Gout, affecting 4% of the US population, is a highly treatable chronic disease from which patients experience unnecessarily suboptimal outcomes. In this dissertation, I demonstrate how interrelated patient and provider factors affect patient outcomes in gout. First, I describe how only 14% of gout patients know their serum urate (SU) goal for urate lowering therapy (ULT) despite otherwise being knowledgeable about gout and its treatment. I then demonstrate the importance of multiple patient and provider factors in achieving SU goal. Specifically, I demonstrate that …

Color Stability, Physical Properties And Antifungal Effects Of Zro2 And Tio2 Nanoparticle Additions To Pigmented Polydimethylsiloxanes, Mazen Alkahtany

Theses & Dissertations

Introduction: Color changes, physical degradation and fungal infections are potential challenges to the longevity of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential improvements in color change, physical properties and anti fungal properties of PDMS loaded with TiO2 and ZrO2 nanoparticles.

Methods: 1% weight of 40 nm or 200 nm diameter TiO2 or ZrO2 nanoparticles were mixed into PDMS with 2% functional intrinsic yellow pigment and polymerized. Control materials contained 13% weight 200 nm silica. Samples were exposed to either 3000 hours of UVB radiation (200 μW/cm2) or darkness. Color parameters L*a*b* and ΔE*, ultimate tensile …

Factors And Outcomes Associated With Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use In Rural Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Marcia Y. Shade

Theses & Dissertations

Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) use in older adults is a significant public health concern. The use of PIMs to avoid may lead to negative outcomes such as adverse drug events. Prior conceptual analysis of PIMs use and observation of health-related factors in rural adults led to the design of this dissertation study. A sample was recruited from a population of rural community-dwelling older adults to examine the following specific aims: 1) Describe the use of PIMs to avoid, 2) Explore individual demographic characteristics (age, gender, income, education, and rural home location), health experience (comorbidity, number of medications and health providers), …