Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Cultural Competence Guides For Covid-19 Messaging In Hispanic Communities, Madeline Huff, Shuchita V. Jhaveri, Ayesha Khan, Lina Pedraza, Maria Pesantez Borja, Daniela Santos Cantu, Chelsea Chang

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Purpose: The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas comprises 5% percent of Texas's population yet 17%of Texas's COVID-19 deaths. We aimed to address underlying mistrust and systemic racism in our Hispanic community that contributes to health inequities by developing a cultural competence guide for public health messaging.

Methods: We employed a mixed method design (e.g., focus groups, surveys, interviews) to develop and implement a cultural competence guide in an iterative community-informed process. We created a general cultural competence guide, one for the Hispanic community and one for the hard-of-hearing community.

Results: Our cultural competence guides provide an interpretation as to …

Lack Of Better Functional Outcome In Young Border Hispanic Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke After Endovascular Thrombectomy Compared To Older Patients: A Retrospective Chart Review, Saisree Ravi, Sohum Desai, Sherief Ghozy, Wondwossen Tekle, Ameer E. Hassan

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

Shortened Abstract:

Previous data indicates that young acute ischemic stroke patients have better prognosis after endovascular thrombectomy, while Hispanic patients are associated with poorer outcomes. Our goal is to study the interaction between age and Hispanic status to assess functional outcomes after endovascular thrombectomy in young versus older patients in a predominantly Hispanic population with a high prevalence of diabetes mellitus and obesity.

Our Hispanic population demonstrates no differences in sICH, mortality, and functional independence between young and older acute ischemic stroke patients after endovascular thrombectomy.

Blood Biomarkers For Cognitive Decline And Clinical Progression In A Mexican American Cohort, Mitzi M. Gonzales, Chen-Pin Wang, Meghan I. Short, Danielle M. Parent, Tiffany Kautz, Daniel Maccarthy, Claudia L. Satizabal, David Andrés González, Donald R. Royal, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Introduction: The clinical translation of biofluid markers for dementia requires validation in diverse cohorts. The study goal was to evaluate if blood biomarkers reflecting diverse pathophysiological processes predict disease progression in Mexican American adults.

Methods: Mexican American adults (n = 745), 50 years of age and older, completed annual assessments over a mean of 4 years. Serum collected at baseline was assayed for total tau, neurofilament light (NFL), ubiquitin carboxyl‐terminal hydrolase LI, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), soluble cluster of differentiation 14 (sCD14), and chitinase‐3‐like protein 1 (YKL‐40).

Results: Higher GFAP and NFL were associated with global …

Frailty Index In The Colonias On The Us-Mexico Border: A Special Report, Eron G. Manusov, Carolina Gomez De Ziegler, Vincent P. Diego, Gerardo Munoz-Monaco, Sarah Williams-Blangero

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Frailty is the age-related decline in well-being. The Frailty index (FI) measures the accumulation of health deficits and reflects biopsychosocial and cultural determinants of well-being. Frailty is measured as a static phenotype or as a Frailty Index comprising a ratio of suffered health deficits and total deficits. We report a Frailty Index calculated from routinely measured clinical variables gathered from residents of two Colonias (neighborhoods) in South Texas. A Colonia is a predominantly Hispanic, economically distressed, unincorporated neighborhood. We analyzed retrospective data from 894 patients that live in two Colonias located on the Texas-Mexico border. We calculated the FI with …

Addressing Neurocognitive Disorders, Dementias, And Alzheimer’S Disease In Colonias Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley: Establishing A Research Foundation Using Promotores, Noe Garza, Marucela Uscamayta-Ayvar, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Several Texas communities along the Mexican border, including the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), are home to low-income Hispanic populations, many of whom live in underserved communities known as colonias. These areas have high incidences of neurocognitive disorders, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD); health care strategies that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for the area are needed. We aim to build capacity to reduce risk, facilitate treatment, and provide caregiver support for affected individuals. However, gaining trust of communities and presenting information about research studies in a way that is culturally appropriate is critical for engagement of underserved communities.

This …

Transition From Pre-Diabetes To Diabetes And Predictors Of Risk In Mexican-Americans, Shenghui Wu, Joseph B. Mccormick, Joanne E. Curran, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Background: No studies have examined risk factors for the transition from pre-diabetes to diabetes in populations with widespread obesity and diabetes. We determined proximal changes and factors affecting the transition among Mexican-Americans with pre-diabetes.

Methods: Participants with pre-diabetes (n=285) were recruited from our randomly sampled population-based Cameron County Hispanic Cohort. These participants were followed for an average of 27 months with repeat examination every 3 to 4 months. Metabolic health was defined as having less than 2 metabolic abnormalities (e.g., hypertension, elevated low-density lipoprotein, etc). Diabetes was identified as fasting blood glucose ≥126 mg/dL, glycated hemoglobin ≥6.5% and/or on hypoglycemic …

Diabetes Screening And Prevention In A High-Risk, Medically Isolated Border Community, Ann V. Millard, Margaret A. Graham, Nelda Mier, Jesus Moralez, Maria Perez-Patron, Brian Wickwire, Marlynn L. May, Marcia G. Ory

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: A project in a Texas border community setting, Prevention Organized against Diabetes and Dialysis with Education and Resources (POD2ER), offered diabetes prevention information, screening, and medical referrals. The setting was a large, longstanding flea market that functions as a shopping mall for low-income people. The priority population included medically underserved urban and rural Mexican Americans. Components of the program addressed those with diabetes, prediabetes, and accompanying relatives and friends.

Background: People living in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) face challenges of high rates of type 2 diabetes, lack of knowledge about prevention, and inadequate access to medical care. …

Analysis Of Whole Exome Sequencing With Cardiometabolic Traits Using Family-Based Linkage And Association In The Iras Family Study, Keri L. Tabb, Jacklyn N. Hellwege, Nicholette D. Palmer, Latchezar Dimitrov, Satria Sajuthi, Kent D. Taylor, Maggie C.Y. Ng, Gregory A. Hawkins, Yii-Der Ida Chen, John Blangero

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Family-based methods are a potentially powerful tool to identify trait-defining genetic variants in extended families, particularly when used to complement conventional association analysis. We utilized two-point linkage analysis and single variant association analysis to evaluate whole exome sequencing (WES) data from 1,205 Hispanic Americans (78 families) from the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Family Study. WES identified 211,612 variants above the minor allele frequency threshold of ≥0.005. These variants were tested for linkage and/or association with 50 cardiometabolic traits after quality control checks. Two-point linkage analysis yielded 10,580,600 LOD scores with 1,148 LOD scores ≥3, 183 LOD scores ≥4, and 29 LOD …

The Perceptions Of Stereotypes Of People Who Stutter In Hispanic University Students, Ruth Crutchfield, Xiaohui Wang

Communication Sciences & Disorders Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to obtain data regarding how stutterers are perceived in Hispanic populations in order to identify whether stereotypes exist across cultures. This investigation was completed in order to repeat and amplify previously completed research projects that have used the Bipolar Semantic Scale and have revealed correlations between the presence of stuttering and negative feelings and reactions. University students were surveyed utilizing the Bipolar Semantic Scale which provides information regarding how stutterers are perceived. When comparing the findings of this project that deals primarily with Hispanic population to the previous studies that were completed on non-Hispanic …

Depression In Mexican Americans With Diagnosed And Undiagnosed Diabetes, Rene L. Olvera, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, Douglas E. Williamson, Kristina Vatcheva, Joseph B. Mccormick

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Depression and diabetes commonly co-occur; however, the strength of the physiological effects of diabetes as mediating factors towards depression is uncertain.

Method: We analyzed extensive clinical, epidemiological and laboratory data from n = 2081 Mexican Americans aged 35-64 years, recruited from the community as part of the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC) divided into three groups: Diagnosed (self-reported) diabetes (DD, n = 335), Undiagnosed diabetes (UD, n = 227) and No diabetes (ND, n = 1519). UD participants denied being diagnosed with diabetes, but on testing met the 2010 American Diabetes Association and World Health Organization definitions of diabetes. …

Does Integrated Behavioral Health Care Reduce Mental Health Disparities For Latinos? Initial Findings, Ana J. Bridges, Arthur R. Andrews Iii, Bianca T. Villalobos, Freddie A. Pastrana, Timothy A. Cavell, Debbie Gomez

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Integrated behavioral health care (IBHC) is a model of mental health care service delivery that seeks to reduce stigma and service utilization barriers by embedding mental health professionals into the primary care team. This study explored whether IBHC service referrals, utilization, and outcomes were comparable for Latinos and non-Latino White primary care patients. Data for the current study were collected from 793 consecutive patients (63.8% Latino; M age = 29.02 years [SD = 17.96]; 35.1% under 18 years; 65.3% women; 54.3% uninsured) seen for behavioral health services in 2 primary care clinics during a 10.5 month period. The most common …

Integrating Education, Group Support, And Case Management For Diabetic Hispanics, Sharon A. Brown, Alexandra A. García, Mary Winter, Lita Silva, Adama Brown, Craig Hanis

School of Nursing Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objectives: Culturally tailored diabetes self-management education (DSME) improves glycemic control and other health outcomes in Mexican Americans but sociocultural barriers to health improvements remain. This study explored the feasibility of adding a nurse case manager (NCM) to DSME to foster DSME attendance and increase utilization of other available health care services.

Design, setting and participants: The setting was a rural community on the Texas-Mexico border in one of the poorest counties in the United States. Using a repeated measures pretest, post-test control group design, we enrolled 165 Mexican American adults into: 1) an experimental group that received a DSME intervention …