Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Risk Of Kidney Stones In Living Kidney Donors: A Matched Cohort Study, Sonia Thomas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A kidney stone in a person with one kidney requires urgent attention which may result in surgical and/or hospital attention. We conducted a matched retrospective cohort study to determine if living kidney donors compared to healthy non-donors have a higher risk of: 1) kidney stones with surgical intervention, and 2) hospital encounters for kidney stones. We reviewed and linked information from pre-donation charts to Ontario healthcare databases. We selected healthy non-donors from the general population, matching ten non-donors to every donor, to generate a cohort of 2,019 donors and 20,190 non-donors. There was no difference in the rate of 1) …

Relationship Between The Experience Of Perceived And Physician Diagnosed Arthritis And The Presence Of Dsm-Iv Criteria-Based Major Depression (Mdd) Among Older, Ryan Neil Schmidt

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to explore both positive screened MDD and the perception of being depressed (P) and the likelihood of either increasing if the patient suffered from arthritis (P/E), either perceived or evaluated by a physician. The study explored the univariate, bivariate, and multivariate relationships between MDD and depression (P) to better describe influencing characteristics and their prevalence, as related to MDD and depression (P).

METHODS: The study examined a cross section of patients 65 years and older (n=8,205) within the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NESARC) [2001-02] sponsored by the National Institute …

Factors Influencing Youth Self-Perceptions Of Overweight And Obesity, Caitlin Helen Sommers

Dissertations and Theses

This study sought to examine whether participation in physical activity affects the ability to correctly classify body size, based on body mass index classifications. Secondarily, this study determined whether adolescents who incorrectly classified their body size overestimated or underestimated their size. Self-report data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were analyzed. Logistic regression was performed to examine relationships between self-perception of body size and physical activity, television viewing time, computer/video game use, physical education class time, and extracurricular sports activities. Significance was set to p<0.05. Physical activity was the only statistically significant independent variable (p=0.058, OR = 1.060). Although physical activity was shown to be statistically significant, it did not appear to meaningfully increase the ability of youth to correctly classify body size. Secondary analysis showed that adolescents who incorrectly classified their body size were more likely to underestimate their body size. Females more frequently underestimated their body size (females=673; males=384).

The Impact Of Intrauterine Exposure To Gestational Diabetes Mellitus On Early Childhood Body Mass Index Trajectories, Aniq Anam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Although gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been linked to pediatric obesity, there is limited research on the impact of intrauterine exposure to GDM on trajectories of childhood growth. Objective: To assess the effect of prenatal GDM exposure on childhood body mass index (BMI) trajectories. Design: Analyses were conducted using data from cycles 2 to 6 (1994-2004; N=3412 children) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Latent growth curve modelling (LGCM) was used to model BMI trajectories from age 2 to 10 years with prenatal exposure to GDM as a predictor. Effect modification by breastfeeding was assessed. Results: …

How Age Friendly Is This City? Strategies For Assessing Age-Friendliness, Michelle Dellamora

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Age-Friendly Cities framework, created by the World Health Organization (WHO), has emerged as a community-based response to the challenges of demographic aging and increasing urbanization. In 2010, London, Ontario, became the first city in Canada to join the WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly Communities. Network milestones require the measurement of the baseline age-friendliness of the community. The objectives of this thesis are: 1. Determine the best available assessment tools for measuring the age-friendliness of a community, and 2. Establish the baseline age-friendliness of London, Ontario. A scoping review was utilized to collect and assess available surveys and questionnaires. A …

Children At-Risk For Hearing Impairment: A Retrospective Study Of The Ontario Infant Hearing Program Population, Katherine M. Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There is widespread agreement that infant hearing screening programs are effective but such programs may fail to detect all hearing impairment and children can develop subsequent hearing loss after passing the initial screen. This is the core rationale for surveillance programs that are analyzed in this thesis. Infants with hearing risk factors are followed using surveillance programs that include monitoring by audiological assessment.

The study population in this thesis consists of 2,390 children with normal hearing and 248 children with hearing impairment from different referral routes. The Infant Hearing Program Surveillance group is 1.48% of the number of hearing-impaired children. …

Resilience As Health Promotion In Action: University Students Who Grew Up Amid Violence Directed Towards Their Mothers, Tatiana Murkin (Zdyb)

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

Violence against women is among the greatest threats to the health of our population. An estimated three hundred and sixty thousand children in Canada, and over two million worldwide are exposed to violence in their homes (UNICEF, 2006). Growing up amidst such violence seriously compromises children’s capacities for healthy development. Violence against women is not limited by culture, geography or socioeconomic status. It constitutes one of the most pervasive and yet least openly discussed human rights violations and public health issues known today.

Researchers and allied health professionals generally agree that children whose development has been interfered with by …

An Exploration Of Early Childhood Education Students' Knowledge And Preparation To Facilitate Physical Activity For Preschoolers, Olivia Martyniuk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Early childhood educators play an important role in influencing preschoolers’ physical activity levels. The current study sought to explore Early Childhood Education (ECE) students’ physical activity (PA)-related knowledge and educational experience. A total of 1,113 ECE students from 20 Ontario Colleges completed the study survey (online or on paper), which examined students’ PA course content; awareness of PA guidelines; understanding of health-related benefits of PA; self-efficacy to facilitate PA for preschoolers; as well as PA resource needs. Survey results identified that 72.1% of ECE students had not completed any PA/physical education specific courses, while only 28.7% were familiar with, and …

An Exploration Of Threatened Harm As A Type Of Maltreatment And Its Relation To Recurrence Of Maltreatment, Roxann Mcneish

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There were no studies found in the literature that primarily focused on threatened harm as type of maltreatment. This study utilized Florida's child welfare administrative data to explore threatened harm as a type of maltreatment, particularly as a predictor of recurrence of maltreatment within six and 12 months for children who had a verified report of maltreatment in FY2005-2006. Threatened harm was examined in three ways; when it was reported as the only maltreatment, the initial maltreatment, and in situations where there was a prior report. The most prevalent acts of threatened harm were examined separately. It was examined as …

Exploring The Effects Of Multi-Level Protective And Risk Factors On Child And Parenting Outcomes In Families Participating In Healthy Start/Healthy Families Oregon (Hs/Hfo), Peggy Nygren

Dissertations and Theses

While many studies focus on the links between multiple risk factors and negative outcomes such as child maltreatment, less is known about the influence of protective factors in the face of risks. The theoretical base of this study was a social ecological model of interactive influences including individual parent, family, and neighborhood level factors to predict outcomes. Protective Factor Index (PFI) and Risk Factor Index (RFI) predictors were developed to explore potential multi-level protective factor buffering effects on key child development and parenting outcomes. Participants were first time mothers enrolled in a randomized controlled study of the Healthy Start/ Healthy …

Work Stress Reactivity And Health Outcomes: A Study Of Nurses, Laurie Marie Jacobs

Dissertations and Theses

Negative events encountered in daily life influence individual well-being. Individuals vary in their reactivity to these events, the extent to which they are behaviorally, physiologically, and psychologically influenced by them (Almeida, 2005; Neupert, Almeida, & Charles, 2007). Reactivity to events in the form of changes in health behavior could represent either an attempt at coping (Cooper, Frone, Russell, & Mudar, 1995) or a stressor-related failure of self-control (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000). Such changes in behavior could have later effects on health.

Although a great deal of attention has been paid to both the immediate and long-term effects of stressors on …

Hybrid Pet/Mri Nanoparticle Development And Multi-Modal Imaging, David Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations

The development of hybrid PET/MRI imaging systems needs to be paralleled with the development of a hybrid intrinsic PET/MRI probes. The aim of this work was to develop and validate a novel radio-superparamagnetic nanoparticle (r-SPNP) for hybrid PET/MRI imaging. This was achieved with the synthesis of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) that intrinsically incorporated 59Fe and manganese iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs) that intrinsically incorporated 52Mn. Both [59Fe]-SPIONs and [52Mn]-MIONs were produced through thermal decomposition synthesis. The physiochemical characteristics of the r-SPNPs were assessed with TEM, DLS, and zeta-potential measurements, as well as in imaging phantom studies. The [59Fe]-SPIONs were evaluated …

Batterer Intervention Programs' Response To State Standards, Ashley Lynn Boal

Dissertations and Theses

The study of policy implementation has recently garnered research and federal attention highlighting the importance of implementation in achieving desired policy and program outcomes (Durlak & DuPre, 2008; Meyers, Durlak & Wandersman, 2012; National Institutes of Health, 2013). Psychology is one discipline that is well poised to guide the study of policy implementation as it can inform the creation, development, and outcomes associated with the introduction of a policy (Esses & Dovidio, 2011; Fischhoff, 1990). Given that batterer intervention programs (BIPs) have been developed to prevent future intimate partner violence (IPV) and improve victim safety, ensuring these programs have successfully …

The Relationship Between Health Literacy And Health Outcomes: A Mixed-Methods Study Of African-American Adult Patients With Asthma, Courtnee Erin Melton

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Introduction: Asthma affects 24.6 million people in the United States, and AfricanAmericans share a disproportionate burden of the disease. African-Americans have a higher prevalence of asthma, worse asthma control, higher hospitalization rates, and higher asthma mortality rates African-Americans are also more likely to have low health literacy. Low health literacy has been linked to increased use of emergency care, increased hospitalization, decreased use of preventive services, poorer medication adherence, poorer interpretation of prescription labels, nutrition labels, and health messages, and poorer health outcomes. Consequently, health literacy is one of the modifiable individual factors that contributes to asthma disparities among African-Americans. …

Transcending Microbial Source Tracking Techniques Across Geographic Borders: An Examination Of Human And Animal Microbiomes And The Integration Of Molecular Approaches In Pathogen Surveillance In Brazil And The United States, Amber Mae Koskey

Theses and Dissertations

Waterborne illnesses, attributed to the ingestion or contact with contaminated water, present a significant global health concern. Surface water sources can be impacted by wide array of pollution inputs, but fecal pollution generates the most significant and acute threat to human health. Therefore, the detection of fecal bacteria in surface water sources remains an important public health objective. Current surface water monitoring employs the use of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) including E. coli and enterococci as proxies for pathogenic organisms carried in fecal pollution. These traditional indicators, detected by culture-based microbiological methods, do not discriminate fecal sources from another. New …

Trends In Work-Related Injury Rates And The Associated Incurred Costs In Long-Term Care Centers, Darcie Lange Olson

Theses and Dissertations

Background. Nursing assistants, working in long-term care facilities, have consistently been among the top occupational groups experiencing work-related musculoskeletal injuries. These injuries have been attributed the physical demands of lifting and moving the individuals in their care. Great strides in research have identified successful risk reduction strategies such as the implementation safe patient handling and mobility programs. The benefits of these programs have been advocated over the last two decades, but the rate of injuries among nursing assistants continues to be more than double the national average for all other industries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the …

Factors Associated With Parental Decision Making And Childhood Vaccination, Zuwen Qiu-Shultz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In order to better understand factors affecting immunization status, logistic regression was used to assess the association of various socio-demographic factors and whether parents would have their child immunized if not a state mandate. Factors included in the study were race, household income, number of children in the household, number of adults in the household, if the child had a primary provider, if the child had a health check-up in the last twelve months, and medical insurance status of the child. The combined Nevada Kindergarten Health Survey Result of 2009-2010 (Year Two) and 2010-2011 (Year Three) conducted by the Nevada …

An Analysis Of Employment Policies And Their Effect On Work-Life Balance For Caregiving Parents Of Children With Special Needs, Sara Panella

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This capstone addresses the work-­‐life conflict facing employed caregiver parents with special needs children by 1) identifying what employed parents of children with disabilities need from their employer in order to achieve a work-­‐life balance that improves economic security and emotional well-­‐being, and 2) evaluating how well policies address those needs. An investigation of work-­‐family conflict and stress among parents of special needs children is conducted by examining the current literature and conducting interviews with caregivers to explore their work-­‐life balance needs. Policy recommendations are provided, based on an analysis of public and workplace policies currently in use and policy …

The Influence Of Position Type And Generational Grouping On Job Satisfaction Of Milwaukee County's Public Health Workforce, Jeanette L. Kowalik

Theses and Dissertations

Nationally, the public health workforce (PHW) consists of 155,000 staff (NACCHO, 2010). It is projected that half of the PHW will soon retire. Health departments must find ways to retain its diverse workforce.

Job Satisfaction is a critical variable that impacts a sustained PHW. Job Satisfaction assessments can promote sustainability of the workforce because the data assembled from the assessments can inform research, policy, and practice. Public health workers that report high Job Satisfaction are less likely to quit as well as delay retirement (RWJF, 2013).

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of position type and …

Effects On Volunteer Peer Leaders Participating In A Health Promotion Program For U.S. Veterans, Leslie A. Patterson

Theses and Dissertations

Health-focused peer-led interventions demonstrate success in reducing risk-related behaviors among participants with chronic illnesses, yet few researchers have explored the effects of such interventions on the health of volunteer peer leaders who participate in the interventions. Using data from the project entitled, An RCT of a Peer Support Intervention to Improve Hypertension, this study explored volunteer peer leaders' self-care behaviors that contribute to blood pressure control in two hypertension interventions for U.S. veterans. Inspection of the study's findings demonstrated that volunteer peer leaders improved their health habits and hypertension knowledge significantly more than the peer groups they served. Findings revealed …

Development Of Novel Subunit Vaccine Against H5n1 Influenza, Lu Zhang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Influenza is a common infectious disease resulting from a frequently mutated RNA virus. Vaccination is currently the most effective method to prevent people from seasonal or pandemic influenza. The production of traditional egg-based influenza vaccine is time-consuming and provides limited effect against new strains. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a rapid method to produce influenza vaccines. We proposed a novel influenza vaccine based on the E.coli expression system. Hemagglutinin (HA) is the major target surface protein of influenza virus for vaccine development. In this study, we sub-cloned the HAs encoding gene into an E. coli expression vector; the signal …

Quantifying Value In Public Health: Using Economic Methods To Analyze System Change, Theresa M. Green

Dissertations

In this time of economic downturn, it is becoming increasingly important for organizations, including those in public health, to “prove their worth,” to show the value in improvement strategies. Health agencies have learned to discuss impact in terms of health outcome and mortality/morbidity measures. However, it is critical that these impacts are also expressed in a way that shows cost-efficiency and economic benefit especially for promising, evidence-based public health interventions. Although several methods of economic evaluation including cost-effective analysis, cost-utility analysis, or cost-benefit analysis and return on investment (ROI) have been used in social sciences and health research, fewer examples …

Development And Evaluation Of Chitosan Particle Based Antigen Delivery Systems For Enhanced Antigen Specific Immune Response, Bhanuprasanth Koppolu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Particle-based vaccine delivery systems are under exploration to enhance antigen-specific immunity against safe but poorly immunogenic polypeptide antigens. Chitosan is a promising biomaterial for antigen encapsulation and delivery due to its ability to form nano- and microparticles in mild aqueous conditions thus preserving the antigenicity of loaded polypeptides. The objective of this work is to develop a chitosan particle based antigen delivery system for enhanced vaccine response. Chitosan particle sizes, which ranged from 300 nm to 3 ìm, were influenced by chitosan concentration, chitosan molecular weight and addition rate of precipitant salt. The composition of precipitant salt played a significant …

Who Done It? Rurality Vs. Ses As Critical Factors In Evaluating The Prevalence Of Child Psychosocial Concerns In Primary Care, Robert M. Tolliver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of child psychosocial concerns in rural primary care, hypothesized to be greater than national averages due to lacking mental health services in rural areas. This study was an examination of the role of SES, various definitions of “rural,” and the interaction of SES and rurality, in predicting parent-reported child psychosocial concerns in Appalachian primary care clinics. Caregivers presenting with their child at one of 8 pediatric primary care sites (n=2,672) were recruited to complete a measure assessing demographics and the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC). Results showed that while rural status …

Feasibility And Preliminary Outcomes From A Pilot Study Of The Smile Curriculum For Mother-Infant Co-Occupational Engagement And Maternal Self-Efficacy, Emily Whitlock

Theses and Dissertations

OBJECTIVE: To report on the feasibility and preliminary outcomes from a pilot study of the SMILE curriculum, a new educational program designed to enhance the mother-infant relationship by focusing on improvement of co-occupational engagement within daily routines.

METHOD: Six mothers, each with an infant diagnosed with special medical needs who received services in a local birth-to-three program, participated in an exploratory design study. Each mother was assigned to a SMILE curriculum intervention group or a waiting-list control group. Mothers were evaluated pre- and post-intervention using the Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMP-SE) Scale for measurement of maternal self-efficacy and the Center …

Health Service Utilization And Stigma Among Hiv-Positive Men-Who-Have-Sex-With Men (Msm) In Rural Appalachia, Roger L. Blackwell Jr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Health Service Utilization and Stigma among

HIV-Positive Men-Who-Have-Sex-With-Men (MSM) in Rural Appalachia

by

Roger Lee Blackwell

The world has now entered the third decade of the AIDS epidemic. Men-who-have-sex-with-men continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. The United States still struggles in its response to this ongoing crisis in many areas: disease prevention, treatment, and HIV related stigma, prejudice and discrimination. Much of the information reported on MSM living with HIV has come from urban population centers, but only a few studies have focused on HIV positive MSM living in rural areas. Therefore, the overall aim of this dissertation …

Building The Science Of Healthcare Public Reporting: Integrating Anecdotal Information To Enhance Sensemaking, Kapil Chalil Madathil

All Dissertations

Anecdotal information about a healthcare consumers' interaction with care providers and hospital facilities is becoming increasingly available to the public in the form of YouTube videos and as discussion posts on peer-support groups. This form of information can potentially jeopardize the utility of reports generated by Federal entities as it potentially diverts consumer attention from more reliable measures of quality. This dissertation investigates how a health consumer's choice of care is influenced by anecdotal information on the care process available on YouTube. This research then investigates the effect of information presentation methods such as narratives and active engagement with quality …

Full-Gestational Exposure To Nicotine And Ethanol Results In Long-Term Dysregulation In The Ventral Tegmental Area, Emily Elizabeth Roguski

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Nicotine is considered a gateway drug for other drugs of abuse. The majority of smokers that begin smoking in adolescence, continue into adulthood. Multiple factors have been linked with smoking initiation, including maternal smoking. Drug exposure during pregnancy has long been suspected to exert deleterious effects on the fetal brain. Concurrent use of smoking and drinking alcohol throughout pregnancy is an all too frequent occurrence in the human population especially in disadvantaged and younger women.

The present study investigated the potential contributing factors for the enhanced nicotine selfadministration as seen in offspring with gestational exposure to nicotine and ethanol (Nic+EtOH).* …

Closing The Rural Mortality Gap? An Examination Of 10-Year Cardiovascular Mortality Trends In Washington And Aroostook Counties, Maine, Christy Daggett

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This study examines a significant reduction in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality1 in two rural, white, low-income counties in Maine over 1999-2009: Washington County and Aroostook County. Two similar counties with similarly high rates of CVD mortality– Penobscot and Piscataquis - were selected as comparators. The study considers different factors known to correlate with CVD mortality, including behavioral risk factors, co-morbid conditions, insurance coverage, and social determinants of health.

Validation Of The Simple Activity Measurement Instrument (Sam) Using Heart Rate And Pedometry; Simple Activity Measurement Instrument (Sam) For Measuring Mvpa In Physical Education, Joseph P. Anaya

Graduate Theses

In order to battle obesity in our schools, Physical Education standards are working to become more and more in accordance with the Physical Activity Guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the American College of Sports Medicine. Physical Education teachers would benefit from a tool that measures the amount and type of activity that students are involved in while they are in Physical Education. Many of the instruments that teachers use to assess students’ physical activity are too expensive, too difficult and can be time consuming. The purpose of the current study was to test …