Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Firefighter’S Workers’ Compensation Claims In Montana, 2007-2017: A Cost Analysis, Rylie Mutzenberger, Julia Brennan, Emily Healy, Theresa Stack, Amy Kuenzi, David P. Gilkey

Safety Health & Industrial Hygiene

The objective of this study was to examine costs associated with workers’ compensation claims from firefighters in Montana. Workers’ compensation claims data were obtained from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry. The highest proportion of total benefit amount dollars was paid to male firefighters (93.7%), public employees (84.8%), and those who were 45-54 years of age at time of injury (23.9%). Part-time employees represented the employment category receiving the highest total benefit amount ($766,354). July represented the month with the highest average total benefit amount cost ($52,084). Strains and sprains, back injuries, and lifting activities all represented the highest …

Ending The Silence: Utilizing Personal Experiences To Enhance A Library Mental Health Initiative, Sabrina Thomas, Kacy J. Lovelace

Librarian Research

This article summarizes a panel presentation given at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington D.C. ( June 22, 2019). The panel consisted of Sabrina Thomas, research and instruction librarian at Marshall University; Leah Tolliver, director of wellness programs and the Women’s and Gender Center at Marshall University; C. Michelle Alford, senior library IT consultant at Marshall University; and Kacy Lovelace, research and student success librarian at Marshall University. Tenikka Phillips, EAP coordinator at Cabell Huntington Hospital, worked extensively on the project but was unable to take part in the panel presentation. The following is a conversation between Sabrina …

Combining Efforts: Libraries As Mental Health Safe Spaces, Sabrina Thomas, Kacy J. Lovelace

Librarian Research

In the face of seemingly insurmountable, persisting problems, what is one thing that you could do to lift that burden in your own space, in your own building, or on your own walls? This defining question led to the creation of Marshall University (MU) Libraries Mental Health Initiative. The initiative began with an art exhibition titled: “Don’t Call Me Crazy: Resiliency through Art.” The goal of this exhibition was to encourage students, faculty, and staff to create artwork informed by mental health or to help process their own mental health. With more than 30 artists and 50 pieces filling the …

Test-Retest Reliability And Minimum Detectable Change For Various Frontal Plane Projection Angles During Dynamic Tasks, David M. Werner, Stephanie Di Stasi, Cara L. Lewis, Joaquin Alberto Barrios

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Objective: Establish between-day test-retest reliability metrics for 2-dimensional frontal plane projection angles (FPPAs) during the lateral step-down (LSD), single-limb squat (SLS), single-limb landing (SLL), and drop vertical jump (DVJ).

Design: Test-retest reliability study

Setting: University laboratory

Participants: 20 healthy adults (12 female, age = 23.60±1.93 years old, body mass index = 24.26±2.54 kg/m²) were tested on 2 separate occasions 7-14 days apart.

Main Outcome Measures: Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), standard errors of the measurement (SEM), and minimal detectable change (MDC) values across the LSD, SLS, SLL, and DVJ for the following body region variables: trunk, trunk on pelvis, …

Experimental Investigation Examining The Effects Of Acute Exercise On Implicit Memory Function, Paul D. Loprinzi, Morgan Gilbert, Gina Robinson, Briahna Dickerson

Faculty and Student Publications

© 2019, PsychOpen. All rights reserved. Emerging work suggests that acute exercise can enhance explicit memory function. Minimal research, however, has examined whether acute exercise is associated with implicit memory, which was the purpose of this study. Three separate experimental studies were computed (N = 120; Mean age = 21). In Experiment 1, participants were randomly assigned to either a moderate-intensity bout of acute exercise (15-minute) or engaged in a seated control task (15-minute), followed by the completion of a word-fragmentation implicit memory task. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, but instead employed a higher-intensity exercise protocol. For Experiment 3, participants …

Resistant Hypertension: Renal Denervation Or Pharmacovigilance? Insights From A Renal Denervation Screening Program, Marcin Ojrzanowski, Jarosław D Kasprzak, Jan Zbigniew Peruga, Małgorzata Kurpesa, Łukasz Jankowski, Sonu Sahni, Michał Plewka

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (New York) Publications and Research

BACKGROUND: With emerging new therapeutic concepts including renal denervation (RDN), there is a renewed interest in resistant hypertension (ResH). Among patients suspected of having ResH, a definitive diagnosis needs to be established.

OBJECTIVES: This study presents observations from a standardized single-center screening program for RDN candidates, including medical therapy modification and reassessment.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients referred to our center for RDN underwent a standardized screening protocol. Candidates were recruited from among patients receiving no less than 3 antihypertensive drugs, including diuretics with office blood pressure (BP) >140/90 mm Hg. The assessment included 2 measurements of BP and ambulatory …

Changes Of Hydration Measures In Elite National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Wrestlers, Emily C. Borden, William J. Kraemer, Bryant J. Walrod, Emily M. Post, Lydia K. Caldwell, Matthew K. Beeler, William H. Dupont, John Paul V. Anders, Emily R. Martini, Jeff S. Volek, Carl M. Maresh

Health and Sport Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: To evaluate the changes in the state of hydration in elite National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college wrestlers during and after a season. Methods: Ohio State University wrestling team members (N = 6; mean [SD] age = 19.6 [1.1] y; height = 171.6 [2.9] cm; body mass = 69.5 [8.1] kg) gave informed consent to participate in the investigation with measurements (ie, body mass, urine-specific gravity [USG; 2 methods], Visual Analog Scale thirst scale, plasma osmolality) obtained during and after the season. Results: Measurements for USG, regardless of methods, were not significantly different between …

Protecting The Oral Health Of Those Who Protected Us, Taylor Acheson, Jessica Daniels, Peyton Janelle, Anne Murphy, Melissa Rocha

Dental Hygiene Student Research Posters

Research poster addressing the question: What oral health programs in long-term care facilities improve oral health outcomes? The need for effective oral hygiene programs in long-term care (LTC) veterans facilities is crucial due to the rise in the elderly population, as well as untreated caries in older adults. As a state, Maine has 15% of older adults with untreated caries, 41% with gingivitis, 14% with periodontal diseases, and 2.7% with oral and pharyngeal cancer death rates. It would serve the residents and team of caregivers well to have an interprofessional approach to the overall care of their patients. It is …

The Role Of Periodontal Disease In Lymphatic Function, Kristen Carlisle, Hanna Marie, Haley Taylor

Dental Hygiene Student Research Posters

Research poster addressing the question: Does periodontal disease affect lymphatic function? Gingival lymphatic vessels drain interstitial fluid and transport immune cells to lymph nodes but despite this, it is unknown how the lymphatic system impacts periodontal disease in humans. In light of this, studies have been observed on animals with the vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGFC), a growth factor known to be increased in periodontal patients. VEGFC is involved in lymphatic hyperplasia and lymphangiogenesis, the proliferation of lymphatic endothelial cells. This growth factor is believed to affect gingival lymphatic function in periodontitis patients. When reviewing the literature, it is …

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letter - November 2019, The George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letters

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Hemodialysis And Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes In The Older Patient Population, Dane Rasmussen

Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Papers

The objective of this research and systematic literature review is to determine the dialysis modality of choice for elderly patients with end-stage renal disease. This literature review will compare the outcomes of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, which will be judged by morbidity, mortality, and quality of life. In this review, PubMed, Embase, and DynaMed were searched using a specific set of keywords and mesh headings. Results of the searches were then filtered to include human-only studies, patients over 65 years old, and published within the last ten years. There were 12 studies that met inclusion criteria and were selected for …

Does It Spending Matter On Hospital Financial Performance And Quality?, C. Christopher Lee, Christopher Chagnon, Robert Marfia

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

This research explored impacts of IT spending on hospital financial performance and hospital quality. We developed two research hypotheses accordingly. The first hypothesis was that IT spending would be positively related to the hospital financial performance, and the second hypothesis was that hospitals with higher IT spending would have better quality metrics. We used the 2017 American Hospital Association Survey data and the HCAHPS dataset from Medicare website. We tested three hospital financials and three quality measures. We employed T-Tests and ANOVA models to test the hypotheses. Results were inconclusive for both hypotheses. Evidence showed statistical significance on two out …

Communication Style In Medical Crowdfunding: Effect Of Emotional Framing And Updates Frequency On Funding And Emotional Support, Onochie Fan-Osuala

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Despite the rise of medical crowdfunding and its benefits to patients including reducing financial hardships and providing emotional social support, limited attention has been paid to how a campaign organizer can drive performance. In this study, we investigate how the communication style used in a medical crowdfunding campaign can affect both the funding performance and emotional support received. We find that emotional framing and frequent updates have a positive effect on funding and emotional support and discuss the implications.

Hsp: A Tool For Heat Stress Prevention For Farm Workers, Juan C. Lavariega-Jarquín, Marc Schenker, Alfonso Ávila, Lorena G. Gomez

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

We present the initial development of an integrated application for heat stress and heat related illness prevention in farm workers. In developing the application we have follow the OSHA guidelines and an extended project includes the social, cultural and economic factors of farm workers. Even though, our development focus is on workers in the California fields, we believe our project will be useful in multiple situations where individuals are exposed to extreme heat working conditions. This paper describes the motivation for our development, the overall approach we are following, and the first version of our application.

Pressure Injury And Restraint Prevalence Surveys: Saving Time And Dollars For Patient Care By Automating Manual Chart Abstraction, Jefton Knight, Melinda Gevaart, Stephanie Wagner, Shellie Bush, Jeanann Miller

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Bronson Healthcare Group performs quarterly pressure injury and restraint audits as part of the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI). The chart abstraction portion of the audit previously required nurses to manually abstract 31 data points. To save time and cost, we used Lean and PDSA process improvement tools to automate the chart abstraction portion of the audit, reducing the number of data points requiring manual abstraction to 2. We validated the automated abstraction by comparing it to abstractions done manually by the audit nurses. We found that an automated process has the potential to reduce the impact of …

Patient Trust And Resistance Towards Patient Portals, Ashley Spivak, Michael Dohan, Shikui Wu, Wenyao Zhao

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Health information technologies (HITs) as facilitators of chronic disease self-management remains an ongoing topic for information system researchers. This research addresses a gap in knowledge surrounding patient trust and resistance towards using these technologies, specifically patient portals. The method used to accomplish this study is through the dispersion of a quantitative survey to participants in Ontario, Canada. This survey focused on questions related to the four variables that have been identified through the literature to be important in determining patient resistance of HITs. The results indicate the importance of patient trust in mitigating their resistance to using these technologies.

“Real World” Research Using Practice Based Research Networks (Pbrn): A Systematic Review, Elmon Oliver Iii, Robert Brown

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Objective: While the randomized control clinical trial (RCT) has long been viewed as the “gold standard” for evidence based medicine, researchers and clinicians have also recognized limitations of RCTs when applied to clinical practice. These limitations arise from the fact that the results of interventions and procedures of RCTs conducted in controlled institutional settings often differ significantly from results obtained when the same interventions are applied in clinical practice. Consequently, there are increasing calls for more research to be carried out in the “real world” setting of clinical practices treating heterogeneous groups of patients. Studies conducted in clinical practices are …

Modeling Big Medical Survival Data Using Decision Tree Analysis With Apache Spark, Abdalrahman Alsaedi, Alvis Fong, Ikhlas Abdelqader, Mohammed Niaz Delano, Khulud Altaie

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

In many medical studies, an outcome of interest is not only whether an event occurred, but when an event occurred; and an example of this is Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Identifying patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) who are likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is highly important for AD treatment. Previous studies suggest that not all MCI patients will convert to AD. Massive amounts of data from longitudinal and extensive studies on thousands of Alzheimer’s patients have been generated. Building a computational model that can predict conversion form MCI to AD can be highly beneficial for early intervention and treatment …

The Effects Of Outdoor Air Pollutants On The Costs Of Stroke Hospitalizations In China, Siyu Zeng, Luo Li, Fang Chen

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Stroke, the most frequent cause of severe disability and the second cause of death among adults in the world, brings tremendous mental and economic burden to patients and their families. Emerging evidence indicates that the air pollution mixture contributes to strokes. Knowing the relationship between the air pollution and the hospital costs of stroke can help us predict the costs due to air pollution, provide grounds for the allocation of medical insurance funds, and provide better working arrangements for CDC. However, few studies have examined this connection. We used time series analysis with a generalized additive model to estimate the …

360 Degree Virtual Reality Increases Student’S Confidence In Clinical Skills In Simulation, Ronda Christman, Barbara James, Kerry Allen

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Aberrant Epigenomic Modulation Of Glucocorticoid Receptor Gene (Nr3c1) In Early Life Stress And Major Depressive Disorder Correlation: Systematic Review And Quantitative Evidence Synthesis, Laurens Holmes Jr., Emily Shutman, Chinacherem Chinaka, Kerti Deepika, Lavisha Palaez, Kirk W. Dabney

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Early life stress (ELS) induced by psychological trauma, child maltreatment, maternal separation, and domestic violence predisposes to psycho-behavioral pathologies during adulthood, namely major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety, and bipolar affective disorder. While environmental data are available in illustrating this association, data remain to be established on the epigenomic underpinning of the nexus between ELS and MDD predisposition. Specifically, despite the observed aberrant epigenomic modulation of the NR3C1, a glucocorticoid receptor gene, in early social adversity and social threats in animal and human models, reliable scientific data for intervention mapping in reducing social adversity and improving human health is required. We …

Losing Our Minds To Madness: Paradigm Changes In Western European Perceptions Of Mental Illness, James Michael Cecil

History

Academia and scholarship of the 20th-century bred a renewed interest in mental illness throughout history. Despite an increase in the literature within the discourse surrounding "madness," scholars have generally failed to understand how and why Western European societies have viewed mental illness in various ways throughout recorded history. This paper argues that there remains an inherent, human desire to reject anything different from humanity, particularly mental illness, which is nearly impossible to fully comprehend. This is especially true in the case of how societies have institutionalized, punished, and subjugated the "mad" individual.

Telehealth In Critical Care: Quality And Cost Outcomes, Stephanie Cole, Michael Robie, Bukola Abodunde, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

As the population of the United States has continued to age, there has been an increase in usage and Hospital Length of Stay (LOS) costs of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds. In the early 2000s, it was determined there would be a shortage of all ICU providers within the next decade due to the increased need for critical care for the aging generation. Around this time, the Leapfrog Group was formed to demand that hospitals improve quality and decrease cost. Utilization of telehealth in the ICU was a possible alternative, which had a positive impact on both clinical and financial …

It-Based Patient Interventions For Opioid Abuse: Evaluation Using Analytical Model, Neetu Singh, Upkar Varshney

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

The number of people in the US with opioid abuse exceeds 2 million and the total cost is approximately $100B per year. In this study, we focus on patient-level interventions and present three IT-based interventions: (a) mobile reminders, (b) electronic monitoring, and (c) composite intervention. We have developed an analytical model for evaluating interventions using Return-on-Investment (ROI). The interventions are cost-effective for higher values of intervention effectiveness, hospital, and emergency room cost. However, with QoL improvement, cost-effectiveness improves significantly. We also explored the use of financial incentives for increasing the adoption of interventions. These results will help patients, healthcare professionals, …

The Dynamics Of Real-Time Online Information And Disease Progression: Understanding Spatial Heterogeneity In The Relationship, Blake Tindol, Utkarsh Shrivastava, Kuanchin Chen

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

The re-emergence of infectious diseases such as measles and polio is creating logistics challenges for the state authorities to curb their spread and contain them. (CL, 2015) Real-time surveillance of infectious diseases is important to detect possible epidemics in advance to prevent shortages of medications (FDA, 2018). The outbreak of an infectious disease creates panic in the community and is accompanied by a sudden increase in the online interest in knowing more about the disease and its symptoms. Prior studies have found a strong relationship between web-based information and disease outbreak but the influence of dynamics of web-based information in …

Dysfunctional Oral Health, Meghan Glidden, Brynn Mckay, Taylor Paulison, Olivia O'Keefe

Dental Hygiene Student Research Posters

An estimated thirty million men in the United States suffer from erectile dysfunction (ED). Recent research suggests a link between periodontal disease (PD) and other systemic conditions. The purpose of this research is to answer the following research question: Is there a relationship between PD and ED in men? A 2019 study found that patients with PD were 95% more likely to be diagnosed with ED. Studies indicate that both diseases share common risk factors, and a positive correlation between radiographic alveolar bone loss and severity of ED. Additional studies showed improved IIEF (International Index of Erectile Function) scores of …

Impact Of Ehr Usability On Provider Efficiency And Patient Safety In Non-Hospital Settings, Guenter Tusch, Raymond J. Higbea, Marie Vanderkooi, Larry Warkoczeski, Wanda Sankey, Jamie Cole

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

Healthcare organizations may reap benefits transitioning to electronic health records (EHRs), such as decreased healthcare costs and better care. However, severe unintended consequences from implementation and design of these systems have emerged. Poorly implemented EHR systems may endanger the integrity of clinical or administrative data. That, in turn, can lead to errors jeopardizing patient safety or quality of care. A literature review of 40 sources identified how EHR implementation and design can impact provider centric, patient centric, and outcomes. These categories provided the basis for a comprehensive EHR impact model that was evaluated in non-hospital settings through focus groups interviews.

Himmelfarb Headlines - November/December 2019, The George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Headlines (2009 - present)

News and information about Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library of interest to users.

Diabetes, Kailey A. Light '21, Tori Shepherd '21, Jemea Hilmara '20

Human Diseases Graphic Novels

No abstract provided.

A Participatory Filmmaking Process With Children With Disabilities In Rural India: Working Towards Inclusive Research, Colleen E. Mcgrath

Occupational Therapy Publications

Children with disabilities often experience exclusion within their communities, and this exclusion can extend into research processes. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, however, emphasizes that children of all abilities need to be involved as decision makers in matters affecting them. This article provides an in-depth description of the process of a participatory action research project carried out with children with disabilities from a rural village in India. It argues for the utility of participatory filmmaking as a research methodology that supports inclusion of children with disabilities as co-researchers in research and action processes. The …