Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

"Are We Done?": The Minimization Of Covid-19 And The Individualization Of Health In The United States, Cassidy R. Boe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the death toll from Covid-19 in the United States exceeds 1 million in just over two years, more variants continue to emerge, threatening more waves of Covid-19 and ultimately, more deaths. Despite this, mask use continues to decline, and one third of Americans say that the pandemic is over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been central in publicly disseminating biomedical knowledge using Twitter. The CDC’s Twitter account (@CDCgov) shares information related to the spread of Covid-19, including mitigation measures such as mask recommendations and vaccine information. I have conducted a narrative analysis of the replies …

“Practice Basic Hygiene, And You’Ll Stay Healthy”: How Primary School Reading Textbooks Transmitted Cultural Education In The Soviet Union, Victoria Storozenko

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Russia’s Cultural Revolution, beginning after the October Revolution in 1917, produced a broadly defined understanding of culture and cultural education at Russian schools that encompassed even basic hygiene and health. Drawing from postdoctoral research, this paper discusses the Cultural Revolution’s impact and its ideas on cultural education as presented in textbooks for 10-year general education schools in the Soviet Union. Discourse analysis revealed that the schoolbooks acted as an interface between a functional education system and changes in its surrounding environment, especially changes due to the Cultural Revolution. Amid today’s COVID-19 pandemic, the study’s findings raise several questions about what …

Eating And Body Image Disorders In The Time Of Covid19: An Anthropological Inquiry Into The Pandemic’S Effects On The Bodies, Theresa A. Stoddard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lifestyle changes are impacting the experiences of self-identifying women and females with body image disorders (BIDs) and/or eating disorders (EDs), focusing on the mental, physical, and emotional health of participants. Using surveys, person-centered semi-structured interviews, and autoethnography, I collected qualitative and quantitative data regarding the challenges, triumphs, hopes, and fears of participants regarding their EDs/BIDs during the pandemic and situated their experiences within their sociocultural context. Drawing on anthropological and psychological theory, I examine the data through the lenses of Scheper-Hughes’s and Lock’s “The Three Bodies” (the body politic, body …

Effects Of The 340b Drug Pricing Program On Hospitals’ Prescribing Behavior, Patient Mix, And Quality Of Care, Yilu Dong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1992, Congress created the 340B Drug Pricing Program that requires drug manufacturers to provide outpatient drugs to participating hospitals with substantial discounts. Although the intent of the program is to allow covered entities to increase access to care for more vulnerable patients, hospitals are not required by law to pass on the discounts. Therefore, a concern is that hospitals might over-prescribe. This dissertation includes three chapters to study the effects of the 340B program on hospitals’ behavior changes:

Chapter 1 uses state aggregate hospital service spending data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to study the …

Essays On Health, Healthcare, Job Insecurity And Health Outcomes, Ichiro Nakamoto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This doctoral dissertation proposal is comprised of three separate chapters, all of which uses the nationally representative uniform survey Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) to examine the relationship between health, insurance, health care and health outcomes. Below, the brief introduction for each section is provided:

 Chapter I: Medicare Part D and Patients' Well-being

 Chapter II: Parent's Health Insurance and Informal Care

 Chapter III: Job Insecurity and Health (with Dr. Ayyagari)

In chapter I, I explore how Medicare Part D (MD) affects the well-being of the severely sick patients both in the short- and in the long- term. …

Patient Experiences And Satisfaction With Homeopathic Treatment In Pune, India, Asmita R. Mhaskar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Global populations are increasingly pursuing Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) as safe, holistic options to attain health and wellness. Homeopathy is one such system of medicine whose demand is growing across the world, with maximum users in India. Yet, patient satisfaction and experiences with Homeopathy have not been addressed comprehensively in India.

Methods: A two-phase, mixed-methods study was designed to assess patient satisfaction and patient experiences with Homeopathic medicines and clinics in Pune, India. Phase I included the design and validation of a survey on Homeopathy specific experiences in English and Marathi for collecting data. Phase II employed a …

Identifying Nodes Of Transmission In Disease Diffusion Through Social Media, David Sebastian Lamb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The spread of infectious diseases can be described in terms of three interrelated components: interaction, movement, and scale. Transmission between individuals requires some form of interaction, which is dependent on the pathogen, to occur. Diseases spread through the movement of their hosts; they spread across many spatial scales from local neighborhoods to countries, or temporal scales from days to years, or periodic intervals. Prior research into the spread of disease have examined diffusion processes retrospectively at regional or country levels, or developed differential equation or simulation models of the dynamics of disease transmission. While some of the more recent models …

(Not) Everything Is Good And Easy: Language-Related Healthcare Experiences Of Two Groups Of Low-Income Latina Mothers, Aria Anna Walsh-Felz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional, comparative, qualitative study explored language-related issues experienced by low-income Spanish-speaking mothers navigating pediatric care for their children in Hillsborough County, Florida. Hospitals, pediatric clinics, specialists, and dental care have differing degrees of linguistic accessibility and accommodations for limited English proficient families. Two groups of mothers were interviewed: bilingual (n=9) and Spanish-speaking limited-English proficient (SSLEP) mothers (n=21). These groups perceived the effect of language on navigating pediatric healthcare differently, creating tension in perceptions and experience between them. Such tensions included SSLEP mothers expressing satisfaction with pediatric care simultaneously with shortcomings in communication. SSLEP mothers said that everything was easy, …

Environmental And Community Health In South San Diego County: A Behavior Analysis Of Recreational Ocean Users Along Imperial Beach, California, Trista Brophy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Garbage & sewage runoff into the Pacific Ocean at the shoreline along the U.S./Mexico Border region poses serious health and environmental threats. The purpose of this study was to analyze the current beach users’ behavioral factors that may be linked to illness prevalence from Coronado Island to the U.S./Mexico border at Imperial Beach in San Diego County. It is a continuation of a study completed by Wildcoast and Imperial Beach Clinic in 2011. The study tried to answer the following two major questions: How have the number of illnesses reported by users along South San Diego County beaches changed in …

Concerns Of Water Scarcity And Water Quality Among Two Andean Communities In Peru, Kelsey Anne Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis sought to explore the perceptions and experiences of Andean women regarding water quality, water scarcity, and health among two communities in Carhuaz province of Ancash, Peru. Household surveys (n=25), semi-structured interviews (n=10), unstructured interviews (n=2), and participant observation were conducted with local women to investigate their concerns and perceptions of water and health. An additional two unstructured interviews were conducted with a local water authority and doctor in order gain another perspective on the issues of water security and health.

The pressure of a changing climate and of a problematic water governance system in Andean Peru create an …

The Effects Of Parent-Adolescent Communication And Parenting Style On The Physical Activity And Dietary Behaviors Of Latino Adolescents, Dianna Mary Boone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The obesity epidemic among children and adolescents has been growing rapidly over the past 10 years, particularly in Latino children. Multiple researchers have found support for positive associations between parent-child communication and healthy nutrition and exercise behaviors. The present study examined the relations between parent-adolescent communication and parenting style and the dietary and exercise behaviors of Latino adolescents. The study included 79 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 years and their parents (100% are Latino). Correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine which parenting style and communication variables are significantly associated with adolescents’ dietary and physical …

Slope Settlement And Post-Disaster Health Needs Of Urban Displacement In La Paz, Bolivia, James Steven Arango

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2011, a landslide displaced approximately six thousand people from the urbanized mountain slopes of La Paz, Bolivia. The municipal government of La Paz (GAMLP) managed the displacement by housing thousands of people in displacement camps throughout the city. By 2013, residents were attempting to return to still damaged lands. This research used participant observation and interviews with residents over eight weeks in 2013 to address the following questions: 1) What social, cultural, economic or historic factors influence the settling and then resettling of at-risk slope neighborhoods in La Paz, Bolivia? 2) What are the most pressing health needs of …

Drinking Water In The Developing World: Sources Of Fecal Contamination In Pitcher Pump Systems And Measurement Alternatives, Meghan Wahlstrom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It has been reported that globally we have achieved Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Target 7C, to halve the proportion of the population without access to safe drinking water; however, there is a major flaw with this statement. While Target 7C calls for access to `safe' drinking water, what is actually being measured and reported is access to an `improved' water source. The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that they must use this proxy measure because the methods for water quality testing are too expensive and logistically complicated, but by doing so, they may be over reporting safe water coverage.

This …

Federal Disaster Declarations And Denials: Analyzing Spatial Equity In The Implementation Of The Stafford Act, Richard Salkowe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Federal disaster declarations are authorized by the president under the provisions of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988. Prior studies have found varying levels of political influence associated with the declaration process. Factors including electoral votes, reelection years, congressional committee appointments, geographic location, and party favoritism have been implicated in claims of inequity associated with the distribution of federal disaster assistance. Compounding these concerns is evidence of recurring problems associated with disparities in the long-term recovery from disasters based on social and economic factors. This dissertation is a response to the call for further …

The Determinants Of Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence And The Relationship Of Healthcare Expenditures To Adherence Among Florida Medicaid-Insured Patients Diagnosed With Hiv Or Aids, Zachary Pruitt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research supports the clinical and societal benefits of antiretroviral treatment (ART) for people living with HIV or AIDS (PLWHA). However, factors associated with ART adherence and the relationship of ART adherence to total healthcare expenditures are not well understood.

The research data included Florida Medicaid claims for five years (July 2006 through June 2011). All subjects (n=514) were HIV-positive, adult, non-pregnant, and ART naïve for at least 12 months prior to their 24 month measurement period. Each subject was categorized as adherent (>90%#37;) or non-adherent (<90%#37;) based upon medication possession ratios (MPR). Total expenditures were payments Medicaid made to providers and pharmacies.

Objective 1 modeled the logit probability of a subject being non-adherent to ART …

The Dynamics Of Alcohol Consumption In The Russian Federation: Implications Of Using Price Related Policies To Control Alcohol Use, Arseniy Pavlovich Yashkin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation models the dynamics of alcohol use in the Russian Federation with an emphasis on identifying policy implications most likely to be effective at controlling alcohol use. Utilizing data from The Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, models of alcohol consumption are estimated using both myopic and rational specifications via ordinary least squares, fixed effects two stage least squares and, the focus of this study, two-step system generalized method of moments. Alcohol consumption is studied both as a composite good and as a distinct beverage category (wine, beer, and hard liquor). Furthermore, equations stratified by gender and rural status are included …

Day-To-Day Variability In Nap Duration Predicts Medical Morbidity In Older Adults, Natalie D. Dautovich, Daniel B. Kay, Michael L. Perlis, Joseph M. Dzierzewski, Meredeth Rowe, Christina S. Mccrae

Nursing Faculty Publications

Objective: The objectives for the present study were to (a) examine within-person variability of nap duration and (b) assess how variability in nap duration is related to the number of health conditions in a sample of older adults. For highly variable behaviors such as sleep, it is important to consider fluctuations within the person instead of solely comparing averages of behaviors across persons. Method: Data were drawn from a previous study examining sleep in 103 community-dwelling older adults. Subjective estimates of napping behavior were obtained from sleep diaries and objective estimates of napping behavior were obtained using actigraphy. Both measures …

Using A Goal-Setting And Feedback Procedure To Increase Running Distance, Stephanie Wack

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Goal-setting procedures have been employed in many different sports, and have been shown to be a beneficial component for enhancing sports performance. For this study, a changing-criterion within multiple-baseline design was used to evaluate a multi-component intervention for increasing running distance for five healthy adults. The intervention consisted of goal setting with performance feedback. Participants set a short-term goal each week and a long-term goal to achieve upon completion of the study. The study incorporated the use of the Nike^TM + SportKit for automated recording of the distance of each run. Results of the current study demonstrated for all …

Understanding The Psychosocial Aspects Of Waterpipe Smoking Among College Students, Mary Pautler Martinasek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Waterpipe tobacco smoking has migrated from being a custom of some cultures to becoming a staple around college campuses. The social nature and flavored tobacco encourage initiation in this tobacco naïve age group.

The study was a sequential mixed method design, employing primary data collection and analysis of a random sample of university students who live on campus at a single university. The study involved observations (N=6), intercept interviews with smokers and nonsmokers (N=63), three focus groups (N=31), and an online survey (N=288).

Findings were centered on the constructs of the Theory of Reasoned Action by Ajzen and Fishbein (1975), …