Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Improved Water And Sanitation Access On Under Five Child Diarrhea In Peru, April Ballard

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Significance: Diseases related to poor or lack of access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene negatively impact health, education, and development worldwide and cause millions of deaths in children each year. Health outcomes associated with lack of access to clean water and sanitation are under-evaluated.

Aim: To assess the effect of improved water and sanitation infrastructure development on child morbidity in Peru by investigating diarrhea in children under five years of age.

Methods: The child, family, and household data from the Peruvian Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) were used to evaluate the association between access to water …

Association Between Cerebrovascular Pathology And Anti-Hypertensive Treatment In Diabetics, Gary Owen

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background

Dementia is a growing public health concern as the population ages. Vascular dementia is the second most common type of dementia behind Alzheimer’s, and is caused by cerebrovascular damage, such as infarcts and hemorrhages. As in systemic cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension are leading risk factors for cerebrovascular pathology. Anti-hypertensive treatment (AHT), therefore, may have a role in preventing cerebrovascular damage.

Methods

A case-control study design was utilized to evaluate any association between AHT during life and cerebrovascular pathology in autopsy in diabetic participants from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Centers (NACC). Pathology outcomes included infarcts of various sizes and …

Compliance And Treatment Failure Of Hepatitis C With Direct-Acting Antivirals: A 2-Year Retrospective, Observational Study In Kentucky Medicaid Patients, Juequan Nie

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background: New generation Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection have been on the market for more than 3 years since late 2013. Whether these medications cure patients at the rates claimed in clinical trials is not clear. Furthermore, as compliance is known to affect treatment outcomes, DAAs compliance rate is worth studying.

Methods: We analyzed the association of social-demographic, DAA use, enrollment with Kentucky Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and comorbidities, and DAA compliance in 1128 Kentucky Medicaid members treated with DAAs between August 07, 2014 and August 06, 2016.

Results: Age, MCOs, liver fibrosis …

Do Numbers Matter? Comparing Single Homicide Followed By Suicide And Multiple Homicide Followed By Suicide Using The National Violent Death Reporting System, 2003-2012, Courtney Blondino

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Introduction

Homicide-followed-by-suicide or homicide-suicides were examined to understand the dynamics of acting outwardly and inwardly violent in a single incident. The purpose of this study was to identify if specific circumstances had an association with the number of victims per homicidesuicide incident. This study addresses an important public health issue by encouraging an accurate viewpoint of homicide-suicide in order to properly program prevention efforts.

Methods

Using the restricted access data (RAD) from 17 National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) states, we characterized 1904 homicide-suicide incidents through qualitative and quantitative analysis based on victim and suspect demographic information, method of injury, …

Smart Moves Bright Bodies: A Rural Adaptation To Combat Obesity Among African-American Teenagers In Wilcox And Lowndes Counties, Alabama, Nicole D. Fields

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Obesity is a significant problem in the United States; however, it is a burgeoning epidemic among youth in the United States. As of 2016, Alabama is the second-most obese state in the nation¹ and 16% of Alabama adolescents are obese². While obesity is a significant problem across all ethnic groups, minorities bear a disproportionate burden in Alabama: one in five African-American adolescents is obese². This disproportionate burden is demonstrated in two Alabama counties: Wilcox and Lowndes. Both counties are predominately African-American and rank in the bottom ten counties, statewide, for overall health outcomes^9,14. …

Revamp It: Utilization Of Socioecological Approach To Combat Adolescent Obesity In Knott County, Kentucky, Jonathan Wang

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The Kentucky River District Health Department proposes the implementation of REVAMP IT in four selected elementary schools in Knott County, Kentucky to improve subjective attitudes towards various aspects of health knowledge, physical activity, social support, and screen-time, as well as reduce biometrically measured television time and increased step count. REVAMP IT is an evidence-based program that utilizes the socioecological model of Public Health to target aspects of the individual, relational, and community level to facilitate changes from multiple aspects. Screen-time and physical activity goals will be individually set by students, and Knott County Elementary School teachers will be responsible for …

Construction Fatalities In Kentucky, Tennessee And West Virgina Between 2005 And 2014, Jacob Petrey

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background: The construction industry involves many hazards and accounts for the greatest number of work related fatalities in the United States. The objective of this study was to characterize the demographics of people involved in construction fatalities and the causes of these fatalities in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia between 2005 and 2014.

Methods: The Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupation Injuries (CFOI) was the source of data about the number of fatalities, rates and characteristics about fatalities for each state. The U.S. Census Bureau was also used to find the average annual construction population for each state …

Factors Associated With Large Vehicle Collision Fatalities From 2009-2015, An Assessment Of Factors Relevant To The 2014 Implementation Of The National Registry Of Certified Medical Examiners And Strategies For Driver Safety, Melinda L. Carol

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

OBJECTIVE: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) developed a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME) as a stride toward greater driver safety and public health. This retrospective, observational, cross-section study is intended to trend and analyze driver related factors that are pertinent to FMCSA certifying medical examination performed by NRCME providers in addition to driver behaviors and environmental factors from the years 2009 to 2015. The results of this study are intended to speculate the effectiveness of the NRCME and propose additional public health interventions aimed to reduce large vehicle fatalities.

METHODS: Data was extracted from …

Vaccine-Preventable Disease Surveillance In Kentucky, Katherine Jay

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background: Vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) surveillance is important component to the success of vaccines. This report examines the levels of 13 of these VPDs in the state of Kentucky from 2005 to 2015.

Methods: All reported cases in the state of Kentucky for the years 2005 to 2015 of 13 vaccine-preventable diseases were obtained from the Disease Surveillance Module (DSM) and the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS). Where enough cases were reported, descriptive statistics were prepared. For acute hepatitis B and pertussis, more thorough analysis was performed.

Results: Rates of acute hepatitis B in Kentucky from 2005 …

Dusty Occupations And Pulmonary Obstruction In Kentucky: A Proportionate Mortality Analysis, Neil Bradford Horsley

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Occupational exposure to vapors, gases, dusts, or fumes (VGDFs), in combination with smoking, significantly increases the risk of developing COPD. Amongst agricultural workers, exposure to pesticides has been found to cause significantly elevated rates of annual decline in lung function, ultimately leading to a clinical diagnosis of pulmonary obstruction if the period of exposure is sufficient.

Purpose

It is hypothesized that, when compared to the standard population, workers in “dusty” occupations (where VGDF workplace exposure is significant) die at significantly elevated rates from …

An Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of Unannounced Safety Inspections Versus Announced Inspections In Academic Research Laboratories That Utilize Biological Hazards, Holley M. Trucks

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Inspections are integral to comprehensive biosafety programs at academic research institutions that use a wide variety of infectious agents. However, there is no standardization of biosafety inspection procedures from institution to institution. This study analyzed results of 2,098 documented inspections conducted from January 2012 through December of 2016 performed by biosafety staff at a large Research I land grant institution in order to evaluate the effectiveness of an unannounced versus the more traditional announced approach to inspection procedure. Results demonstrated that: a) more findings were noted during unannounced inspections, therefore more accurately informing biosafety staff of the true day to …

Use Of Clonidine In Sedation Dentistry, Asma Kumar

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background:

Clonidine is an alpha-2 adrenergic agonist which has been used to treat hypertension for over 40 years. In October 2008, clonidine was approved by the FDA for use as a premedication agent prior to sedation. The overall goal of this study is to determine if clonidine can be used as a pre- operative sedative agent in moderate sedation dentistry and if so, what should be considered a safe level.

The following specific aims were established for this study:

1. To determine whether patients receiving clonidine required less intravenous medications.
2. To determine if clonidine can lower blood pressure and pulse to …

On The Depressive Nature Of The “Burnout Syndrome”: A Clarification, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Pierre Vandel, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Key theoretical arguments and empirical findings converge to suggest that the burnout construct captures a depressive phenomenon. The reluctance to consider burnout a depressive condition may be due to (a) a neglect of the stress–depression relationship and (b) a difficulty coordinating dimensional and categorical approaches to psychopathology in burnout research. The dimensions and categories constitute two ways of describing (psychopathological) phenomena. Thus, dimensions and categories should be heuristically combined rather than opposed: burnout and depression can be studied both as ‘‘processes’’ or ‘‘end-states’’. Clarifying what burnout actually is matters in terms of conceptual parsimony, theoretical integration, nosological consistency, interventional effectiveness, …

Burnout Symptoms: Depressive Manifestations Under Psychosocial Labels?, Bianchi Renzo, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

It can be concluded that burnout symptoms represent depressive symptoms under nonmedical labels. Our analysis supports the view that burnout is synonymous with depression and constitutes a roadblock to transdisciplinary communication.

Beliefs, Costs, And Policies Influencing African American Men's Decisions On Psa Screening, Mary Frances Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the growing concerns about routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in men, little is known about the societal and economic impact of screening among the African American population. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore beliefs among African American men about PSA screening, funding for screening, and the role of the United States Preventive Service Task Force in addressing the problem. Guided by rational choice theory, data collection consisted of completion of a health beliefs survey, face-to-face interviews, field notes taken during interview, and interview audio recording. The population for the study included African American men residing …

Indoor Air Quality, Clint Pinion Jr.

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

An indoor air quality study was conducted on a ‘net-zero energy’ school using a TSI Velocicalc Model 9555-p with probe model 982, passive radon monitors, visual inspection protocol, and an indoor environmental quality survey of school faculty and staff. Average indoor temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide levels in several areas within the school were not within IAQ guidelines. Three rooms on the school’s grounds had radon levels exceeding the action level. Recommended solutions included installing return and supply air ducts in hallways and relative humidity and temperature monitors in classrooms with high-pitched ceilings.

Can Right To Health Help Policy Makers To Address Maternal Mortality?: A Short Communication, Sumera Aziz Ali, Nadir Suhail, Savera Aziz Ali

Community Health Sciences

No abstract provided.

A Green Oasis: What Makes Community Gardens Worth Saving? While Researchers Amass Evidence Of Benefits, Advocates Develop New Strategy To Prove Their Value., Joel Wolfram

Capstones

Green Valley Community Garden in Brownsville, Brooklyn, is one of about a dozen gardens on land owned by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development that are being uprooted by plans to build affordable housing. The gardeners are fighting back to prevent the garden’s destruction, saying that the food-producing green space is a source of healthy eating in a community with high rates of health problems, like diabetes and obesity. Researchers are attempting to tease out the public health benefits of community gardens as one metric of their value, but the science is still catching up with …

Privacy Protection And Aggregate Health Data: A Review Of Tabular Cell Suppression Methods (Not) Employed In Public Health Data Systems, Gregory J. Matthews, Ofer Harel, Robert H. Aseltine Jr.

Mathematics and Statistics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Public health research often relies on individuals’ confidential medical data. Therefore, data collecting entities, such as states, seek to disseminate this medical data as widely as possible while still maintaining the privacy of the individual for legal and ethical reasons. One common way in which this medical data is released is through the use of Web-based Data Query Systems (WDQS). In this article, we examined WDQS listed in the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS) specifically reviewing them for how they prevent statistical disclosure in queries that produce a tabular response. One of the most common …

Examining Contraceptive Knowledge, Attitude, Intentions And Willingness To Use Contraceptive Among Adolescents Girls In Ghana, West Africa: Applying The Theory Of Reasoned Action And Theory Of Planned Behavior, Rosina Amenebede

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to examine contraceptive knowledge, attitude, intentions and willingness to use contraceptives among adolescents’ girls in Ghana, West Africa, by applying the Theory of Planned Behavior. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Results: 85.3% of the respondent had knowledge of condoms. 88.34% of the adolescent girls intended to use contraceptives during sex and 25.5% of the variance observed in intentions to use contraceptives is explained by subjective norms and attitudes toward behavior. Discussion and Conclusions: 79.05% of the entire sample of adolescents’ girl’s did not have any knowledge of any other contraceptive method aside from …

Predictive Mapping Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis At The County Level In The State Of Florida, Ali Moradi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: One of the major barriers to developing an accurate tuberculosis (TB) surveillance program for Florida is the design and implementation of a sampling system that will adequately monitor and predict varying sizes and characteristics of county-level vulnerable endemic sub-populations and their explanatory covariates (e.g., living or working in a residential care facility). The aim of this research study is to envision an endemic, tuberculosis-related web-based interface for use by public health officials in the State of Florida which includes generating essential information such as a real-time syndrome-based reporting to regulate automated and immediate 'Alerts' to public health officials, doctors, …

Assessing Skills And Capacity For Informatics: Activities Most Commonly Performed By Or For Local Health Departments, Kate Drezner, Lisa Mckeown, Gulzar H. Shah

Health Policy & Management: Faculty Publications (2006-2018)

Objective: To describe the informatics activities performed by and for local health departments.

Design: Analysis of data from the 2015 Informatics Capacity and Needs Assessment Survey of local health departments conducted by the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University in collaboration with the National Association of County & City Health Officials.

Participants: 324 local health departments.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Informatics activities performed at or for local health departments in use and analysis of data, system design, and routine use of information systems.

Results: A majority of local health departments extract data from information systems (69.5%) and …

Aligning Delivery & Financing Systems To Build A Culture Of Health, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Systems for Action research program uses strong social science methods to discover ways of aligning medical, public health, and social service systems in ways that improve health and wellbeing. This session profiles several of the studies now underway through this new program.

Multi-Sector Contributions To Public Health Delivery Systems: Economic, Institutional & Policy Determinants, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

The United States faces growing public and policy demands to improve health status on a population-wide basis. This session reviews new research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Systems for Action research program about the implementation of population health activities in communities across the U.S. Using 16 years of data on a national cohort of metropolitan communities, we show that substantial growth has occurred in the array of organizations and sectors that contribute to population health activities, especially in the years following Affordable Care Act implementation. We also show that this growth has not occurred evenly across the U.S., with …

Continuous Care In Complex Contexts: Access To Health Services For Noncommunicable Diseases Among Syrian Refugee Women In Jordanian Host Communities, Jennifer Ostrowski

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines how, when and where Syrian refugee women living in a host community in central Jordan access health services related to noncommunicable diseases. Noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, but can be effectively managed through timely treatment. Examining access to care for these diseases in the context of humanitarian emergencies, such as war and displacement, is particularly important because they require continuous care, which may be interrupted during emergencies, and because they can cause acute complications, which may be exacerbated by emergencies (WHO, 2016).

Previous studies indicate a high burden of NCDs among …

Engaging Homeless Service Providers In Educational Efforts During A Tuberculosis Outbreak In Atlanta, Preetha Nandi, Mary Claire Worrell, Tom Andrews, Rose-Marie Sales, Jeff Mcmichael, Kristen H. Hamptom, Neela D. Goswami

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background: During an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) in the homeless population of metropolitan Atlanta, education of homeless service providers (HSPs) about the implementation of local infection control measures was imperative to limiting the spread of TB and to preventing future outbreaks.

Methods: By use of educational sessions and teaching posters, two interventions were designed to focus educational efforts from November 2014 to August 2015: 1) a spatially-targeted approach that identified HSPs within an area of Fulton County, GA (which includes downtown Atlanta) with high TB case density (cases per square mile) from 2009 – 2014, and 2) an organizational meeting …

Pubh 4132 - Health Promotion Program Planning I, Raymona H. Lawrence

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

Provides the student with the theory and practical applications of planning, developing, implementing and evaluating health promotion programs in a variety of settings. The focus will be on a global approach to planning with emphasis on the 5 settings for health promotion programming which include school, community, clinical, college, and worksite settings. Prerequisite: HLTH 2130 or permission from the instructor. Co-requisite: HLTH 4134 Research Methods and Evaluation

Pubh 4231 - Health Aspects Of Aging, Jamie S. Cromley

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course is intended to familiarize students with promotion of health in an aging population, the notion that aging is a natural part of the lifecycle, community, state and federal health programs and services for the aged. Students will become acquainted with the process of and problems associated with aging in order to effectively manage this important public health issue. Specific health concerns of the elderly including the increase in life expectancy, current life extending research and technology and successful aging will also be examined. Knowledge and understanding of biological, psychological, and sociological aspects of aging as related to health …

Pubh 4330 - Promotional Strategies For Health Programs, Jamie S. Cromley

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course explores the application of social marketing and communication theory to the development of strategies to enhance health education and promotion programs.

Bios 6531 - Categorical Data Analysis, Haresh Rochani

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course introduces statistical methods for analyzing both univariate and multivariate categorical data and count in medical research and other health-related fields. The course will introduce how to distinguish among the different measurement scales, the commonly used statistical probability distribution and inference methods for categorical and count data. Emphasis will be placed on the application of the methodology and computational aspects rather than theory. The students will learn how to apply SAS procedures to data and interpret the results.