Public Health Commons^™

Perceptions Of The Built Environment Among Older Adults Who Live In Age-Restricted Communities Compared To Those Who Do Not In Southern Nevada, Sandra Annan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As Americans are living longer, there has been exponential growth in the number of older adults. Growth in the aging population has created unique challenges. As seniors age, they face many changes in their health, financial stability, and lifestyle, making it challenging to remain independent. The inability to remain independent can be a stressful and depressing experience for older adults. Studies show that most seniors prefer to stay in their current living environment as they age, or age in place, rather than move into senior housing or other available housing options designed for aging. This study investigates how perceptions about …

A Lung Cancer Screening Personalized Decision-Aid Improves Knowledge And Reduces Decisional Conflict Among A Diverse Population Of Smokers At An Urban Academic Medical Center, Madeline Kaufman, Nilan Schnure, Andrea Nicholson, Frank Leone, Carmen Guerra

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Introduction: Few lung cancer screening decision aids have been tested in diverse populations. The study objective was to determine whether the online decision aid www.shouldiscreen.com impacts knowledge of and decisional conflict around lung cancer screening in a diverse population.

Methods: Eligible patients had significant smoking histories, were at increased risk for lung cancer (ages 45-80, >20 pack-years, smoking within last 15 years) and had no history of prior lung cancer or screening. Data was collected and analyzed in 2017.

Results: 40 patients were enrolled: 80% were female, 62.5% black, 33% white, and 48% had a high school …

Sexually Transmitted Infections And The 65 And Older Population: Knowledge And Perceived Risk, Alexus Miranda

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Sexually transmitted infections (STI) can impact all persons. Since 2000, the number of STIs has steadily increased among persons aged 50 years and older in the United States (Purpora, 2012). Persons over the age of 60 accounted for the biggest increase of in-office treatments of STIs between 2014 and 2017 (Howley, 2018). The purpose of this study was to use the Sexual Health Model to examine the relationship between various predictors and these persons’ perceived risk of STIs, their STI knowledge, and other barriers that impact the sexual health of persons 65 years of age and older. This study used …

Individual Differences In Infants' Temperament Affect Face Processing, Jennifer L. Rennels, Andrea J. Kayl, Kirsty M. Kulhanek

Psychology Faculty Research

Infants show an advantage in processing female and familiar race faces, but the effect sizes are often small, suggesting individual differences in their discrimination abilities. This research assessed whether differences in 6–10-month-olds’ temperament (surgency and orienting) predicted how they scanned individual faces varying in race and gender during familiarization and whether and how long it took them to locate the face during a visual search task. This study also examined whether infants viewing faces posing pleasant relative to neutral expressions would facilitate their discrimination of male and unfamiliar race faces. Results showed that infants’ surgency on its own or in …

Opioid Use Disorders And Hospital Palliative Care Among Patients With Gastrointestinal Cancers: Ten-Year Trend And Associated Factors In The U.S. From 2005 To 2014, Jinwook Hwang, Jay J. Shen, Sun Jung Kim, Sung-Youn Chun, Pearl C. Kim, Se Won Lee, David Byun, Ji Won Yoo

Public Health Faculty Publications

This study aimed to analyze the trends of opioid use disorders, cannabis use disorders, and palliative care among hospitalized patients with gastrointestinal cancer and to identify their associated factors. We analyzed the National Inpatient Sample data from 2005 to 2014 and included hospitalized patients with gastrointestinal cancers. The trends of hospital palliative care and opioid or cannabis use disorders were analyzed using the compound annual growth rates (CAGR) with Rao-Scott correction for χ2 tests. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the associated factors. From 2005 to 2014, among 4,364,416 hospitalizations of patients with gastrointestinal cancer, the average annual …

Oral Localization Of Scardovia Wiggsiae, Graydon Ramos Carr

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Early childhood caries is one of the most prevalent diseases in the United States among children. The formation of caries is a complex, multifactorial process that is still being studied. Researchers have thought for years that Streptococcus mutans was the primary causative agent of early childhood caries. The recent discovery of a novel cariogenic pathogen, Scardovia wiggsiae and its significant contribution to the etiology of early childhood caries has led oral health researchers to re-evaluate this microorganism and its link to this disease. While there have been several projects undertaken within the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental …

Emergency Department Testing And Disposition Of Deaf American Sign Language Users And Spanish-Speaking Patients, Jason Rotoli, Timmy Li, Suejong Kim, Tina Wu, Jennifer Hu, Julie Endrizzi, Nathan Garton, Courtney Jones

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Objectives: Non-English speaking patients frequently present to the emergency department (ED) for acute care and may present a challenge to efficient clinical ED management and disposition. This study aimed to assess differences in the disposition and clinical management of Spanish-speaking patients and Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users, who worked with a certified, in-person interpreter, compared with English proficient patients who did not utilize interpreter services.

Methods: A retrospective study querying electronic medical records was performed at an academic medical center ED. Patients with a chief complaint of abdominal pain were chosen for this study, as this is a common …

Evaluating The Performance Of The Who International Reference Standard For Osteoporosis Diagnosis In Postmenopausal Women Of Varied Polygenic Score And Race, Qing Wu, Xiangxue Xiao, Yingke Xu

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: Whether the bone mineral density (BMD) T-score performs differently in osteoporosis classification in women of different genetic profiling and race background remains unclear. Methods: The genomic data in the Women’s Health Initiative study was analyzed (n = 2417). The polygenic score (PGS) was calculated from 63 BMD-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for each participant. The World Health Organization′s (WHO) definition of osteoporosis (BMD T-score ≤ −2.5) was used to estimate the cumulative incidence of fracture. Results: T-score classification significantly underestimated the risk of major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) in the WHI study. An enormous underestimation was observed in African American …