Public Health Commons^™

Review Of The Social And Emotional Wellbeing Of Indigenous Australian Peoples, Darren Garvey

Research outputs pre 2011

The first case of diabetes among Indigenous people was recorded in Adelaide in 1923. Records prior to this time showed that Indigenous people were fit, lean, and did not suffer from any form of metabolic condition, which were largely believed to be a characteristic of European populations. The earliest detailed studies investigating the development of diabetes in Indigenous populations were not undertaken, however, until the early 1960s. These and subsequent studies found a significant correlation between the development of a ‘westernised’ lifestyle and the levels of type 2 diabetes in the Indigenous population.

Since that time, type 2 diabetes has …

State Policies Matter: The Case Of Outpatient Drug Treatment Program Practices, Jamie Chriqui, Yvonne Terry-Mcelrath, Duane C. Mcbride, D Eidson

Faculty Publications

This study examined relationships between state policy requirements governing outpatient substance abuse treatment services and reported outpatient treatment program practices. State policies effective as of February 1, 2003, and February 1, 2004, were collected and analyzed via primary legal research; data were validated by state officials (88% response rate; > 90% validation rate). Treatment practice data were obtained from the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services for the years 2003 and 2004. Multivariate analyses clustered by state were conducted, controlling for state, program, and state-aggregated client admission characteristics. Results indicated that treatment programs located in states with requirements for comprehensive …

Falls, Depression And Antidepressants In Later Life: A Large Primary Care Appraisal, Ngaire Kerse, Leon Flicker, Jon J. Pfaff, Brian Draper, Nicola T. Lautenschlager, Moira Sim, John Snowdon, Osvaldo P Almeida

Research outputs pre 2011

Background: Depression and falls are common and co-exist for older people. Safe management of each of these conditions is important to quality of life.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was used to examine medication use associated with injurious and non-injurious falls in 21,900 community-dwelling adults, aged 60 years or over from 383 Australian general practices recruited for the DEPS-GP Project. Falls and injury from falls, medication use, depressive symptoms (Primary Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)), clinical morbidity, suicidal ideation and intent, health status (SF-12 Health Survey), demographic and lifestyle information was reported in a standardised survey.

Findings: Respondents were 71.8 years (sd 7.7) …

Relationship Between Premenstrual Symptom Severity And Catastrophic Thinking, Candon Deanne Norton

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is proposed as a cluster of severe emotional, physical and behavioral symptoms that affect a small percentage or women during the late luteal phase of their menstrual cycle and cease shortly after the onset or menses. Although some researchers hypothesize there is a difference in the amount or pain actually experienced during the premenstrual phase, others argue that there muy be differences in how women interpret the 'normal' fluctuations and bodily changes of the premenstrual phase. Perhaps women who experience severe premenstrual symptoms anticipate their symptoms and become hypervigilant in monitoring normal bodily sensations, which results …

Inference On Overlapping Coefficients In Two Exponential Populations, Mohammad F. Al-Saleh, Hani M. Samawi

Biostatistics: Faculty Publications

Three measures of overlap, namely Matusita’s measureρ , Morisita’s measure λ and Weitzman’s measure Δ are investigated in this article for two exponential populations with different means. It is well that the estimators of those measures of overlap are biased. The bias is of these estimators depends on the unknown overlap parameters. There are no closed-form, exact formulas, for those estimators variances or their exact sampling distributions. Monte Carlo evaluations are used to study the bias and precision of the proposed overlap measures. Bootstrap method and Taylor series approximation are used to construct confidence intervals for the overlap measures.

Depression In The Elderly: Does Family System Play A Role? A Cross-Sectional Study, Ather M. Taqui, Ahmed Itrat, Waris Qidwai, Zeeshan Qadri

Department of Family Medicine

Background

The most common geriatric psychiatric disorder is depression. The role of family systems in depression among the elderly has not been studied extensively. It has been suggested that urbanization promotes nucleation of family systems and a decrease in care and support for the elderly. We conducted this study in Karachi, a large urban city of Pakistan, to determine the relationship between the type of family system and depression. We also determined the prevalence of depression in the elderly, as well as correlation of depression with other important socio-demographic variables.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out in the premises …

Diagnostic Classifications And Resource Utilization Of Decedents Served By The Department Of Veterans Affairs, Sonia A. Duffy, Laurel Copeland, Faith Hopp, Robert J. Zalenski

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: Given the volume and cost of inpatient care during the last year of life, there is a critical need to identify patterns of dying as a means of planning end-of-life care services, especially for the growing number of older persons who receive services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Methods: A retrospective computerized record review was conducted of 20,933 VHA patients who died as inpatients between October 1, 2001 and September 30, 2002. Diagnoses were aggregated into one of five classification patterns of death and analyzed in terms of health care resource utilization (mean number of inpatient days and …

A Model For Preventing Anorexia In College Students, Laura Ann Negin

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The prevalence of anorexia nervosa in the general population is relatively low, but anorexia is at the forefront of health concerns because of its seriousness. Unhealthy weight loss has numerous physical, psychological, and social consequences. Most seriously, the mortality rate for people with eating disorders is the highest of all the major psychiatric disorders.

This dissertation presents a model for preventing anorexia nervosa in a population of college students that includes a comprehensive institutional approach, psychoeducational software, a high-risk population, a holistic approach that identifies an individual’s personal risk factors and protective factors, and individual therapy.

The model is built …

The Health Implications Of Violence Against Women: Untangling The Complexities Of Actual And Chronic Effects: Part Two, Carol E. Jordan

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

No abstract provided.

Incidence, Patterns And Severity Of Reported Unintentional Injuries In Pakistan For Persons Five Years And Older: Results Of The National Health Survey Of Pakistan 1990–94, Zafar Fatmi, Wilbur C. Hadden, Junaid A. Razzak, Huma Qureshi, Adnan A. Hyder, Gregory Pappas

Community Health Sciences

Background

National level estimates of injuries are not readily available for developing countries. This study estimated the annual incidence, patterns and severity of unintentional injuries among persons over five years of age in Pakistan.

Methods

National Health Survey of Pakistan (NHSP 1990–94) is a nationally representative survey of the household. Through a two-stage stratified design, 18, 315 persons over 5 years of age were interviewed to estimate the overall annual incidence, patterns and severity of unintentional injuries for males and females in urban and rural areas over the preceding one year. Weighted estimates were computed adjusting for complex survey design …

Female Patients’ Perspectives On The Stages Of Eating Disorder Recovery, Cherish C. Knoll

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Eating disorders are severe psychiatric disorders that most commonly begin in the female population during adolescence and across ethnicity (Lucas, 2004). However, the face of eating disorders is changing as they become more apparent across cultures and lifespan, impacting both young and aging women as well as males. In the past few decades progress has been made in the diagnostic, treatment, and recovery phases of eating disorders. These gains have contributed to a better understanding of eating disorders, assisting in the decrease of mortality and morbidity rates seen in eating disorder patients. Nevertheless, there are significant challenges that still remain …

Eight Key Household Practices Of Integrated Management Of Childhood Illnesses (Imci) Amongst Mothers Of Children Aged 6 To 59 Months In Gambat, Sindh, Pakistan, Ajmal Agha, Muhammad Younus, Muhammed Masood Kadir, Sajid Ali, Zafar Fatmi

Community Health Sciences

Objective:

To determine Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) regarding eight key integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) suggested practices and the association of these key practices with stunting as outcome.

Methods:

Sampling proportionate to sub-population sizes was employed to ensure representation from all the Union Councils of taluka Gambat-Sindh.

Results:

Low female education and mobility show the status of child's first care provider in a typical rural community. Few women knew about giving more food to a child suffering from diarrhoea. Moreover, very few exclusively breastfed their children for first 4-6 months, got their children completely immunized, washed hands before …

Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms And Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (Cisd) In Emergency Medical Services (Ems) Personnel., Ginger Lee Woods

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

EMS personnel were examined for Post Traumatic Stress symptoms and the usefulness of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) using the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (LASC) and a demographics questionnaire. This study revealed that women in this group show higher PTSD symptoms than male coworkers. Level of Training (LOT) of the EMS provider did not demonstrate a significant difference in whether a provider developed PTSD. EMS personnel receiving debriefing actually suffered greater levels of PTSD than those that did not receive debriefing. And 16% of EMS providers in this study suffered from PTSD, while approximately 20% suffered from partial PTSD or …

Health Barriers, Health Perceptions, And Cardiovascular Risk Factors Of Adolescent Black American Males, Desmarie Jackson Decuir

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Area of Investigation: Cardiovascular (CV) diseases are the leading cause of death among Black American adult males. Health behaviors that contribute to CV disease are probably learned during adolescence yet few researchers have studied the factors that influence health promotion behaviors in adolescent Black American males. This study described the health barriers, health perceptions (health self-efficacy and health status), and CV risk factors reported by and the influence of these variables on health promotion behaviors of a sample of Black American adolescent males without known CV disease.

Methods and Procedures: A descriptive correlation study design was used to …

Methamphetamine: The New Epidemic, Jessica Gingery

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

A Case Study Of School Age Female Minority Athletes Who Became Pregnant, Floyd Jones Phd, Jennifer Y. Mak, Phyllis A. Jones Ed

Management Faculty Research

The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth understanding of ''What had happened to the urban minority female athletes who became pregnant while playing high school basketball?'' The study wanted to provide a qualitative analysis of rich narrative data collected from questionnaire interviews of two separate groups (one in Pittsburgh, the other in New York City). The findings of this study suggest that in fact urban female African-Americans athletes still received benefits from sports participation.

Family Systems: Perceptions Of Elderly Patients And Their Attendents Presenting At A University Hospital In Karachi, Pakistan, Ahmed Itrat, Ather Mohammed Taqui, Fahd Qazi, Waris Qidwai

Department of Family Medicine

Objective:

To know the present status of family systems in Pakistan, changes they are undergoing and implications of such trends on health of the elderly population.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was carried out at the out-patient clinics, AgaKhan University Hospital, using convenience sampling method. Verbal informed consent was taken from the participants. The questions included demographic profile, satisfaction with current family system, opinions about changing trends of family systems, and their implications on health. Analysis was done using SPSS 13.0.

Results:

Four hundred subjects aged 65 and above were interviewed, out of which 226 (56.5%) were living in the …

Choice Theory: An Interview With Dr. William Glasser, Dr. Jill D. Duba, Bill Greenwalt

Counseling & Student Affairs Faculty Publications

This article presents the work of William Glasser. The interview addresses his current emphasis on helping people to improve their own mental health as expalined in the 2003 book Warning: Psychiatry Can Be Hazardous to Your Mental Health.

Evaluation Of A Behavioral Health Integration Program In A Rural Primary Care Facility, Tina W. Billmeyer

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Behavioral or mental health has historically been seen as a separate entity from medical or primary health care. With the increased utility of psychotropic medication, more and more patients are presenting to their primary care provider with behavioral health issues prompting the healthcare field to look for methods to integrate medical and behavioral health services. The current study examined the effectiveness of a pilot program that attempted to integrate services at a rural primary care clinic. The study asked whether participation in the program resulted in improved scores on a questionnaire of perceived health status and whether participating medical providers …

Examining Smoking And Cessation During Pregnancy Among An Appalachian Sample: A Preliminary View, Lesley Cottrell, Mark Gibson, Carole Harris, Alia Rai, Sabera Sobhan, Traci Berry, Bonita Stanton

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Several transitions that a woman experiences prenatally may influence her desire or ability to discontinue smoking. This study explores the role of smoking for young, Appalachian, nulliparous pregnant women and their plans for smoking during their pregnancies.

Results

The reports of women and their male partners were taken from baseline interviews conducted during the first trimester of pregnancy. Cigarette smoking appeared to be more than an isolated addictive activity; rather, smoking was interwoven in women's social and personal realms, often changing as their perceptions of self changed. Women and their partners who continued to smoke appeared to be …

Day Of Dialogue—Insights And Evidence From Product Introduction: Lessons For Microbicides, Martha Brady, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory

HIV and AIDS

This report summarizes key issues and themes emerging from a Population Council Day of Dialogue held in March 2007. The Council convened this meeting of experts in the fields of product development, introduction, and social marketing; clinical trials; and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS in order to identify key features that can be used to guide efforts to introduce microbicides.

Injecting Drug Users In India: Understanding Sexual Behaviours And Sexual Networks To Design Effective Behaviour Change Strategies, Avina Sarna, Waimar Tun, Aruna Bhattacharya, Vaishali Sharma Mahendra, Neville Selhore, Arjun Singh, Louis Apicella

HIV and AIDS

The practice of injecting drug use has been spreading to different parts of India since the early 1980s and is associated with an increase in HIV prevalence rates. Injecting drug users (IDUs) engage in both risky injection and sexual practices that increase the risk for HIV transmission. While risky injection practices are well understood, there is limited understanding of IDUs’ sexual behaviors and social networks. The Population Council conducted a cross-sectional study to explore patterns of risky sexual behaviors, sexual network characteristics, and drivers of high-risk behaviors of IDUs in Delhi and Imphal. The contrasting settings were selected to allow …

Chronic Care At The Crossroads: Exploring Solutions For Chronic Care Management. Report On The Us Summit., Janice L Clarke

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Report on the US Summit

Knowledge And Beliefs Of Adolescents Regarding Sexually Transmitted Infections And Hiv/Aids In A Rural District In Pakistan, Hafsa Raheel, Franklin White, Muhammad Masood Kadir, Zafar Fatmi

Community Health Sciences

Objective:

To assess the knowledge and beliefs of adolescents (15-19 years girls and boys) regarding sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS.

Methods:

A community based cross-sectional survey was conducted in October 2002 in a rural district (Mirpurkhas) of Sindh province, Pakistan.

Results:

A total of 428 adolescent girls and boys were interviewed. Only 44% correctly named at least one STI, while 55% knew at least two modes of transmission for HIV/AIDS. Adolescents with education greater than or equal to secondary level, those who were able to read the newspaper, possessed electricity in their homes and were allowed to meet their …

Resource Allocation Within The National Aids Control Program Of Pakistan: A Qualitative Assessment Of Decision Maker's Opinions, Sara Husain, Masood Kadir, Zafar Fatmi

Community Health Sciences

Background:

Limited resources, whether public or private, demand prioritisation among competing needs to maximise productivity. With a substantial increase in the number of reported HIV cases, little work has been done to understand how resources have been distributed and what factors may have influenced allocation within the newly introduced Enhanced National AIDS Control Program of Pakistan. The objective of this study was to identify perceptions of decision makers about the process of resource allocation within Pakistan's Enhanced National AIDS Control Program.

Methods:

A qualitative study was undertaken and in-depth interviews of decision makers at provincial and federal levels responsible to …

The Latino Caregiver Experience Among Dementia And Non-Dementia Caregivers : Can Community Based Care Management Improve Caregiver Health?, Catherine Oliveros

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Purpose: This study provides an analysis of the Latino caregiving community in Southeast Texas and the role community based care management plays in influencing caregiver physical and emotional well-being. Design and Methods: A non-random sample of 63 Latino caregivers was interviewed by phone. Caregiver physical and emotional well-being was studied through burden, depression, perceived health status, and resourcefulness. Regression, correlation, and comparison analysis was performed with key variables. Results: Acculturation was positively correlated with care management use. In comparing dementia and non-dementia caregivers both groups had similar levels of depression and burden, however, the dementia group had significantly lower levels …

The Qingdao Twin Registry: A Focus On Chronic Disease Research, C. Anderson Johnson, Zengchang Pang, Feng Ning, Jennifer B. Unger, Shaojie Wang, Qian Guo, Weihua Cao, Liming Lee

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

With the changing patterns of morbidity and mortality in China, noncommunicable chronic diseases have become the major threats to the health of the Chinese population. The causes of chronic diseases include genetic factors and behavioral risk factors such as the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, unhealthy dietary behaviors, and lack of physical activity. Twin studies offer a unique opportunity to disentangle the genetic and environmental risk and protective factors for chronic disease. The Qingdao Twin Registry (QTR) was initiated in 1998 as part of the National Chinese Twin Registry. Over 11,000 pairs of twins and multiples of all …

College Students And Gambling: Gauging The Effects Of Gender On Impulse Control, Sensation Seeking, And Mental Health As Predictors Of Involvement, Terry D. Burger

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of the current study was to enhance the global understanding of adolescent Internet gambling involvement by examining rates of participation and the influence of impulse control, sensation seeking, and mental health problems as predictors of involvement. In addition to a demographic survey to gather information including year in school, age, gender, mode of gambling participation (online vs. traditional venues), age gambling participation began (for both non-Internet and Internet modes), disposable income, and hours spent online each week, the current research study questionnaire was comprised of a three standardized instruments: {a) the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS); (b) …

Outcomes Associated With A Home Care Telehealth Intervention, Faith Hopp, Peter Woodbridge, Usha Subramanian, Laurel Copeland, David Smith, Julie Lowery

Social Work Faculty Publications

To determine whether adding telehealth technology to traditional home care services increases health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and home care satisfaction, and decreases resource utilization among home care patients. This trial included 37 home care patients receiving services in a Veterans Affairs medical center, randomized into intervention and control groups. Outcome measures included patient satisfaction and HRQOL at baseline and 6-month follow- up, and the use of inpatient and outpatient services before and during the 6-month study period. Intervention group patients reported greater improvement in the mental health component of HRQOL, (t = 2.27; df = 15; p = …

Cultural/Interpersonal Values And Smoking In An Ethnically Diverse Sample Of Southern California Adolescents, C. Anderson Johnson, Paula Palmer, Jennifer B. Unger, Sohaila Shakib, Peggy Gallaher, Anamara Ritt-Olson, Michele Mouttapa

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

In ethnically diverse school contexts, values from multiple cultures might influence adolescents' attitudes and behaviors. This study developed scales to assess cultural values among Southern California 6- grade adolescents (N=2281) and evaluated the associations between values and smoking. The scales assessed values salient in many Hispanic and Asian cultures: Respect for Adults (e.g., filial piety, respeto). Interpersonal Harmony (e.g., saving face, simpatia), and Differentiated Gender Roles (e.g., machismo). In cross-sectional and one-year longitudinal models. Respect for Adults and Interpersonal Harmony were associated with a lower risk of lifetime smoking. The associations were significant even after controlling for demographic characteristics, friends' …