Public Health Commons^™

New York City Women’S Experiences With Perinatal Depression Inquiries, Diagnosis, And Treatment Initiation, Caterina Pisciotta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Perinatal depression represents a significant public health concern, yet many women who experience depression symptoms during the perinatal period (either during pregnancy and/or after birth) do not receive treatment. Initiatives, such as ThriveNYC, were designed to address these gaps by screening and treating perinatal women for maternal depression, integrating screening into routine perinatal care and strengthening pathways to treatment. Using representative survey data collected between 2016 and 2021 via the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), this study examined trends in perinatal depression inquiries (a proxy for “screening”) and postpartum diagnosis, as well as …

Bullying, Early Sexual Debut, And Sexual Health Behaviors Among Adolescents In New York City, Valentina I. Ramirez

Dissertations and Theses

Adolescent sexual and reproductive health remains a critical public health priority in the United States, particularly given the persistent burden of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young people. Adolescents and young adults account for a disproportionate share of STI cases, reflecting ongoing gaps in prevention, early detection, treatment, and equitable access to sexual health care and services. These patterns are shaped not only by individual behaviors but also by broader social, structural, and developmental contexts that influence adolescents’ opportunities to engage in preventive sexual health care.

This dissertation examined associations between early sexual debut, experiences of bullying, and …

A Predictive Coding Account Of Spatial Working Memory Following Prophylactic Levetiracetam Administration Prior To Traumatic Brain Injury, Omeima Mutwali

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) symptom prevention and remediation is an important area of research that would benefit vulnerable groups, including active-duty and veteran soldiers. These patients can sustain penetrative forces in fields of combat or in training, which result in focal lesions that trigger inflammatory and degenerative processes in the brain. Both primary and secondary injuries are associated with changes to cognition, behavior and affective state. This disease poses increased risk of epileptogenesis, as well. Given these outcomes, prior research has evaluated levetiracetam (LEV) as a prophylactic treatment for seizures, cognitive deficits and negative emotionality. LEV acts as a presynaptic …

Socioeconomic Inequalities In Health-Related Quality Of Life During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Six-Country Comparison Using The Eq-5d-5 L, Joëlle Eijkens, Joshua M. Bonsel, You-Shan Feng, M. F. Bas Janssen, Erica I. Lubetkin, Juanita A. Haagsma

Publications and Research

Purpose

Despite the growing attention to health inequalities, there is no global consensus on how to measure socio-economic status. This study examined inequalities in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic across six countries—China, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US)—using three SES indicators: education level, income, and work status.

Methods

Between April and June 2020, individuals aged 18–75 years old completed a web-based survey. HRQoL was measured using the EQ-5D-5L Level Sum Score (LSS), where higher scores indicate poorer health. Country-specific differences in LSS across SES groups …

Chemical Variability In The Unregulated Opioid Supply In The South Bronx, Yeireline Rodriguez

Student Theses

The unregulated drug supply in the United States has become increasingly unpredictable, contributing to persistently high overdose mortality, particularly in structurally marginalized communities such as the South Bronx. While drug adulteration has long been present in illicit markets, the number and pharmacological diversity of adulterants remained limited for much of the twentieth century. Over the past decade, however, the drug supply has undergone a significant transformation marked by the proliferation of potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and its analogues, frequently combined with novel sedatives and chemically diverse adulterants. These shifts have introduced increasing chemical complexity into the street drug …

Long Work Hours, Suboptimal Diabetes Management, And Differences By Sex And Race/Ethnicity, Nhanes (2011-2018), Tailisha Gonzalez, Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky, Terry T.-K. Huang, Sandra E. Echeverria

Publications and Research

In the United States (US), occupational segregation by sex and race/ethnicity can contribute to health disparities. Although work schedule characteristics have been previously linked to elevated cardiovascular risk, little is known about the effects on chronic disease management in women and minoritized workers. We examined the association between work hours and diabetes management among US workers, testing for differences by sex and race/ethnicity. We utilized 2011–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data on working adults (age ≥20 years) with diagnosed diabetes (n = 1041). Suboptimal diabetes management was defined as HbA1c ≥7%. Work hours were categorized per WHO …

Hlt 101 Introduction To Public Health, Elyse Gruttadauria

Open Educational Resources

The syllabus, created by Professor Elyse Gruttadauria as part of the CUNY OER Initiatives for HLT 101 contains a course description, course objectives, course readings divided by week and a link to four OER textbooks.

Engagement Patterns With #Naturalremedies On Tiktok: Formative Analysis, Apeksha Mewani, Corey H. Basch, Keanu Renne-Glover, Vincent Jones Ii, Cristiana Cordero, Adea Gutiqi

Publications and Research

This research letter provides formative evidence from a cross-sectional analysis of 118 TikTok videos under #NaturalRemedies, identifying content formats and expertise cues associated with higher engagement, while also demonstrating the feasibility of using engagement metrics and thematic coding to analyze health narratives on emerging platforms such as TikTok.

Surviving Staten Island: Black Women’S Narratives Of Resilience, Motherwork, And Embodied Trauma, Jazmin Rivera

Student Theses

This oral history dissertation centers the experiences of six Black women who had formative experiences navigating hostile school and community-based settings on Staten Island during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. Guided by a conceptual framework that draws on Black orality, Black feminist thought, and endarkened feminist epistemology, this study demonstrates how Black women were required to cross geographic and social boundaries to survive hostile conditions in Staten Island communities and schools. Findings from this study highlight Black women’s use of community cultural wealth to inform their survival strategies and resilience. At the same time, their experiences indicate the potential …

Meconium Metal Concentrations And Infant Temperament And Development, Fiona Fogarty

Dissertations and Theses

BACKGROUND: Prenatal exposure to metals poses significant health consequences for early childhood development. Understanding the factors influencing metal concentrations that infants are exposed to in-utero is crucial for developing targeted interventions, particularly when maternal characteristics and environmental factors, may contribute to varying levels. Meconium offers insight into in-utero exposures for the developing infant, and the effect of each individual metal may be mediated or exacerbated by another and therefore should be studied in the context of a mixture. The effect of metal mixture exposure, as measured in meconium, on milestone and temperament outcomes has yet to be determined.

DESIGN: …

Food Apartheid And The Retail Food Environment In The Bronx, Aissatou Barry

CUNY Mexican Studies Institute

This project examines the structural mechanisms that contribute to unequal food access, both historical and ongoing, in the South Bronx, and applies the food apartheid framework created by Bronx food activist Karen Washington. This paper applies the framework to two food retail initiatives in NYC: the New York State Regional Hub and the New York City FRESH food program to assess whether their policies address the structural mechanisms that contribute to food inequality. I ask: How does the unequal distribution of healthy food access in the Bronx reflect broader patterns of racial and economic exclusion? To what extent do current …

Nyc Falls Behind In Climate Resources For Pregnant And Postpartum Moms, Jada Simon

Capstones

The U.S. still holds the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations around the world. While national rates have since seen a slight decrease, Black mothers still see high maternal death rates in comparison to white mothers, showing that racial disparities in maternal death rates are still apparent. In NYC, the reason for these disparities are not just unequal access to quality healthcare, but also the poor living conditions of neighborhoods in the city that are made up mainly of minoritized groups. So far, it has gone unconsidered that that the maternal mortality and climate crises are happening concurrently. This …

Violence Between Residents In Nursing Homes Is An Enduring Problem. The Agencies, Nursing Homes, And Residents Are Playing Hot Potato With The Responsibility, Cindy Marchionda, Rafael Escalara Montoto

Capstones

Resident-to-resident aggression in nursing homes is a persistent issue, far more common than the general public realizes. While many of these violent situations can be managed, some tragically escalate to fatal outcomes, leaving families mourning the loss of their loved ones at the hands of a facility that was meant to provide safety and care during their final years. Experts agree that this issue is largely driven by chronic understaffing and insufficient training for employees on how to manage patients with dementia and aggression issues.

What’S That Smell? It’S Climate Change!, Perry Gregory

Capstones

Climate change is going to make New York City smell worse. Reporter Perry Gregory breaks down the process of olfaction and explains how heat affects what we smell. The piece features a collage of voices of New Yorkers describing the current smell profile of the city. The report features insight from several Atmospheric Scientists into why New York City is getting hotter and more humid, and how those climate changes will make the existing smells of the city stronger, and worse. The most economically vulnerable New Yorkers, who cannot afford air conditioning to buffer them from heat, will be the …

Through The Eyes Of Time, Shaneece Prince, Steven Indelicato

Publications and Research

Frames have been a staple throughout history, however in recent times, a trend of having multiple pairs of glasses opposed to one, life lasting pair, has emerged. As a result, frames have piled up in landfills contributing to the polluting of our environment. Through the analysis of previously recorded studies and statistics, conclusions of the eyewear industry's growing impact on society and the planet were formed.

Millions of frames are in constant circulation, studies show that up to 31% of spectacle wearers out of a group of 375, disposed of their eyewear in the trash. The lifespan of popular eyewear …

Net Effects Of Correlated Determinants Of Health Among U.S. Older Adults, Haomiao Jia, E I. Lubetkin

Publications and Research

Background

The health effect produced by a contributing factor alone may be different from the effect when other interacting factors are present. The effects of a set of contributors, estimated by regression coefficients, may be invalid or inappropriate if some of the predictors are correlated or the model has interaction and nonlinear terms. The net effect (NE) of a given contributing factor is the effect produced by the factor alone, not by other factors due to their correlations with the factor of interest. This study estimated NE of selected determinants of health for U.S. older adults.

Methods

Participants, aged ≥ …

Development And Applications Of A Health Equity Summary Score Using The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Ronald R. Sanchez

Dissertations and Theses

Despite sustained national efforts, disparities in healthcare delivery persist among racial and ethnic minorities, low-income individuals, and socially at-risk populations. Monitoring modifiable aspects of care delivery, such as the structures and processes that health systems can directly improve, is a key strategy for addressing these gaps. However, most measures evaluate modifiable aspects of care delivery separately, limiting understanding of how improvements in one domain reinforce the other and how their combined effect influences equitable care.

This dissertation addresses this gap by combining patient experience and clinical quality, two modifiable aspects of care that captures how patients interact with the health …

Editorial: Migration And Health: A Human Rights Perspective - Conference Insights And Beyond, Noemi Rodriguez, Mira Goral, Justine Mcgovern, Allison Squires, María Isabel Roldos

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Finding Solutions: Meeting Essential Needs To Overcome Health And Educational Inequities Among College Students, Nicholas Freudenberg, Rashida Crutchfield

Publications and Research

Many economic, academic, and social factors influence college completion, and scholars have documented that a significant cause of students leaving school before graduation is that many do not have their basic needs for food, housing, and health care met. These barriers undermine their academic success by forcing students to reduce the time spent on their studies, work more hours, or stop out of school to support themselves or their families. Unmet essential needs jeopardize academic and life success for students in higher education across the United States and widen racial/ethnic and class inequities in college completion and health. Our review …

Design And Implementation Of Data Quality Controls In The Eq-Daphnie Study: Insights From The Pilot Phase And 15-Country Analysis, Fatima Al Sayah, Hilary Short, Juan M. Ramos-Goñi, Rosalie Viney, Erica I. Lubetkin, Mathieu F. Janssen, Jeffrey A. Johnson

Publications and Research

Objective

The EQ-DAPHNIE (EuroQol Data for Assessment of Population Health Needs and Instrument Evaluation) project is a large, multi-country survey initiative designed to generate population norms and enable comparative research using self-reported health measures. This paper describes the quality control processes and summarizes data quality metrics from the United Kingdom (UK) pilot and full implementation across 15 countries.

Methods

Representative samples were recruited via Dynata, an online survey panel provider, using quota sampling by age, sex, income, community setting, and language (where applicable). The UK pilot (n = 3012) informed survey refinements ahead of full rollout (n = 68,411). Quality …

Health-Related Quality Of Life In Covid-19 Patients: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Eq-5d Studies, Kidu Gidey, Yirga Legesse Niriayo, Solomon Weldegebreal Asgedom, Erica I. Lubetkin

Publications and Research

Background

COVID-19 has affected millions globally, with a significant proportion experiencing long-COVID and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the existing literature on HRQoL in COVID-19 patients.

Methods

We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library for studies published between December 2019 and March 2025. Eligible studies were peer-reviewed and assessed HRQoL in COVID-19 patients using the EQ-5D instrument. Study quality and risk of bias were evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Pooled health utility values were estimated using a random-effects model, and heterogeneity was …

Disentangling The Effect Of Criminal Legal System Involvement On Mental Health In The United States, Pui Ying Chan

Dissertations and Theses

BACKGROUND: Interactions with the criminal legal system (CLS), such as through arrest or incarceration, are relatively common in the United States (US) and are increasingly recognized as social risk factors for poor mental health. Previous studies have reported a positive association between CLS involvement and poor mental health, with some theoretical frameworks, including the ecosocial theory and the stress process paradigm, supporting a plausible causal relationship. However, prior research has significant limitations in providing casual evidence given possible reverse causation in cross-sectional studies and insufficient consideration for the dynamics between CLS exposures, mental health status, and related confounders over time …

Living Heritage, Resilience And Ethically Informed Infrastructures In Malawi, Martha B. Lerski, Frank Puluputu Mwale

Publications and Research

Rooted in a rural community’s needs, this paper explores how historically, and ethically informed infrastructures can support community engagement towards identification, documentation, and dissemination of local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge relating to climate change. The paper examines climate adaptation and sustainability issues through the lenses of community organizing and Library & Information Science best practices. It draws on a growing body of literature identifying a role for expanded epistemological and subject discipline perspectives. While the impacts of climate on material culture are increasingly recognized, intangible, and biocultural heritage have not received as much attention. Living heritage traditions and knowledge systems …

Development Of Recommendations For The Future Of Telehealth Use Among Sexual And Gender Minorities (Sgm), Jeffrey A. Wilhite

Dissertations and Theses

It is now well-documented that sexual and gender minoritized individuals (SGMs) face consistent stigmatization from not just the health care system, but also from overarching community, federal, and societal entities. Subsections of the SGM community, like gay men for example, face higher rates of eating disorders, certain cancers, alcoholism, mental illness and even obesity, when compared to heterosexual counterparts. Many of these challenges could be exacerbated by current political administration efforts to silence the community. Ensuring access to clinical care is one way of preserving the health and livelihood of the community. Telehealth, or synchronous, remote based clinical care, can …

The Ecology Of Gender-Based Violence For Syrian Refugee Women In Tripoli And Akkar, Dima Masoud

Dissertations and Theses

Lebanon is a country that suffers from multiple economic, political, and health crises. Additionally, the mass displacement of Syrian refugees to Lebanon after the war in Syria over a decade ago has left Syrian refugees vulnerable, including the vulnerability of Syrian refugee women to gender-based violence (GBV). While these conditions have affected all of Lebanon, this dissertation focuses on the regions of Tripoli and Akkar in northern Lebanon. Tripoli and Akkar are regions that border Syria, which means that an influx of Syrian refugees, mostly unregistered, comes in. While other regions in Lebanon also border Syria, Tripoli and Akkar are …

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

Occupational Stress: Lifestyle And Health In Blue- And White-Collar Workers In The United States, Carice T. Craffey

Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT

Occupational Stress: Lifestyle and Health in Blue- and White-Collar Workers in the United States

by

Carice Craffey

Advisor: Catherine M. Schooling, Ph.D.

Background: Heart disease and diabetes are leading causes of death in the United States and globally, particularly heart disease in men. Employment conditions can contribute to illness and death. Occupational or job stress (OS) is a potential contributor to heart disease and diabetes, but its conceptualization and role for men and women remain unclear. To address this gap, I conceptualized OS, then examined the role of OS in heart disease and diabetes.

Methods: I used a literature …

How Do Health Insurer Practices Affect Health Equity For Gay And Bisexual Men And Transmasculine Individuals? A Qualitative And Health Policy Assessment, Alexa D'Angelo

Dissertations and Theses

In the U.S. there continue to be stark disparities in health that affect LGBTQ+ communities. These disparities include those related to mental health, sexually transmitted infections, along with chronic illnesses and some cancers. Higher health needs across diagnostic categories mean that LGBTQ+ individuals require access to the healthcare system both to prevent conditions disproportionately affecting the community, and to treat conditions as they arise. In the U.S., access to healthcare often requires either reliable insurance coverage or another payer to cover costs associated with care. Thus, health insurance status and coverage of care, along with coverage regulations and health policies …

The Ethnobotany And Pharmacology Of Medicinal Plants For Caribbean Women’S Health, Ella Thomas Vardeman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Approximately 55% of the world’s population lives in cities, and the United Nations estimates that this number will rise to 68% by 2050. Urban ethnobotany, the study of people’s traditional knowledge and use of plants in cities, is increasingly important as people adapt their cultural traditions to changing environments. In New York City (NYC), there have been several urban ethnobotany investigations in collaboration with Caribbean immigrant groups. However, there has yet to be an ethnobotanical survey that documents and botanically authenticates the medicinal plants used in the Haitian community. Previous collaborative research with women from the Caribbean in NYC has …

Impact Of Congestion Pricing On Pm 2.5, Crystal E. Matos, Ingrid Veras, Joby Jacob

Undergraduate Research

This study utilized two devices to monitor PM2.5 levels near LaGuardia Community College in an area influenced by traffic from the nearby Queensboro Bridge. MTA data showed that the number of vehicles using the Queensboro Bridge decreased during the PM rush hour following the introduction of congestion pricing (CP). The data from the devices was downloaded and analyzed. Data from December to March was collected and analyzed , both before and after CP went into effect. To assess changes in air quality, PM2.5 data recorded at 10-minute intervals during the afternoon commute across four selected Wednesdays was compared. Our findings …