Public Health Commons^™

Fungal Burden Of Disease In Central And South America, Urmimala Chaudhuri

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Serious fungal infections are associated with an increase in mortality. Globally, fungal infections affect high-risk groups such as individuals with HIV/AIDS, asthma, transplant recipients, and those on immunosuppression. The most common fungal diseases include Histoplasmosis, Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), Candidiasis, and Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). Epidemiological information on the prevalence of fungal diseases has been limited, particularly in Central and South America due to inadequate surveillance. Purpose: The aim of this review was to evaluate the burden of common fungal diseases in Central and South America and discuss strategies of national surveillance. Methods: PubMed searches were conducted from the years …

In-Silico Determination Of Phytochemicals Against Spike Protein Of Covid-19, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Adil, Areej Fatima, Arooj Fatima, Ammara Khalid, Muhammad Bilal

Journal of Bioresource Management

Spike protein is present on the exterior of SARS-CoV-2 that mediates the binding of virus with human ACE2 receptor. S-protein has the ability to mutate in a short span of time. Using S-protein as a therapeutic target, Covid-19 infection can be prevented. Many plant-derived phytochemicals are found effective to treat viral infections. In this study, we selected top 10 phytochemicals following the Lipinski’s rule of five from total 82 candidate phytochemicals. The binding energies were determined through molecular docking of the phytochemical ligands. Top three compounds having maximal interactions and lowest binding energies were visualized. We suggested Dictamnine, Deoxypodophyllotoxin and …

A Statistical Analysis Of Poverty Indicators On The Opioid Crisis In Ohio, Calsey Graham, Alex Shiplett

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: Our objective was to identify the effect poverty has on rates of opioid overdose in Ohio counties. Based on previous research, we determined our indicators of poverty to examine were: median-household income, rates of children in free lunch programs, and residential segregation. Utilizing data from both Ohio counties and the state of California, we investigated how our indicators of poverty influenced drug overdose deaths in order to provide public health directives going forward. Methods: We utilized County Health records that combined multiple outlets to retrieve the necessary data to compare rates of poverty and opioid overdose in Ohio’s counties. …

The Interaction Of Children Living In Single-Parent Households With Healthcare In Tennessee, Molly Balcer

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

The objective of this paper is to examine how a child living in a single-parent home is able to interact with healthcare in the state of Tennessee in 2020. Family structure in the United States trends away from the nuclear family, with 32% of households containing children headed by single-parents in 2018 as recorded by the United States Census Bureau. Given the knowledge that children in single-parent families are at higher risk for unmet healthcare needs, it is prudent to determine whether these trends are mirrored in Tennessee. Tests of statistical analysis were conducted on publicly available data collected from …

Factors Affecting The Rates Of Childhood Poverty In Tennessee, Aleeya F. Shareef

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: The goal of this investigation is to analyze data to determine the factors that influence childhood poverty in Tennessee. Specifically, I am examining how child poverty has changed over the past years, as well as determining its associations with residential segregation (Black/white), food insecurity, teen births, low birthweights, child and infant mortalities, drug overdose deaths, access to healthy foods, premature deaths, and uninsured children. Data was used from the County Health Rankings website. Their data has been collected from surveys. Paired t-tests, unpaired t-tests, Pearson correlations, and stepwise linear regressions were performed. Results indicated that Tennessee has had decreased …

Relationship Between Poverty And Ed Visit Rate (Per 10,000) With Primary Diagnosis Of Asthma Amongst Ohio Counties, Emily Schneider

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: Previous literature have found mixed results regarding poverty as a risk factor for asthma prevalence. More recently, national data obtained from Medicaid has shown that there is no association between poverty and asthma prevalence but has shown an association with asthma-related Emergency Department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. The objective of this study is to determine if this relationship is evident amongst the 88 counties in Ohio. Methods: Pearson correlations were conducted with the following variables: percent in poverty under age 18 and the ED visit rate with a primary diagnosis of asthma amongst children in each Ohio county. This …

Utilization Of Psychotherapeutic Interventions By Pediatric Psychosocial Providers, Cynthia Fair, Amanda Thompson, Marie Barnett, Stacy R. Flowers, June Burke, Lori Wiener

Family Medicine Faculty Publications

One of the Standards of Psychosocial Care for Children with Cancer and their Families recommends that all youth with cancer and their family members have access to psychotherapeutic interventions and support throughout the cancer trajectory. This study was created to identify the psychosocial interventions and services provided to children with cancer and their family members, to ascertain whether there are differences in interventions provided by age of the patient and stage of treatment, and to learn about barriers to psychosocial service provision. An online survey was disseminated to psychosocial providers through the listservs of national and international professional organizations. The …

Addressing Distress Management Challenges: Recommendations From The Consensus Panel Of The American Psychosocial Oncology Society And The Association Of Oncology Social Work, Teresa L. Deshields, Sharla Wells-Di Gregorio, Stacy R. Flowers, Kelly E. Irwin, Ryan Nipp, Lynne Padgett, Brad Zebrack

Family Medicine Faculty Publications

Distress management (DM) (screening and response) is an essential component of cancer care across the treatment trajectory. Effective DM has many benefits, including improving patients’ quality of life; reducing distress, anxiety, and depression; contributing to medical cost offsets; and reducing emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Unfortunately, many distressed patients do not receive needed services. There are several multilevel barriers that represent key challenges to DM and affect its implementation. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research was used as an organizational structure to outline the barriers and facilitators to implementation of DM, including: 1) individual characteristics (individual patient characteristics with a …

Risk Factors For Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: A Cdc Wonder Analysis, Elise Hoy

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective. By definition, there is no known cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).1 The best information currently available comes from studies investigating infant sleep habits. Thus far, researchers agree that in regards to sleep, infants are safest, and at lowest risk for SIDS, when sleeping in a supine rather than prone or lateral position, when sleeping on hard, rather than soft, bedding with no pillows or blankets, and when sleeping in a crib rather than sharing a bed with a parent.1–4 In an effort to better understand what additional factors might predispose an infant to dying of SIDS, this …

Association Between Serum Vitamin D And Bone Mineral Density In Us Population, Hamza M. Sultan

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Osteoporosis is a condition where the bones become weak that affects 12.6% of the United States (US) population over 50 years of age. Vitamin D helps to improve bone health as it functions in helping reabsorb calcium from the intestines. Several studies have been conducted on the effects of vitamin D on Bone Mineral Density (BMD), where it has shown that insufficient vitamin D is associated with a reduction in BMD. The purpose is to determine the relationship between serum vitamin D and BMD of the femoral neck in the US population in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) …

Multiplex Social Factors Affecting Hiv Prevalence In Colorado, Jesse Cannella

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: The objective of this paper was to investigate and analyze the relationships between the prevalence of HIV and geographic location, high-risk behaviors, and education status in Colorado in 2020. Methods: The author of this paper conducted Spearmen correlations on HIV prevalence with rural status, rates of flu vaccinations, and drug overdose deaths, as well as performed stepwise linear regressions on the variance of HIV prevalence accounted for by rates of teen births, sexually transmitted infections, high school graduation, and college education status. Results: Incidence of other STIS and teen births (F2,42 = 7.69, p = .001), as well as …

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv) – An Analysis Of Trends In Hiv Diagnoses From 2008 – 2018, Ulysses G. Gardner

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: An estimated 1.1 million people are living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the United States. Despite over two decades of research, a cure for HIV has not been approved and it remains a pandemic. This research study was conducted to determine the statistical significance in HIV incidence based on diagnoses in 2008 versus 2018; age groups 25-34 years old versus 55+ years old; Black versus Hispanic versus White; male versus female; and geographical location. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted using data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Atlas Plus data sets, a collection …

Chlamydia In Ohio 2019, Jennifer Schmitz

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: Chlamydia Trachomatis is becoming an increasingly large national problem with severe consequences on the medical health care system. Methods: With data collected from County Health Ranking, with research that has been conducted at governmental and nongovernmental levels throughout the community, state and national level. Increases in rates of chlamydia can be linked to an increased number of testing or increased accuracy of testing while decreased numbers of incidence can be due to low reporting from that county. Conducting correlation and comparison may reveal additional links to the rising rates of Chlamydia. Results: We found a positive correlation between rate …

Family Structure And Pediatric Outcomes In Ohio, Andrew J. Berman

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: The number of single-parent households has been trending upwards since the early 1900s. Studies in the past have evaluated the effects single-parent households have on pediatric outcomes nationwide. This study attempts to build upon these past studies by analyzing whether these findings remain when looked at the State level, for Ohio 2020, as well as see if the percent of children in single-parent households can predict child mortality.

Methods: Data was collected from publicly available data sets through County Health Rankings. This study utilizes SPSS for data analysis. ANOVA with post-hoc was performed to compare children in single-parent household …

Beyond The Adhd Diagnosis: Does The Insurance Rate, Mental Health Status In Parents, And Food Availability In The United States Impact Or Predict The Prevalence Of Diagnosis Of Adhd In Children?, Kaitie Kudlac

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

More than 6 million children in the US have been diagnosed with ADHD in 2016 and many studies such as those performed through the National Survey of Children’s Health have seen those numbers climbing through 2017.¹ Prevalence of ADHD itself has increased by 42% over the past 8 years.² This study analyzed, through the use of public data available through County Health Ranking and data through the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health if the insurance status, mental health standing of parents, and food availability in the United States could impact or predict the diagnostic prevalence …

Access To Care, Food Quality Index, And Employment As Predictors Of Poor Mental Health Days In Ohio, Louisiana, California, And New York, Eugene Matthew P. Almazan

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: Analyze how the availability of mental health providers has changed in Ohio from 2016 to 2020 with relation to changes in mental health outcomes reported. Compare to other regions of the United States (Louisiana, California, New York) in terms of access to healthcare, unemployment status, and food quality index. Lastly, to identify which socioeconomic and health factors are most predictive of poor mental health days.

Methods: Participant data from Ohio (OH), Louisiana (LA), California (CA), and New York (NY) was acquired from countyhealthrankings.org annual survey results that were published from 2016 through 2020. SPSS was utilized for statistical analysis …

Diabetes Link To Social Determinants Of Health, Tyler Schimmoeller

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to investigate diabetes and how premature death rate; income inequality and social associations relate to diabetes prevalence in the state of Washington in 2020. Methods: I investigated the rate of diabetes change in Washington from 201 to 2020 using a paired t-test. The correlation of diabetes rates and the premature age-adjusted mortality was calculated by county in Washington in 2020 using a Pearson/Spearman correlation. I compared the rate of diabetes in Washington to South Carolina, Ohio, and Louisiana by county in 2020 using an ANOVA with posthoc. Lastly, I used a stepwise linear …

Exploring Preventable Hospital Stays In Maryland, Janet Lubov

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze data to determine the factors that influence preventable hospital stays in all Maryland counties. Explicitly, I am examining how preventable hospital stays changes over the past eight years, comparing preventable hospital stays in Maryland and Virginia, correlating preventable hospital stays with Flu vaccinations, and lastly, examining how the rate of uninsured and income inequality can predict the variance in preventable hospital stays by county.

Methods: The data I will be using is sourced from the 2020 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps report. The most recent data available in this published 2020 …

A Multi-Dimensional View On Mental Distress Of Alaskan Adults, Katelyn Hagstrom

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Mental health impacts every facet of day-to-day life, and therefore it is important to determine what factors influence mental wellbeing in order to best target those areas to improve individuals’ mood and health. This paper analyzes how mental distress rates in Alaskan counties are affected by environmental and societal issues such as latitude, insufficient sleep, access to healthy food, presence of severe housing issues and rates of physical inactivity. By specifically studying mental distress in Alaskan residents, the extremes of day length and population size bring a new dimension to previous research done on mental distress. The variables were derived …

Sociodemographic Differences In Breastfeeding Rates For Children Born Between 2010-2015, Megha Patel

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Breastfeeding is a natural component of life and has proven to provide benefits to both the mother and the child. The mother’s mental health as well as physical health including losing pregnancy weight are influenced by breastfeeding. The child receives immune system strengthening leaving them less susceptible to certain diseases in the short term and later in life. There are a variety of factors that have the potential to influence breastfeeding rates. In this study, seven of these factors were examined including sex of the baby, race of the baby, maternal education, poverty income ratio, marital status of the mother, …

Prevalence And Perceptions Of Herbal Medicine Use In Eastern Jamaica, Jacqueline Jepsen

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: The purpose of this research was to determine the prevalence of herbal medicine use in rural St. Mary Parish, Jamaica. It also aimed to identify which herbs are commonly used and gauge the population’s general attitude toward herbal remedies vs conventional medicine. Methods: A cross-sectional population survey was developed and distributed at eight different clinics throughout St. Mary Parish, Jamaica with a sample size of 68.

Results: It was determined that herbal medicine use is common amongst the Eastern Jamaican population, with 63% of subjects reporting its use. A wide variety of herbal remedies are utilized, with aloe vera, …

Ct Scan Effective Radiation Dose Reduction In Pediatric Trauma Patients, Benjamin Clouse, Elizabeth Ey, Sara J. Paton, Frank Pianki, Jeffrey C. Pence, Lisa Schwing, Melody Campbell

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

This project attempts to address the problem of excessive radiation exposure via CT imaging for pediatric patients presenting at adult regional trauma centers.

To answer this question, we utilized the pediatric trauma registry to conduct a retrospective chart review of consisting of all patients under 14 years of age that received trauma related CT imaging and that were transferred from an adult trauma center to Dayton Children’s Hospital in the time period of January 2019 to December 2019.Cases of unnecessary imaging will be determined by subject matter expert review, based on ACS and Image Gently guidelines. Cases of overexposure to …

Prevalence Of Tuberculosis In District Haveli, Azad Jammu And Kashmir, Abu Ul Hassan Faiz, Ghazal Tariq, Ayesha Faiz, Lariab Zahra Faiz

Journal of Bioresource Management

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease with a common occurrence in population of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The current study was designed to find out the prevalence of TB among the general population of a less developed District Haveli. Samples were collected from different hospitals and TB centers located in district Haveli and tested through sputum smear microscopy for conformation of positive for TB. The three-year (2015 to 2018) study was conducted to record prevalence of tuberculosis in selected area of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The trend line of prevalence was made by using (SPSS software). Results produced linear trends yearly …

Microbial Diversity In The Sawmill Environment: Implications On The Health Of Sawmill Workers And Merchants, Nigeria, Ebere J. Okafor-Elenwo Ej, Odaro S. Imade Os, Osazee E. Izevbuwa Eo

Journal of Bioresource Management

There is an increasingly high suspicion of occupational health diseases amongst workers in sawmill factories. Hence this study aimed to determine the microbial diversity in some sawmill factories in Okada, Edo State, Nigeria to evaluate potential implications of the factory’s processing area on the health of the workers and wood merchants. Bacteria and fungi count in the bioaerosols within the processing area of each factory was performed with the passive air sampling technique. While in the sawdust samples, microbial counts were carried out with the pour plate technique. Identification of the microbes was performed with macroscopic and microscopic examinations as …

Addressing Covid 19 Among Vulnerable Populations, Tim Crawford, Sydney Silverstein, Craig Woolley, Laura M. Luehrmann

Population and Public Health Sciences Faculty Publications

This is the fifth installment in the Shelter in Place (SiP) Lecture series. This installment deals with the impact and implications of the Shelter in Place order on differing populations. It discusses how a variety of populations have differing experiences with social distancing, the virus, and other implications of the current pandemic.

Infant Death Rates Between Different Medical Attendants, Zenab Saeed

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

The function of midwives in the context of maternal health is important, especially when understanding the role of midwives in a global context compared to in the United States. Globally, midwives have served as historically important members in the process of childbirth, but their role has experienced changes in response to increased medicalization over the years, especially in the United States.1 Based of their use and effectiveness in a global context, literature suggests that it may be beneficial for both the healthcare system, mothers, and infants to expand the role of midwives in the United States.2 The purpose of this …

Health Disparities Surrounding Air Quality And Asthma, Carolina B. Nadal Medina

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Introduction: Asthma is a prevalent disease in the US in both children and adults. Studies in the past have found disparities in asthma prevalence among different races in the United States as well as between gender. Objective: Compare asthma prevalence among racial and ethnic groups in the us, as well as gender, in the United States in both children and adults in the years of 2011 and 2014. Additionally, to see if there is a correlation between air quality, measured in PM2.5mm, and asthma prevalence in different racial groups and genders in both children and adults. Methods: Asthma prevalence data …

Association Between Sports Participation And Levels Of Physical Fitness, Jordan Italiano

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: Physical activity is a major component of overall health, especially in children. Increased physical activity in children provides many health benefits, and organized sports provide a great opportunity to meet the physical activity recommendations. In fact, participation in organized sports provides further health advantages, such as lower BMIs, compared to those who engaged in self organized physical activity and has shown to promote continued healthy habits throughout life. However, there has not been research looking at which sports are associated with the greatest level of fitness and provide the greatest health benefit for participants. In this study, we examine …

Achievable Toilet Sanitation, Benjamin Goulart

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Human feces contains ten million viruses, one million bacteria, and 1,000 parasitic cysts, contributing to cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, polio, and various neglected tropical diseases (The Economist, 2019). Unimproved sanitation includes open defecation, shared latrines that lack privacy, or other sanitation methods with insufficient pathogen reduction of fecal material. The most affected regions are sub-Saharan Africa, Southern and Eastern Asia, Afghanistan, and Iraq (CDC, 2016). Without private toilets, girls reaching puberty are also less likely to continue school. Improved sanitation can contribute to increased human potential, human rights, and gross domestic product.

The Effects Of Foodborne Bacteria On Outbreaks, Illnesses, And Hospitalizations In The U.S., Henrietta Ofori-Sampong

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Objective: To investigate the effects of foodborne bacteria on outbreaks, and outbreak-associated illnesses and hospitalizations in the United States (U.S.).

Methods: Aggregate data was obtained from the CDC WONDER (Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) database showing the number of foodborne outbreaks (1993-2017), and outbreak-associated illnesses (1993-2017) and hospitalizations (1998-2017) caused by foodborne bacteria. Species of bacteria were grouped into 13 genera and 1 other. An Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was used to compare the mean outbreaks, and outbreak-associated illnesses and hospitalizations for each of the years using the data by species for each year. Results: There was no …