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Applications Of Longitudinal Machine Learning Methods In Multi-Study Alzheimer's Disease Datasets, Charles F. Murchison Jan 2021

Applications Of Longitudinal Machine Learning Methods In Multi-Study Alzheimer's Disease Datasets, Charles F. Murchison

All ETDs from UAB

Advances in statistical learning models for prediction have led to broader application across a variety of disciplines, granting generalizations and adaptations that were previ-ously intractable even with advanced computational techniques. Among these is the al-lowance of correlated data with inherent paneled structure such as longitudinal or clus-tered data; adjustments which have already begun to be applied to a variety of supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods which had previously focused on cross-sec-tional data. These modifications have seen rudimentary testing in a number of applied disciplines where correlated data is commonly observed, including medical and clinical research. One field in particular …


Multidrug-Resistance, Antibiotic-Associated Acute Kidney Injury, And Poor Disease Prognosis In Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia, Adeniyi J. Idigo Jan 2021

Multidrug-Resistance, Antibiotic-Associated Acute Kidney Injury, And Poor Disease Prognosis In Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia, Adeniyi J. Idigo

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In this dissertation research, I examined the challenges of treating patients with bacterial community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) with the purpose of identifying risk factors linked with multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas, treatment toxicity, and poor disease prognosis. I used a retrospective cohort study design to explore a clinical cohort of patients admitted to the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital network who had bacterial pneumonia diagnosis assessed to be from community transmission between January 2013-December 2019. Electronic medical records were accessed for socio-demographic and clinical information. First, I examined the local prevalence/incidence of Pseudomonas CAP and MDR Pseudomonas CAP, and the relationship between …


Role Of Partnership In Hiv-Related Outcomes In Heterosexual Individuals Newly Diagnosed With Hiv, Maira Sohail Jan 2021

Role Of Partnership In Hiv-Related Outcomes In Heterosexual Individuals Newly Diagnosed With Hiv, Maira Sohail

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A supportive intimate partner has shown to be helpful in HIV care of men who have sex with men, and in some African heterosexual couples; however, knowledge on this phenomenon among heterosexual people with HIV (PWH) is limited in the United States context. This project included two quantitative studies and one qualitative study to examine the role of intimate partnership in HIV care among heterosexual, newly diagnosed PWH. Both quantitative studies were conducted among heterosexual, newly diagnosed (2013-2017) individuals at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) 1917 Clinic. The first study examined the role of partnership (un-partnered, unmarried-partnered, and …


An Investigation Of Strain And Support Needs Of Caregivers Of Older Adults With Delirium And Allied Health Promotion Interventions, Jasmine Vickers Jan 2021

An Investigation Of Strain And Support Needs Of Caregivers Of Older Adults With Delirium And Allied Health Promotion Interventions, Jasmine Vickers

All ETDs from UAB

Delirium, or the sudden onset of confusion, is common, highly distressing, debilitating, and deadly among hospitalized older adults and is associated with adverse outcomes for their family caregivers. As people are living longer with more complex conditions, more people will face the task of caregiving for older adults with delirium. Family caregivers can make meaningful contributions to delirium care, but high distress, insufficient knowledge, and lack of skills often seen in caregivers can lead to maladaptation and negative health outcomes. A few studies have focused on distress in caregivers from witnessing delirium episodes; however more research is needed to understand …


Cognitive Progression And Care Patterns In All-Cause Dementia By Prior Cancer Diagnosis, Mackenzie Elisha Fowler Jan 2021

Cognitive Progression And Care Patterns In All-Cause Dementia By Prior Cancer Diagnosis, Mackenzie Elisha Fowler

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Cancer and dementia are common aging-related diseases. Cancer and itstreatments are associated with cognitive impairment referred to as cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI). Dementias demonstrate similar impairment. Only one study has examined the longitudinal association between cancer and dementia. This dissertation goes beyond limitations of the prior study and has three aims: 1.) to evaluate dementia progression by prior cancer diagnosis, 2.) to evaluate progression of all-cause dementia by cancer treatments, and 3.) to evaluate patterns and predictors of care among dementia patients by cancer history. This study uses EHR data to evaluate cognitive progression by cancer history /cancer treatment characteristics, …


Evaluating The Turning Point Of Cardiovascular Health In Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Najibah Galadanci Jan 2021

Evaluating The Turning Point Of Cardiovascular Health In Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Najibah Galadanci

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Cardiopulmonary disorders, including pulmonary hypertension, chronic lung disease, diastolic dysfunction and congestive heart failure, are among the most common complications in sickle cell disease (SCD). Many of these complications are identified in adulthood when patients develop irreversible clinical symptoms. General improvement in healthcare and disease management is allowing more children with SCD to reach adulthood, leading to the growing interest in preventing disease-specific complications to improve morbidity and mortality rates. Although cardiac abnormalities are common, it is unknown when cardiac dysfunction appears in the course of SCD.This dissertation utilized the Dissemination and Implementation of Stroke Prevention Looking at the Care …


Undergraduate Students’ Perspectives On Mental Health Services, Resources, And Supports During Covid-19: A Qualitative Dissertation, Amy Hutson Chatham Jan 2021

Undergraduate Students’ Perspectives On Mental Health Services, Resources, And Supports During Covid-19: A Qualitative Dissertation, Amy Hutson Chatham

All ETDs from UAB

During the COVID-19 pandemic, increased isolation from supportive relationships, uncertainty about the future, fear of illness, and lack of traditional life-events took a toll on university student mental health. It is important to understand undergraduate students’ mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and their desires for support from their institutions of higher education. Existing studies have documented increased rates of depression, stress, and anxiety among university undergraduates; however, these studies rarely illuminate students’ perspectives on mental health services, resources, and supports that they need during and because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This phenomenological study explored the perspectives of undergraduate …


Viral Load Is Not A Predictor For Hearing Loss In Children With Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection, Nazia Kabani Jan 2021

Viral Load Is Not A Predictor For Hearing Loss In Children With Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection, Nazia Kabani

All ETDs from UAB

Background: Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is a leading non-genetic cause of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in children. Most infants (~90%) with cCMV have no clinical abnormalities at birth (asymptomatic cCMV), but 10-15% of these children develop SNHL. Due to lack of biomarkers, it is currently not possible to identify asymptomatic infants at-risk for hearing loss.Objective: To determine whether newborn viral load (VL) levels are predictive of hearing loss in children with asymptomatic cCMV. Methods: As part of the NIDCD CHIMES study, newborns at seven U.S. medical centers were screened for CMV by saliva PCR and enrolled in a follow-up study …


Gait Adaptability With Healthy Aging And Parkinson’S Disease, Daniel Kuhman Jan 2021

Gait Adaptability With Healthy Aging And Parkinson’S Disease, Daniel Kuhman

All ETDs from UAB

Human locomotion often occurs through environments with complex sets of external demands (e.g., obstacles, uneven surfaces, altered terrain, etc.). Fortunately, humans have developed locomotor systems capable of rapidly adapting gait patterns to navigate these environments. Advanced age and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) are associated with physiological changes that add to the complexity of locomotion – these individuals must not only adapt to changing environmental demands, but also to changes in internal function (e.g., reduced muscle strength, dysfunctional sensorimotor integration). While there is a growing body of literature indicating that healthy older adults maintain adaptability, less is known …


The Role Of Race, Sex, And Place In The Association Of Diabetes And Cardiovascular Disease, Gargya Malla Jan 2021

The Role Of Race, Sex, And Place In The Association Of Diabetes And Cardiovascular Disease, Gargya Malla

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Cardiovascular disease risk is higher among adult with diabetes than those without diabetes. This increase in risk may vary by race, sex, and neighborhood characteristics. Recent US data showed a resurgence in stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD) among adults with diabetes, and an increase in heart failure (HF) mortality. Therefore, this dissertation investigated how cardiovascular disease risk may vary by race, sex, and neighborhood characteristics for adults across the glycemic spectrum.Data from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, an ongoing prospective cohort of 30,239 Black and White adults age 45 years at baseline (2003-07) …


Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease In Blood Of Marrow Transplant Survivors, Radhika Gangaraju Jan 2021

Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease In Blood Of Marrow Transplant Survivors, Radhika Gangaraju

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Background: Blood or marrow transplant (BMT) recipients are vulnerable to accelerated atherosclerosis due to prior exposure to chemotherapy and radiation, and consequent long-term cardiovascular morbidity, such as coronary heart disease (CHD). A comprehensive evaluation of the risk of late-occurring CHD in adult BMT survivors and the associated risk factors has not been performed. Patients and Methods: Using the Blood or Marrow Transplant Survivor Study (BMTSS), we analyzed the incidence and risk factors for CHD in patients who underwent BMT between 1974 and 2014, and survived ≥2 years. The risk of CHD was examined in BMT survivors as compared to 1,131 …


An Analysis Of Preterm Birth Related To Sars-Cov-2 Infection By Race, Madeleine B. Mcgwin Jan 2021

An Analysis Of Preterm Birth Related To Sars-Cov-2 Infection By Race, Madeleine B. Mcgwin

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Research investigating the association between pregnant women with COVID-19 infection and adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth, having been contradicting. Individual differences between study populations, e.g., racial composition, may explain some of these inconsistencies. The aim of the present study is to determine if the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and pre-term birth varies according to race. A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Vizient Clinical Data Base/Research Manager (CDB/RM). The study participants were women who gave birth in one of the Vizient facilities between March 2020 and January 2021. A positive COVID-19 test status was the primary exposure …


How Inflammation, High-Density Lipoproteins, And Genes Affect The Relationship Between Apol1 And Kidney Outcomes, Ninad S. Chaudhary Jan 2021

How Inflammation, High-Density Lipoproteins, And Genes Affect The Relationship Between Apol1 And Kidney Outcomes, Ninad S. Chaudhary

All ETDs from UAB

Over the past decade, the discovery of novel genetic loci on chromosome 22q, apolipoprotein-L1 (APOL1), has given insights into the racial differences in kidney outcomes at the population level. APOL1 risk alleles are unique to African ancestry and confer increased susceptibility to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) especially among individuals without diabetes. However, the diseases do not occur in all who inherit these alleles. Current efforts are driven towards identifying the factors that can interact with APOL1 in the development of kidney diseases. This dissertation investigated whether the association between APOL1 and kidney outcomes is affected by inflammatory markers (AIM1), high-density …


Exploring The Physical And Mental Health Disparities In The Transgender Male Community In A Southern Community-Based Medical Lgbtq Organization, Karen E. Musgrove Jan 2020

Exploring The Physical And Mental Health Disparities In The Transgender Male Community In A Southern Community-Based Medical Lgbtq Organization, Karen E. Musgrove

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertation examined the physical and mental health disparities in the transgender male community in a Southern community-based medical LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) organization via a convergent mixed methods study design. There is a paucity of research on the transgender male community in terms of their physical and mental health care needs, services, and disparities. Quantitative data were col-lected via a chart review of 130 transgender male medical charts at the Magic City Well-ness Center (MCWC). The MCWC transgender male medical chart data were compared to three groups separately of the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) …


Genetic And Immunologic Predictors Of Genital Chlamydia Reinfection In African American Women Using Bayesian Hierarchical Models, Kristin Olson Jan 2020

Genetic And Immunologic Predictors Of Genital Chlamydia Reinfection In African American Women Using Bayesian Hierarchical Models, Kristin Olson

All ETDs from UAB

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection is the most common sexually transmitted infec-tion. The burden is greatest in young, African American women. CT reinfections are common and increase risk for reproductive morbidity. Why some women are more sus-ceptible to reinfection is not well understood. Emerging evidence suggests immunologic and genetic variants may predict reinfection susceptibility. The primary goal of this dissertation is to evaluate immunologic and genetic vari-ants as predictors of CT reinfection in young, African American women using different modeling approaches, which has never been reported previously. To evaluate a much larger number of potential predictors than our sample size (a …


Pheochromocytoma: A Systematic Review Of The Diagnosis, Treatment, And Risk Factors, Brandon A. Singletary Jan 2020

Pheochromocytoma: A Systematic Review Of The Diagnosis, Treatment, And Risk Factors, Brandon A. Singletary

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ABSTRACT Pheochromocytomas and extra-adrenal paragangliomas (PGLs) are forms of neuroendocrine tumors which when left untreated lead to debilitating complications of cerebral hemorrhaging, stroke, and death. Typically, the tumors present with symptoms of episodic headaches, sweating, and palpitations, however hypertension is considered one of the more predominant signs. As a result of the rarity of the disease and wide range of symptoms, there are often difficulties in screening and diagnosis to identify these tumors. While there are many case studies and results in small populations, large epidemiologic driven studies are limited. To date the majority of large-scale studies exist in countries …


Psychometric Evaluation Of A Perceived Barriers To Medication Adherence Instrument And Association Between Perceived Barriers And Patient Characteristics, Lynn Andreae Jan 2020

Psychometric Evaluation Of A Perceived Barriers To Medication Adherence Instrument And Association Between Perceived Barriers And Patient Characteristics, Lynn Andreae

All ETDs from UAB

Medication adherence is an important component of diabetes management, yet nonadherence is common and has substantial patient and economic costs. In order to achieve meaningful improvements in medication adherence, clinicians and researchers need good ways of both identifying those at risk of nonadherence and ascertaining the specific reasons driving nonadherence in those patients. Current options for self-reported medication adherence are limited in their vulnerability to response bias, which may lead to overestimation of adherence. A measure that assesses perceived barriers to medication adherence may be a useful alternative, as it may identify patients at risk of nonadherence while reducing socially …


Hospital Charge And Ricing Transparency, Kunal N. Patel Jan 2020

Hospital Charge And Ricing Transparency, Kunal N. Patel

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Hospital pricing is not uniformly disclosed to patients up-front before the delivery of healthcare. Moreover, pricing is not commonly understood by consumers and researchers, because the information was largely unavailable due to the lack of a federal policy mandate to make the information publicly available up until recently. The federal government instituted a series of regulations that initially began to take effect in 2019 in order to increase hospital pricing transparency with the aim of bending the healthcare cost curve. In this dissertation, hospital response, hospital standard charge variation, and healthcare management and policy expert opinion surrounding the implementation of …


Challenges And Promising Strategies For Maximizing Pregnant Women's Adherence And Retention In Niv Care In The Context Of Option B+ In Kenya, Anna Helova Jan 2020

Challenges And Promising Strategies For Maximizing Pregnant Women's Adherence And Retention In Niv Care In The Context Of Option B+ In Kenya, Anna Helova

All ETDs from UAB

Under the current Kenyan guidelines, pregnant/postpartum women who test HIV-positive are immediately put on the lifelong antiretroviral (ART) therapy (Option B+) and are initiated into the prevention of mother-to-child (PMTCT) protocol. Gaps at each step of the PMTCT continuum undermine the positive impact of lifelong ART. Challenges at the individual, interpersonal, community, and health facility-levels contribute to these gaps. A community-based mentor mother (cMM) program tested under the Mother-Infant Visit Adherence and Treatment Engagement(MOTIVATE!) Trial (NICHD R01 R01HD080477; ClinicalTrials.gov#14-0331) is a potential approach to address these challenges. The three manuscripts comprising this dissertation used qualitative and quantitative methods with the …


Effect Of Patient-Level Characteristics On Fluoroquinolone Susceptibility, Jeffrey Alan Franks Jan 2020

Effect Of Patient-Level Characteristics On Fluoroquinolone Susceptibility, Jeffrey Alan Franks

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Antimicrobial stewardship programs are becoming more widespread to combat antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of patient-level characteristics on fluoroquinolone susceptibly among five gram-negative isolates to help better their implementation. We performed a retrospective analysis of patients over the age of 18 for five gram-negative isolates (Acinetobacter species, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). We utilized Cox proportional hazards to determine the risk of patient-level characteristics, for both hospital and community-acquired infections, on fluoroquinolone resistance between 2016 and 2019. The population sample consisted of 8,285 patients receiving fluoroquinolones for at least one of the …


Impact Of Different Human Coronaviruses (Hcovs) On Pediatric Patients At A Tertiary Pediatric Hospital – Retrospective Study, Abdulsalam Alsulami Jan 2020

Impact Of Different Human Coronaviruses (Hcovs) On Pediatric Patients At A Tertiary Pediatric Hospital – Retrospective Study, Abdulsalam Alsulami

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Background: Human Coronaviruses (HCoV) are important pathogens associated with respiratory disease in humans and animals. The majority of HCoVs are emerging human pathogens with 7 known types causing human disease and 5 being identified in the last 2 decades. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all encounters with known HCoV at a tertiary pediatric hospital from January 2015 until January 2018. Electronic medical records (EMRs) were reviewed for demographic data, HCoV type, viral copathogens, time to testing, admission, need for increased intensity of care (HLC), requirement for supplemental oxygen, radiographic findings suggestive lower respiratory tract disease (LRT) when available …


Marginalized Models With Heterogeneous Random Effects For Zero-Inflated Longitudinal Count Data, Steve Boateng Ampah Jan 2020

Marginalized Models With Heterogeneous Random Effects For Zero-Inflated Longitudinal Count Data, Steve Boateng Ampah

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Longitudinal count data sometimes called panel data come up most often in publichealth and biomedical research, where investigators are interested in assessing the association between an identified exposure and the correlated count outcomes. It is worth mentioning most of these correlated count data exhibit over-dispersion, excess zeros and heterogeneous properties which when ignored during analysis can lead to biased estimates of covariate effects. The traditional zero-inflated count models with random effects have been developed to analyze such correlated count data, however the two sets of regression coefficients from this model, directly allow subgroup interpretations with the first set of coefficients …


Race, Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus And Vertebral Fragility Fractures: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From Nhanes, Yuchen At Xiao Jan 2020

Race, Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus And Vertebral Fragility Fractures: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From Nhanes, Yuchen At Xiao

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IntroductionThis study examined the association between race and bone health, and if T2DM modifies this association in a diverse sample of adults. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using the 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examine Survey (NHANES) data. Bone health outcomes included lumbar spine BMD (lowered BMD based on T-scores <-1), and vertebral deformities, assessed via vertebral fracture assessment (VFA), including presence, number of deformities, and severity ratio of deformities. T2DM status and other demographic, lifestyle, and health characteristics were self-reported via questionnaire data. To assess if T2DM modifies the association between race and bone health outcomes, we conducted stratified analyses using logistic regression for dichotomous outcomes, Poison regression for count outcomes, and linear regression for continuous outcomes. Results Non-Hispanic (NH) Blacks have significantly less odds of being lowered BMD and osteoporosis comparing to NH-Whites in the crude model and significantly less odds of having vertebral deformities comparing to NH-White in both crude and adjusted model for non-diabetic participants. Such differences are not observed in diabetic groups. Participants in Other race group have significantly more odds of being lowered BMD comparing to NH-Whites in the adjusted model for both diabetic and non-diabetic groups. And have significantly more odds of having vertebral deformities in the diabetic group, crude and adjusted, yet the differences are not significant in non-diabetic groups. Similar results were seen in the number of deformities and total bone loss ratio. The potential modification effect of T2DM was not significant in these models. Conclusions In our national evaluation, bone health differs not only by race and ethnic group but also by T2DM status. The protective vertebral fragility effects observed among NH-Blacks was no longer present among those with diabetes. Likewise, among participants in other racial and ethnic groups, T2DM seemed to magnify the association of worse vertebral fragility. Such trends indicate a potential modifying effect of participants’ T2DM status and should be noted clinically, yet more studies are required for more precise results.


Disparities In End-Of-Life Care In Children Dying Of Cancer In Alabama: A Cross Sectional Study, Elizabeth Statham Davis Jan 2020

Disparities In End-Of-Life Care In Children Dying Of Cancer In Alabama: A Cross Sectional Study, Elizabeth Statham Davis

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Regional studies show that children dying of cancer receive medically intense end-of-life care but there is limited information about end-of-life care in the Deep South and limited information about hospice and palliative care involvement at EOL. We conducted a retrospective electronic medical record review of children (0-x years) that died of cancer between 2010-20199 who received cancer directed therapy at Children’s of Alabama. We collected patient clinical and sociodemographics factors, including sex, race, and area deprivation index, cancer diagnosis and treatment, palliative care and hospice involvement, location of death, and medical care in the last 30d of life, including chemotherapy …


Incorporating Spatial Structure Into Bayesian Variable Selection Using Spike-And-Slab Priors With Application To Imaging Data, Justin Leach Jan 2020

Incorporating Spatial Structure Into Bayesian Variable Selection Using Spike-And-Slab Priors With Application To Imaging Data, Justin Leach

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Many applications in neuroscience, psychology, medicine, and public health require collecting and analyzing imaging data. While fine resolution images may appear continuous to the naked eye, they are in fact made up of measurements at discrete locations, either pixels in 2D or voxels in 3D. These data may be treated as the scientific outcomes of interest, or as predictors of outcomes of interest. Here, the concern is with the latter situation, which involves converting images into formats amenable to a linear modeling framework; i.e., each subject’s image is converted into a vector, and used to model the subject’s (scalar) outcome …


Life-Space And Cognitive Function By Cardiovascular Disease Risk: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From The Regards Study, Emiri Matsuda Jan 2020

Life-Space And Cognitive Function By Cardiovascular Disease Risk: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From The Regards Study, Emiri Matsuda

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Performance on mobility assessments has been extensively linked to processing speed and executive function among older adults. However, less is known about the relationship between cognitive function and functional mobility as part of day to day life. African American individuals are at higher risk of cardiovascular complications, functional mobility, and cognitive decline compared to Whites. In addition, cardiovas-cular disease risk factors and neuropathology have been linked to impairment in several domains of cognitive function, including processing speed. The current study examined the cross-sectional association between life-space and cognitive function, specifically performance on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), a measure …


Peace. Love. Youth. (In) Yoga: Development Of A Mental Health Program Among Adolescents Living In The Inner City, Sherilyn Jonnell Garner Jan 2020

Peace. Love. Youth. (In) Yoga: Development Of A Mental Health Program Among Adolescents Living In The Inner City, Sherilyn Jonnell Garner

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Adolescence is a unique developmental stage during which physical, cognitive, social, and emotional changes occur simultaneously and the traumatic effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can be particularly salient for the emotional and cognitive development of adolescents as they navigate and adjust to the social environment (Blakemore & Mills, 2014). Seventy-seven percent of Black adolescents have unmet mental health needs, and only 13% of those adolescents receive services compared to 31% of White adolescents. Meeting mental health needs of Black adolescents is imperative as their mental health needs continue to grow and resources become increasingly scarce. Innovative, culturally acceptable, accessible …


Employer Sponsored Health Insurance And Children With Special Health Care Needs, Kathryn Corvey Jan 2020

Employer Sponsored Health Insurance And Children With Special Health Care Needs, Kathryn Corvey

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This dissertation is composed of three papers related to children with special health care needs (CSHCN) who are covered by private health insurance, including employer sponsored health insurance. Over the past couple of decades, researchers and advocates have expressed concern about the impact that widespread changes in private insurance coverage may have on families of CSHCN. These researchers point to the rise in high deductible plans and declining generosity in the form of higher premiums and copayments in more traditional plans offered by employers. Despite this expressed concern, little research has been conducted examining how these changes in employer sponsored …


Translating Public Health Strategies To Examine Hypertensive Disorders Of Pregnancy In Alabama, Matthew Dean Moore Jan 2020

Translating Public Health Strategies To Examine Hypertensive Disorders Of Pregnancy In Alabama, Matthew Dean Moore

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Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are on the rise in the United States and contribute significantly to maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. The impact of such disorders is especially burdensome for women insured by Medicaid, for those who live in the South, and for those representing racial and ethnic minorities. It is evident across the aims of this dissertation that HDP remains an important public health concern to stakeholders in Alabama, its diagnosis is influenced by various maternal characteristics, and it can result in disparate severe outcomes for some populations. The first aim examines systems level decision-making in the …


Understanding Financial Hardship In Women With Breast Cancer, Courtney Williams Jan 2020

Understanding Financial Hardship In Women With Breast Cancer, Courtney Williams

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Individuals with cancer are at risk of material, psychological, and behavioral financial hardship due to costly new treatments, increasing time on treatment, and longer survival. Breast cancer is an ideal environment to study financial hardship. Treatment options for metastatic breast cancer are heterogeneous due to differences in patient characteristics, disease biology, and because it has the largest number of treatment options of any metastatic cancer. In early stage breast cancer, treatment options include multimodality treatments, including surgery, radiation, and medical therapy (chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy), with the choice for each modality being dependent on the other modality decisions. Despite …