Public Health Commons^™

Prospective Prediction Of Juvenile Homicide/Attempted Homicide Among Early-Onset Juvenile Offenders, Michael T. Baglivio, Kevin T. Wolff

Publications and Research

While homicide perpetrated by juveniles is a relatively rare occurrence, between 2010 and 2014, approximately 7%–8% of all murders involved a juvenile offender. Unfortunately, few studies have prospectively examined the predictors of homicide offending, with none examining first-time murder among a sample of adjudicated male and female youth. The current study employed data on 5908 juvenile offenders (70% male, 45% Black) first arrested at the age of 12 or younger to prospectively examine predictors of an arrest for homicide/attempted homicide by the age of 18. Among these early-onset offenders, males, Black youth, those living in households with family members with …

A Mendelian Randomization Study Of The Effect Of Calcium On Coronary Artery Disease, Myocardial Infarction And Their Risk Factors, Lin Xu, Shi Lin Lin, C. Mary Schooling

Publications and Research

Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest calcium could have adverse effects on cardiovascular disease, although these findings are controversial. To clarify, we assessed whether people with genetically higher calcium had a higher risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction (MI) and their risk factors. We used a two-sample Mendelian randomization study. We identified genetic variants (single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)) that independently contributed to serum calcium at genome-wide significance which we applied to large extensively genotyped studies of CAD, MI, diabetes, lipids, glycaemic traits and adiposity to obtain unconfounded estimates, with body mass index (BMI) as a control outcome. …

Redeamericas: Building Research Capacity In Young Leaders For Sustainable Growth In Community Mental Health Services In Latin America, L. Yang, C. Pratt, E. Valencia, S. Conover, R. Fernández, M.S. Burrone, M.T. Cavalcanti, G. Lovisi, G. Rojas, R. Alvarado, S. Galea, L. N. Price, E. Susser

Publications and Research

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and initial accomplishments of a training program of young leaders in community mental health research as part of a Latin American initiative known as RedeAmericas. RedeAmericas was one of five regional ‘Hubs’ funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to improve community mental health care and build mental health research capacity in low- and middle-income countries. It included investigators in six Latin American cities – Santiago, Chile; Medellín, Colombia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Córdoba, Neuquén, and Buenos Aires in Argentina – working together with a team affiliated …

Hepatitis C Serosorting Among People Who Inject Drugs In Rural Puerto Rico, Ian Duncan, Ric Curtis, Juan Carlos Reyes, Roberto Abadie, Bilal Khan, Kirk Dombrowski

Publications and Research

Due to the high cost of treatment, preventative measures to limit Hepatitis C (HCV) transmission among people who inject drugs (PWID) are encouraged by many public health officials. A key one of these is serosorting, where PWID select risk partners based on concordant HCV status. Research on the general U.S. population bySmith et al. (2013) found that knowledge of one's own HCV status facilitated serosorting behaviors among PWID, such that respondents with knowledge of their own status were more likely to ask potential partners about their status prior to sharing risk. Our objective was to see if this held true …

Impact Of Cannabis Use On Treatment Outcomes Among Adults Receiving Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment For Ptsd And Substance Use Disorders, Lesia M. Ruglass, Alina Shevorykin, Vanja Radoncic, Kathryn M. Z. Smith, Philip H. Smith, Isaac R. Galatzer-Levy, Santiago Papini, Denise A. Hien

Publications and Research

Background: Research has demonstrated a strong link between trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) in general and cannabis use disorders in particular. Yet, few studies have examined the impact of cannabis use on treatment outcomes for individuals with co-occurring PTSD and SUDs. Methods: Participants were 136 individuals who received cognitive-behavioral therapies for co-occurring PTSD and SUD. Multivariate regressions were utilized to examine the associations between baseline cannabis use and end-of-treatment outcomes. Multilevel linear growth models were fit to the data to examine the cross-lagged associations between weekly cannabis use and weekly PTSD symptom severity and primary …

Preventive Healthcare: A Neural Network Analysis Of Behavioral Habits And Chronic Diseases, Viju Raghupathi, Wullianallur Raghupathi

Publications and Research

The research aims to explore the association between behavioral habits and chronic diseases, and to identify a portfolio of risk factors for preventive healthcare. The data is taken from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) database of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for the year 2012. Using SPSS Modeler, we deploy neural networks to identify strong positive and negative associations between certain chronic diseases and behavioral habits. The data for 475,687 records from BRFS database included behavioral habit variables of consumption of soda and fruits/vegetables, alcohol, smoking, weekly working hours, and exercise; chronic disease variables of heart …

Reproductive History Before And After Hiv Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Study In Hiv-Positive Women In Spain, Victoria Hernando, Belen Alejos, Marta Montero, M Jesús Pérez-Elias, José Ramón Blanco, Livia Giner, Juan Luis Gómez-Sirvent, Jose Antonio Iribarren, Enrique Bernal, Francisco Bolumar

Publications and Research

The aim of this study is to examine the reproductive history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive women, before and after HIV diagnosis, to describe the characteristics of women with pregnancies after HIV diagnosis, and to assess the prevalence of mother-to-child transmission.

A cross-sectional study was performed among women within reproductive ages (18–49) selected from the cohort in the Spanish AIDS Research Network (CoRIS). A descriptive analysis of the pregnancy outcomes was made according to women’s serostatus at the moment of pregnancy and association of women’s characteristics with having pregnancy after HIV diagnosis was evaluated using logistic regression models.

Overall, 161 …

Characteristics Of Hiv-Infected Children At Enrollment Into Care And At Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation In Central Africa, Adebola Adedimeji, Andrew Edmonds, Donald Hoover, Qiuhu Shi, Jean D'Amour Sinayobye, Martin Nduwinmana, Patricia Lelo, Denis Nash, Kathryn Anastos, Marcel Yotebieng

Publications and Research

Background Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) regularly updating guidelines to recommend earlier initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in children, timely enrollment into care and initiation of ART in sub-Saharan Africa in children lags behind that of adults. The impact of implementing increasingly less restrictive ART guidelines on ART initiation in Central Africa has not been described.

Materials and Methods Data are from the Central Africa International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) pediatric cohort of 3,426 children (0±15 years) entering HIV care at 15 sites in Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda. Measures include CD4 count, WHO clinical stage, age, and …

Conceptualizing Care Continua: Lessons From Hiv, Hepatitis C Virus, Tuberculosis And Implications For The Development Of Improved Care And Prevention Continua, David C. Periman, Ashly E. Jordan, Denis Nash

Publications and Research

Background: To examine the application of continuum models to tuberculosis, HIV, and other conditions; to theorize the concept of continua; and to learn lessons that could inform the development of improved care and prevention continua as public health metrics.

Methods: An analytic review of literature drawn from several fields of health care.

Results: The continuum construct is now part of public health evaluation systems for HIV, and is increasingly used in public health and the medical literature. Issues with the comparability and optimal design of care continuum models have been raised, and their methodologic and theoretic underpinnings and scope of …

Research Methods In Occupational Health Psychology, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Chu-Hsiang Chang

Publications and Research

http://www.springerpub.com/occupational-health-psychology.html

Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field that focuses on the science and practice of psychology in promoting and developing workplace health- and safety-related initiatives. This comprehensive text for undergraduate and graduate survey courses is the first to encompass a wide range of key issues in OHP. It draws from the domains of psychology, public health, preventive medicine,nursing, industrial engineering, law, and epidemiology to focus on the theory and practice of protecting and promoting the health, well-being, and safety of individuals in the workplace and improving the quality of work life.

The text addresses key psychosocial …

Creating Integrated Strategies For Increasing Access To Healthy Affordable Food In Urban Communities: A Case Study Of Intersecting Food Initiatives, Michele Silver, Afia Bediako, Tracey Capers, Aysu Kirac, Nicholas Freudenberg

Publications and Research

In New York and other cities, substantial evidence documents that community food environments interact with inequitable allocation of power, wealth and services to shape the distribution of diet-related diseases and food insecurity. This case study shows how one Central Brooklyn community organization, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, has launched multiple coordinated food initiatives in order to reduce the burden of food-related health problems and boost community development. The report used standard case study methods to document the implementation of the New York City Food and Fitness Partnership in Central Brooklyn. The case study shows how two distinct strands of activities, a …

Burnout-Depression Overlap: A Study Of New Zealand Schoolteachers, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Mayor, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

We examined the overlap of burnout with depression in a sample of 184 New Zealand schoolteachers. Burnout and depressive symptoms were strongly correlated with each other (r = .73; disattenuated correlation: .82) and moderately correlated with dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative responses, and pessimistic attributions. All the participants with high frequencies of burnout symptoms were identified as clinically depressed. Suicidal ideation was reported by 36% of those participants. Three groups of teachers emerged from a two-step cluster analysis: “low burnout-depression,” “medium burnout-depression,” and “high burnout-depression.” The correlation between the affective-cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression was similar in strength to the burnout-depression …

Incentives To Change: Effects Of Performance-Based Financing On Health Workers In Zambia, Gordon C. Shen, Ha Thi Hong Nguyen, Ashis Das, Nkenda Sachingongu, Collins Chansa, Jumana Qamruddin, Jed Friedman

Publications and Research

Background: Performance-based financing (PBF) has been implemented in a number of countries with the aim of transforming health systems and improving maternal and child health. This paper examines the effect of PBF on health workers’ job satisfaction, motivation, and attrition in Zambia. It uses a randomized intervention/control design to evaluate before–after changes for three groups: intervention (PBF) group, control 1 (C1; enhanced financing) group, and control 2 (C2; pure control) group.

Methods: Mixed methods are employed. The quantitative portion comprises of a baseline and an endline survey. The survey and sampling scheme were designed to allow for a rigorous impact …

Perceived Discrimination And Self-Rated Health In The Immigrant Population Of The Basque Country, Spain, Elena Rodriguez-Alvarez, Yolanda Gonzalez-Rabago, Luisa N. Borrell, Nerea Lanborena

Publications and Research

Objective

To examine the effect of perceived discrimination and self-rated health among the immigrant population in the Basque Country, Spain, and determine whether this effect varies according to region of origin, age, sex and education. Methods

Descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population included immigrants aged 18 and older residing in the Basque Country. Data from the 2014 Foreign Immigrant Population Survey (n=3,456) were used. Log-binomial regression was used to quantify the association between perceived discrimination and self-rated health before and after checking for the selected characteristics. Results

Almost 1 in 10 immigrant adults reports perceiving discrimination. In adjusted analyses, the …

Countermarketing Alcohol And Unhealthy Food: An Effective Strategy For Preventing Noncommunicable Diseases? Lessons From Tobacco, P. Christopher Palmedo, Lori Dorfman, Sarah Garza, Eleni K. Murphy, Nicholas Freudenberg

Publications and Research

Countermarketing campaigns use health communications to reduce the demand for unhealthy products by exposing motives and undermining marketing practices of producers. These campaigns can contribute to the prevention of noncommunicable diseases by denormalizing the marketing of tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy food. By portraying these activities as outside the boundaries of civilized corporate behavior, countermarketing can reduce the demand for unhealthy products and lead to changes in industry marketing practices. Countermarketing blends consumer protection, media advocacy, and health education with the demand for corporate accountability. Countermarketing campaigns have been demonstrated to be an effective component of comprehensive tobacco control. This review …

Burnout Or Depression: Both Individual And Social Issue, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Éric Laurent

Publications and Research

In view of the profound problems attached to the construct of burnout, we recommended in our that occupational health specialists focus on (job-related) depression rather than burnout to help workers more effectively. The phenomena of interest (burnout or depression) should not be confused with the perspectives (individual or social) adopted to elucidate those phenomena. Both burnout and depression are best explained through the interaction of social or external conditions with individual or internal dispositions.

Comparing Cmaq Forecasts With A Neural Network Forecast Model For Pm2.5 In New York, Samuel D. Lightstone, Fred Moshary, Barry Gross

Publications and Research

Human health is strongly affected by the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The need to forecast unhealthy conditions has driven the development of Chemical Transport Models such as Community Multi-Scale Air Quality (CMAQ). These models attempt to simulate the complex dynamics of chemical transport by combined meteorology, emission inventories (EI’s), and gas/particle chemistry and dynamics. Ultimately, the goal is to establish useful forecasts that could provide vulnerable members of the population with warnings. In the simplest utilization, any forecast should focus on next day pollution levels, and should be provided by the end of the business day (5 p.m. …

We Like Fried Things: Negotiating Health, Taste And Tradition Among Spanish Caribbean Communities In New York City, Melissa Fuster

Publications and Research

The study was conducted to understand fried-food (FF) consumption among Hispanic Caribbean (HC) communities in New York City. Data were collected through qualitative interviews with 23 adults self-identified as Cuban, Dominican, or Puerto Rican. Most informants considered FFs an important part of their traditional diet. Potential explanations included taste, cost, convenience, and the emotive values attached to FF. FF consumption was contextualized in local foodscapes. Results include strategies to diminish FF consumption and differences across HC groups and migratory generations. The relevance for future nutrition interventions addressing health disparities in this community is discussed

Frequently Endorsed Cognitive And Physical Activities Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Valdiva G. Da Silva, Tangeria R. Adams, Joshua Fogel, Mindy J. Katz, Krystal E. Mendez, Laura A. Rabin

Publications and Research

Background Despite the established benefits of cognitive and physical activity, a paucity of research examines the specific activities older adults favor, particularly those meeting the nationally recommended minimum duration of > 30 minutes per session.

Material/Methods 260 non-demented, community-dwelling participants aged 70 and above self-reported the duration of their participation in 26 cognitive and physical activities during a typical week. Overall activity engagement was investigated by sex and educational level.

Results The most endorsed physical activities were walking, stretching/yoga and gardening, while the most endorsed cognitive activities were reading magazines/newspapers, reading books, and doing crosswords. Walking (p = .048), swimming (p …

A Cost-Effectiveness Study Of The Quadrivalent Hpv6/11/16/18 Vaccination In A Two-Dose Scheme In Girls Of 9-11 Years Old Compared To Bivalent Hpv 16/18 Vaccination In Ecuador And Challenges For Public Health And Screening, Maria-Isabel Roldos, Isabel Espinosa, Amit Kulkarni, Matthew Pillsbury, Andrew Pavelyev, Homero A. Monsanto, Diego Guarin, Miguel Cashat-Cruz

Publications and Research

Abstract

Aims: Assess the incremental cost-effectiveness of the quadrivalent HPV6/11/16/18 vaccination as administered in a two-dose scheme to girls between 9 and 11 years old, as compared to the bivalent HPV 16/18 vaccination administered in Ecuador, and to estimate the cost-saving of preventing GW while preventing cervical cancer with both vaccines.

Study Design: We used a previously developed transmission dynamic mathematical model to evaluate the impact of routine vaccination of 9-11 year-old females. The model assumed coverage of 90% for two doses of HPV6/11/16/18 vaccine at international price rates versus HPV16/18 vaccine and costs for genital warts treatment. Other simulation …

The Role Of Birthplace And Educational Attainment On Induced Abortion Inequalities, Yolanda Gonzalez-Rabago, Elena Rodriguez-Alvarez, Luisa N. Borrell, Unai Martin

Publications and Research

Background: Induced abortion (IA) has shown social inequality related to birthplace and education with higher rates of IAs in immigrant and in less educated women relative to their native and highly educated counterparts. This study examined the independent and joint effects of birthplace and education on IA, repeated and IA performed during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy among women residing in the Basque Country, Spain.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional population-based study of IA among women aged 25–49 years residing in the Basque Country, Spain, between 2011 and 2013. Log-binomial regression was used to quantify the independent and joint effects …

Editorial: Depression, Burnout, And Other Mood Disorders: Interdisciplinary Approaches, Eric Laurent, Bianchi Renzo, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Pierre Vandel

Publications and Research

Various perspectives on mood disorders and psychopathology are brought into perspective. The paper underlines (i) an interdisciplinary perspective and a complexity-oriented approach and (ii) an interest in both basic problems in science and potential far-reaching consequences of research applications.

Burnout Or Depression: Both Individual And Social Issue, Bianchi Renzo, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

In view of the profound problems attached to the construct of burnout, we recommended that occupational health specialists focus on (job-related) depression rather than burnout to help workers more effectively. Epstein and Privitera (April 8, 1398) rejected our recommendation on the grounds that burnout is not a “purely individual syndrome”. Problematically, Epstein and Privitera attributed to us an idea that is not ours. In these authors’ view, equating burnout with depression is synonymous with mistakenly individualising a social problem. For two reasons, the argument that depression cannot replace burnout because burnout is a social problem whereas depression is an individual …

‘Burnout Syndrome’: From Nosological Indeterminacy To Epidemiological Nonsense, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

All in all, Imo’s review is undermined by the very research it relies on. We recommend that researchers interested in burnout begin at the beginning, that is to say, by establishing a reasoned, clinically-founded (differential) diagnosis for their entity of interest. As long as investigators do not complete the required groundwork for establishing a diagnosis and remain unable to distinguish a case of burnout from either a noncase or an existing disorder, conclusions regarding the prevalence of burnout will be nonsense. To close this comment, we note that an immediately available solution for effectively monitoring and protecting physicians’ occupational health …

On The Depressive Nature Of The “Burnout Syndrome”: A Clarification, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Pierre Vandel, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Key theoretical arguments and empirical findings converge to suggest that the burnout construct captures a depressive phenomenon. The reluctance to consider burnout a depressive condition may be due to (a) a neglect of the stress–depression relationship and (b) a difficulty coordinating dimensional and categorical approaches to psychopathology in burnout research. The dimensions and categories constitute two ways of describing (psychopathological) phenomena. Thus, dimensions and categories should be heuristically combined rather than opposed: burnout and depression can be studied both as ‘‘processes’’ or ‘‘end-states’’. Clarifying what burnout actually is matters in terms of conceptual parsimony, theoretical integration, nosological consistency, interventional effectiveness, …

Physician Burnout Is Better Conceptualised As Depression, Bianchi Renzo, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Ronald Epstein and Michael Privitera reported that burnout affects more than half of practising physicians. The authors additionally warned against confusing burnout with depression. For two reasons we are concerned with the validity of these conclusions. First, there is now robust evidence that burnout is a depressive condition. Second, the published estimates of burnout’s prevalence rely on clinically groundless criteria, cobbled together without any rationale.

Can We Trust Burnout Research?, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Banerjee et al. recently attempted to estimate the ‘prevalence’ of burnout among European oncologists.Studies of burnout’s ‘prevalence’ are flourishing in the medical literature, with their cortege of arbitrary estimates. We think that it is high time to reconsider the way burnout is conceived and assessed, in order to avoid a trivialization of the job stress phenomenon and allow for a more rational allocation of our (limited) interventional resources. Recasting burnout as a work-related depressive condition may be a critical step in this process.

Do Burnout Researchers Go Around In Circles?, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

The incessant reports on the burnout syndrome contrasts sharply with the validity of burnout research. Major problems in the definition and discriminant validity of burnout prevent investigators from getting a clear view of how job stress affects physicians’ health. The inability to distinguish a case of burnout from a non-case is only one of many signs that burnout research is problematic. Burnout researchers should face this reality rather than ignore it.

Defining Physician Burnout, And Differentiating Between Burnout And Depression—I, Bianchi Renzo, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

A redefinition of burnout as a depressive condition is called for so that the harmful effects of unresolvable job stress can be more accurately and comprehensively assessed. As research compellingly suggests, reducing the harmful effects of unresolvable job stress to the experience of burnout's dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment is mistaken in that it denies the depressive core of the syndrome referred to as “burnout.” Replacing the notion of burnout by the concept of job-induced depression would help us be more effective in the management of occupational adversity.

Burnout Symptoms: Depressive Manifestations Under Psychosocial Labels?, Bianchi Renzo, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

It can be concluded that burnout symptoms represent depressive symptoms under nonmedical labels. Our analysis supports the view that burnout is synonymous with depression and constitutes a roadblock to transdisciplinary communication.