Public Health Commons^™

Barriers To Relational Continuity Of Care For Undergraduate College Students In Southeastern South Dakota, Laura E. Nelson

Honors Thesis

In health care, the patient’s relationship with his or her provider serves as a foundation upon which health care decisions are guided and health outcomes are addressed. Relational continuity of care refers to the presence of a sustained (long-term) relationship between a primary care provider (PCP) and a patient. Such continuity of care has been linked with improved health outcomes, reduced mortality, lower health care costs, increased patient satisfaction, and increased delivery of preventative services. Relational continuity of care tends to be low amongst young adults, especially college students. The reasons for this – and the salient barriers to relational …

The Inflammatory Potential Of Diet And Its Relationship With Metabolic, Mental, And Cardiovascular Health Among Childhood Cancer Survivors: The St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (Sjlife), Christian Ricardo Alvarado

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Diet is now known to play an important role in the process of inflammation and subsequent chronic health events, such as cancer, metabolic syndrome (MetS), anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®) and energy-adjusted DII (E-DIITM) are tools that can estimate the inflammatory potential of diet of individuals. Previous research has focused predominantly on diet-associated inflammation and adverse health effects in populations that were not composed of cancer survivors. As of the time of this dissertation, none have focused on childhood cancer survivors. Childhood cancer survivors are at an elevated risk of suffering from an …

The Dietary Inflammatory Index Is Associated With Low Muscle Mass And Low Muscle Function In Older Australians, Marlene Gojanovic, Kara L. Holloway-Kew, Natalie K. Hyde, Mohammadreza Mohebbi, Nitin Shivappa Mbbs, Mph, Ph.D., James R. Hébert Scd., Adrienne O'Neil, Julie A. Pasco

Faculty Publications

Age-associated chronic, low grade systemic inflammation has been recognised as an important contributing factor in the development of sarcopenia; importantly, diet may regulate this process. This cross-sectional study examined the association of diet-related inflammation with components of sarcopenia. Participants (n = 809) aged 60–95 years from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study were studied. Body composition was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. In this study, low appendicular lean mass (ALM/height2, kg/m2) was defined as T-score < −1 and low muscle function as Timed-Up-and-Go >10 s over 3 m (TUG > 10). Dietary inflammatory index (DII®) scores, based on specific foods and nutrients, were computed using dietary data collected from a …

Vaccine Hesitancy & Study Of Attitudes And Barriers Towards The Influenza Vaccine In Public Health Students At Liberty University, Mikayla Zook

Senior Honors Theses

Every year 2.5 million deaths worldwide are prevented because of vaccinations. Vaccine hesitancy is defined as delayed acceptance or refusal of vaccination and is a global threat to public health. Attitudes and barriers towards vaccines vary and change from group to group. Eighty-five percent of surveyed public health students at Liberty University did not receive the seasonal influenza vaccine. Their attitudes and barriers included: “I did not have time to receive a flu vaccination”, “I believe that as a result of the flu shot, I may actually get the flu”, and “I do not believe I am in danger of …

A Comparison Of The Prevalence Of Cirrhosis In A Hispanic And Non-Hispanic Population Based On Body Mass Index, Abbie Thompson, Alexa Perlick, Angel Rendon, Colton Wayne, Sarvani Uppati

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

There is a paucity of data regarding the clinical correlation of obesity and cirrhosis in a predominantly Hispanic population. Additionally, data is limited on the contribution of BMI to the incidence of liver cirrhosis in Hispanics in South Texas. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of liver cirrhosis and compare the prevalence between Hispanic and Non-Hispanics. In addition, these researchers seek to investigate the prevalence of liver cirrhosis stratified by body mass index. These researchers hypothesize that the prevalence of liver cirrhosis is higher amongst Hispanics than Non-Hispanics individuals, and that higher body mass index scores …

The Human In The Middle: Artificial Intelligence In Health Care Summary Proceedings Symposium Presentation And Reactor Panel Of Experts Thomas Jefferson University December 10, 2019., Janice L. Clarke, Alexandria Skoufalos, Steven Klasko, Md, Mba

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Apolipoprotein E And Development Of Alzheimer’S Disease In Hispanic Populations: A Scoping Review, Amy Nguyen, Stacey Moeller

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) disproportionately affects Hispanic individuals, who face about 1.5- fold more risk for AD than non-Hispanic whites (NHW). Few studies examine AD biomarkers by ethnoracial group, even for the well-established susceptibility locus of apolipoprotein E (APOE). This study reviews current literature on the association between APOE and incidence of AD in Hispanic populations. A scoping review was conducted to identify publications with Hispanic study samples that examined prevalence of APOE’s three alleles (e2, e3, e4) and the risk of disease conferred by each. Two researchers combined search results from PubMed, Scopus, and APA PsycInfo databases, deleted duplicates, and …

Project C.O.P.E Sexual Health Intervention On Sexual Negotiations Skills Among Black And Hispanic Adolescents In An Under-Resourced Northeastern Urban Community, Irene N. Cantu

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

Decades of sexual health interventions have focused on the disparities youth of color face; however, inequalities in health outcomes and resources remain. This study evaluated Project C.O.P.E. (Communities Organizing for Prevention and Empowerment), a sexual health intervention in an under-resourced northeastern urban community. The goal of the study was to determine if the intervention, personal domains (ethnic identity and family support), or sexual health domains (Viral Hepatitis [VH] knowledge and human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] knowledge) had an impact on sexual negotiation skills in Black and Hispanic adolescent participants (n =510; M_age =16.78 ± 1.14). Between group analyses found significant …

Digital Sustainability And Its Implications For Finance And Climate Change, Gerard George, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

As the pandemic forced the entire world to a virtual standstill, nature revived a little. The US emitted 10.3% less CO2 in 2020 than in 2019 and other regions similarly experienced emission declines. Depending on the source, global carbon emissions were down between 4 and 8% in 2020.2 Consumers globally have expressed more concern about sustainability, an observation confirmed by large survey research by Accenture, Kantar, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Ipsos.3 In its latest Emissions Gap Report4 , the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) explicitly connected the pandemic to climate change, nature loss, and pollution. Besides the acceleration of business …

Cohesion, Covid-19 And Contemporary Challenges To Globalization, Andrew Delios, Gordon Perchthold, Alex Capri

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, the decades-long, pan-continental globalization consensus was being questioned. In our view, the pandemic has accelerated the rate at which the globalization consensus is being defied. To better understand the implications of this defiance, we turn to research on people, organizations and international competition to see whether this defiance weakens the cohesion needed to keep globalization moving apace. People and organizations create cohesive forces that can link and constrain the differences that are encountered when people and organizations move across international borders. Meanwhile, the nature of international competition, particularly as connected to the level …

Implementing A Peer Advocate Mental Health Digital Intervention Program For Ohio Youth: Descriptive Pilot Study, Tashuna Albritton, Kelsey Lynett Ford, Kira Elsbernd, Melodie Santodomingo, Ivan Juzang, Pam Weddington, Sheana Bull

Publications and Research

In the United States, millions of adolescents report poor mental health, where 1 in 5 teenagers considers suicide. Reducing stigma and fostering peer support remains critical for positive mental health interventions and programs. Increasingly, digital mental health tools have emerged with great promise, leveraging social networks. Despite the potential, limited understanding of such comprehensive programs and their implementation exist.

Perceived Neighborhood Characteristics And Cognitive Function Among Older Adults: Examining The Role Of Depression, Allison Sullivan, Mph

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: African American older adults have a greater risk of cognitive impairment compared to White older adults. While some research has established that neighborhoods are an important determinant of health, relatively little research has examined the relationship between perceived neighborhood characteristics and cognitive functioning among older adults. Moreover, little is known about how depression is implicated in the relationship between perceived neighborhood characteristics and cognitive functioning, and if racial differences exist. Thus, this thesis aims to determine the mediating and moderating role of depression in the association between perceived neighborhood characteristics and cognitive functioning in older African American and White …

Association Of Nsaids And Acetaminophen Prescriptions During Pregnancy With Autism Spectrum Disorders In The Child, Mohiuddin Ahsanul Kabir Chowdhury

Theses and Dissertations

Neurodevelopmental disorders in children including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Intellectual disability (ID) are the topics of growing concern and recently many studies looked for the risk factors of these disorders. Although antidepressants and antiepileptics consumption during pregnancy have been reported to be associated with ASD, the effect of NSAID or acetaminophen, two most common drugs used during pregnancy, have been under researched. We conducted a prospective cohort study linking data from Medicaid, Department of Education, and Department of Disabilities and Special Needs with birth certificate data from mothers and children between 2010-2017. Beside exposure variables, NSAID and acetaminophen, and …

Evaluation Of A Clinic-Based Peer Navigation Program (Pnp) For African Americans Living With Hiv In South Carolina, Kimberly Butler Willis

Theses and Dissertations

Peer navigation programs have been identified as a potential motivator in care engagement and retention for patients living with HIV, although the data is inconsistent. HIV management requires important disease management considerations and innovative approaches for patient care. Medication advancements and technology have drastically improved care for most patients living with this chronic disease; yet African Americans contract, live with, and die because of HIV-related complications at disproportionately higher rates compared to their White peers.The purpose of this exploratory mixed-methods outcome evaluation is to: (1) determine if peer navigation is a viable intervention to improve three key HIV care metrics: …

Neurodevelopment Correlates With Gut Microbiota In A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Children At 3 Years Of Age In Rural China, Sarah E. Rothenberg, Qiurong Chen, Yanfen Nong, Hua Nong, Eva P. Trinh, Fred J. Biasini, Jihong Liu, Xiaoyun Zeng, Yunfeng Zou, Fengxiu Ouyang, Susan A. Korrick

Faculty Publications

We investigated cross-sectional associations between children’s neurodevelopment and their gut microbiota composition. Study children (36 months of age) lived in rural China (n = 46). Neurodevelopment was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 2nd Edition, yielding the Mental Developmental Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI). Children's gut microbiota was assessed using 16S rRNA gene profiling. Microbial diversity was characterized using alpha diversity patterns. Additionally, 3 coabundance factors were determined for the 25 most abundant taxa. Multivariable linear regression models were constructed to examine the relationships between Bayley scores (MDI and PDI) and children's gut microbiota. In adjusted …

Emergent Trends In The Chinese Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Supply Chain And Opportunities For Public-Private Reform, Mary Monk

Senior Theses

This research seeks to identify and analyze emerging trends in the Chinese counterfeit pharmaceutical trade, extending from the supply chain’s point of origin to domestic and overseas retail dispensary. To aid readability, Chapter 1 of this thesis opens with key conclusions and policy recommendations for various Chinese and U.S. stakeholders based on the shortcomings identified in Chapter 5. Chapter 2 begins with a review of international roadblocks to diagnosing the issue, such as lack of consensus on working definitions and cross-border discrepancies in pharmaceutical oversight regulation. This section also provides a general overview of existing factors driving demand for counterfeit …

Us Vs. Wales: Comparing And Improving Refugee Health Policy, Payton Ramsey

Senior Theses

Inadequate strides have been made to bolster the short and long-term health of growing numbers of refugees awaiting resettlement. The United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as many countries of resettlement, guarantee the right to health as signatories of the UN 1951 Refugee Convention, but in many situations refugee accessibility to healthcare and health resources is limited by time restrictions on benefits, immigration status, and/or financial circumstances.

This thesis provides a synopsis of the historical roots of current policies and legislative frameworks relating to refugee health for Wales and the US. Through the analysis of governmental policy …

The Effects Of The Use Of Medical Interpreters Amongst The Latina Population In The Context Of Sexual And Reproductive Health, Carson Collins

Senior Theses

The Latino population in the United States is large and consistently growing. These individuals, due to cultural and systemic factors, are at greater risk for a variety of health problems, especially in the context of sexual and reproductive health. Many of these patients may not speak English as their first language and thus need to access interpretative services to receive care. This study sought to examine whether medical facilities using certified medical interpreters and requiring cultural competency training for their staff could reduce the cultural and communication barriers LEP Latinas experience when receiving sexual and reproductive health care services. An …

Pedsafe Court Class Interactive Dashboard, Merika Charupoom, Emily Carter, Erin Breen

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Pedestrian and pedal-cyclist fatalities continue to be a concern in Clark County. Road users who are cited for pedestrian violations are given opportunity to an educational resource by attending a 3-hour pedestrian safety class to void their violation points and fines. An interactive dashboard was created to display class participant demographics, analyses of pre-/post-tests, and geospatial mapping of citation locations. Researchers collected participant data from September 2017 to March 2019 (N=1,321) and used Microsoft Excel to create this visualization tool. The components of the dashboard include basic demographics and an analysis of change in pedestrian behavior knowledge using paired t-tests …

Qualitative Analysis Of Different Educational Physical Activity Interventions And Policies For Older Asian Americans In The United States, Raisa Kabir, Manoj Sharma, Sayeda Tazim Zaidi

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Physical activity (PA) provides numerous positive health benefits and minimizes chronic diseases and mental health issues, especially in older adults. The national survey data indicated that only 27.3% to 44.3% of older adults meet the recommended physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes/ week. There are limited data on PA behavior among older AA adults as very few to no local/national surveys are targeted for older AA and their marginalized subgroups. This qualitative analysis aimed to understand and review the effectiveness of physical activity interventions targeted for and done among older Asian American adults. The study included a comprehensive review based …

Police Shootings In The Mountain West, 2015 - 2021, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

The Washington Post publishes and regularly updates a dataset regarding the use of deadly force by police since 2015. This study extracts data for five Mountain West states (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah), and presents a regional perspective on the total number of individuals shot and killed by police, including demographic variables such as race, gender, and age. Two additional variables are included in this examination: the presence or absence of mental illness in the decedent, and the presence or absence of a body-worn camera in incidents of deadly police force. Collected from January 1, 2015, to March …

Retinoblastoma: Past, Present, And Future, Izabela Daneva, Crysty-Ann Olaco, Albert Tran

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

The purpose of this research timeline is to synthesize the natural history of retinoblastoma to understand its societal effects and develop a public health message to raise awareness of the disease. We used literature-based research in order to gain an understanding about the discovery of this disease and investigate its most current state of knowledge. Retinoblastoma is an intraocular cancer that manifests early in childhood. It is typically linked to a somatic or germline insertion, deletion, or single-base substitution mutation on both alleles of RB1, a tumor-suppressor gene. Retinoblastoma was first identified in 1809 by James Wardrop, and since then, …

The Determinants Of Physical Activity And Sedentary Behavior In The Asian Americans, Raisa Kabir, Sayeda Tazim Zaidi, Chia-Liang Dai

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Physical activity (PA) is crucial to a positive healthy lifestyle which helps prevent and minimize various chronic diseases and mental health illnesses. Although the Asian American (AA) community is one of the fastest-growing marginalized minority groups in the United States, there is little research on PA behavior within the community. This study aimed to investigate correlates and determinants of PA behavior among the Asian American population to bring about policy changes, design educational programs, and promote research on PA promotion among the AA community. Studies were identified from searches located in databases such as MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed Central, and EBSCO …

Identifying Determinants Of Breast Cancer Screening Through Mammography Among Asian American Women, Sayeda Tazim Zaidi, Raisa Kabir, Chia-Liang Dai

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women around the world. In the US, approximately 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer over the course of their lifetime. There is a growing incidence of breast cancer among Asian American (AA) women. Breast cancer screening by mammography is the most effective early detection method to reduce mortality but AA women have the lowest utilization rates. This study aims to identify the determinants affecting mammography among AA women. A literature search in PubMed Central, MEDLINE, and CINAHL was undertaken to include all peer-reviewed studies published within the past 20 years …

Nhanes Iii Mortality Follow Up: Social Determinants Creating Disparity Within The Health Outcomes Of Persons With Diabetes, Claire B. Adams

University Honors Theses

Given the recent research into the social determinants affecting health outcomes, the goal of this thesis is to examine whether a non-urban setting, among other social determinants of health, increases the risk of mortality among the United States diabetic population. We examined the relationship of urban and non-urban diabetes rates among those aged 40-74 years using a national sample of diabetic and nondiabetic Americans. The data was pulled from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) which was conducted from 1988 to 1994. After excluding pregnant women, those who did not complete a fasting AM glucose, and …

Evidence Based Programs (Ebp) Rate Increase Cost Projection Model, Evidence To Practice, Cep Briefs, Ronnie Rubin, Kaylin Beiter, Stephen Phillippi

Policy & Position Papers

No abstract provided.

Financial & Policy Challenges To Evidence Based Practice (Ebp) Implementation, Evidence To Practice, Cep Briefs, Ronnie Rubin, Willandra Whiting, Stephen Phillippi

Policy & Position Papers

No abstract provided.

Provider Survey Of Use Of Ebp Billing Codes Vs. Utilization, Evidence To Practice, Cep Briefs, Kaylin Beiter, Stephen Phillippi, Bumbarger

Policy & Position Papers

No abstract provided.

Prenatal Maternal Mood Entropy Is Associated With Child Neurodevelopment, Mariann A. Howland, Curt A. Sandman, Elysia Poggi Davis, Hal S. Stern, Michael Phelan, Tallie Z. Baram, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Emerging evidence indicates that the predictability of signals early in life may influence the developing brain. This study examines links between a novel indicator of maternal mood dysregulation, mood entropy, and child neurodevelopmental outcomes. Associations between prenatal maternal mood entropy and child neurodevelopment were assessed in 2 longitudinal cohorts. Maternal mood was measured several times over pregnancy beginning as early as 15 weeks’ gestation. Shannon’s mood entropy was applied to distributions of mothers’ responses on mood questionnaires. Child cognitive and language development were evaluated at 2 and 6–9 years of age. Higher prenatal maternal mood entropy was associated with lower …

The Pharmaceutical Industry Contributes To Public Health, Karl E. Peace, Mario Keko

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.