Public Health Commons^™

Association Between Learning Methods And Analgesic Opioid Abuse, Nicole Marie Blanchard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Opioids are an extremely addictive class of medication used to treat pain; overprescribing practices and chronic misuse has led to an epidemic that continues to grow. The opioid epidemic not only has the potential to cause injury or even death but also has a large impact on the U.S. economy. Research regarding determinants of abuse are needed to improve safeguards for opioid abuse prevention. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if learning capabilities and/or learning medium preference are correlated with analgesic opioid abuse. The social-ecological model was used to evaluate the social levels of influence for abuse …

Physical Distress And Psychological Outcomes: An Examination Of Hurricane Katrina Rebuilders, Danita M. Muse

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractHurricane Katrina made land fall in New Orleans on August 29, 2005. When Hurricane Katrina came ashore at the mouth of the Mississippi River it struck with such vengeance that the protective levees surrounding the New Orleans area were breached. The purpose of this quantitative research is to broaden the understanding the relationship between two phenomena: physical distress and posttraumatic growth among Hurricane Katrina rebuilders who rebuilt their lives 15 years following a natural disaster along the Gulf Coast. The Conservation of Resources and Self-Efficacy Theory were the theoretical framework for this study. The research questions examined if statistically significant …

Perceptions And Experiences Of Sickle Cell Disease Patients And Parents/Caretakers On Alternative Treatment Options For Pain Management, Elizabeth Hagan Asamoah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is marked by excruciating chronic pain, commonly known as pain crisis. SCD healthcare practitioners (HCPs) have been employing palliative care as a mainstream treatment option to manage SCD pain crises using mainly opioid analgesics for years. Due to the current opioid crisis, however, it has become imperative to explore alternative regimens to manage the pain and associated comorbidities of SCD. Thus, the goals of this study included exploring alternative treatment options for SCD pain crisis management with the intent of decreasing SCD patients’ dependency on opioid-based or related analgesics while reducing the frequency of pain crises …

Cell Phone Use And Adolescent Weight Problems, Florence Kenkor Njang

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractOverweightinadolescenceincreasestheriskofobesityandmanyadversehealthoutcomeslaterinlife.The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectionalstudy was to investigatetheassociationbetweencell phoneuseandweightstatusinadolescents,ages14 17yearsold,livingintheUnitedStates.Thesocio-ecologicalmodel(SEM)wasusedtoexplainthelinkbetweencellphoneuseandoverweightamongadolescents.Threeresearchquestionswere used to explore(a)therelationshipbetweencellphoneuseandadolescentweightstatusaftercontrollingforage,gender,andrace;(b)the effectofcellphoneuseonoverweightandnormalweightstatusesamongadolescentsaged 14 17yearsaftercontrollingforage,gender,andphysicalactivity;and(c)themodifyingeffectofraceontherelationshipbetweencellphoneuseandadolescentoverweightaftercontrollingforageandgender.Secondary data from the2017YouthRiskBehavioralSurveillanceSystemwere analyzed usingbinarylogisticregressiontoanswer theresearchquestions.Highcellphoneusesignificantlyandpositivelypredictedoverweightinadolescentsaftercontrollingforage,gender,andrace(p<0.001).Afteraccountingforage,gender,andphysicalactivity,highcellphoneusewasasignificantpredictorofoverweight(p<0.001).Similarly,racehadasignificantmodifyingeffectonthepositiveassociationbetweenhighcelluseandoverweightamongadolescents(p<0.001).Thekeypositivesocialchange implication of this studyis the potentialtointegratehealthycellphoneusewithexistingobesitypublichealthinterventionsthatcanreduceoverweightandpositivelyimpactindividuals,families,andcommunities.

African American Females And Herpes Simplex Virus 2: A Basic Interpretive Qualitative Study, Cherlisa Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to recent studies, African American females are most susceptible to HSV-2 and are often asymptomatically diagnosed. Yet, the perceived benefit of discussing sexual health as well as recognizing a need to discuss HSV-2 with a healthcare provider was an identified gap in the existing research and current study findings. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive study was to understand the experiences of African American females who received an asymptomatic HSV-2 diagnosis. The health belief model constructs guided this study. Outlined through semi-structured interviews were the experiences of seven African American females diagnosed with HSV-2 in Fulton County, GA, as …

Discovery Of Genetic Pleiotropy For Obesity And Inflammation And Mediation In Identified Variants Through Obesity-Related Pathways, Yiqian Wenren

Public Health Theses

Genetic data suggest that obesity and inflammation shared a portion of their genetic architectures. Meanwhile, epidemiologic data suggest a causal link between obesity and inflammation. Therefore, we hypothesized that there are variants in the human genome that display pleiotropy for obesity and inflammation and that the effects of at least some of those variants could be mediated by obesity-related pathways. To test these hypotheses, we conducted univariate genome-wide association analyses of obesity-related traits (BMI and WHRadjBMI) and inflammation (CRP) in the UK Biobank (n= 291,396 Caucasian subjects), searched for overlapping signals, fine-mapped the regions to identify putative causal SNPs, and …

Nonprofits And Government Agencies Addressing The Needs Of Mental Health Community, Wyatt Ulrich

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Nonprofit organizations have been utilizing cross-sector collaboration to address problems that are not able to be solved on their own. A partner to make said collaboration can be with any organization, business, or volunteer who has the same goals as the nonprofit organization. Mental health nonprofit organizations specifically need more partners due to how little the world knows about mental health and mental illnesses. The government is one partner many mental health organizations aim to collaborate with. Government contracts have been known to help with the many challenges nonprofit organizations face like funding and services. Previous research has suggested this …

An Analysis Of The Sleep Quality Of Undergraduate Students, Brianna N. Carter, Joanne Chopak-Foss

Phi Kappa Phi Research Symposium (Archived)

Background and Aims: The purpose of this study was to measure the sleep quality of a sample of undergraduate students and compare it to the recommendations for young adults from the National Sleep Foundation. Methods: A sample of undergraduate students from a mid-sized public university in the Southeast were recruited for this study (N=86). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was employed to assess sleep quality of the students. Results: Frequency analysis found that most students did not get the minimum amount of sleep as recommended by the National Sleep Foundation. A nonparametric correlation (listwise) analysis found …

Evaluating The Impact Of Tobacco Retailer Density On Smoking Among Patients With Serious Mental Illness And Diabetes In New York State, Amani Alharthy

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ABSTRACT

Applied Methodologies Demonstrated Through Three Independent Studies For Assessing The Effects Of Socioeconomic, Environmental Chemical Exposure, And Therapeutic Factors On Oncological Diseases And Covid-19, Bayarmagnai Maggie Munkhjargal

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

When trying to understand risk factors for a disease, even before we know the causal agents, it is necessary to create a surveillance data set that answers the questions of who, when, and where, and includes any potential covariates which may either promote or prevent the disease. There are a wide variety of surveillance data. For example, hospital discharge data, such as the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) data, encompass all hospitalized cases in the state, while clinical datasets cover a specially constructed population in pursuit of research of a certain disease type. Analysis of surveillance …

Legacy And Emerging Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances : Analysis, Environmental Distribution, And Bioconcentration, Richard Anthony Brase

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) constitute a broad class of anthropogenic chemicals that have been used in numerous industrial and consumer-product applications since the late 1940s. The environmental persistence of these compounds in combination with their widespread commercial use have led PFAS to be recognized as contaminants of concern on the global scale. Despite regulatory efforts calling for the decreased use of certain perfluorocarboxylic and -sulfonic acids referred to as “legacy” PFAS, these compounds continue to be detected in both environmental and biological matrices. Moreover, manufacturers have begun to replace the legacy PFAS with emerging alternatives for which the regulations …

Evaluating The Incidence Of Melanoma And Lung Cancer Of Current And Former Active-Duty U.S. Military Who Were Deployed In Support Of Operation Enduring Freedom And Operation Iraqi Freedom, Brian Kovacic

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

The incidence of melanoma and lung cancer has been gradually increasing in the United States over the past three decades with the reputed causes due to etiological and environmental exposures, and tobacco usage. There has been concern that melanoma and lung cancer incidence among military personnel may be associated with deployment to environments with intense sun exposure and increased smoking rates due to post-traumatic stress disorder. The aim of this study was to examine associations between deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), from 2001 through 2015, with subsequent melanoma and lung cancer incidence. …

Sexual Behaviors Associated With Online Partner-Seeking Among Men Who Have Sex With Men From Small/Midsized Towns Or Rural Areas In Kentucky, Vira Pravosud

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

The HIV epidemic remains one of the most significant public health issues in the United States, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM). New avenues for partner-seeking have emerged over the past three decades, including through the Internet, social media, and geosocial networking applications. Consisting of three cross-sectional studies, this dissertation research aimed to determine associations between the use of various online tools for partner-seeking (hereafter collectively referred to as “apps”) and HIV-related sexual behaviors among 252 young adult MSM residing in small/midsized towns or rural areas in Central Kentucky, a group that has been under-represented in the …

Advocates And Researchers Working Together To Improve School Health Education, Joseph Donnelly, Michael Young, Katherine J. Roberts

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose: This article discusses the need for continued evaluation of health education interventions/curricula and provides tools and resources to facilitate the selection of appropriate, evidencebased interventions/curricula for school health education programs. Methods: We review the literature related to the evaluation of school health education programs, provide a review of the basics for understanding evaluation design and results, and identify resources for selecting effective curricula. Conclusions: There is a need for additional rigorously designed evaluations of school health education programs. School health educators and other advocates for school health education must have a basic understanding of evaluation design and how to …

Building Assets Toolkit: Developing Positive Benchmarks For Adolescent Girls—Instruction Guide [Arabic], Judith Bruce, Sarah Engebretsen, Kimberly Glazer

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

English Summary:
The Building Assets Toolkit is an approach for developing programs for specific segments of girls that will prepare them to better face the challenges of growing up. It will help program managers understand the needs of the girls in their community, engage stakeholders at different levels and with different viewpoints, and build concrete and meaningful programming for adolescent girls. The toolkit contains all the materials needed to help make a preliminary assessment of the assets a girl should acquire and the age by which she should acquire them. This document contains the Building Assets Toolkit’s List of …

Interrelationships Of Sociodemographic And Biological Factors In Breast Cancer Mortality Disparity Affecting Young Black Women, Richard Mutyabule

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite improved overall survival among breast cancer patients, race and biological subtype-specific disparities persist. Subsequently, this retrospective longitudinal study, guided by ecosocial theory, examined associations between biological subtypes of breast cancer and patient-level sociodemographic factors on survival outcomes in women 25 to 44 years of age. Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, 34,007 breast cancer cases between 2013 and 2018 were extracted. Kaplan Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model were used to examine time to event and the adjusted mortality risk by race and breast cancer subtype. There was a statistically significant difference in survival among young …

Interrupted Time Series Analysis To Evaluate The Performance Of Drug Overdose Morbidity Indicators Shows Discontinuities Across The Icd-9-Cm To Icd-10-Cm Transition, Hannah Yang, Emilia Pasalic, Peter Rock, James W. Davis, Sarah Nechuta, Ying Zhang

Peer Reviewed Articles

Introduction: On 1 October 2015, the USA transitioned from the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10-CM). Considering the major changes to drug overdose coding, we examined how using different approaches to define all-drug overdose and opioid overdose morbidity indicators in ICD-9-CM impacts longitudinal analyses that span the transition, using emergency department (ED) and hospitalisation data from six states’ hospital discharge data systems.

Methods: We calculated monthly all-drug and opioid overdose ED visit rates and hospitalisation rates (per 100 000 population) by state, starting in January 2010. We applied …

The Lived Experiences Of Avoiding Recidivism Among African American Male (First-Time) Former Offenders, Jeff Hines

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe United States has a high recidivism rate within its criminal population, especially among men of African American descent. However, within this population, some first-time former offenders have used successful approaches to avoid re-incarceration. The objective of this study was to investigate how these first-time former offenders desist from crime and avoid recidivism. This was a phenomenological study, utilizing the Desistance Theory as a framework, to explore how these men survived the consequences of post-incarceration and remained crime-free. In-depth, semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with six African American male first-time former offenders (age 25 and older) who were not on …

Isolation And Characterization Of A Novel Bacteriophage Wo From Allonemobius Socius Crickets In Missouri, Jonah Kupritz, John Martin, Kerstin Fischer, Kurt C. Curtis, Joseph R. Fauver, Yuefang Huang, Young-Jun Choi, Wandy L. Beatty, Makedonka Mitreva, Peter U. Fischer

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Wolbachia are endosymbionts of numerous arthropod and some nematode species, are important for their development and if present can cause distinct phenotypes of their hosts. Prophage DNA has been frequently detected in Wolbachia, but particles of Wolbachia bacteriophages (phage WO) have been only occasionally isolated. Here, we report the characterization and isolation of a phage WO of the southern ground cricket, Allonemobius socius, and provided the first whole-genome sequence of phage WO from this arthropod family outside of Asia. We screened A. socius abdomen DNA extracts from a cricket population in eastern Missouri by quantitative PCR for Wolbachia surface protein …

Protocol For Safe, Affordable, And Reproducible 1 Isolation And Quantitation 2 Of Sars-Cov-2 Rna From Wastewater, Monica Trujillo, Kristen Cheung, Anna Gao, Irene Hoxie, Sherin Kannoly, Nanami Kubota, Kaung Myat San, Davida S. Smyth, John J. Dennehy

Publications and Research

The following protocol describes our workflow for processing wastewater with the goal of detecting the genetic signal of SARS-CoV-2. The steps include pasteurization, virus concentration, RNA extraction, and quantification by RT-qPCR. We include auxiliary steps that provide new users with tools and strategies that will help troubleshoot key steps in the process. This protocol is one of the safest, cheapest, and most reproducible approaches for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater. Furthermore, the RNA obtained using this protocol, minus the pasteurization step, can be sequenced both using a targeted approach sequencing specific regions or the whole genome. The protocol …

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, …

Health Insurance Coverage, Sociodemographic Factors, And Treatment Completion For Opioid Abusers In Indiana, Ibrahim Samna

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many accidental deaths have recently occurred in Indiana due to opioid overdose. The current study sought to assess the association between sociodemographic factors, health insurance, and successful treatment completion for opioids abusers in Indiana based on the existing literature gap. In this study, the dependent variables considered were treatment completion status and opioid abuse. The independent variables included health insurance coverage and sociodemographic factors of education, marital status, employment status, race, gender, and age. I measured both dependent and independent variables as categorical. A cross-sectional and quantitative research approach was used by analyzing data from the 2017-Treatment Episode Data Set …

Isocitrate Dehydrogenase-1 Mutation As A Prognostic Factor In Recurrent Glioblastoma, Haroon R. Hashmi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive form of brain cancer that has a high recurrence rate and very poor prognosis. The prognostic value of various molecular markers (e.g., IDH 1 mutation, MGMT promoter methylation, etc.) and clinical factors (e.g., age, KPS, surgery and chemotherapy) has been studied in GBM after initial diagnosis but not as extensively in the recurrent GBM. Utilizing a retrospective cohort design, based on quantitative data collected through medical chart reviews, and the conceptual framework of outcomes research in oncology, this study evaluated the prognostic value of IDH-1 mutation in recurrent GBM in the context of key predictor …

The Impact Of Midwifery On Infant And Maternal Outcomes Among Black Mothers, Joann Honoré

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to recent studies, disparities are prevalent in maternal and fetal outcomes between Black and White mothers in the United States. Researchers have established that using a midwife versus other healthcare practitioners can elicit positive maternal and fetal outcomes for Black mothers. However, no within-race research has been conducted exploring midwifery as an insulating factor against these disparities. The purpose of this quantitative retrospective cohort study was to explore the impact of midwifery on infant and maternal outcomes compared to outcomes associated with other prenatal care models/caregivers among Black mothers in California using secondary data. The ecological model was used …

Lived Experiences Of African American Women Coping With Breast Cancer In Rural Northeastern North Carolina, Denise Germaine Belle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative study examined the phenomenology of breast cancer among seven African American female participants who reside in rural, medically underserved communities in Northeastern North Carolina. The aim of this descriptive study was to explore the answers to the overarching question of how African American women with breast cancer self-manage the emotional, physical, financial, and social issues associated with the diagnosis and treatment. The transactional model of stress and coping provided the theoretical framework for examining the role of social reinforcements, beliefs, attitudes, and intentions on the health behavior of African American women with breast cancer in some rural, resource-stricken …