Public Health Commons^™

Association Between Food Insecurity And Influenza Outcome In The United States., Sabrina Fiona Pink

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe influenza virus is one of the most commonly occurring respiratory viral infections in the world. The outer capsule of the virus contains 18H proteins and 11N proteins, which allows the virus to reform in over 100 different strands and outperform the vaccine. Despite efforts to improve access to care and reduce vaccine inequities; the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 9-45 million documented influenza-related illnesses, 140,000 to 810,000 hospitalization, and 64,000 deaths yearly. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether food insecurity, access to care and other social determinants of health such as age, race, and …

The Predictive Relationship Of Allostatic Load In Asthma, Mohamed Mustafa Hassan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research on populations emphasizes the influence of allostatic overload, a marker of biophysical and biochemical stress, in driving adverse health outcomes. Unknown is the impact of allostatic load and its cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory components as they pertain to asthma prevalence in U.S. populations. Specifically, there is a need to understand the nature of the relationship between allostatic load and asthma in light of confounders such as socioeconomic status, race, education, and gender. Using Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model as a theoretical underpinning and binary logistic regression as a statistical modality, the predictive relationship between allostatic load and asthma was examined in …

Perspectives Of Key Court Personnel On The Prosecution Of Domestic Violence Cases, Crystal M. Schoeder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Domestic violence (DV) continues to be a public health and criminal justice problem. Several criminal justice system changes have been made to combat DV, such as mandatory arrest policies, no-drop prosecution policies, and specialized DV courts. Perspectives on these policies, DV, and the criminal justice system have been obtained from the victims, police officers, and victim advocates. However, perspectives from those within the criminal justice court system are missing. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to obtain the perspectives of key court personnel in small rural communities regarding the prosecution of DV cases. Narrative policy framework was used …

Food Insecurity In Community College Students In The Central Valley Of California, Leah Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractMany college students struggle with having enough money to pay for the costs of college and basic necessities, such as adequate food, which leads to food insecurity. Food insecurity results in a more challenging time focusing on studying and less success in school. This study addressed the lack of a profile of a food-insecure California community college student at Hiker’s Community College (HCC; pseudonym) in the Central Valley of California. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the profile of a food-insecure student and to determine relationships between food insecurity and ethnicity, gender, being a first-generation college student, …

The Importance Of Staff Education About Implementing Ketogenic Diet In Prediabetic Patients, Clarissa L. Dorsey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Diabetes, a chronic disease that can lead to many complications, is one of the leading causes of death. Obesity tends to increase the risk of diabetes. Nutritional therapy can not only control diabetes but also prevent it in some cases by decreasing weight. The ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet that can prevent and control diabetes. The purpose of this study was to examine the recommendations of medical providers before and after the presentation of educational content on the ketogenic diet as nutritional therapy in prediabetic and diabetic patients. The practice-focused question addressed whether educating medical staff at a …

Relationship Between Media Coverage And Child Measles Vaccination Uptake, Tanika Ward

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Childhood vaccines have been a source of heated debates between both opponents and proponents of vaccination. Childhood immunizations have proven to be effective and save lives, but antivaccine movements continue. The purpose of this retrospective cross-sectional quantitative study was to determine if there was a significant difference in child measles vaccine uptake based on provider facility type and census region, after adjusting for age and education of mother, for the years 2003–2012, pre-and-post 2007 media coverage deeming vaccines unsafe, and for the years 2013–2017, pre-and-post exposure to measles at Disneyland in 2014–2015 for children aged 19–35 months. The social ecological …

Prevalence Of Metabolic Risk Factors With Abnormal Obesity Measures Among The Tobagonian Adult Population, Joanne Cruickshank

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractAn increase of metabolic risk factors is a public health threat to the well-being of the population of Tobago; this increase is poorly documented and understood. According to a review of evidence-based research, studies linked metabolic risk factors to the high prevalence of obesity. However, there was a gap specific to the Tobagonian population. This cross-sectional quantitative study assessed the evidence of metabolic risk factors to determine whether obesity measures correlated with metabolic risk factors among a sample from Tobago. Guided by the social-ecological theory, a self-reported survey was used to collect primary data from 270 participants during a workplace …

Racial Disparities In Hypertension Self-Awareness And Hospitalizations For Hypertension-Related Illnesses Among Adult Arkansans, Chimfumnanya Nwanze-Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black individuals in the United States are twice as likely as White individuals to die of cardiovascular diseases. Between 2010 and 2016 in Arkansas (AR), hypertension (HTN) and HTN-related diseases had an age-adjusted death rate of 230.4 deaths per 100,000 population compared to 173.6 deaths per 100,000 population for Whites. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to explore the potential association between HTN self-awareness and emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalization rates for HTN and HTN-related illnesses between Black and White individuals in AR. The socioecological framework was used to explore sociodemographic (SDF) and socioeconomic (SES) factors as …

An Integrated Approach To Hand Hygiene, Tarsha Renee Stewart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractHealthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) threaten the quality and safety of the services provided. HCAIs are infections that occur while a patient is receiving treatment for another condition in any type of healthcare. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately one in every 20 inpatients will become infected with an HCAI during their hospital stay. Proper hand hygiene is the most significant intervention in preventing HCAIs. Despite hand hygiene's effectiveness, evidence suggests that only 50% of healthcare workers are compliant with proper hand hygiene techniques. The purpose of this project is to increase nurse’s knowledge the via education. Kotter's eight-step change …

Parents’ Decision Making And Uptake Of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Among Adolescent Males, Franklyn Penn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections account for most oropharyngeal, anal, and penile cancers among men. Two vaccines have been recommended for boys 11 years of age or older to prevent HPV infection, but HPV vaccination rates are far below the Healthy People 2030 target goal. Some research indicates the role of the parent is vital in HPV vaccine uptake, but to what extent is unclear. Through quantitative secondary data analysis of the National Immunization Survey-Teen 2016 (NIS-Teen) data set (n = 43,271) that was grounded in the health belief model, chi-square, and logistic regression analyses revealed three key findings. First, male …

Social Media And Physical Activity Among African American College Women, Carmen Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Among African American (AA) college women, physical activity (PA) is decreasing, with less than 20% participating in moderate-intensity cardio or aerobic exercise. Physical inactivity can lead to increased morbidity and mortality from chronic conditions. There is a need for more research on AA women’s health practices to develop interventions that can lead to sustainable behavior change among this population. More than 70% of AA college women reported using some form of social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat) daily. Social networking sites (SNS) in particular can provide health information, advice, and an open forum for individuals with health …

Adverse Childhood Experience And Undergraduate Student Success: A Longitudinal Investigation Into The Relationship Between Childhood Stress And Success In Higher Education, Sarah E. Cprek

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Institutions of higher education have long worked to understand factors that influence or predict student success and degree completion. Childhood experiences including potential exposure to toxic stress have been found to impact student success in K-12 schools yet have rarely been evaluated among undergraduates. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and undergraduate degree completion among a random sample of 1,894 students at a state-funded university in the US. Participants completed a web-based survey assessing ACEs in spring 2015. Results from the survey were linked to student academic records for each …

Understanding Perspectives Of Clinical And Non-Clinical Healthcare Administrators On Culture And Diversity In The Healthcare Workplace, Katherine Counts

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

The racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. population is becoming increasingly more diverse. The 2010 U.S. Census reported a 29% increase in minority groups other than non-Hispanic Whites. In response to these changing demographics, healthcare organizations have struggled to keep pace with these trends in their hiring of a diverse staff. Healthcare leaders appear to be lagging in their efforts to make adequate changes to increase diversity in their organizations. What factors may be contributing to this inequity? One possible explanation is a limited knowledge of healthcare leaders regarding culture and diversity within the workplace. To this end, this …

Multiple Proteinopathies And Their Role In Cognitive Impairment And Neurodegenerative Diseases, Shama D. Karanth

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Most age-related neurodegenerative disorders are associated with the aggregation of misfolded and aberrant proteins. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders and is highly prevalent in older adults. Neuropathologically, AD is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Other misfolded proteins, including α-synuclein and transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), are also commonly observed in aged brains. Aberrant α-synuclein has been associated with Parkinson's disease, Dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy, whereas TDP-43 has been associated with multiple neurological diseases, the most common of which was designated as limbic-predominant, …

Enhancing Drug Overdose Mortality Surveillance Through Natural Language Processing And Machine Learning, Patrick J. Ward

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Epidemiological surveillance is key to monitoring and assessing the health of populations. Drug overdose surveillance has become an increasingly important part of public health practice as overdose morbidity and mortality has increased due in large part to the opioid crisis. Monitoring drug overdose mortality relies on death certificate data, which has several limitations including timeliness and the coding structure used to identify specific substances that caused death. These limitations stem from the need to analyze the free-text cause-of-death sections of the death certificate that are completed by the medical certifier during death investigation. Other fields, including clinical sciences, have utilized …

Environmental Respiratory Exposures And Pulmonary Function Among Residents Of Rural Appalachia, Kentucky, John C. Flunker

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Introduction

Resource extraction exposures are hypothesized to promote adverse respiratory health outcomes among residents of rural Appalachia, yet no studies to date have simultaneously quantified small-scale geographic variation in residential exposure, individual level health factors, and respiratory health outcomes.

Methods

The Mountain Air Project (MAP) is a community engaged cross-sectional study based in Harlan and Letcher counties of Southeastern Kentucky. MAP utilized a novel small-scale method to define residential exposure boundaries: hydrologic unit code (HUC), which represents distinct drainages (AKA “hollows”) where residents cluster. We assigned the HUC level density of active and abandoned surface and underground mining, oil/gas wells, …

Psychological Distress And Relationship Satisfaction Among Survivors Of Sexual Violence, Alyssa Campbell

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The World Health Organization (WHO; 2002) has indicated that sexual violence is a serious public health concern, and both the WHO and the United Nations (UN) have declared that violence against women, in particular, is a profound violation of human rights (UN General Assembly, 1993; WHO, 2017). Although the systemic and negative impact of trauma on family and intimate relationships have been well documented, the empirical literature regarding the effects of adult sexual trauma on relationship satisfaction is less robust. These studies are designed to address this gap and will do so with analyses centered on an understudied population: the …

Development And Characterization Of An Adaptable Aerosolized Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate Generation System, Simon Aubin, Loïc Wingert, Sébastien Gagné, Livain Breau, Jacques Lesage

Études primaires

Reactive semivolatile contaminants, such as isocyanates, can be particularly difficult to assess in occupational environments. While standard methods exist for isocyanates, there are still significant differences between the results they provide for various occupational environments or processes. This study presents the validation of a laboratory system for the generation of controlled atmospheres of isocyanates. A system consisting of different modules generated airborne methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) by nebulizing a solution into mixing and exposure chambers with control of flow rate, temperature, and relative humidity. Sampling was performed through an eight-port flow splitter that allowed only very slight within-test variability. MDI …

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

Eagles Talking About the Public’s Health

No abstract provided.

Covid Round 2: Workplace Support And Compassion Fatigue In Emergency Workers, Carlene A. Robinson, Kelly L. Sullivan

Eagles Talking About the Public’s Health

No abstract provided.

Nanotechnology: Exposure Of Children To Engineered Nanomaterials (Enms) And Its Adverse Consequences On Their Health, Worlanyo E. Gato, Milcah A. Andoh

Eagles Talking About the Public’s Health

No abstract provided.

Underreporting Of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: An Important Public Mental Health Implication, Sandhya Lohani, Sha-Hanna Saffold, Tanya Jules, Brenda Blackwell, Suzanne Shurling, Tilicia Mayo-Gamble

Eagles Talking About the Public’s Health

No abstract provided.

Peoples’ Experiences With Birth Doulas, Emily A. Gunderson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Birth doulas, as a non-medical resource for people going through the birthing process, have seen overall positive reception by providing a service otherwise missing from the recently medicalized birth environment (Gruber et al. 2013, Steel et al. 2015); this coincides with a time when fathers are being asked to play a more active role in their child’s birth (Coltrane 1996, Odent 2009). However, while we know a little about how mothers experience the services of a birth doula and how fathers experience birth generally, we have yet to find out how birthing people, both partnered and un-partnered, make sense of …

Determinants Of Private Well Water Testing In Maine, Jenny Carwile, Shravanthi M. Seshasayee, Kritika Anand, Abby F. Fleisch

Costas T. Lambrew Research Retreat 2021

Objectives: Describe sociodemographic characteristics associated with ever testing well water using data from the 2014-2017 Maine Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) (n= 12,152).

Equine West Nile Virus In Kentucky: Characteristics Of Historical Testing And Analysis Of Causal Factors, Kaelyn Short

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

As the arbovirus with the highest incidence in both humans and horses in the United States, West Nile Virus (WNV) presents a significant risk to the equine population of Kentucky. Widespread infection has the potential to cause a significant economic impact to the state and long-term health complications for the horses. To better understand the burden of equine WNV, historical diagnostic testing archives the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Lab were analyzed along with environmental and census data collected from additional sources. A total of 2146 test results were analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics, chi-square tests of independence, and binary logistic …

Secular Trends In Low Birth Weight And Preterm Birth Disparity Between Infants Born To Teenage And Adult Mothers: An Exploratory Analysis, Elizabeth Edwards

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Introduction. Increased risk of preterm birth and low birthweight for infants born to teenage mothers (15-19), when compared to infants born to adult mothers (20-29), is well documented in the United States. Trends in preterm birth and low birthweight are also well documented over time. Examination of the difference in incidence of preterm birth or low birthweight between infants born to teenage mothers and to adult mothers over time is not present in the literature. This study aimed to fill this gap in the literature and determine how preterm birth and low birthweight differences have changed over time.

Methods. Natality …

Colorectal Cancer Differences In Staging And Survival: Appalachian And Non-Appalchian Kentuckians, Ripley Lucas

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States. Historically, the Appalachian region of Kentucky has experienced disparities in colorectal cancer screening and survival as compared to both the non-Appalachian region of the state and the United States. The aim of this paper is to investigate the differences in cancer staging and survival after diagnosis in Appalachian and non-Appalachian Kentuckians. The present time period of study is a retrospective, population-based cohort with data taken from the Kentucky Cancer Registry. Binomial logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios …

Applying Mixed-Effects Modeling To Behavioral Economic Demand: An Introduction, Brent A. Kaplan, Christopher T. Franck, Kevin Mckee, Shawn P. Gilroy, Mikhail N. Koffarnus

Family and Community Medicine Faculty Publications

Behavioral economic demand methodology is increasingly being used in various fields such as substance use and consumer behavior analysis. Traditional analytical techniques to fitting demand data have proven useful yet some of these approaches require preprocessing of data, ignore dependence in the data, and present statistical limitations. We term these approaches “fit to group” and “two stage” with the former interested in group or population level estimates and the latter interested in individual subject estimates. As an extension to these regression techniques, mixed-effect (or multilevel) modeling can serve as an improvement over these traditional methods. Notable benefits include providing simultaneous …

A Comparison Of Health Habits Between Nursing And Non Nursing Majors, Reilly K. Gilmour

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate And The Racial Multiplier: Clinical Implications And Current Attitudes, Brittney A. Spooner

Honors Theses and Capstones

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with high morbidity and mortality and has high and increasing incidence worldwide. CKD is characterized by a reduction in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), but as GFR is difficult to measure directly, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) equations have been created to measure serum creatinine levels as a function of GFR. Some eGFR equations contain a racial multiplier that increases the eGFR of black patients, causing a spurious increase in reported kidney function. This study included a literature search that collected information on the rationale behind the multipliers usage and a survey that gathered information …