Public Health Commons^™

Gender Disparity In Obesity And Lifestyle Characteristics Among Adults In Mississippi, Jalysa M. Edwards

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Obesity is a primary public health concern and is associated with several chronic health diseases that can have dire consequences. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were about 1.9 billion overweight adults aged 18 years and above and at least 650 million adults were obese worldwide in 2016. Adults living in Mississippi are of particular concern, due to the high obesity rate which has continued to increase over the past 25 years. Mississippi’s obesity rate is 37.3%, which is one of the highest rates of adult obesity in the United. While obesity increases the risk of disease outcomes, …

Ecology Of Hantaviruses In Rodent Reservoirs And Their Early Innate Immune Responses In Human Model Systems, Evan Peter Williams

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The spillover of zoonotic RNA viruses is responsible for a great deal of the disease outbreaks in human populations. These spillover events are set to continue due to anthropogenic and environmental changes that impact the distribution of these viruses. The viruses in the family Hantaviridae are classified as one of these emerging zoonotic RNA viruses. The spillover of the viruses in this family are responsible for two severe human diseases, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). These viruses are distributed across the globe and are responsible for a large number of human disease cases with …

Responding To Domestic Violence With Transformative Justice And Community Accountability, Anaiis Nysether

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center (WAFWC) wanted to create a survivor-driven transformative justice program for survivors of domestic violence and the people who caused them harm. The program needed to be customizable enough to suit the specific needs and individual safety considerations of the participants, but also needed enough structure that it could be reproducible from case to case. In order to design a program that was based on these ideas and able to be used in the context of a non-profit organization, WAFWC researched ways other communities had been using transformative justice and community accountability to address issues …

Digital Divide In Monterey County, Vanessa Diaz

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Monterey County Health Department Planning, Evaluation and Policy (PEP) Unit's goals are to empower the community, enhance public health and safety, ensure access to care, and engage the workforce. MCHD encourages all employees to understand social justice and equity for low-income and communities of color. Understanding and addressing health inequalities and justice in the county can improve overall health for everyone. The digital divide during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted too many Monterey County residents. The lack of computer access, computer literacy, and internet access may have impacted vaccination rates and even delayed COVID-19 resources. Utilizing the Monterey County COVID-19 …

Factors Influencing Intent To Take A Covid-19 Test In The United States, Sheila Rutto

Theses and Dissertations

In 2020, COVID-19 became the first pandemic in the world’s history that brought the entire world to an abrupt and unexpected halt. Since the first reported case of the disease to date, the novel coronavirus has been able to wreak havoc in literary every corner of the globe and left an ever-growing number of unprecedented fatalities. The normal way of life has been disrupted, and the level of uncertainty about the end of this pandemic continues to manifest to many. Due to the urgency to bring this pandemic under control, medical officers have been able to recommend actions that people …

Peer Recovery Support Specialists: Role Clarification And Fit Within The Recovery Ecosystems Of Central Appalachia, Angela Hagaman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Peer Recovery Support Specialist (PRSS), a certified professional who self-identifies as being in recovery from a substance use disorder (SUD), mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, plays a key role in the ongoing transformation of SUD treatment from one of acute clinical service provision with documented short-term outcomes including symptom reduction, to a more holistic and comprehensive approach to long-term recovery. Empirical evidence specific to outcomes of PRSS working in the addiction treatment realm is sparse and equivocal, indicating the need for additional research and improved methods designed to explore the nature of the PRSS role and fit within the …

Challenges For Estimating The Global Prevalence Of Micronutrient Deficiencies And Related Disease Burden: A Case Study Of The Global Burden Of Disease Study, Sonja Y. Hess, Alexander C. Mclain Ph.D., Edward A. Frongillo Jr. Ph.D., Ashkan Afshin, Nicholas J. Kassebaum, Saskia Jm Osendarp, Reed Atkin, Rahul Rawat, Kenneth H. Brown

Faculty Publications

Information on the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies is needed to determine related disease burden; underpin evidence-based advocacy; and design, deliver, and monitor safe, effective interventions. Assessing the global prevalence of deficiency requires a valid micronutrient status biomarker with an appropriate cutoff to define deficiency and relevant data from representative surveys across multiple locations and years. The Global Burden of Disease Study includes prevalence estimates for iodine, iron, zinc, and vitamin A deficiencies, for which recommended biomarkers and appropriate deficiency cutoffs exist. Because representative survey data are lacking, only retinol concentration is used to model vitamin A deficiency, and proxy indicators …

Understanding Blue Light Retinal Damages And The Methods Of Prevention, Amelia Lee

Senior Honors Theses

Light emitting diode (LED) lights that comprise television screens, phone displays, laptops, and tablets have been studied by scientists in order to understand the implications of blue light radiation and the effects that it has on the human body—especially the retina of the eye. The retina is comprised of highly metabolic cells, and when those cells are placed under oxidative stress, death occurs causing ocular disease. Additionally, excess blue light exposure causes shifts in biological rhythms that govern patterns of alertness and sleep. Recently scientists began studying the methods of blue light prevention. Some studies show that blue light radiation …

Improving Maternal And Child Health In Pakistan: A Programme Evaluation Using A Difference In Difference Analysis, Muhammad Ashar Malik, Lara Riedige Rohm, Pieter Van Baal, Eddy Van Doorslaer Van Doorslaer

Community Health Sciences

Introduction: Pakistan is a country with high maternal and infant mortality. Several large foreign funded projects were targeted at improving maternal, neonatal and child health. The Norway-Pakistan Partnership Initiative (NPPI) was one of these projects. This study aims to evaluate whether NPPI was successful in improving access and use of skilled maternal healthcare.
Methods: We used data from three rounds (2009-2010, 2011-2012 and 2013-2014) of the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM). A difference-in-difference regression framework was used to estimate the effectiveness of NPPI and its different programme components with respect to maternal healthcare seeking behaviour of pregnant …

Looking Upstream: Promoting Health Equity In Philadelphia Through Novel Partnership Strategies, Adrea Cope, David B. Nash, Sandra E Brooks, David Platt

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Cadmium And Chromium Evaluation Of Offutt Air Force Base Aircraft Maintenance Bay, Nickolas Lamal

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

The 55th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron is based out of Offutt Air Force Base (AFB). The organization has requested testing of Air Ground Equipment (AGE) maintenance operations for heavy metals, specifically cadmium and chromium while evaluating one break area for the harmful compounds. It is hypothesized that heavy metals may be in excessive limits and could potentially harm staff and their families as take-home toxins. If left uninvestigated and evaluated, excessive exposure to heavy metals could cause injury or illness within the unit’s ranks, decreasing unit effectiveness and efficiency. Sampling methods include preliminary assessments of break area and adjacent glass bead …

Predictors Of Poor Glycemic Control In Diabetic Clients With Mental Health Illness, Community Alliance, Omaha, Nebraska, Rachelle Flick

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

People with severe mental illness tend to die 10-25 years earlier than the general population (WHO). Main contributors to these premature deaths include comorbidities such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Diabetes prevalence in mentally ill people is 2 times higher than the general population (WHO). The World Health Organization is taking action to improve the health of people with severe mental illness. These efforts include creating protocols of prevention, identification, assessment, and treatment for mentally ill people, as well as improving access to general health services through the integration of physical and mental health services. Community Alliance, located in …

A Literature Review Of Paid Sick Leave And Disparate Populations In The United States During The Covid Pandemic, Jessica Davies

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

The COVID pandemic is providing many public health and health policy learning opportunities to identify disparities among women, minorities, and underserved/distressed populations and inform subsequent policy-level strategies. It is recommended people stay home when they are sick; yet, not all people have access to paid sick leave. Individuals are left with the unfortunate decision to lose pay or go to work when they are ill. This is disconcerting in any given year with the annual flu illness and other communicable diseases; however, especially concerning during the COVID pandemic given the high virus transmissibility. Paid sick leave is not universally accessible …

Developing And Piloting An E-Learning Module On Respiratory Protection, Emily Girard

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Respiratory diseases are one of the most common causes of occupational illnesses in the United States. Many occupations use personal protective equipment (PPE) in the form of respirators to protect against respiratory hazards when other control methods are not effective. However, some workers may not have had adequate training on their use. An e-learning module was developed to provide information about respirators and their use in agriculture. The interactions of matching, sorting, and review questions require the user to be an active participant with the goal of reinforcing the information. It was hypothesized the average summative assessment score would increase …

Evaluating Nebraska Ems Providers' Ability And Willingness To Respond To Bioterrorism Emergencies, Ryan Houser

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Previous studies have found that public health systems within the United States are inadequately prepared for an act of biological terrorism. This study utilized an Internet-based survey to assess the level of preparedness and willingness to respond to a bioterrorism attack, and identify factors that predict preparedness and willingness among Nebraska Emergency Medical Service providers, who are key to resilience in the face of an attack. The survey was available for one month in 2021 during which 190 EMS providers responded to the survey. The subjects included Registered Nurses, doctors, EMTs, and paramedics. Only 10% of the respondents are both …

Occupational Injuries Associated With Workplace Violence In An Academic Medical Center, Rebecca J. Bonacci

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Violence is a major source of workplace injury in the medical profession. Peer reviewed literature is lacking for workers that have injuries through violence from clients who have intellectual disabilities. Literature for hospital security is also lacking. In this study of workplace violence, we compared injuries among the occupational groups at an academic medical center from 2017-2020. We hypothesized that violence will be similar across the years. Occupational injury and illness data was obtained from an academic medical center. The number of violence cases was divided by the total number of injury cases and reported as a percentage. We found …

Factors Contributing To Trust Of Occupational Healthcare Services In Meatpacking Plants, Gabriella Ochoa

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Meatpacking refers to the slaughtering of livestock and processing and packaging it into meat and other byproducts. Meatpacking is a large industry employing thousands of workers from various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds in Nebraska. These workers have experienced disparities in accessing occupational health services such as language barriers, fear of job loss, or deportation due to immigration status if these services were used. The purpose of this study was to investigate how trust in occupational health services varied among employees at a meatpacking plant in Nebraska by demographic characteristics, particularly by ethnicity, gender, and English language proficiency.

Derivation And Validation Of A General Predictive Model For Long Term Risks For Mortality And Invasive Cardiovascular Interventions In Congenital Heart Disease, David A. Danford

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Introduction. Accurate assessment of prognosis is a key driver of clinical decision making in congenital heart disease (CHD), but is complicated because CHD represents such a diverse collection of conditions. The aim of this investigation is to derive, validate, and calibrate multivariable predictive models for time to surgical or catheter-mediated intervention (INT) in CHD and for time to death in CHD. Methods. 4108 unique subjects were prospectively and consecutively enrolled, and randomized to derivation and validation cohorts. Total follow up was 26,578 patient-years, with 102 deaths and 868 INTs. Accelerated failure time multivariable predictive models for the outcomes, based on …

Population-Level Prevalence Of Depression And Summary Statistics Of Women With At Least A Year Post-Final Menstruation With And Without Hysterectomy, Happiness Kingi

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Background: Depression is associated with estrogen hormonal changes. There are few comparisons studies on the population-level prevalence of depression in women at least a year post final menstruation with and without hysterectomy.

Objectives: 1) To determine the population-level prevalence of depression in women with at least a year post final menstruation with and without hysterectomy and 2) to calculate the summary statistics of women with at least a year post final menstruation with and without hysterectomy

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional design was used. Respondents were female participants of the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) …

Addressing Production Gaps For Vaccines In African Countries, Anna Mia Ekström, Göran Tomson, Rhoda K. Wanyenze, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Catherine Kyobutungi, Agnes Binagwaho, Ole Petter Ottersen

Institute for Global Health and Development

No abstract provided.

'It Is A Disease Which Comes And Kills Directly': What Refugees Know About Covid-19 And Key Influences Of Compliance With Preventive Measures, Adelaide Lusambili, Michela Martini, Faiza Abdirahaman, Asante Abena, Joseph Guni, Sharon Ochieng, Stanley Luchters

Population Health, East Africa

Background: Refugees are at increased risk for COVID-19 infection in part due to their living conditions, which make it harder to adopt and adhere to widely accepted preventive measures. Little empirical evidence exists about what refugees know about COVID-19 and what they do to prevent infection. This study explored what refugee women and their health care workers understand about COVID-19 prevention, the extent of their compliance to public health recommendations, and what influences the adoption of these measures.

Methods: In October 2020, we conducted 25 in-depth interviews with facility and community health care staff (n = 10) and refugee women …

Validity, Reliability, And Measurement Invariance Of An Adapted Short Version Of The Hiv Stigma Scale Among Perinatally Hiv Infected Adolescents At The Kenyan Coast, Stanley W. Wanjala, Derrick Ssewanyana, Patrick N. Mwangala, Carophine Nasambu, Esther Chongwo, Stanley Luchters, Charles R. J. C. Newton, Amina Abubakar

Population Health, East Africa

Background: There is a dearth of instruments that have been developed and validated for use with children living with HIV under the age of 17 years in the Kenyan context. We examined the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of a short version of the Berger HIV stigma scale administered to perinatally HIV-infected adolescents in a rural setting on the Kenyan coast.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 201 perinatally HIV-infected adolescents aged 12-17 years between November 2017 and October 2018. A short version of the Berger HIV stigma scale (HSS-40) containing twelve items (HSS-12) covering the four dimensions of …

Defining The Epidemiology Of Safety Risks In Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Patients Requiring Surgery, Daniel J France, Jason Slagle, Emma Schremp, Sarah Moroz, L Dupree Hatch, Peter Grubb, Timothy J Vogus, Matthew S Shotwell, Amanda Lorinc, Christoph U Lehmann, Jamie Robinson, Marlee Crankshaw, Maria Sullivan, Timothy A Newman, Tamara Wallace, Matthew B Weinger, Martin L Blakely

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the incidence, type, severity, preventability, and contributing factors of nonroutine events (NREs)-events perceived by care providers or skilled observers as a deviations from optimal care based on the clinical situation-in the perioperative (i.e., preoperative, operative, and postoperative) care of surgical neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit and operating room.

METHODS: A prospective observational study of noncardiac surgical neonates, who received preoperative and postoperative neonatal intensive care unit care, was conducted at an urban academic children's hospital between November 1, 2016, and March 31, 2018. One hundred twenty-nine surgical cases in …

Factors Influencing Us Residents' Willingness To Engage In Domestic Medical Tourism, Hananeh Derakhshan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Domestic medical tourism is a niche market in the medical tourism industry. The purpose of this study was to determine the association of different attributes on U.S residents’ willingness to participate in domestic medical tourism. Based on the medical tourism index (MTI) components, a total of fourteen possible attributes that may impact US residents’ willingness to seek out-of-town care were created and participants were asked to rate the importance of each attribute on their willingness to seek out-of-town care on a 10-point Likert scale. Using principal component analysis, the attributes were grouped into three components: (1) quality-of-care, (2) destination attraction, …

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis With Various Doses Of Hydroxychloroquine Among Healthcare Personnel With High-Risk Exposure To Covid-19: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Fibhaa Syed, Muhammad Hassan, Mohammad Ali Arif, Sadia Batool, Rauf Niazi, Ume E Laila, Sadia Ashraf, Junaid Arshad

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective This trial aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with various hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) doses against a placebo among healthcare personnel (HCP) with high-risk exposure to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19). Methods A phase II, randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted including 200 subjects with no active or past severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (antibody testing and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were taken at the time of enrollment). Subjects of experimental groups one to three received HCQ in various doses and the control group received a placebo. The study outcomes in terms of …

Long-Term Impacts Faced By Patients And Families After Harmful Healthcare Events, Madelene J Ottosen, Emily W Sedlock, Aitebureme O Aigbe, Sigall K Bell, Thomas H Gallagher, Eric J Thomas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Patients and families report experiencing a multitude of harms from medical errors resulting in physical, emotional, and financial hardships. Little is known about the duration and nature of these harms and the type of support needed to promote patient and family healing after such events. We sought to describe the long-term impacts (LTIs) reported by patients and family members who experienced harmful medical events 5 or more years ago.

METHODS: We performed a content analysis on 32 interviews originally conducted with 72 patients or family members about their views of the factors contributing to their self-reported harmful event. Interviews …

Kajian Tingkat Keparahan Postur Janggal Yang Berkontribusi Kepada Gangguan Sistem Muskuloskeletal (Studi Pustaka Naratif), Ira Safhira, Chandra Satrya

National Journal of Occupational Health and Safety

Background: Not all of awkward postures that exist in the industry should be eliminated. Due to the fact, awkward posture can not be separated from daily work activities. Any movement that makes the body angle away from the normal position, can be said to be an awkward posture. Misconceptions related to the concept of awkward posture are followed by the fact that the assessment’s concepts of the observation method that are often used to assess awkward postures (REBA, RULA, and OWAS) is not accordance with the theory it should be. That condition can reduce the effectiveness of controlling musculoskeletal system …

Institute For Global Health And Development : Issue 1 - December 2021, Institute For Global Health And Development

IGHD Newsletters

• Climate Change and Environment Sustainability
• Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition
• Gender Equality and Women Empowerment
• Sustainable Development Goals

Does Precise Case Disclosure Limit Precautionary Behavior? Evidence From Covid-19 In Singapore, Aljoscha Janssen, Matthew H. Shapiro

Research Collection School Of Economics

Limiting the spread of contagious diseases can involve both government-managed and voluntary efforts. Governments have a number of policy options beyond direct intervention that can shape individuals’ responses to a pandemic and its associated costs. During its first wave of COVID-19 cases, Singapore was among a few countries that attempted to adjust behavior through the announcement of detailed case information. Singapore's Ministry of Health maintained and shared precise, daily information detailing local travel behavior and residences of COVID-19 cases. We use this policy along with device-level cellphone data to quantify how local and national COVID-19 case announcements trigger differential behavioral …

Economic Impact Of Targeted Government Responses To Covid-19: Evidence From The Large-Scale Cluster In Seoul, Kim, Kanghyock Koh, Jinwook Shin

Research Collection School Of Economics

We estimate the economic impact of South Korea's targeted responses to the first large-scale COVID-19 cluster in Seoul. We find that foot traffic and retail sales decreased only within a 300 meter radius of the cluster and recovered to its pre-outbreak level after four weeks. The reductions appear to be driven by temporary business closures rather than the risk avoidance behavior of the citizens. Our results imply that less intense, but more targeted COVID-19 interventions, such as pin-pointed, temporary closures of businesses, can be a low-cost alternative after lifting strict social distancing measures.