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Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

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Full-Text Articles in Epidemiology

The Relationship Of Provider Cultural Competence And Utilization Of Prenatal Care In The Hmong Of Minnesota, Cynthia J. Larson Jan 2011

The Relationship Of Provider Cultural Competence And Utilization Of Prenatal Care In The Hmong Of Minnesota, Cynthia J. Larson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Experts suggest that the cultural competence of healthcare providers is a critical factor impacting healthcare services to the ethnically diverse patient populations in the U.S. and that it may play a role in improving outcomes and reducing health disparities; however, the association between cultural competence and health outcomes remains unclear. This study used a cross-sectional quantitative design grounded by cultural competency constructs and the ethnic origins theory to explore the relationships between provider cultural competence, adequacy of prenatal care, and neonatal health outcomes in Hmong women, a population whose cultural beliefs affect their use of early and adequate prenatal care. …

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Association Between Vegan, Vegetarian, And Omnivorous Diets And Overweight And Obesity, Daniel Sullivan Jan 2011

Association Between Vegan, Vegetarian, And Omnivorous Diets And Overweight And Obesity, Daniel Sullivan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Overweight and obesity and associated health risks have become epidemic in several regions around the world. Numerous studies have addressed the dietary habits of vegetarians and vegans in terms of disease prevention and nutritional deficiencies but the relationship between overweight and obesity and the demographic, psychosocial, lifestyle, and dietary intake of omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans has received less attention. Guided by the social-ecological model, this study included a cross-sectional, quantitative, anonymous web-based survey to obtain dietary information on omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans. Vegans demonstrated a significantly lower mean and median body mass index ( p=0.00) than omnivores, semi-vegetarians, and vegetarians. …

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Racial /Ethnic Disparities In Hypertension In United States Residents: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Potential Explanatory Covariates, Franklin I. Opara Jan 2010

Racial /Ethnic Disparities In Hypertension In United States Residents: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Potential Explanatory Covariates, Franklin I. Opara

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Racial/ethnic disparities persist in hypertension (HTN) prevalence in the United States, and African Americans are disproportionately affected. The incidence is more than two-folds in African Americans compared to Caucasians, and mortality is highest among African Americans. Understanding the risk factors in HTN and how these factors vary across racial/ethnic groups is essential to reducing the mortality among African Americans. This study examined the prevalence of HTN among a sample non-institutionalized U.S. residents (N = 30,852), assessed racial/ethnic disparities and determined factors associated with racial/ethnic variance in HTN. A cross-sectional design was used to address these aims, utilizing the National Health …

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The Mediating Role Of Psychological Distress In The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Adult Smoking, Tara Wynn Strine Jan 2010

The Mediating Role Of Psychological Distress In The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Adult Smoking, Tara Wynn Strine

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While research has indicated that impaired mental health partially mediates the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and alcohol and illicit drug use, little research has examined potential mediators in the relationship between ACEs and smoking, the number one cause of preventable mortality in the United States. Accordingly, this study examined the potential mediating effect of psychological distress on the relationship between ACES and smoking using data from Wave II of the ACE Study, a cross-sectional study completed between June and October of 1997 on a sample of adult health maintenance organization members (N = 7,211). The theoretical underpinnings for …

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Immigration And Obesity In African American Adults Residing In The United States, Julius N. Ade Jan 2010

Immigration And Obesity In African American Adults Residing In The United States, Julius N. Ade

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity increases risk for heart disease, hypertension and other chronic diseases, and it affects minority ethnic groups disproportionately. However, it is unknown if African American immigrant adults, an increasing segment of the population, are at higher risk for obesity than African American non-immigrant adults residing in the United States. This study examined the association of obesity and immigrant status by comparing African American immigrant adults now residing in the United States to the general population of African American adults. The socio-ecological model provided the conceptual framework for this study. This study used a cross-sectional quantitative self-administered web-based survey to collect …

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Social Capital Variables As Predictors Of Hiv Risk-Taking Behaviors Among Sub-Saharan African Immigrants In The United States, Gbadebo Ogundiran Ogungbade Jan 2010

Social Capital Variables As Predictors Of Hiv Risk-Taking Behaviors Among Sub-Saharan African Immigrants In The United States, Gbadebo Ogundiran Ogungbade

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Vulnerable populations, including immigrants, are often at risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection because of their risk-taking behaviors. This study investigated risk-taking behavior for HIV infection among Sub-Saharan African (SSA) immigrants in United States. Using social capital as a theoretical foundation, the study aimed to address the question, is there any association between social capital assets of educational opportunity, employment, and eligibility for social assistance and HIV risk-taking behavior, defined as condom use before sex (CUBS) among SSA immigrant in the U.S? Potential participants were recruited through religious and social organizations in a southwestern US state. The survey generated …

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The Effect Of Direct Contact On Public Attitudes Towards People Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv) And Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids) In Zimbabweans, Mavis Mashingaidze Jan 2010

The Effect Of Direct Contact On Public Attitudes Towards People Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv) And Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids) In Zimbabweans, Mavis Mashingaidze

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS poses a significant threat to the curtailing of the epidemic by acting as a barrier to HIV testing and disclosure of serostatus. Previous research in the United States found personal knowledge of someone with HIV/AIDS to be a predictor of lower levels of HIV/AIDS-related stigma. However, no study to date has examined this relationship in Zimbabweans. Allport's contact hypothesis was hypothesis was the theoretical frame used to assess the effect of direct contact on public attitudes towards people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Zimbabweans with the …

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Clinical Recognition Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea In A Population-Based Sample, Mark R. Zellmer Jan 2010

Clinical Recognition Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea In A Population-Based Sample, Mark R. Zellmer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a disorder in which the airway intermittently collapses and obstructs during sleep, is associated with increased cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality, increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and depression. Treatment of OSA attenuates or reverses many of these associated risks. However, most cases of OSA are unrecognized and untreated. The two most recent studies using 1990s data found that only 6.5 - 15.4% of OSA cases, depending on severity, are clinically recognized in mixed gender populations. Based on a conceptual framework of improved physician awareness of OSA, and reduced diagnostic access bias …

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Risk Factors For Development Of High Blood Pressure And Obesity Among African American Adolescents, Monique Shanta White Jan 2010

Risk Factors For Development Of High Blood Pressure And Obesity Among African American Adolescents, Monique Shanta White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and has been linked to hypertension, especially among African American youth. Optimistic bias leads youth to underestimate their susceptibility to negative health outcomes. Public health officials want to reduce risk factors to result in significant long term reduction in cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to explore adolescent behavior practices in a school district and prevalence of high blood pressure and obesity in that population. The health belief model guided the framework for this study. Research questions examined relationship between individual health risk practices and optimistic bias on …

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Foodborne Or Pandemic: An Analysis Of The Transmission Of Norovirus-Associated Gastroenteritis And The Role Of Food Handlers, M. S. Dreyfuss Jan 2009

Foodborne Or Pandemic: An Analysis Of The Transmission Of Norovirus-Associated Gastroenteritis And The Role Of Food Handlers, M. S. Dreyfuss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined the strength of association between food workers and food to norovirus in comparison to bacteria associated with foodborne-related gastroenteritis by whether norovirus had a direct (physical evidence), indirect (statistical evidence), or suspect (neither of the two) association with food or food handlers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers norovirus to cause the largest number of foodborne-related gastroenteritis cases in the United States. The association of norovirus with foodborne outbreaks through its information data collection form focuses on the food worker as the typical source. Yet, many outbreaks are not foodborne in nature. The gap in …

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Prognostic Factors Of Varying Treatment Outcomes For Onychomycosis (Nail Fungal Infection) Patients, Bin Cai Jan 2008

Prognostic Factors Of Varying Treatment Outcomes For Onychomycosis (Nail Fungal Infection) Patients, Bin Cai

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prevalence of onychomycosis, as high as 26.9% in the general population, can be reduced by improving current antifungal treatment. This could be accomplished by understanding prognostic factors, especially healthy nail growth, associated with achieving complete cure. This population-based study aimed to evaluate if healthy nail length or percentage of total full nail length as healthy can be early indictors for complete cure. Logistics regression analyses were performed by comparing variables between a population who achieved the complete cure and a population who failed after both populations received the same antifungal treatment in two large randomized double-blinded clinical trials that assessed …

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