Medicine and Health Commons^™

Decomposing Differences In Coronavirus Disease 2019-Related Case-Fatality Rates Across Seventeen Nations, Ashley Wendell Kranjac, Dinko Kranjac

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

As of 1 November 2020, estimated case-fatality rates associated with coronavirus disease 2019 are not uniformly patterned across the world and differ substantially in magnitude. Given the global spatial heterogeneity in case-fatality rates, we applied the Blinder-Oaxaca regression decomposition technique to identify how putative sociodemographic, structural, and environmental sources influence variation in case-fatality rates. We show that compositional and associational differences in country-level risk factors explain a substantial proportion of the coronavirus disease 2019-related case-fatality rate gap across nations. Asian countries fair better vis-à-vis case-fatality rate differences mainly due to variation in returns to sociodemographic, structural, and environmental sources among …

Hips That Harm: When Medical Devices Fail Women, Sophie N. Putka

Capstones

Medical devices that save the lives of thousands of Americans each year advance at a rapid pace - but some of them consistently leave women behind. When it comes to joint replacements and even heart devices, women have worse health outcomes. Behind this preventable problem is a system that overlooks women from start to finish. Female bodies are different from male bodies, but women are often underrepresented in medical trials for device approval. Women’s participation in clinical testing for devices has increased, but there’s rarely a detailed analysis of performance by sex, and even less information on women by race …

Impact Of Endangered Animal Protection Rights, Policies, And Practices On Zoonotic Disease Spread, Daniella Fedak-Lengel

Honors Projects

Building on field research in Costa Rica and Belize, this honors project analyzes environmental and endangered animal protection policies, rights, and practices in Central America and the Caribbean, and assesses the impact of veterinary science and biological research and practice, particularly conservation biology, on animal welfare concerns. Informed by the recent surge in awareness regarding zoonoses and zoonotic disease transmission, prevention and control, resulting from the current global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2, the project assesses the need for new and innovative types of collaboration, particularly involving conservation biologists, environmental scientists, public health experts, law and policy makers, and global trade and …

Are Countries With Higher Levels Of Mental Health Cases Experience Higher Divorce Rates?, Liu Ying Wong, Yi Pei Goh

Introduction to Research Methods RSCH 202

This paper aims to determine if spouses’ mental health can be a factor affecting the divorce rate of marriage. A regression analysis is carried out to determine how the percentage of mental health cases in a country’s population affects the divorce rates of a country, while controlling the effects of labour force participation and income. The data from the selected 20 countries are collected from reputable world organizations selected. The results obtained from the regression analysis show that mental health has a marginally significant association with divorce rate and the association between income index and divorce rate is statistically significant.

Disparities In Oral Health: Socioeconomic Status And Policies To Increase Access To Primary Dental Care, Mckenzie Nutter

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Primary dental care is a patient-centered service consisting of routine dental checkups. The oral cavity is the first point of entrance to the body for many harmful pathogens. Therefore, primary dental care is essential to not only prevent and treat conditions in the mouth, but to also reduce the number of systemic diseases in the rest of the body. However, people with higher incomes or wealth have increased access to primary dental care. People with low socioeconomic status have decreased access to primary dental care, at least in part due to difficulties in paying for separate dental insurance. Disparities in …

Healthy Diets Can Create Environmental Trade-Offs, Depending On How Diet Quality Is Measured, Zach Conrad, Nicole Tichenor Blackstone, Eric D. Roy

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Background: There is an urgent need to assess the linkages between diet patterns and environmental sustainability in order to meet global targets for reducing premature mortality and improving sustainable management of natural resources. This study fills an important research gap by evaluating the relationship between incremental differences in diet quality and multiple environmental burdens, while also accounting for the separate contributions of retail losses, inedible portions, and consumer waste. Methods: Cross sectional, nationally-representative data on food intake in the United States were acquired from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005–2016), and were linked with nationally-representative data on food …

Parillo, Sophia - Covid-19 Journal, Sophia Parillo

Personal Journals

Personal diary of EIU college student and junior Elementary Education major with a minor in orchestra. Her journal documents the holiday season of 2020 and includes documentation that illustrates life during the pandemic.

Arguelles, Ceci - Covid-19 Journal, Ceci Arguelles

Personal Journals

Personal diary of EIU student Ceci Arguelles documenting her early experience with the Covid-19 pandemic. Submission includes photos and a description of the images.

Elliott, Santasia - Covid-19 Journal, Santasia Elliott

Personal Journals

Personal journal of Santasia Elliot that includes images of business signs a snippets of social life in the Fall of 2020 as it relates to the effect of the pandemic on communities. In this instance, the documentation is from Danville, IL.

Tagtmeier, Daniel - Covid-19 Journal, Daniel Tagtmeier

Personal Journals

EIU student, Daniel Tagtmeier writes about the effect of the pandemic on his learning and homelife, particularly his relationship with his grandmother and the inability to see her in the early stages of the pandemic.

A Qualitative Analysis Of End-Of-Life Healthcare In Tennessee: Politics, Principles, And Perceptions, Erin Mauck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The unprecedented growth of the aging population in Tennessee is a significant demographic trend that highlights the necessity for healthcare policy that tackles end-of-life issues. This study examined the perceived quality of end-of-life healthcare in Tennessee, areas that are in need of improvement, policies that have the potential to influence improvements, and the role of politics in end-of-life healthcare policy. It also assessed the support for end-of-life healthcare policy that would advance quality of care and expand end-of-life choices for Tennesseans, while evaluating the policy-making process that legislators employ.

For this study, data were collected using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with …

Seroprevalence Of Novel Coronavirus Sars-Cov-2 At A Community Hospital Emergency Department And Outpatient Laboratory In Northern Orange County, California, Jason Yamaki, Harry Peled, Sajen Mathews, David Park, Mina Firoozi, Kim Smith, Lee Nguyen

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction

The severe acute respiratory syndrome related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 20 million people worldwide, and the spread is most prevalent in the USA, where California had accounted over 240,000 cases in the initial 5 months of the pandemic. To estimate the number of infected persons in our community, we conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods

This cross-sectional study evaluated the presence of immunoglobulin G, antibody for SARS-CoV-2 during the time period of July 15, 2020, to July 27, 2020. Testing was done on serum samples from patients who had visited affiliated …

Rurality Of Medical Provider And Race Of Patient As Risk Factors For Overdose In Opioid Use Disorder Populations, Christopher Vance, Colleen Mulligan, David Von Nordheim, Jodi Heaps-Woodruff Ph.D.

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Title: Rurality of medical provider and race of patient as risk factors for overdose in opioid use disorder populations

Background

This study examines the outcomes of medication assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders (OUD) based on location of treatment and race of the individual seeking treatment. Opioid use in the United States has been disproportionately rising in the last decade and there is evidence of unequal treatment based on different social disparities, namely rurality and race. Discriminatory distribution of medication and treatment for individuals seeking OUD along the lines of race and rurality is an issue of grave importance …

Clinical Decision Science: Proof Of Concept, James Peter Meza Md, Phd, Nicholus Yee Md, Bennett Riddering Md, Ali Nasrallah Md, Urtė Zableckas Ms, Mbbs

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

Clinical decision science, a newly identified area of scholarship, describes how clinical research is used for a patient, within the context of their unique social conditions. We hypothesize that physicians use sociocultural context as an important input to their decision making. We performed a prospective, randomized, double-blind mixed methods study. Family medicine faculty and residents at a community hospital family medicine residency were included in the study. After academic journal club discussing a primary research paper, physicians were asked if they would prescribe medication for a patient who was similar to the subjects in a research paper. However, social and …

Why Can't Homeless Addicts Get Help Too, Rachael D. Causland

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Homeless people today struggle more with addiction than people who have stability in their life. Whether it’s due to financial issues, or not having a support system, homeless people struggle to get the help they need for both their addiction and their homelessness. A high number of homeless people report to have started an addiction since being homeless, and they do so to stay alive, in turn people are continuing to stay homeless and many of these people are dying of overdoses or just staying stuck in the situation they are forced to deal with alone. There are some states …

Discordance In Perceptions Of Barriers To Breast Cancer Treatment Between Hispanic Women And Their Providers, Swapna Reddy, Mary Saxon, Nina Patel, Matthew Speer, Tiffany Ziegler, Nirali Patel, Madison Ziegler, Stephany Esquivel, Andrea Daniella Mata, Asha Devineni, Pooja Paode, Nitika Thawani, Subhakar Mutyala

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Despite comparable screening and incidence rates that are 26% below that of non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanic women present with breast cancer at more advanced stages of disease, representing a continuing and troubling health disparity for this population. Reducing these disparities warrant more innovative research approaches to better understand perspectives of Hispanic patients regarding barriers to treatment and how these perspectives compare to those of their providers. A pilot qualitative study was conducted at a major urban cancer center in Arizona that measured both patient and provider perspectives regarding barriers to treatment. Through a multimethod qualitative analysis, researchers surveyed patients and providers …

Covid-19 Treatment Resource Disparities And Social Disadvantage In New York City, Jason A. Douglas, Andrew M. Subica

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Black and Hispanic communities in the U.S. have endured a disproportionate burden of COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. Racial and ethnic health disparities such as these are frequently aggravated by inequitable access to healthcare resources in disadvantaged communities. Yet, no known studies have investigated disadvantaged communities' access to COVID-19-related healthcare resources. The current study accordingly examined racial and ethnic differences in (1) April 2020 COVID-19 total and positive viral test rates across 177 New York City (NYC) ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA); and (2) November 2019–April 2020 licensed and intensive care unit (ICU) hospital bed access across 194 NYC ZCTAs. Pairwise …

Stutzman, Kelsi - Covid-19 Journal, Kelsi Stutzman

Personal Journals

Personal journal of Kelsi Stutzman, a student in Dr. Laughlin-Schultz's HIS3810 History of Illinois course during Fall, 2020

Race, Ethnicity, And Insurance: The Association With Opioid Use In A Pediatric Hospital Setting, Louis Ehwerhemuepha, Candice D. Donaldson, Zeev N. Kain, Vivian Luong, Michelle A. Fortier, William Feaster, Michael Weiss, Daniel Tomaszewski, Sun Yang, Michael Phan, Brooke N. Jenkins

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

This study examined the association between race/ethnicity and health insurance payer type with pediatric opioid and non-opioid ordering in an inpatient hospital setting.

Methods

Cross-sectional inpatient encounter data from June 2013 to June 2018 was retrieved from a pediatric children’s hospital in Southern California (N = 55,944), and statistical analyses were performed to determine associations with opioid ordering.

Results

There was a significant main effect of race/ethnicity on opioid and non-opioid orders. Physicians ordered significantly fewer opioid medications, but a greater number of non-opioid medications, for non-Hispanic African American children than non-Hispanic Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, and non-Hispanic White pediatric …

Availability Of Over-The-Counter Antibiotics In Guatemalan Corner Stores, Purificación Moreno, Alejandro Cerón, Karen Sosa, Marinees Morales, Laura M. Grajeda, Maria Renee Lopez, John P. Mccraken, Celia Cordón-Rosales, Guy H. Palmer, Douglas R. Call, Brooke M. Ramay

Anthropology: Faculty Scholarship

Widespread availability of antibiotics without prescription potentially facilitates overuse and contributes to selection pressure for antimicrobial resistant bacteria. Prior to this study, anecdotal observations in Guatemala identified corner stores as primary antibiotic dispensaries, where people purchase antibiotics without prescriptions. We carried out a cross sectional study to document the number and types of antibiotics available in corner stores, in four study areas in Guatemala. A total of 443 corner stores were surveyed, of which 295 (67%) sold antibiotics. The most commonly available antibiotics were amoxicillin, found in 246/295 (83%) stores, and tetracycline, found in 195/295 (66%) stores. Over the counter …

Parent Responses To Pediatric Pain: The Differential Effects Of Ethnicity On Opioid Consumption, Candice D. Donaldson, Brooke N. Jenkins, Michelle A. Fortier, Michael T. Phan, Daniel M. Tomaszewski, Sun Yang, Zeev N. Kain

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Within the context of the United States opioid epidemic, some parents often fear the use of opioids to help manage their children's postoperative pain. As a possible consequence, parents often do not dispense optimal analgesic medications to their children after surgery, putting their children at risk of suffering from postsurgical pain. The objective of this research was to assess ethnicity as a predictor of both pain and opioid consumption, and to examine how Hispanic/Latinx and Non-Hispanic White parents alter their child's opioid consumption in response to significant postsurgical pain.

Methods

Participants were 254 children undergoing outpatient tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy …

Practice-Based Learning: Medico-Legal Evidence Collection As Part Of Post-Rape Care In Refugee Contexts, Michael Gaitho, Ronald Kotut, Anne Ngunjiri, Jane T. Thiomi, Josephine Ngebeh, Chi-Chi Undie

Reproductive Health

Health care providers collect an array of documentation and specimens to support criminal investigations. Such documentation and specimens are referred to as “medico-legal” or “forensic” evidence, and in the case of rape, include a survivor’s documented injuries and emotional state at the time of examination, as well as samples and specimens from the survivor’s body or clothing. For survivors of rape and defilement who want to obtain legal justice, medico-legal evidence is critical. In African countries, health providers and the police are depended upon to ensure such evidence is collected, but medico-legal evidence collection can present challenges. Evidence-based interventions are …

Practice-Based Learning: Establishing Simple Monitoring Systems To Support Sgbv Programming In Refugee Settings, Chi-Chi Undie, Josephine Ngebeh, Jane Harriet Namwebya, Michael Gaitho, George Odwe, Nachela Chelwa, Harriet Birungi, Michael Mbizvo

Reproductive Health

Implementers of sexual and gender-based violence programs in refugee settings are typically eager to learn about the extent to which their programs are making a difference in the lives of those they serve. Basic monitoring information can help address this imperative without unduly burdening program implementers with time-consuming evaluations. The Sauti/VOICE project is guiding adaptation and implementation of evidence-based SGBV interventions in refugee contexts. These interventions are implemented by UNHCR partners in eight countries in the East, Horn, and Great Lakes region of Africa. Although Sauti/VOICE is primarily focused on integrating tested SGBV interventions into refugee contexts, monitoring the implementation …

Perspective Article: Actions To Reconfigure Food Systems, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Philip Thornton, Jonathan Wadsworth, Bruce M. Campbell, Mario Herrero, Daniel Mason-D'Croz, Dhanush Dinesh, Sophia Huyer, Andy Jarvis, Alberto Millan, Eva Wollenberg, Stephen Zebiak

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

There is broad agreement that current food systems are not on a sustainable trajectory that will enable us to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, particularly in the face of anthropogenic climate change. Guided by a consideration of some food system reconfigurations in the past, we outline an agenda of work around four action areas: rerouting old systems into new trajectories; reducing risks; minimising the environmental footprint of food systems; and realigning the enablers of change needed to make new food systems function. Here we highlight food systems levers that, along with activities within these four action areas, may …

Racial Justice And The Image Of Public Health, Marilyn Fischer

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The City Commission in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio recently adopted a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis. In doing so, Dayton joins municipalities around the country, as the global pandemic of coronavirus COVID19 swirls around us. The Commission gave compelling reasons for their action, citing the disparate rates of poor health outcomes in African American communities, as well as disproportionately high rates of poverty, unemployment, economic distress, homelessness, incarceration, and inadequate education.1 The Commission’s commitment to remedy these inequities is welcome. Others have laid out this evidence in much detail; I want to focus here on public health …

The Impact Of Ethnicity And Immigration On Prostate Cancer Mortality In Canada, Noah Stern

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite the prevalence of prostate cancer its pathogenesis remains unclear. Marked differences in mortality rates have been observed between countries, however, it is unclear whether the source of the observed differences is driven by underlying genetics, geographic, or social factors. This thesis investigated the impact of ethnicity and immigration on prostate cancer mortality in Canada using the Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort. South Asian and East Asian men were seen to be at decreased risk of prostate cancer mortality, while no increased risk was observed in black men. These results affirm studies showing lower risks in Asian men; however, …

Con Confianza: Using Community-Based Participatory Research Principles To Inform Community-Academic Partnership Practices And Build Trust In Hispanic Communities, Sharon Tafolla

Master's Projects and Capstones

Hispanic communities are at disproportionate risk for chronic diseases and researchers have cited the need for further community and culturally informed studies to improve research outcomes to either make treatments and interventions more generalizable or modify them to the needs of Hispanic communities. However, many of the same linguistic and cultural barriers to health care access and utilization also impact the ability for Hispanic groups to participate in research studies. Community Academic Partnerships (CAPs) are positioned to conduct culturally and linguistically competent research in Hispanic communities. For research in Hispanic communities to be effective, CAPs must prioritize practices that build …

Mechanisms Study: Using Game Theory To Assess The Effects Of Social Norms And Social Networks On Adolescent Smoking In Schools—Study Protocol, Ruth F. Hunter, Felipe Montes, Jennifer M. Murray, Sharon C. Sanchez-Franco, Shannon C. Montgomery, Joaquín Jaramillo, Christopher Tate, Rajnish Kumar, Laura Dunne, Abhijit Ramalingam, Erik O. Kimbrough, Erin Krupka, Huiyu Zhou, Laurence Moore, Linda Bauld, Blanca Llorente, Olga L. Sarmiento, Frank Kee

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

This proof of concept study harnesses novel transdisciplinary insights to contrast two school-based smoking prevention interventions among adolescents in the UK and Colombia. We compare schools in these locations because smoking rates and norms are different, in order to better understand social norms based mechanisms of action related to smoking. We aim to: (1) improve the measurement of social norms for smoking behaviors in adolescents and reveal how they spread in schools; (2) to better characterize the mechanisms of action of smoking prevention interventions in schools, learning lessons for future intervention research. The A Stop Smoking in Schools Trial (ASSIST) …

Support Clubs For Children And Youth In Haiti Living With Hiv: A Case Study, Susan Settergren, Robert Philippe, Joanne St. Louis, Nathaniel Segaren, Sylvie Boisson, Tessa Lewis, Olbeg Désinor, Kesner François

HIV and AIDS

In Haiti, where an estimated 3,000 children and youth are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), Caris Foundation, with funding from the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), provides hospital-linked psychosocial support groups, known as Kids Clubs, for young people ages nine and older. The clubs are intended to help ensure that HIV-positive children and adolescents stay in contact with health services, and serve as a conduit for delivery of other services, including health messages and health products. In 2019, Project SOAR conducted a study to describe the Kids Club …

Creatively Exploring Self: Applying Organic Inquiry, A Transpersonal And Intuitive Methodology, Larisa J. Bardsley Phd

The Qualitative Report

This article explores the merit of using Organic Inquiry, a qualitative research approach that is most effectively applied to areas of psychological and spiritual growth. Organic Inquiry is a research approach where the psyche of the researcher becomes the instrument of the research, working in partnership with the experiences of participants and guided by liminal and spiritual influences. Organic Inquiry is presented as a unique methodology that can incorporate other non-traditional research methods, including intuitive, autoethnographic and creative techniques. The validity and application of Organic Inquiry, as well as its strengths and limitations are discussed in the light of the …