Preventive Medicine Commons^™

Vaccine-Preventable Diseases In Travelers, Edith Mirzaian, Jeffery A. Goad, Ani Amloian, Fady Makar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Travel to the developing world is increasing among those from developed countries, placing them at risk for vaccine preventable and non-vaccine preventable diseases. From 2007-2011, the GeoSentinel Network reported 737 returned travelers with a vaccine preventable disease. While it is essential that clinicians use vaccines when available for a disease of risk, they should also be aware that the vast majority of diseases acquired by travelers are non-vaccine preventable. The vaccine preventable diseases can be divided into routine travel vaccines, special travel vaccines and routine vaccines used for travel. The routine travel vaccines include Hepatitis A and B, typhoid; special …

A Systematic Review Of Internet-Based Worksite Wellness Approaches For Cardiovascular Disease Risk Management: Outcomes, Challenges & Opportunities, Ehimen Aneni, Lara Roberson, Arthur Agatston, Theodore Feldman, Maribeth Rouseff, Thinh Tran, Khurram Nasir

All Publications

No abstract provided.

Head Impact Exposure In Male And Female Collegiate Ice Hockey Players, Bethany J. Wilcox, Jonathan G. Beckwith, Richard M. Greenwald, Jeffrey J. Chu, Thomas W. Mcallister, Laura A. Flashman, Arthur C. Maerlender, Ann-Christine Duhaime, Joseph J. Crisco

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to quantify head impact exposure (frequency, location and magnitude of head impacts) for individual male and female collegiate ice hockey players and to investigate differences in exposure by sex, player position, session type, and team. Ninety-nine (41 male, 58 female) players were enrolled and 37,411 impacts were recorded over three seasons. Frequency of impacts varied significantly by sex (males: 287 per season, females: 170, p < 0.001) and helmet impact location (p < 0.001) but not by player position (p = 0.088). Head impact frequency also varied by session type; both male and female players sustained more impacts in games than in practices (p < 0.001), however the magnitude of impacts did not differ between session types. There was no difference in 95th percentile peak linear acceleration between sexes (males: 41.6 g, females: 40.8 g), but 95th percentile peak rotational acceleration and HITsp (a composite severity measure) were greater for males than females (4424, 3409 rad/s2, and 25.6, 22.3, respectively). Impacts to the back of the helmet resulted in the greatest 95th percentile peak linear accelerations for males (45.2 g) and females (50.4 g), while impacts to the side and back of the head were associated with the greatest 95th percentile peak rotational accelerations (males: 4719, 4256 rad/sec², females: 3567, 3784 rad/sec², respectively). It has been proposed that reducing an individual’s head impact exposure is a practical approach for reducing the risk of …

Pediatric Obesity: Taking Advantage Of Well-Child Visits For Early Identification, James E. Gelement

DNP Projects

Background: Pediatric obesity has reached epidemic levels in the United States and the burden of early identification and prevention lies with Primary Care Providers. With this burden comes the responsibility of increased documentation in order for patients to obtain the appropriate counseling, treatment, and referrals.

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify missed opportunities to identify pediatric patients that meet the criteria for overweight or obesity during well-child visits within a primary care practice.

Method: A retrospective chart review of 100 randomly selected patients born between 9/1/2001 and 9/1/2010 that have received a well-child visit between 1/1/2010 and …

Evaluating The Effects Of An Educational Lifestyle Modification Intervention On Blood Pressure In Adults With Prehypertension, Andrea M. Patterson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational lifestyle modification (LM) intervention on blood pressure (BP) among adults with prehypertension. Prehypertension is a precursor to hypertension (HTN) and is a public epidemic in the United States. Approximately 68 million (31%) U.S. adult’s aged ≥18 years have hypertension. Hypertension can cause significant target organ damage, lead to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and kidney failure. Early identification and the primary treatment of persons with prehypertension with LM have the potential to minimize the progression and delay the onset of comorbidities associated with hypertension. This quality …

Factors Associated With Parental Decision Making And Childhood Vaccination, Zuwen Qiu-Shultz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In order to better understand factors affecting immunization status, logistic regression was used to assess the association of various socio-demographic factors and whether parents would have their child immunized if not a state mandate. Factors included in the study were race, household income, number of children in the household, number of adults in the household, if the child had a primary provider, if the child had a health check-up in the last twelve months, and medical insurance status of the child. The combined Nevada Kindergarten Health Survey Result of 2009-2010 (Year Two) and 2010-2011 (Year Three) conducted by the Nevada …

Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) In Madagascar: A Case Study Of A Neglected Tropical Disease, Sarah Grace Sawyer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over 50% of Madagascar’s population is infected with intestinal or urinary schistosomiasis (Rollinson et al., 2012). The disease slowly debilitates infected persons, who are frequently children, resulting in lower productivity and reduced learning in school-age children. The disease involves a vicious cycle perpetuated by a number of environmental, psychological, and social factors. A multifaceted approach, involving mass treatment, biological control, environmental control, education, and disease surveillance, can lead to schistosomiasis control and elimination in Madagascar. This would yield many socio-economic benefits such as increased productivity, increased school attendance rates, and generally better welfare. Schistosomiasis is the most burdensome and deadly …

Patient Safety In The Cardiac Operating Room: Human Factors And Teamwork: A Scientific Study From The American Heart Association, Joyce A. Wahr, Richard L. Prager, J. H. Abernathy Iii, Elizabeth A. Martinez, Eduardo Salas, Patricia C. Seifert, Robert C. Groom, Bruce D. Spiess, Bruce E. Searles, Thoralf M. Sundt Iii, Juan A. Sanchez, Scott A. Shappell, Michael H. Culig, Elizabeth H. Lazzara, David C. Fitzgerald, Vinod H. Thourani, Pirooz Eghtesady, John S. Ikonomidis, Michael R. England, Frank W. Selke, Nancy A. Nussmeier

Publications

The cardiac surgical operating room (OR) is a complex environment in which highly trained subspecialists interact with each other using sophisticated equipment to care for patients with severe cardiac disease and significant comorbidities. Thousands of patient lives have been saved or significantly improved with the advent of modern cardiac surgery. Indeed, both mortality and morbidity for coronary artery bypass surgery have decreased during the past decade. Nonetheless, the highly skilled and dedicated personnel in cardiac ORs are human and will make errors. Refined techniques, advanced technologies, and enhanced coordination of care have led to significant improvements in cardiac surgery outcomes.

First Steps Phase Ii Initiative: Improving Developmental, Autism, And Lead Screening For Children, Kimberley S. Fox Mpa, Carolyn E. Gray Mph, Martha Elbaum Williamson Mpa

Population Health & Health Policy

First STEPS (Strengthening Together Early Preventive Services) is a learning initiative supported by Maine's CHIPRA quality demonstration grant to support measure-driven practice improvement in pediatric and family practices across the state on improving developmental, autism, and lead screening for children. This report, authored by research staff at the USM Muskie School, evaluates the impact of Phase II of Maine's First STEPS initiative, which was implemented from May to December 2012 and included 12 practices serving more than 20,000 children on MaineCare (Maine's Medicaid system). The authors assess changes in developmental, autism, and lead screening rates and evidence-based office processes in …

The Effect Of Heart Failure Education On Reducing Readmissions, Mayola Lara Villarruel

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Management of heart failure is a significant financial challenge for the health care industry, costing approximately $33.2 billion annually. Common reasons for preventable heart failure readmissions include inadequate discharge education and lack of self-care and health management activities. Education at discharge is a vital component of improving heart failure outcomes. Following a review of the literature, high quality evidence supports that heart failure education should focus on medication adherence, sodium and fluid restriction, daily weights, activity tolerance, identification of deteriorating signs and symptoms of heart failure, and smoking cessation. The purpose of this EBP project was to reduce heart failure …

Nutri One-On-One: The Assessment And Evaluation Of A Single One-On-One Nutritional Coaching In Patients Affected By Metabolic Syndrome, Jennifer L. King

PCOM Biomedical Studies Student Scholarship

The Nutri One-on-One Program's aim was to positively modify participants' nutritional habits and lifestyles through a brief one-on-one health coaching session, which was conducted within a primary healthcare setting at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine's Clinics. It is documented that 70% of deaths in the U.S. result from complications secondary to chronic diseases of metabolic syndrome. The participants were selected by physicians and classified as suffering from one or more of the five indicators of metabolic syndrome: abdominal obesity, elevated serum triglycerides, low HDL-cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, and insulin resistance. Evidence shows that health coaching positively assists individuals in …

Successful Aging And Creativity : An Investigation On Functional Status And Psychological Wellbeing In Older Adults, Mirie E. Levy

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Objectives: While the literature supports the maintenance of functional status as integral to successful aging, the relationship of creativity on functional status has received little attention. Creativity has been associated with health and aging in the research but only a small number of studies have examined creativity interventions to enhance functional status and boost psychological wellbeing.

Methods: A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used to investigate an 8-week creativity intervention on functional status and psychological wellbeing in older adults. Sample subjects were 92 men and women all over age 60. A series of two-way mixed ANOVAs measured differences between treatment and …

Examining Universal Primary Healthcare Through Community-Based Initiatives, Donald E. Warden

Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper examines enacting community-based primary healthcare programs and initiatives. It looks at the weaknesses of past attempts, the successes of current attempts, and gives insight into ways everyday citizens can change the way the world does healthcare. There are social, economic, and political barriers as to why these programs are not enacted. Since 1978, Member states of the United Nations strive towards healthcare for all. The original 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata sets the bar at achieving this goal by the year 2000. Now in the 21^st century, the world still battles inadequate healthcare. Nations continue to strive towards …

Self-Management And Self-Management Support On Chronic Low Back Patients In Primary Care, Jennifer Kawi

Interdisciplinary Research Scholarship Day

• Chronic low back pain (CLBP) afflicts 28.5% of adults costing $100-200 billion dollars.
• In response, the Institute of Medicine (2011) strongly recommended self-management (SM) to engage patients to care for themselves adequately.
• Healthcare professionals are also urged to provide effective self-management support (SMS) to empower patient’s ability to self-manage.
• SM and SMS have shown success in improving other chronic disease outcomes; current knowledge base are insufficient in non-malignant CLBP

The Young And Suicide, Hatim A. Omar, Joav Merrick

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Carrots, Sticks And False Carrots: How High Should Weight Control Wellness Incentives Be? Findings From A Population-Level Experiment, Harald Schmidt

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Employers are increasingly using wellness incentives, including penalties for unhealthy behavior. Survey data suggests that people are willing to accept the principle of penalizing those perceived to take health risks, but the equally relevant question of the magnitude of acceptable penalties is unclear.

While the principle of penalizing overweight and obese people has some support, findings from a population-level experiment (n=1,000) suggest that the acceptable size of penalties is comparatively small, around $50: more than 10-fold below levels favored by advocates. Reward-based incentives are favored over penalty-based ones by a factor of 4. Of two different ways of framing penalty …

Breath And Urine Alcohol Level Analysis To Increase Student Awareness Of Road Safety., Kim Daly

Students Learning with Communities

The aim of this project was to increase student’s awareness of road safety and the relationship between alcohol and driving. This was carried out in conjunction with the Garda Road Safety Unit and the DIT interdisciplinary project known as CARS, College Awareness of Road Safety. This project was carried out last year by another student therefore the aim this year was to build and expand on the work that had been done so far. Increasing the student’s awareness was achieved by speaking to class groups to explain the project and asking them to take part by supplying samples of breath …

Do Mechanical Pressure-Equalizing Devices Such As Otovent® And Prep Relieve Or Reduce Ear Pain And Pressure In Aircraft Passengers During Flight?, Michael Ferentino

PCOM Physician Assistant Studies Student Scholarship

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not mechanical pressure-equalizing devices relieve or reduce ear pain and pressure in aircraft passengers during flight.

STUDY DESIGN: A review of two double-blind control trials and one case control study published between 1988 and 2010 in the English language.

DATA RESOURCES: Double-blind control trials focused on the use of pressure-equalizing ear plugs (PREP) and a case control study on the Otovent® auto-inflation device for the prevention of barotrauma in aircraft passengers were found using Cochraine Library, Medline, and PubMed.

OUTCOMES MEASURED: Outcomes measured …

Analysis Of Vitamin D Status At Two Academic Medical Centers And A National Reference Laboratory: Result Patterns Vary By Age, Gender, Season, And Patient Location, Jonathan R. Genzen, Jennifer T. Gosselin, Thomas C. Wilson, Emilian Racila, Matthew D. Krasowski

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Testing for 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] has increased dramatically in recent years. The present report compares overall utilization and results for 25(OH)D orders at two academic medical centers - one in New York and one in Iowa – in order to characterize the vitamin D status of our inpatient and outpatient populations. Results are also compared to those from a national reference laboratory to determine whether patterns at these two institutions reflect those observed nationally.

Methods: Retrospective data queries of 25(OH)D orders and results were conducted using the laboratory information systems at Weill Cornell Medical College / New York Presbyterian …

Is Probiotic Supplementation Effective In Reducing The Incidence Of Atopic Dermatitis In Children Age 3 And Under?, Kristen M. Mclaughlin

PCOM Physician Assistant Studies Student Scholarship

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not probiotic supplementation is effective in reducing the incidence of atopic dermatitis in children age 3 and younger.

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review of three Engligh language primary studies one published in 2009 and the other two in 2010.

DATA SOURCES: Three double blind randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of probiotic supplementation for reducing the incidence of atopic dermatitis in children ages 3 and under were found using Cochrane Library EBM and PubMed databases.

OUTCOMES MEASURED: Diagnosis of atopic dermatitis, via a positive …