Medicine and Health Commons^™

How We Want To Be Treated! What Clark County African American Patients Want Their Health Providers To Know, Charlene A. Day, Joyce Woodson, Erica Archuleta

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Research continues to validate the fact that cultural values and beliefs play a major role in determining the extent to which an individual will engage in healthy behaviors, adhere to medical regimen, and seek care when necessary. A 2000 survey of 950 members of predominately African American churches in Clark County, Nevada (a county which comprises Las Vegas) conducted by the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension found members preferred healthcare providers as a source of information on health-related matters. Yet, research shows that for a variety of reasons, many African Americans do not regularly see a health care professional, and …

Screening For Mental Health Problems Among Incarcerated Youth In Nevada: Practice And Policy, Michelle Chino, Jennifer Personius-Zipoy, Denise Tanata

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Incarcerated youth in Nevada with serious mental health problems are not being effectively identified. The current study examined the utility of simple screening instruments as a mechanism for identifying incarcerated youth who may have a mental health disorder. Adjudicated youth, incarcerated at each of Nevada’s 12 juvenile detention facilities, participated in the study by completing a demographic questionnaire and a standardized mental health screening instrument: the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version 2 (MAYSI-2). Findings indicate a high prevalence of mental health disorders among incarcerated juveniles in Nevada. Identifying youth with mental health problems is complicated by the lack of a systematic …

Exercise Determined Promise 2003 Logandale, Nevada Plague Prophylaxis Clinic: Exercising The Strategic National Stockpile, Kay Godby, Mary Ellen Harrell, Bonnie Sorenson, Maureen Fanning, Nancy Gerken, Jane Shunney

Nevada Journal of Public Health

The Department of Defense asked the Clark County Health District (CCHD) to participate in the disaster drill entitled Determined Promise ’03 (DP ‘03) from August 18 -23, 2003. The purpose of this exercise was to test the capacities of the U.S. Northern Command (U.S.Northcom) Homeland defense/homeland security mission and integration of the Joint Task Forces-Civil Support (JTF-CS) with state and local responders. Part of the JTF-CS mission was to coordinate military support to civilian state and local authorities when it was requested.

Protecting Children From Overexposure To Lead In Candy And Protecting Children By Lowering The Blood Lead “Level Of Concern” Standard, Bryan Wagner, Colleen C. Hughes, Robert Sobsey

Nevada Journal of Public Health

The American Public Health Association: Recognizing that in April 2004, the Orange County Register in an investigative report, published for the first time information that the state of California had been testing for lead in candies for decades but had not informed the public about the high lead levels in many candies, candy wrappers and seasonings (sold as a snack item and consumed as candy) imported from Mexico, the Philippines and other countries.

Oral Health Needs And Parental Attitudes, Behavior, And Knowledge Of Lower Ses Children, Mildred Mcclain, Clifford R. Mcclain, Anthony Paventy

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Despite the declining prevalence of dental caries over recent decades, caries remain the most common chronic childhood disease, especially in high-risk (low socio-economic status) populations. This appears to be true even when parents are aware of good oral health habits. The purpose of this study was to gather oral hygiene data on high-risk children in Nevada and to assess parental attitudes and education concerning their children’s oral health. Using visual examinations and a dmft (decayed, missing, filled, teeth) severity index, 235 lower SES children were screened and given treatment recommendations. The screenings showed larger than expected prevalence in both caries …

Findings From The Nutrition Challenge Program, Rayleen Earney, Nicole Bungum, Timothy J. Bungum

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. Over 61% of U.S. adults and 58% of Nevada adults have Body Mass Index’s (BMI) that classify them as either overweight or obese (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System [BRFSS], 2005). According to a recent article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, obesity was the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States behind tobacco use (Mokdad, Marks, Stroup & Gerberding, 2004).

While obesity and overweight are complex, multi-factorial health conditions, an important contributor to the overweight and obesity epidemic is poor dietary habits. One of the major …

Evaluation Of The Impact Of A Health Care Administration Student Practicum, Christopher R. Cochran, Michelle Sotero

Nevada Journal of Public Health

As the health care industry becomes increasingly complex, many leaders and practitioners in the field are worried about the quality and preparation of health care administration graduates (Robbins, Bradley, & Spicer, 2001). Academic health care administration programs prepare students for a professional career in the health care field. One of the biggest challenges for university health care administration programs is to meet industry needs by effectively incorporating practical skills and knowledge into the academic curricula. For students, coursework provides some insight into the demands of the industry, but they also require hands-on experience to be relevant in a highly competitive …

Lead Shot Deposition And Distribution In Southern Nevada, Shawn Gerstenberger, Darren D. Divine

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Densities of lead (Pb) shot in soil and the presence of Pb shot in waterfowl gizzards from past hunting activities at the Overton Wildlife Management Area (OWMA) in southern Nevada were determined. Soil shot densities in fields managed for doves, pheasants and geese, and adjacent fields strictly managed as waterfowl habitat were examined. Soil shot densities ranged from 2,691 to 107,642 Pb shot/ha in waterfowl areas to 649,085 to 862,275 Pb shot/ha in dove management areas. Pb shot deposition rates for the 1998-1999 dove hunting season were also calculated and ranged from 8,970 to 22,559 shot/ha in fields managed primarily …

Adverse Maternal Outcomes For Women With Different Health Insurance Statuses In Nevada, Jay J. Shen, Hong Wei

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Objective. Nevada women with unfavorable health insurance status may face greater barriers than women in the rest of the nation, since the development of healthcare infrastructure in Nevada is running behind population growth. This study examines the relationship between health insurance status and adverse maternal outcomes in Nevada.

Methods. Hospital discharge information of 33,149 women aged 13 or older who delivered in 2004 was abstracted from the 2004 State Inpatient Data for Nevada. A total of 13 measures of complications associated with pregnancy were identified, including preterm labor, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, ante-partum hemorrhage, membrane disorders, cesarean section, …

A Study To Determine If University Athletic Teams In Desert Environments Experience Risky Diet-Related Behaviours, Susan Meacham, Christine Bergman, Marcia M. Ditmyer, Kyle Wilson, Connie Mobley

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Training and competing in desert environments may exacerbate concerns related to disordered eating, supplement use, and hydration in some student athlete populations. A survey administered equitably to both genders solicited self-reported responses from members of 18 different teams over four years from a southwestern United States university athletic program. More than 1,700 athletes responded to 42 items on the questionnaire. Teams, not individual student athletes, were the units of measure for statistical analyses. Initial analysis of results indicated that there were no overt concerns regarding dietary behaviors due to training and competing in the desert environment. Further analysis subjected the …

The Administrative Prevalence Of Autism Spectrum Disorders In Nevada School Districts: A Pooled Time Series Analysis, 1996-2004, John P. Tuman, Sheniz Moonie, Danielle Roth-Johnson

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Objective: To examine the administrative prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in all seventeen school districts in Nevada during the period of 1996 to 2004.

Methods: Normalized administrative prevalence rates (per 1,000 children ages 6-17) for ASD, Mental Retardation (MR), Learning Disability (LD), and Speech and Language Impairment (SLI) were calculated. Covariates for board certified pediatricians per 1,000 students, Federal special education funding per student, and other measures of school resources were employed. Models were estimated with pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression with panel corrected standard errors. A separate analysis compared pooled OLS results to results from Latent Growth …

The Effects Of Television Food Advertising On Childhood Obesity, Aleathia Cezar

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Children’s food choices are influenced by the media, television advertising, focusing directly at infants and toddlers. This literature review presents multiple studies that explain how TV advertising of fast food, sugary cereals and other foods high in calories, fat, sugar, sodium and low in nutrients are contributing to the increase rates of childhood obesity. It is concluded that children are exposed to high amounts of food advertisements which affect young children’s food choices and poor food consumption. Due to the growing numbers of hours that children sit in front of the television, less physical activity and the epidemic of childhood …

Prevalence And Antimicrobial Agent Susceptibility Of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus In Healthy Pediatric Outpatients In Las Vegas, Echezona E. Ezeanolue, Mark P. Buttner, Patricia Cruz, Joanne L. Henry, Chad L. Cross, Linda D. Stetzenbach

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Colonization and infection by community-associated resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus are being reported in epidemic proportions. The purpose of this study was to determine the local prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization in children and to characterize the MRSA isolates in the laboratory with regard to antimicrobial agent susceptibility patterns, and the presence of the mecA and the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes. Nasal swabs were collected at two pediatric clinics from a total of 505 children during health maintenance visits. A brief questionnaire was administered to collect demographic data and pertinent medical, family, and social history. Samples were cultured …

Research Brief: "Health And Health Behavior Differences: U.S. Military, Veteran, And Civilian Men", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief is about the health differences between veteran men, active duty men, National Guard/Reserve men, and civilian men. In policy and practice, organizations besides the VA should expand their preventative health services and health education for veterans, and policymakers should push health and healthcare access initiatives for veterans and service members. Suggestions for future research include collecting data over time, accounting for deployment and combat experience, and adding more thorough measures of health conditions within both veterans and civilians.

First-Year Compliance With The Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, Leslie Elliott, Dana Loomis, Andrew B. Bridgforth, Stephanie O’Mara, Louise T. Brock, Brian Hansen, Melanie Marie Minarik, Kathryn Louderback

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Objectives: We quantitatively evaluated compliance with the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act (NCIAA) by different types of businesses in Nevada and determined whether compliance affected indoor concentrations of benzene and 3-ethenyl pyridine (3-EP), markers of tobacco smoke.

Methods: Managers of 181 businesses in Washoe County, Nevada, were interviewed about business characteristics and practices and policies related to smoking. During unannounced visits, compliance data and air samples (n=66) were collected from interviewed businesses and from an additional sample (n = 56) of businesses without knowledge of the study.

Results: Overall compliance, as defined by the NCIAA, was low (28.2%). Benzene concentrations …

"Homelike" Characteristics Of Maine's Residential Services: A Survey Of Maine's Residential Service Settings (2010), Julie T. Fralich Mba, Eileen Griffin Jd, Catherine Mcguire Bs

Disability & Aging

To better understand the nature of the residential facilities serving more than 19 percent of Maine’s Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) population, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services commissioned the Muskie School to conduct a survey of residential facilities as part of its update to Maine’s LTSS profile. The goal of the Maine Residential Settings Characteristics Survey, conducted between July and September 2010, was to measure the "homelike" characteristics of residential settings.

The survey sample comprised a total of 636 facilities which included all licensed residential care facilities or private non-medical licensed institutions. The survey response rate …

Comparing Current, Former And Never Users Of Natural Family Planning: An Analysis Of Demographic, Socioeconomic And Attitudinal Variables, Andrea Bertotti, Sinead M. Christensen

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Research

This project examines how women who currently use natural family planning (NFP), those who formerly used NFP, and those who have never used NFP compare along demographic, socioeconomic, and attitudinal variables. Bivariate analyses of data from the National Survey of Family Growth 2006–2010 (N = 10,598 female respondents) suggest that current NFP users varied socioeconomically and demographically from former NFP users, but differences were more prominent between current NFP users and never NFP users. In many cases, there was little variation between former NFP users and never NFP users. Current NFP users were less likely to be black and more …

Health Care Insurance And Advance Directive Completion: A Population Based Study, Wei Yang, Sally P. Hardwick, Noel Tiano, Clare T. Pettis

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Background: The relationship between advance directive (AD) completion and health insurance status is rarely studied.

Method: AD completion information was collected through the 2008 Nevada Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a statewide cross-sectional telephone survey. Nevada non-institutionalized population over 18 were randomly selected as a population sample. Respondents were divided to “health care plan group” (HCPG) and “no health care plan group” (NHCPG). Demographic and behavior risk factors were also collected. Weighted multiple logistic regressions were utilized to assess the relationships between ADs, healthcare coverage and other factors.

Results: Of 4,461 respondents completing the survey, HCPG were six times …

Blood Lead Levels In Nevada Children, Arthur F. Di Salvo, Terry R. Hall

Nevada Journal of Public Health

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of plumbism in children one to six years of age in Nevada. During a four-year period from 1992 – 1996, 10,700 children were screened for evidence of blood lead intoxication. The capillary specimens were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry. All children with a lead level => 10 ug/L were retested using venous blood. Ninety three percent of the children had blood lead levels < 10 µg/dL

Carbohydrate Consumption And Fatigue: A Review, Jennifer R. Pharr

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Fatigue is a condition that negatively impacts quality of life and occurs in about twenty four percent of adults worldwide. Many factors may contribute to fatigue. One factor is the macronutrient composition of a person’s diet, particularly, the amount of simple carbohydrates. This paper is a review of the current literature and examines the relationship of carbohydrate consumption and fatigue to determine if a diet low in simple carbohydrates results in an improvement in fatigue ratings. Results of studies regarding carbohydrate consumption and fatigue vary, the preponderance demonstrate a positive relationship between simple carbohydrate consumption and fatigue. Additionally, diets low …