Browsing by Subject "Prevention"

Now showing 1 - 15 of 15
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    About Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis)
    (2008-12-02) Jepsen, Susanne
    Pink eye is often caused by an infection of the protective layer covering the eyeball. While it is often caused by bacteria, using antibiotics does not make the infection go away faster. People should return to work or school when their pink eye is no longer making extra tears or pus. To prevent the spread of pink eye, don't touch your eyes and wash your hands often.
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    Carotid Artery Stenosis: What You Should Know
    (2010-07-21) Grossbach, Andrew
    Carotid artery stenosis, or CAS, can increase you risk of having a stroke. There are several things you can do to lower your risk including stopping smoking, controlling your weight, eating a good diet, and exercising regularly. Currently it is not recommended that you get screened for CAS if you are not having symptoms. If you are found to have CAS, there are several treatment options available to lower your risk of stroke.
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    Excess Adiposity in Youth: Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease and Future Implications
    (2017-07) Fyfe-Johnson, Amber
    Excess adiposity remains a serious public health threat; 33% of U.S. adolescents are classified as having overweight or obesity. Adolescent obesity is associated with a 3.5 times higher lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, thus subclinical CVD phenotypes such as carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) have become widely accepted as relevant to earlier stages of CVD in youth. In the first manuscript, we developed a risk prediction model that predicted cIMT in middle adulthood using relevant CVD risk factors in adolescence. Longitudinal associations were observed between most CVD risk factors in adolescence and increased cIMT in middle adulthood; our risk prediction model poorly predicted cIMT in middle adulthood based on discrimination and calibration metrics. In the second manuscript, we contrasted longitudinal data from two bi-racial cohort studies by examining the association between CVD risk factors and cIMT in two distinct periods of life. Higher body mass index was associated with an increased cIMT in the younger cohort. In the older cohort, no association was present between body mass index and cIMT; higher systolic blood pressure was associated with increased cIMT. The American Heart Association set 2020 Strategic Impact Goals that defined CVD risk factors to include in the concept of ideal cardiovascular health (ICH). In the final manuscript, we examined the prevalence of ICH by adiposity level in youth, including severe obesity. We then generated a continuous ICH sample z-score, and examined the distribution of the ICH sample z-score by adiposity level in youth. Children with overweight/obesity and severe obesity had lower ICH sample z-scores than those with normal weight. Taken together, these three projects provide insight into the relationship between excess adiposity and subclinical CVD and cardiovascular health in youth. In addition, this dissertation considers metrics that have the potential to address excess adiposity prevention efforts in youth.
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    How you can prevent kidney stones?
    (2012-04-10) Tonsager, Sara
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    The HPV Vaccine
    (2012-07-23) Zatochill, Mary
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    In the Life: Accounting and Triage for Black LGBTQIA Communities in HIV Prevention
    (2020-07) Mallory, Aaron
    The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to persist into its fourth decade with black LGBTQIA communities at the center of its continuation. This dissertation examines black LGBTQIA communities’ relationship to the HIV/AIDS epidemic through HIV prevention strategies in Atlanta, GA. I provide a Black Geographies study of HIV prevention with attention given to the theoretical relationship between biological citizenship, Black Feminist Thought, and Queer of Color Critique. I explore these relationships through an analysis of racial formations in HIV interventions and the ways in which community-based organization in Atlanta, GA navigate limited HIV prevention resources. My analysis uses the phrase the “hidden epidemic” as a conceptual tool understand the ways black LGBTQIA communities’ access HIV/AIDS resources and HIV prevention strategies. My dissertation contributes to current geographical scholarship on health care, antiblackness, citizenship, and queer worldmaking.
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    Match-Fixing Prevention in NCAA Sports Competitions: Analyzing Strategies and Assessing Perceived Vulnerability
    (2024) Gasper, Ryan
    Match-fixing is an integrity violating phenomenon that affects sport competitions. While less prevalent in the U.S. compared to other countries, the recent legalization of sports betting and potentially increased risk of match-fixing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) faces sparked interest in understanding the organization’s match-fixing prevention strategies. This study aimed to assess the perceived opportunity-based vulnerability of the NCAA and its member schools to experience match-fixing based on the usage of different recommended match-fixing prevention strategies, also identifying differences between each NCAA division. A survey was constructed and disseminated by email to all NCAA member schools in order to identify their usage of the recommended prevention strategies, along with good practices. From the survey, a scoring system was constructed to analyze vulnerability for each division. A one-way ANOVA of the mean vulnerability score for each division was used to identify differences between divisions. Results found a low usage of match-fixing prevention strategies in the NCAA, with Division I scoring in the “at-risk” category, and Division II, III, and overall NCAA scoring in the “vulnerable” category. Significant differences were also found between Division I and Division II schools, and Division I and Division III schools in their vulnerability scores. These results should urge the NCAA and its member schools to implement more prevention strategies and good practices for match-fixing into their athletic department to better protect their sporting events and internal stakeholders from the phenomenon.
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    Multiple Sclerosis: Diagnosis, Treatment and Risk
    (2009-05-06) Robertson, Matthew
    Vitamin D is a cheap, relatively safe, dietary supplement that in doses greater than 400IU per day may lower the risk of developing MS by as much as 40%.
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    A novel dietary improvement strategy: examining the potential impact of community supported agriculture membership
    (2014-11) Vasquez, Angela Marie
    Objectives: Chronic diseases have grown exponentially in recent years and have become a major burden on our society by increasing rates of premature death and disability, decreasing productivity, and increasing health care costs. Employer-based health promotion programs are increasingly common as a tool to improve employee health and to curb costs related to chronic diseases. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a novel, employer-based health promotion intervention to improve the dietary intake and health status of employees using Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The key objectives were to evaluate the overall experience of CSA participants, to determine whether participants reported a change in their household food environment and meal patterns, and to investigate the association of CSA participation with dietary intake and health outcomes. Methods: A convenience sample of employees from three employers was recruited using multiple communication methods with a total of 324 employees completing all study requirements. Data was collected using baseline and follow-up CSA surveys and the HealthPartners annual health assessment taken prior to and following completion of the study. Descriptive statistics were used to examine participant demographic characteristics and variables related to the CSA experience. To evaluate whether prior CSA experience and share utilization were predictive of participants' future CSA plans, logistic regression was used. Changes in the household food environment and meal patterns were assessed using paired sample t-tests and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Linear regression methods were used to investigate associations of CSA participation with dietary intake and health outcomes. Results: The majority of study participants were female, White, college educated, and lived in households with children and two adults. Common reasons CSA participants reported for joining CSA included fresh food, a dislike of grocery stores, and the educational and family experience of being part of CSA. Participants were generally satisfied with their overall CSA experience, and the majority reported that they planned to renew their CSA membership in the following year or that they were unsure of their plans. Additionally, those participants with a history of prior CSA experience and higher share utilization rates were more likely to report that they planned to renew their membership in the following year. CSA participation was also found to be associated with an increase in the presence of vegetables in the household, the frequency of offering fruits and vegetables at snacks or meals, and the frequency of household meals. Additionally, CSA participation was associated with a decrease in the frequency of eating at all types of restaurants and fast food restaurants specifically. Participants reported that the amount and variety of produce consumed increased as a result of CSA participation, although inferential analyses of the change in daily produce servings and weekly produce variety from baseline to follow-up did not support this finding. CSA share type, weekly utilization, and prior CSA participation were not predictive of daily produce servings. In addition, there was not a significant association between CSA participation and health status or BMI. Conclusions: The overall experience of employer-based CSA members was similar to that of CSA members in previous studies, although some discrepancies in employees' motivations for joining and differences in individual satisfaction variables were identified. For example, study participants were more likely to be satisfied with logistics such as the CSA pick-up site and distribution time of day than participants in previous studies. The results of this study also demonstrated that CSA participation is associated with improvements in the household food environment such as an increase in the number of vegetables present, frequency with which produce is served at snacks and meals, frequency of household meals, and frequency of restaurant eating. The findings regarding the association between CSA participation and dietary intake and health were less definitive. Participants indicated that they felt the amount and variety of produce consumed increased as a result of CSA participation in response to the self-report questions on the follow-up CSA survey, but objective measures did not show a change in daily produce servings, weekly produce variety, health status, or BMI from baseline to follow-up when compared to matched controls.
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    Use your head: wear a bike helmet!
    (2012-07-26) Peterson, Ryan T.
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    Violence against women on the college campus: evaluating anti-violence programming.
    (2010-03) Gibbons, Roberta E.
    Violence against women is a significant problem on America's college campuses. In response to this violence, many universities have developed direct service programs to assist the survivors of violence as well as educational programs to raise awareness about and/or reduce the likelihood of such violence. There has been no scholarly inquiry regarding the success of direct services for survivors of violence on the college campus, and only a small number of studies have ventured to investigate the effectiveness of anti-violence educational programming. This study employed a three-phase sequential mixed methods design to explore the definition of success for these anti-violence direct services and educational programs, as well as to investigate how such programs conceptualize and use evaluation. Specifically, this study used document review, focus groups, and a self-administered survey. The population for this study was the group of institutions of higher education that were funded by the federal Grants to Reduce Violence Against Women on Campus in 2008 (N=54). This exploratory study had numerous findings related to how program staff members define success and what they think about and how they use evaluation. Success for victim service programs seemed to be based primarily on process rather than outcomes, and there was very little expectation on the part of university administrators or the federal funding agency to demonstrate effectiveness. Staff members reported that outcomes were largely considered incommensurable with advocacy-based models of direct services on the college campus. There was more reported assessment of educational programming, with most universities employing local and informal approaches to evaluation. This study found evidence of instrumental and process use of evaluation and identified areas that may need clarification in the conceptualization of evaluation influence.
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