Browsing by Subject "intervention"
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Item Bariatric Surgery And The Lap Band: An Analysis of Efficacy(2003-12-01) Crane, Dave; Doug A. Mains; Claudia Coggin; Karan SinghCrane, B.A., M.A., Dave, Master of Public Health (Health Management and Policy), December 2003, Bariatric Surgery and the Lap Band: An Analysis of Efficacy, 40 pages, 15 tables, references, 45 titles. Obesity has quickly become both a national and global health issue. The evidence is increasingly consistent that obesity has a causal relationship with serious medical complications. The Lap Band, a surgical procedure for weight control, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June, 2001. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of this procedure by reviewing existing literature and studying a patient population that had received Lap Band surgery. The retrospective review included information on 93 patients in the bariatric program at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. The preliminary data in this study agrees with other studies , which shows that the Lap Band is an effective intervention for morbidly obese patients.Item Enhancing the nutritional status of an older population: an educational intervention to improve the nutrition knowledge of persons over 60 living in a rural Texas community(2002-05-01) Lane, Bridget M.Lane, Bridget M., Enhancing the nutritional status of an older population: an educational intervention to improve the nutrition knowledge of persons over 60 living in a rural Texas community. Master of Public Health (Health Administration), May, 2002, 61 pp., 8 tables, references, 41 titles. A four session nutrition education promotion program was developed and implemented for a group of seniors in a rural Texas community to enhance the nutritional status of persons over 60 through educational intervention to improve nutrition knowledge. Nutrition knowledge was measured using pre-tests and post-tests (before and after short-term nutrition education). No statistically significant differences were observed between pre/post test results, although there was a directional improvement in several aspects of test performance. Nutrition education programs that can effectively translate healthy dietary recommendations into understandable concepts can result in improvements in nutrition knowledge, and possibly have a positive influence on dietary behaviors and health markers.Item Examining Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors and Its Relationship with Physical Activity in a Self-Reported Survey(2004-05-01) Fernandes, Alroy H.; Frederick Fridinger; Daisha Cipher; Claudia CogginFernandes, Alroy H., Examining Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors and its Relationship with Physical Activity in a Self-Reported Survey. Masters of Public Health (Community Health), May 2004, 49pp., 3 illustrations, references, 38 titles. This study uses ‘Healthstyles,’ a self reported survey of 3,719 respondents above the age of 18, to look at exercise behavior in people at risk for CHD. Married or higher earning individuals were more likely to show sufficient exercise levels. Individuals with high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, obesity or family history of heart disease reported lesser levels of sufficient exercise than those without these conditions. People with CHD risk factor reported lower scores on questions that dealt with attitude and opinions about exercise behavior, and this was significantly correlated with lower levels of sufficient exercise. This supports the ‘positive attributes of the behavior’ aspect of the social cognitive theory of exercise. The attitude questions used, although not specific, could be included in a self-reported survey for the purpose of qualitatively and quantitatively assessing exercise intervention; albeit more studies are required to validate this claim.Item Factors that Motivate Hispanics to Attend Church-Based Health Interventions(2006-05-01) Sanchez, Mary-Katherine; Gonzalez, Adela; Lykens, Kristine; Lurie, SueSanchez, Mary-Katherine, Factors that Motivate Hispanics to Participate in Church-Based Health Interventions. Doctor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences), May 2006, 80 p.p., 1 table, bibliography, 62 titles. One of the most important demographic trends taking place in the United States today is the rapid growth of the Hispanic/Latino population (Kostin, 2004). Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in the United States (Documet Sharma, 2004; United States Census Bureau, 2003). This rapid growth will have a major impact on social, political and economic issues as well as on the health of the people in the United States (Kostin, 2004). Throughout the country, church-based health interventions are being offered to individuals of differing cultural and ethnic backgrounds, however, retention of participants is often low. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to determine the roles that social and behavioral factors play in motivating Hispanics to attend church-based health interventions. The study used qualitative methods. Focus groups were conducted at two church sites that were participants in the fall 2005 American Heart Association De Corazon a Corazon program with the highest retention rate of participating parishes. Both focus groups were audio-recorded, and recordings and field notes were then used to translate and transcribe the collected data. All data were entered into NVivo and coded to identify important themes and concepts. Results identified key identified motivating factors that included familiarity with setting, desire to improve health, need to gain information, knowing others in the group, social and motivational factors, monetary benefits such as free health screenings and workshops and questions being answered in Spanish. It was determined that social factors play a major role in motivating Hispanics to attend church-based health interventions. Through increasing our knowledge of motivational factors and influences on Hispanics to attend a church-based intervention, more effective health prevention and intervention programs can be designed and implemented in an effort to better reach this growing minority population and lessen the burden of minority health disparities. This is an area of research that needs to be further examined in order to prevent growing health disparities among the Hispanic population.Item Hooper Visual Organization Test (VOT) as a Predictor of Driving Status of Individuals with Dementia(2004-04-01) Budd, Margaret Anne; Doug A. Main; Susan FranksHooper Visual Organization Test (VOT) (Hooper, 1983) items were correlated with driving status of geriatric individuals with dementia to help screen for high-risk drivers. A retrospective review of 87 medical chart on patients, 60-91 years, who underwent a neurocognitive evaluation at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas, with a complete VOT, driving status, dementia diagnosis, and demographic descriptors (age, gender, marital status) were selected for analysis. Of the 55.2% participants who reported a current driving status, VOT scores ranged: 20.8% normal, 43.8% mildly impaired, 31.3% moderately impaired, and 4.2% severely impaired. An item analysis was followed by direct logistic regression analysis which correctly predicted 85% of the drivers and 74% of the nondrivers with an overall success rate of 80.5% (p=.001). The Wald criterion selected 4 VOT items as reliably predicting driving status: items 6 (hammer), 19 (teapot/pitcher), 22 (mouse), and 25 (block). Models run with gender and/or marital status was not reliably different. These 4 items may add to a brief screening test to identify drivers with dementia potentially at risk. In addition, the large number of current drivers scoring in the impaired range suggests that individuals, their families and others are not intervening with driving behavior, possibly placing the individuals and public at risk.Item Key Signaling Pathways in Aging and Potential Interventions for Healthy Aging(MDPI, 2021-03-16) Yu, Mengdi; Zhang, Hongxia; Wang, Brian; Zhang, Yinuo; Zheng, Xiaoying; Shao, Bei; Zhuge, Qichuan; Jin, KunlinAging is a fundamental biological process accompanied by a general decline in tissue function. Indeed, as the lifespan increases, age-related dysfunction, such as cognitive impairment or dementia, will become a growing public health issue. Aging is also a great risk factor for many age-related diseases. Nowadays, people want not only to live longer but also healthier. Therefore, there is a critical need in understanding the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating aging that will allow us to modify the aging process for healthy aging and alleviate age-related disease. Here, we reviewed the recent breakthroughs in the mechanistic understanding of biological aging, focusing on the adenosine monophosphate-activated kinase (AMPK), Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathways, which are currently considered critical for aging. We also discussed how these proteins and pathways may potentially interact with each other to regulate aging. We further described how the knowledge of these pathways may lead to new interventions for antiaging and against age-related disease.Item Population Characteristics Suggest Modifications to Proposed Pediatric Asthma Intervention Program(1998-08-01) DeMoss, Margaret W.; Ramirez, Gilbert; Urrutia-Rojas, Ximena; Coggin, ClaudiaDeMoss, Margaret W., Population Characteristics Suggest Modifications to Proposed Pediatric Asthma Intervention Program. Master of Public Health, August, 1998, 57 pp., 4 tables, 1 illustration, 2 appendices, reference list, 46 titles. Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease affecting almost 5 million children in this country. The children most as risk for developing asthma come from low income, minority, and urban families. This studies examines a proposed pediatric asthma intervention program targeting Tarrant County area Medicaid clients. The purpose of this study is to define different subgroups and preferences among those clients and to recommend modifications that are likely to improve program outcomes. Recommendations were based on information gathered from interviews with 70 families, all having at least one child with asthma. Specific interests in learning more about asthma as well as learning preferences are tested for association with a variety of family characteristics. Although no statistically significant results were determined for subgroups, descriptive findings reveal that a large minority of respondents are interested in more information about asthma, but not necessarily by the means proposed. The study also suggests special needs for families with very young children, for those with adult asthma, and for Hispanics.Item Social Health Website Intervention(2010-05-01) Strickler, Angelina P.; Hampton, RaquelThe primary purpose for this research using a social health website intervention implemented on the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) is to gage movement in stage of change for nutrition and physical activity among participating students, staff, and faculty. Each of 42 participants completed a baseline questionnaire on current health practices and stage of change. A dropout rate of 33% left 28 participants who completed the post questionnaire at the end of 6 weeks, during which they utilized the website, www.livestrong.com. A t-test for significance identified the differences between the stage of change scores. The test for stage of change in nutrition showed significant forward movement in pre and post scores, while the test for stage of change in physical activity did not show significant forward movement between pre and post scores. A larger sample size, less specific population, and recruitment over a wider period of months with incentives offered could increase accuracy.