Publications by authors named "Dejun Su"

Objective: Concurrent with a substantial surge in gun purchases among Americans during COVID-19, there was an escalation of racism and hate crimes in the United States. Despite this disturbing trend, little is known about whether and the extent to which racism experience is linked to gun purchase during the pandemic. This study aims to examine the association between experience of racial discrimination and gun purchase among Americans during COVID-19.

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Chinese young adults (CYA), who are at an increasing risk of developing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which in turn increases the risk of liver cancer, are an ideal target population to deliver educational interventions to improve their awareness and knowledge of NAFLD and consequently reduce their risk of developing NAFLD. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of two interventions to improve awareness and knowledge of NAFLD among CYA for the prevention of liver cancer. Between May and July 2021, 1373 undergraduate students aged 18 to 25 years in one university in China completed a web-based, self-administered survey distributed through WeChat app.

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Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the association between food security and cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs), yet none have investigated trends in prevalence of CMDs by food security status in the United States (US).

Methods: Serial cross-sectional analysis of the US nationally representative data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2018) was conducted among adults aged 20 years or older. Food security status was defined by the US Household Food Security Survey Module (full, marginal, low, and very low food security).

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Background: Given the observed within-Asian disparity in COVID-19 incidence, we aimed to explore the differential preventive behaviors among Asian subgroups in the United States.

Methods: Based on data from the Asian subsample ( = 982) of the 2020 Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic survey, we estimated the weighted proportion of noncompliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines on preventive behaviors and COVID-19 testing by Asian subgroups (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Other Asian). We examined these subgroup differences after adjusting for demographic factors and state-level clustering.

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Despite the growing importance of community health workers (CHWs) in public health, it has been difficult to characterize the roles and scope of services for this workforce in part because of the variability in the employment status of CHWs, ranging from full-time, part-time, to volunteer. Based on analysis of survey data from a statewide assessment of the CHW workforce in Nebraska (n = 142) conducted between 2019 and 2020, the proportions of CHWs who worked full-time, part-time, or volunteer were respectively 64%, 12%, and 21%. Over three quarters (76.

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This study compares and contrasts how key factors influence Americans' trust in different types of media (broadcast, print, and social) as COVID-19 information sources and how people's media trust is associated with their adoption of preventive measures. Our results from a national survey (sample = 2571) showed that age, political party affiliation, and race and ethnicity and income level were significantly associated with people's trust in different media types as COVID information sources. Elder adults trusted print and broadcast media more, while younger adults trusted social media more.

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Previous research has documented the association between racial discrimination and poor sleep quality. However, few studies have examined this association during the COVID-19 pandemic when racial discrimination is on the rise due to structural injustice and racism against people of color. Using data from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic (HEAP) Study, a nationally representative survey of US adults, we assessed the association between racial discrimination and sleep quality among overall adults and by race and ethnicity.

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The recent escalation of racism in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic points to the importance of examining the association between experienced racism and sexual health.

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Purpose: Despite the increasing prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a liver cancer etiological factor, among Chinese young adults (CYA), there is a lack of valid, reliable, ready-to-use survey instruments for assessing awareness and knowledge of NAFLD in this population. The aims of this study were to develop, validate, and assess the reliability of a web-based, self-administered questionnaire evaluating awareness and knowledge of NAFLD among CYA.

Methods: Based on review of relevant literature, a draft questionnaire was initially developed.

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Background: Research on mental health disparities by race-ethnicity in the United States (US) during COVID-19 is limited and has generated mixed results. Few studies have included Asian Americans as a whole or by subgroups in the analysis.

Methods: Data came from the 2020 Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study, based on a nationally representative sample of 2,709 community-dwelling adults in the US with minorities oversampled.

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Objectives: While the Community Health Worker (CHW) workforce in the United States has been growing, so far only 19 states certify CHWs. This study sought to identify perspectives on CHW certification among stakeholders in Nebraska, a state that has not established official certification for CHWs yet.

Design: A concurrent triangulation mixed methods design.

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Parenting programs are an important tool that can provide support for parents and families and improve family functioning. This concurrent nested QUANT + qual mixed methods study sought to better understand parenting education program participation and examine format, delivery, and content preferences for parenting programs among Latino parents in Nebraska. Results from a statewide survey ( = 173) indicated that 31.

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Background: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is a common disorder that affects both children and adults. However, for adults, little is known about ADHD-attributable medical expenditures.

Objective: To estimate the medical expenditures associated with ADHD, stratified by age, in the US adult population.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the barriers and supports for urban African American students pursuing health careers in the Midwest, identifying four main barriers (lack of preparation, funding, support, and perceived discrimination) and three key facilitators (early preparation, mentorship, and funding)
  • Recommendations are made to leverage facilitators and address barriers to improve African American representation in healthcare
  • Future efforts should focus on tailored interventions throughout the education pipeline, starting as early as elementary school and involving mentorship at multiple educational levels.
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Objectives: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a growing prevalence of racial and ethnic discrimination occurred when many Americans struggled to maintain healthy lifestyles. This study investigated the associations of racial and ethnic discrimination with changes in exercise and screen time during the pandemic in the United States.

Methods: We included 2,613 adults who self-identified as non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian, or Hispanic from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic study, a cross-sectional survey conducted among a nationally representative sample of United States adults between October and November 2020.

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A growing body of research suggests that acculturation may play a role in the disproportionate likelihood of sexual risk behaviour and STI/HIV infection among Hispanic youth in the USA. We systematically reviewed the relationship between acculturation and STI/HIV-related sexual risk behaviour among Hispanic youth aged 13-24 by reviewing studies that have used a bidimensional acculturation approach. Electronic databases were searched with the searches limited to articles published in 1992 when the concept of bidimensional acculturation was introduced or later.

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Despite the increasing prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a liver cancer etiological factor, among Chinese young adults (CYA), there is a lack of study assessing awareness and knowledge of NAFLD among them. This study aimed to assess awareness and knowledge of NAFLD, and identify the factors associated with awareness and knowledge of NAFLD among CYA. We conducted a survey to assess awareness and knowledge of NAFLD among students who enrolled in one university undergraduate program in 2018, 2019, and 2020 through a newly developed web-based, self-administered questionnaire.

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Background: Cancer clinical trials (CCTs) are essential for cancer care, yet the evidence is scarce when it comes to racial disparities in CCT participation among cancer survivors in the Midwest. This study aimed to 1) assess disparities in the awareness of and willingness to participate in CCTs between African American and White cancer survivors; and 2) compare perceptions about CCTs between the two racial groups.

Methods: The study was based on cross-sectional data from the survey "Minority Patient Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials" that collected information from 147 Black and White cancer survivors from Nebraska between 2015 and 2016.

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Purpose: Despite escalating racism in the United States during COVID-19, few studies have identified correlates of racism experience among Americans using nationally representative data. This study seeks to quantitatively identify correlates of racism experience and qualitatively categorize racism experience and its coping using nationally representative survey data.

Methods: Based on data from the "Health, Ethnicity and Pandemic Survey" (=2,506), a nationally representative survey conducted in October 2020, multivariable logistic regression was estimated to examine the association between self-reported racism experience and selected correlates.

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Racial discrimination has intensified in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, but how it disrupted healthcare is largely unknown.

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The reach (i.e., enrollment, engagement, and retention) of health promotion evidence-based programs (EBPs) at the participant level has been challenging.

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Objective: To examine the factors associated with the first use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic using Andersen's Model of Healthcare Utilization. Andersen's Model of Healthcare Utilization allowed the categorization of the independent variables into the following: (1) predisposing factors, including sociodemographic variables and health beliefs; (2) enabling factors, including socioeconomic status and access to care; and (3) need for care, including preexisting or newly diagnosed conditions and reasons to seek out care or to utilize a new mode of care.

Methods: Potential respondents ( = 4,077) were identified for recruitment from a volunteer registry in Arkansas.

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Background: Barriers to clinical trial enrollment have been the subject of extensive research; however, the rate of clinical trial participation has not improved significantly over time. Studies often emphasize patient-related barriers, but institutional and organizational barriers in the health care system may have a more substantial impact on clinical trial participation.

Objective: To qualitatively identify perceived barriers to clinical trial participation based on perspectives from healthcare providers.

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This study analyzes differences among Americans in their trust in COVID-19 information from governmental sources and how trust is associated with personal adoption of preventative measures under the Trump administration. Based on our analysis of data from a nationally representative survey conducted in October 2020 (effective sample size after weighting = 2615), we find that Americans in general have more trust in COVID-19 information from state/local governments than from the federal government. Variables such as age, party affiliation, religiosity, and race are significantly associated with Americans' trust or lack of trust in COVID-19 information from governmental sources.

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The COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to assess national performance in responding to a historic crisis. It is not well understood how income inequality might be related to differential disease burden of COVID-19 across countries. Using recent data merged from Our World in Data 2020, the World Bank, and the Global Burden of Disease, we examined the association between income inequality (the Gini index) and COVID-19 infection and death rates among 74 countries with available data.

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