The startle eyeblink reflex is thought to function as a means of orienting to salient stimuli, and, by proxy, sensitivity to threat cues. The absence or attenuation of this reflex may thus suggest disengagement from one's environment, potentially in circumstances when engagement is called for, and, therefore, may serve as a potential marker for dissociation as it occurs. The present study investigates whether individual differences in startle response magnitude and habituation are attributable to early and multiple trauma exposure, dissociation, and PTSD symptom severity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe diagnosed Mycobacterium tuberculosis in captive lemurs and a fossa in Antananarivo, Madagascar. We noted clinical signs in the animals and found characteristic lesions during necropsy. The source of infection remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Perceived Social Status (PSS) is a measure of cumulative socioeconomic circumstances that takes perceived self-control into account. It is hypothesized to better capture social class compared to socioeconomic status (SES) measures (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Variation in dentists' provision of types of dental services based on patients' insurance may impact population access to comprehensive care. The aim of this study was to describe differences in the types of services provided to adult patients with Medicaid versus private insurance among private practice general dentists.
Methods: The data source was a 2019 survey of private practice dentists in Iowa, and the study sample included general dentists with current or recent participation in Iowa's Medicaid program for adults (n = 264).
Background: The goal of this study was to test the feasibility, reliability, and validity of the Dental Quality Alliance's adult dental quality measures for system-level implementation for ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) emergency department (ED) visits for nontraumatic dental conditions (NTDCs) in adults and follow-up after ED visits for NTDCs in adults.
Methods: Medicaid enrollment and claims data from Oregon and Iowa were used for measure testing. Testing included validation of diagnosis codes in claims data through patient record reviews of ED visits and calculations of κ statistic, sensitivity, and specificity.
Objectives: With rates of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination remaining low and rates of oropharyngeal cancer rising, engaging new partners to promote vaccination is necessary. We aimed to identify dental hygienists' and dentists' knowledge about HPV, the HPV vaccine, and preferences for continuing education.
Methods: This mixed-methods study recruited dental hygienists and dentists working in private practice in Iowa to participate in a mailed cross-sectional survey (dental hygienists) and qualitative telephone interviews (dental hygienists and dentists).
Dental public health competencies in predoctoral dental education ensure that students have the skills to succeed in an increasingly complex professional environment. This study examined existing public health curricula in US dental education and their alignment with national recommendations from the American Association of Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD) and guidance from the Healthy People Curriculum Task Force for health professions education programs. We contacted all US dental schools (N = 66) in November 2020-January 202 and requested syllabi for schools' first course with dental public health content.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To describe current Dental Public Health diplomates and list the competency domains that diplomates considered either essential or optional elements of their practice.
Methods: The American Board of Dental Public Health administered an electronic survey to active and life member diplomates during September 2021. The survey included 101 items in three sections: (1) Education and Work Experience; (2) Dental Public Health Tasks; and (3) Demographics.
Objectives: The Dental Wellness Plan (DWP) provides dental coverage for adult Medicaid enrollees in Iowa. In September 2018, a $1000 annual benefit maximum (ABM) was implemented in the DWP program. The aim of this study was to explore private dentists' attitudes toward ABMs and factors associated with ABM attitudes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFShame and dissociation have been implicated theoretically and empirically in trauma exposure and its sequelae, with shame understood as an intense negative emotion and dissociation as a reaction to intense negative emotions. Understanding the connection between shame and dissociation is important for theory and practice; however, the strength of this association remains unclear. For example, in therapy, both shame and dissociation serve as a barrier to engaging with emotion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Strong evidence supports use of dental sealants to prevent tooth decay, and professional guidelines recommend use in children with elevated caries risk. However, not all children indicated for sealants receive this preventive intervention, even when they use routine dental care.
Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which dentists' use of sealants varied in pediatric patients with elevated caries risk.
Objectives: Response rates for mail surveys of dentists and other health care providers have declined appreciably over the past several decades. The objective of this study was to update evidence about the impact use of incentives and different mail strategies on response rates in a mail survey of dentists.
Methods: We randomized private practice dentists in Iowa (N = 1267) into six study groups to test the effects of incentives and mail strategy on response rate.
The Monod equation has been widely applied as the general rate law of microbial growth, but its applications are not always successful. By drawing on the frameworks of kinetic and stoichiometric metabolic models and metabolic control analysis, the modeling reported here simulated the growth kinetics of a methanogenic microorganism and illustrated that different enzymes and metabolites control growth rate to various extents and that their controls peak at either very low, intermediate, or very high substrate concentrations. In comparison, with a single term and two parameters, the Monod equation only approximately accounts for the controls of rate-determining enzymes and metabolites at very high and very low substrate concentrations, but neglects the enzymes and metabolites whose controls are most notable at intermediate concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatients and psychotherapists often exhibit behavioral, psychological, and physiological similarity. Here, we test whether oxytocin-a neuropeptide that can enhance expressivity and social perception-influences time-lagged "linkage" of autonomic nervous system responses among participants and facilitators during group therapy. Physiological linkage estimates (n = 949) were created from ten cohorts, each with two facilitators (n = 5) and four to six participants (n = 48), over six weekly sessions of group therapy for methamphetamine use disorder.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Stages of Readiness to Change (SOC) behavioral model describes behavior change as a process and distinguishes individuals based on their current behavior and readiness to change that behavior. SOC can be used to improve dentists' participation in a state public dental benefit program (Medicaid) by targeting them at different SOC with interventions, strategies, and tools tailored to those stages. Therefore, this study assessed the usefulness of using SOC to describe dentists' attitudes towards and participation in Medicaid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe address a question at the center of many policy debates: how effective is the US safety net? Many existing studies evaluate the effect of one program on economic hardship in isolation, though families typically participate in multiple programs. Using 1992-2011 data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, our analyses examine the simultaneous effect of participation in three programs, TANF, SNAP, or Medicaid/SCHIP, on a set of outcomes of intrinsic importance-measures of material hardship. We find that a 10 percentage point increase in participation in any of these three safety net programs by low-to-moderate income families with children reduces their average number of hardships by 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommunity Dent Health
August 2021
Objective: To synthesize English or Spanish-language literature on community health workers' (CHWs') roles, training, and impact in oral health.
Basic Research Design: A scoping review conducted in accordance with the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) methodological framework.
Method: Electronic literature searches were conducted in Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), DOSS, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Global Health CAB from inception of the databases to April 2020.
Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal cancer rates are rising, particularly in males, although rates of other HPV-related cancers are decreasing. Although the HPV vaccine is safe and effective, vaccination rates remain below the Healthy People 2030 goal of 80% coverage. Engaging dental providers, who have experience with patient education and oropharyngeal cancer, may prove useful in efforts to increase vaccination rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLittle is known about the prevalence of multiple jobholding practices among dental hygienists or the factors contributing to these employment patterns. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine predictors of multiple jobholding practices among dental hygienists in the state of Iowa. A mailed paper survey was sent to all licensed dental hygienists (n=2080) in Iowa in May 2018.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe diagnosed tuberculosis in an illegally wild-captured pet ring-tailed lemur manifesting lethargy, anorexia, and cervical lymphadenopathy. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed the Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolate belonged to lineage 3 and harbored streptomycin resistance. We recommend reverse zoonosis prevention and determination of whether lemurs are able to maintain M.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Dent Child (Chic)
September 2020
To evaluate the satisfaction of pediatric dentists in associateship agreements. Associateship agreements were deemed satisfactory if a dentist would recommend the employment experience to a colleague.
A web-based survey was administered to 6,587 pediatric dentists and pediatric dental residents in the United States in 2018.
Background: Methamphetamine (METH) use is a public health crisis that disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM). There are currently no FDA-approved pharmacological interventions to treat methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). MUD is associated with social impairments and extremely high treatment attrition rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: With the increasing number of patients with prosthetic joints, recommendations for antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) prior to dental procedures to prevent prosthetic joint infections (PJI) have changed.
Methods And Results: This survey evaluated dentists' AP practices for patients with prosthetic joints undergoing dental procedures and their familiarity with the American Dental Association Guidelines (ADA CPG) and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Appropriate Use Criteria (AAOS AUC). Dentists' attitudes about antibiotic resistance, medical-legal aspects, and adverse effects to using AP were examined.
Objective: The emergence of updated (5th ed. American Psychiatric Association, 2013) criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which includes modified criteria for young children, raises questions regarding the need for developmentally appropriate standalone psychiatric diagnosis encompassing complex trauma presentations in children. The present study addresses these questions by examining how PTSD and proposed developmental trauma disorder (DTD) diagnoses relate to functional impairment and trauma exposure using clinician-report surveys.
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