In-person to virtual interprofessional education: Teamwork attitudes and skills among dental and dental hygiene students.

Objectives: The interruption to clinical professions' instruction due to closures from the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic posed a significant hurdle to clinical education and presented a necessity to shift how instruction was delivered to resume educational activities. This study sought to answer the research question: did the transition from in-person to virtual instruction for interprofessional education (IPE) have an impact on students' perceptions of team attitudes and skills to learn and work in interprofessional groups?

Methods: All participating first-year dental and second-year dental hygiene students enrolled in the campus-wide IPE course were invited to complete the Team Skills Scale (TSS) assessment before and after the course for two academic years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. Paired t-tests were utilized to assess the change in student attitudes and skills from pre- to post-course assessment, and t-tests were used to assess mean differences between student cohorts 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

Impact of the modified curricula on periodontal instrumentation skills development during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2023.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of curriculum modifications on periodontal instrumentation skills development among classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The pandemic began and affected the three classes at different stages of their studies. Onsite simulation-based learning (SBL) was employed for the classes of 2021 and 2022; remote SBL was adopted for the class of 2023.

Delayed maturation of P2 flash visual evoked potential (VEP) latency in newborns of gestational diabetic mothers.

Background: The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has rapidly increased, yet few prior studies have investigated parameters of early brain development in infants born to gestational diabetic mothers. The present study assessed visual evoked potentials (VEPs) in healthy infants born to gestational diabetic mothers and matched controls.

Methods: After exclusions, in this prospective study we examined VEPs in 73 neonates between 37 weeks and 41 weeks gestation at birth (n = 37 infants of gestational diabetic mothers).

Racial discrimination, educational attainment, and biological dysregulation among midlife African American women.

Objective: To examine the association between self-reported racial discrimination and allostatic load, and whether the association differs by socioeconomic position.

Methods: We recruited a purposive cross-section of midlife (ages 30-50) African American women residing in four San Francisco Bay area counties (n = 208). Racial discrimination was measured using the Experience of Discrimination scale.

A recursive partitioning approach to investigating correlates of self-rated health: The CARDIA Study.

Self-rated health (SRH) is an independent predictor of mortality; studies have investigated correlates of SRH to explain this predictive capability. However, the interplay of a broad array of factors that influence health status may not be adequately captured with parametric multivariate regression. This study investigated associations between several health determinants and SRH using recursive partitioning methods.

The Battle of Worldviews: A Case Study of Liver Fluke Infection in Khon Kaen, Thailand.

Control efforts to reduce infection from the parasitic flatworm Opisthorchis viverrini have progressed through understanding the epidemiology of Opisthorchis viverrini, antiparasitic drug developments, technological innovations, health education promoting cooking of fish, and improved hygienic defecation. Yet the problem persists. The case study method was used to examine the fundamental cause of the liver fluke infection problem.

Characteristics associated with self-rated health in the CARDIA study: Contextualising health determinants by income group.

An understanding of factors influencing health in socioeconomic groups is required to reduce health inequalities. This study investigated combinations of health determinants associated with self-rated health (SRH), and their relative importance, in income-based groups. Cross-sectional data from year 15 (2000 - 2001) of the CARDIA study (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults, USA) - 3648 men and women (mean 40 years) - were split into 5 income-based groups.

Engaging youth in communities: a framework for promoting adolescent and community health.

Health researchers and practitioners increasingly recognise the important role communities play in shaping individual health. Health researchers recognise the role of community factors as causes or determinants of health problems; use community-based methods for understanding complex health issues; and design community-level health solutions. In this commentary, we propose a fourth way to think about the role of communities in individual health by arguing that the community engagement process itself has implications for individual health and strong communities.

Perceptions of social mobility: development of a new psychosocial indicator associated with adolescent risk behaviors.

Social class gradients have been explored in adults and children, but not extensively during adolescence. The first objective of this study was to examine the association between adolescent risk behaviors and a new indicator of adolescent relative social position, adolescent "perceived social mobility." Second, it investigated potential underlying demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial determinants of this indicator.

The association between a living wage and subjective social status and self-rated health: a quasi-experimental study in the Dominican Republic.

Poverty, both absolute and relative, is associated with poorer health. This is of particular concern in middle- and low-income countries facing a significant and growing burden of disease. There has been limited research specifically on whether interventions that increase income may foster better health outcomes.

Social isolation: a predictor of mortality comparable to traditional clinical risk factors.

Objectives: We explored the relationship between social isolation and mortality in a nationally representative US sample and compared the predictive power of social isolation with that of traditional clinical risk factors.

Methods: We used data on 16,849 adults from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the National Death Index. Predictor variables were 4 social isolation factors and a composite index.

The care and management of bisphosphonate--associated osteonecrosis of the jaw in the patient with multiple myeloma: a case study.

This is a case study of a patient with multiple myeloma presenting with bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw after an extraction of tooth #18 while receiving intravenous bisphosphonates. The class of drugs known as bisphosphonates is discussed. The patient's presenting signs and symptoms are reviewed.

Education: a missed opportunity for public health intervention.

Educational attainment is a well-established social determinant of health. It affects health through many mechanisms such as neural development, biological aging, health literacy and health behaviors, sense of control and empowerment, and life chances. Education--from preschool to beyond college--is also one of the social determinants of health for which there are clear policy pathways for intervention.

Integration of social epidemiology and community-engaged interventions to improve health equity.

The past quarter century has seen an explosion of concern about widening health inequities in the United States and worldwide. These inequities are central to the research mission in 2 arenas of public health: social epidemiology and community-engaged interventions. Yet only modest success has been achieved in eliminating health inequities.

Do experiences of racial discrimination predict cardiovascular disease among African American men? The moderating role of internalized negative racial group attitudes.

Studies examining associations between racial discrimination and cardiovascular health outcomes have been inconsistent, with some studies finding the highest risk of hypertension among African Americans who report no discrimination. A potential explanation of the latter is that hypertension and other cardiovascular problems are fostered by internalization and denial of racial discrimination. To explore this hypothesis, the current study examines the role of internalized negative racial group attitudes in linking experiences of racial discrimination and history of cardiovascular disease among African American men.

Towards more effective interventions to improve health: the importance of the community as an empowered partner.

How can we translate the findings from public health research into practice? We are not doing this job very well and we need to rethink our approach so that we can do a better job. The major problem is that we public health professionals have messages to give people, but people have lives to lead, and we have not done well in closing this gap. To deal with this problem, we will need to learn how to better involve the community as an empowered partner in our work.

Rethinking what is important: biologic versus social predictors of childhood health and educational outcomes.

Background: Social risk factors are often less vigorously pursued in clinical assessments of infant risk than are biologic risk factors. We examined the relative importance of early social and biologic risk factors in predicting poor health and educational outcomes in children.

Methods: The study was composed of all infants born in Winnipeg, Canada, during April-December 1984, who were followed up until age 19 years (n = 4667).

Objective and subjective social class gradients for substance use among Mexican adolescents.

This study examines the shape of social class gradients for substance use among Mexican adolescents. Substance use and objective and subjective indicators of social class were assessed in house-to-house surveys conducted with 7614 Mexican adolescents in 2004. The sample was designed to be representative of the poorest urban communities in seven Mexican states.

Work time and 11-year progression of carotid atherosclerosis in middle-aged Finnish men.

Introduction: Studies of the relationship between work time and health have been inconclusive. Consequently, we sought to examine the effect of work time on progression of atherosclerosis.

Methods: This prospective study of 621 middle-aged Finnish men evaluated effects of baseline and repeat measures of work time on 11-year progression of ultrasonographically assessed carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and interactions with cardiovascular disease.

Neighborhood smoking norms modify the relation between collective efficacy and smoking behavior.

Background: Although neighborhoods with more collective efficacy have better health in general, recent work suggests that social norms and collective efficacy may in combination influence health behaviors such as smoking.

Methods: Using data from the New York Social Environment Study (conducted in 2005; n=4000), we examined the separate and combined associations of neighborhood collective efficacy and anti-smoking norms with individual smoking. The outcome was current smoking, assessed using the World Mental Health Comprehensive International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI) tobacco module.

Reducing racial and social-class inequalities in health: the need for a new approach.

It is well known that people in racial and ethnic minority groups and in lower social-class positions have higher morbidity and mortality rates from virtually every disease. To effectively deal with the problem, we will need to adopt a more appropriate conceptual model that focuses on the fundamental determinants of health, we will need to understand how important this is for all Americans as a society, and we will need to better deal with the issues people care about: their children, homes, jobs, safety, education, families, retirement, and future prospects.

"Culture of drinking" and individual problems with alcohol use.

Binge drinking is a substantial and growing health problem. Community norms about drinking and drunkenness may influence individual drinking problems. Using data from the New York Social Environment Study (n = 4,000) conducted in 2005, the authors examined the relation between aspects of the neighborhood drinking culture and individual alcohol use.