Search Results for "Tung Sung"

LSU: Continuity of Outpatient Care and Avoidable Hospitalization: a Systematic Review

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Continuity of care (COC) is a core element of primary care, which has been associated with improved health outcomes. Hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) are potentially preventable if these conditions are managed well in the primary care setting. The team of researchers, including from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health, Dr. Kao and Dr. Tung-Sung Tseng’s aim, was to conduct a systematic review of literature on the association between COC and hospitalizations for ACSCs. They used the Systematic literature review, a method which all published literature was searched for in PubMed and MEDLINE using PRISMA guidelines for collecting empirical studies. Studies published in English between 2008 and 2017 that measured the association between COC and at least one measure of ACSC hospitalizations were included in this review

Their results, a total of 15 studies met the inclusion criteria and applied claims data to examine the association between COC and ACSC hospitalizations. Most studies (93.3 percent) demonstrated a statistically significant association of higher COC in the outpatient setting with reduced likelihood of hospitalization for either all ACSCs or a specific ACSC. A strong association was observed among studies focusing on patients with a specific ACSC.  The team concluded that this systematic review identified an increased COC in outpatient care is associated with fewer hospitalizations for ACSCs. Increasing COC is favorable for patients who are managing a specific ACSC.

Click here to read the full article on ASPPH Friday Newletter May 3, 2019

Racial and Income Disparities in Health-Related Quality of Life among Smokers with a Quit Attempt in Louisiana

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February 13, 2019 – New Orleans, LA

In the recent study, “Racial and Income Disparities in Health-Related Quality of Life among Smokers with a Quit Attempt in Louisiana,” published in Medicina 2019, smoking was found to be associated with a lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, there is little information about the association between HRQOL in relation to race, income, and smoking status. The present study aimed to assess the association between HRQOL and smoking status for those of different races and income levels.

Authorship and contribution to this research and publication  from the LSU Health Sciences Center School of Public Health includes current Fellow Yu-Hsiang Kao,  Dr. Tung-Sung Tseng, Mr. Michael D. Celestin, Jr. , Dr. Sarah Moody-Thomas from Behavioral & Community Health. Also, contributing to this research is Mrs. Krysten Jones-Winn from the Tobacco Control Initiative Program and  Dr. Qingzhao Yu from Biostatics.

This study’s conclusions state that racial and income disparities were evident with regards to HRQOL, with lower-income black or African Americans who were current smokers with a quit attempt having a lower HRQOL. Intervention programs for smoking cessation should target lower-income black or African American smokers who have a prior quit attempt and provide effective cessation services to help them quit smoking and improve their HRQOL.

The full publication can be read here.

LSU: Faculty and Researchers Used Emergency Department Data to Estimate Prevalence of Smoking in Young Adults

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Faculty and researchers at the LSU School of Medicine (Drs. Stephen Kantrow and Sarah Jolley), Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health (Ms. Xinnan Wang, Dr. Tung-Sung Tseng, Dr. Dodie Arnold, Dr. Claudia Leonardi, Dr. Richard Scribner, Dr. Edward Trapido, Dr. Hui-Yi Lin), Ochsner Health System (Eboni Price Haywood) and the Louisiana Public Health Institute (Dr. Lisanne Brown) used emergency department (ED) data to estimate the prevalence of smoking in young adults. Most state or national surveys of smoking are limited in size- especially when looking at county level data, and phone based surveys have had decreasing responses. School based surveys are helpful, but limited by age.

The researchers used data from electronic health records (EHRs) for five EDs within U.S. Census-defined metropolitan New Orleans (New Orleans–Metairie, LA) for persons 18-24 years old. (15 percent of young adults are reported to have used EDs in the past year). Smoking status was available for 55,777 persons (91 percent of the total Emergency Departments); 61 percent were women, 55 percent were black, 35 percent were white, and 8 percent were Hispanic. One third of patients were uninsured. Most smokers used cigarettes (95 percent ). Prevalence of current smoking was 21.7 percent for women and 42.5 percent for men. Smoking prevalence was highest for substance use disorder (58 percent ), psychiatric illness (41 percent ) and alcohol use (39 percent ), and lowest for pregnancy (13.5 percent ). In multivariable analyses, male gender, white race, lack of health insurance, alcohol use, and illicit drug use were independently associated with smoking. Smoking risk among alcohol and drug users varied by gender, race, and/or age.

The BRFSS estimated 29 percent prevalence during the same time, and had data on 597 subjects aged 18–30 years. Although ED data are likely to overestimate tobacco use, the large sample size is useful- especially for stratum-specific estimates- particularly in a demographically diverse population. Dr. Stephen Kantrow, the lead investigator, stated ”this approach provides smoking data for a large sample of young adults in one metropolitan area, and may support longitudinal studies of smoking in high and low risk populations.

Full article

LSUHSC SPH Study: Improving low-income residents’ utilization of farmers markets

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Read the full news released featured in the AAAS and EurekAlert!, “Improving low-income residents’ utilization of farmers markets”

February 20, 2018

New Orleans, LA – A pair of studies conducted at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health found reasons and possible solutions to improve low-income residents’ access to fresh, local produce at farmers markets. The first study, published in the Journal of Public Health Research, available at http://www.jphres.org/index.php/jphres/article/view/815, found a lack of awareness of the existence of farmers markets, and of discounts and benefits available to low-income residents among those who did know about farmers markets.

“Our study for the first time shows that one barrier to farmers market utilization is simply not being aware that they exist.,” noted Henry Nuss, PhD, Assistant Professor at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health.

The researchers developed a questionnaire to assess demographic information, awareness of farmers markets in New Orleans, food-purchasing behaviors, internet use, diet and preferences among a variety of marketing media. They found that nearly two-thirds (63%) of low-income participants had never been to a farmers market. The research team reported that 73% of participants did not know that farmers markets accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and 77% were not aware that patrons could receive additional discounts with SNAP purchases. The researchers then tested the feasibility of their novel, internet-based social marketing strategy, Healthy Roots for You.

The second study, published in Ethnicity & Disease, available at https://www.ethndis.org/edonline/index.php/ethndis/article/view/786/943, built upon the first study. Its findings included that low-income residents have adequate access to the internet and a variety of social media channels and that web-based marketing could be a cost-effective and efficient way to not only increase awareness of farmers markets, but also that they are sources of affordable and nutritious local foods. Researchers found that the majority of participants had internet access via smart phones or home PCs and used social media and the internet frequently, often as a means of obtaining health-related information. The research team used data from the preliminary study to target low-income residents with tailored content for both those who had never been to a farmers’ market and to encourage future use among those who had been to one before.

“Most participants liked the sample Healthy Roots marketing media we shared with them and agreed that notifications via social media, email and a dedicated website would increase their awareness of farmers markets,” Dr. Nuss said.

Researchers say the importance of this research is that farmers markets are being underutilized by the at-risk community members they intend to help. This research is working to identify and remove barriers to improve health in these underserved populations.

“Farmers’ markets were originally established to provide fresh, healthy and affordable food to underserved communities,” Nuss noted. “Unfortunately, this is not a case of ‘if you build it they will come.’ What we’re seeing now is that we need to put the word out that farmers’ markets are there for low-income residents, and that the affordability and quality of fresh, LOCAL produce are better and healthier that what they’d find at retail chains.”

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In addition to Nuss, the research teams also included Meg Skizim, MPH; Melinda Sothern, PhD; Ondrej Blaha; Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH; Lauren Griffiths, MPH; Jonathan Joseph; Hasheemah Afaneh; and Lucio Miele, MD, PhD.

These research projects were supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, Hollygrove Market and Farm, Hollygrove community and LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health.

LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana’s health care professionals. The state’s most comprehensive health professional university, LSU Health New Orleans includes a School of Medicine, the state’s only School of Dentistry, Louisiana’s only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu, http://www.twitter.com/LSUHealthNO or http://www.facebook.com/LSUHSC.

LSU Program Director Awarded Grant to Develop an Interactive Voice Response System Intervention for Pregnant Smokers

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Mr. Michael Celestin, Director of the Louisiana Tobacco Control Initiative and Instructor of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health, has been awarded pilot funding by the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium to develop a culturally tailored intervention using Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) technology to promote and maintain smoking cessation among socioeconomically disadvantaged pregnant women in Louisiana.

In the U.S., one in five women smoked the three months before pregnancy, one in ten smoked during the last three months of pregnancy, and one in seven smoked postpartum. Maternal smoking is associated with miscarriage, preterm delivery, restricted fetal growth, infant mortality, birth defects and ADHD in children. Socioeconomically disadvantaged pregnant women have a greater risk of smoking during and after pregnancy. Evidence-based cessation interventions exist to aid quit attempts, but few target pregnant smokers and enrollment in and utilization of cessation programs remain low.

IVRS technology will serve as an innovative approach to recruit and enroll pregnant smokers into various types of cessation treatment. “This study will use a mixed method approach to explore pregnant smoker’s knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and perspectives on the facilitators and barriers to smoking cessation,” Mr. Celestin said. “These findings will inform IVRS message development to promote cessation and triage ready-to-quit smokers for preferred treatment.”

Mr. Celestin will collaborate with co-investigators Dr. Tyra Toston-Gross, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana, as well as associate professor Dr. Tung-Sung Tseng and professor emeritus Dr. Sarah Moody-Thomas of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at LSU.

SOURCE: https://www.aspph.org/lsu-program-director-awarded-grant-to-develop-an-interactive-voice-response-system-intervention-for-pregnant-smokers/

APHA Live! Available for On-Demand

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Couldn’t make it to APHA 2017 in Atlanta?
You can still watch on-demand sessions and presentations that you missed – learn, be inspired APHA Live.
Contact mcuccia@lsuhsc.edu  for the LSU password to access the on-demand sessions of APHA for Faculty, Students and Staff.

13th Annual Public Health Finance Roundtable
Sunday, November 5th, 2017 Georgia World Congress Center – Room A405 3:00pm to 5:30pm
Click here for more information

APHA Film Festival: Screening of LSU Sponsored film “Michelle’s Story”
Session FF12: Global Public Health Film Festival: Inform, Educate, Empower, session 4 scheduled for Tuesday, November 7, 2017: 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. 

Individual Presentations:

  • Oral Presentation
    “Expanding Patient Navigation Services in the Louisiana Breast and Cervical Health Program”
    Courtney S. Wheeler, MPH, Nannozi Ssenkoloto, MPH, Joann Lee, MPH, Donna Williams, DrPH
  • Poster Presentation
    “Drowned Out: The Smoke-Free East Baton Rouge Campaign and the Impact of a Thousand Year Flood”
    Authors: Aubree Thelen, MPH, Mikal Giancola, MPH, Lydia Kuykendal, MPH, Tonia Moore
  • Poster Presentation
    “Gender And Age Disparities In Relationship Of Acculturation, Sugar-sweetened Beverages Consumption And Obesity Among Latino Immigrants”
    Authors: Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH, Shuang Yang, MS, Daesy K. Behrhorst, BA , Yu-Wen Chiu, DrPH, Chih-Yang Hu, MSPH, ScD , Hui-Yi Lin, PhD

Meet the PHAC Team

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Public Health Analytic Center (PHAC) Team

We are here to assist you and provide a breath of expertise across quantitative analysis to qualitative analysis from study design to program and policy evaluations.

 

Director
Tekeda Ferguson, MPH, MSPH, CHES, PHDAssociate Professor and Chair
EpidemiologyDr. Ferguson is a chronic disease epidemiologist and has experience in the design and management of multi-site cohorts and clinical trials, surveillance data systems, and longitudinal analysis in multiple, population cohorts.
Associate Director
Yu-Wen Chiu, DrPHAssistant Professor
Health Policy & Systems ManagementDr. Chiu is a health systems analyst and has expertise in health systems management and cost benefit analysis.
Associate Director
Adrienne Katner, DEnv, MSAssociate Professor and Chair
Environmental & Occupational HealthDr. Katner is an environmental health scientist and has expertise in environmental exposure and risk assessment and environmental public health policy.
Associate Director
Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH, MS, CHES/MCHESAssociate Professor
Behavioral & Community HealthDr. Tseng is a behavior scientist. His is an expert in cancer prevention, childhood obesity, gene-environment interactions, risk behavioral patterns, health promotion interventions and evaluations, and health disparities.
Associate Director
Qingzhao Yu, PhDFull Professor and Interim Associate Dean of Research
BiostatisticsDr. Yu is a biostatistician. She has expertise in developing statistical methods for public health, health care, clinical and lab research. Her research of interests falls in Bayesian modeling, causal inferences, clinical trials, genetic statistics, machine learning method, spatial analysis, statistical computation, survey data analysis, and many other fields.

Research Projects

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BCHS / CHSP Research
(Faculty in alphabetical order)

Amber Brown, MPH, CHES
Ms. Brown’s research includes viewing microaggressive experiences of students of color in graduate degree programs and the impact on their mental health and degree progression.

Stephanie Broyles, PhD
Dr. Broyles research has shifted from an early interest in HIV/AIDS epidemiology to a focus on the epidemiology of physical activity and obesity, primarily in pediatric populations. Within this area, her research also seeks to understand contextual (e.g., neighborhood, school, policy) influences on these health and behavioral targets and on longitudinal changes in them, in both observational and interventional settings. Her research was featured in the 2012 HBO documentary series, “The Weight of the Nation.” Dr. Broyles’s work relies heavily on community engagement, and frequently integrates research and service. She brings this approach to her work as co-Director of the Community Outreach and Engagement Resource Core for the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center, a collaboration among all major academic, research, and health care institutions in Louisiana. Methodologically, she has expertise in investigating environmental determinants of health using spatial methods and geographically-linked variables, as well as in multilevel statistical analysis, and she enjoys collaborating on research projects that use novel analytic or study-design techniques.

Michael D. Celestin, Jr., PhD, MA, CHES, CTTS
Dr. Michael Celestin conducts population health and health services research to prevent cancer by promoting tobacco cessation at the patient, clinician, and healthcare system levels. Dr. Celestin uses novel methods and innovative study designs for effective theory-driven behavioral intervention research and the latest dissemination and implementation science to accelerate evidence-based tobacco use treatment in safety net healthcare delivery systems. His research contributes to eliminating tobacco-related cancers, chronic diseases, and health disparities for underrepresented high-prevalence tobacco users in Louisiana.

Richard Culbertson, PhD
Dr. Culbertson is currently engaged in research on the dissemination of robotic assisted surgery (RAS) and its availability to all patients who might benefit from these procedures as an option to open or laparoscopic surgery. He is on site at Intuitive Surgical Co., the largest producer of such devices globally. While at Intuitive, he is charged with developing and operationalizing a Center of Excellence for Health Policy and Patient Access. Current projects include (1)health equity and patient access research, outlining determinants of health challenging global health and systems; (2)Synthesizing, informing and enriching health policy discussions; (3) Shaping and optimizing payment/funding incentives to address adoption barriers and utilization of RAS; (4) Investigating innovative implementation practice programs to assess barriers to receipt of RAS services from the vantage of equity of access.

Denise Moore Danos, PhD
Dr. Danos is a biostatistician with a prolific research and publication record. Her focus is experimental design and data analysis in observational research, with expertise in large scale data collection and consolidation, generalized linear models and multilevel models. Dr. Danos’ research has centered around social and built environmental factors in chronic health conditions and other public health outcomes. Much of this work has focused on socioeconomic and regional disparities in cancer in Louisiana. Additionally, she has contributed to investigations of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted trends in traumatic assaults in the greater New Orleans area and determinants of COVID-19 testing strategies in southern US states. Dr. Danos is part of the biostatistics core at the LSUHSC Cancer Center and collaborates with investigators in the school of medicine regarding study design, power and sample size calculation, statistical analyses, and dissemination of results.

Claudia Leonardi, PhD
Dr. Claudia Leonardi is a biostatistician with more than 20 years of research experience in various settings. She consulted and collaborated on numerous projects in the basic, clinical and population sciences, and I have therefore acquired extensive experience in a variety of statistical areas. She currently collaborates with the Departments of Surgery and Orthopedics within the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health by providing study design and statistical support to progress ideas into projects/grants and papers.

Henry Nuss, PhD
Dr. Henry Nuss is the Director of Testing, Measurement and Evaluation for the Southeast and Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Centers. Dr. Nuss’ research interests are in obesity prevention, metabolic syndrome and other related chronic conditions in disparate communities, as well as quality improvement for local, statewide and national public health initiatives.

Stephen Phillippi, Jr., PhD, LCSW, CCFC
Dr. Phillippi’s research focuses on identifying needs and gaps in behavioral health and justice systems, informing policy and practice changes to support research driven prevention and intervention, and employing implementation science to develop translational methods that disseminate such programming to scale in a sustainable fashion. These efforts have been published in peer-reviewed literature, textbooks, and/or converted into monographs, curricula, and technical reports to reach a multi-disciplinary group of practitioners, scholars, policy makers, and administrators in Louisiana and nationally. He leads research at two nationally recognized Centers for the School of Public Health—the Center for Evidence to Practice and the Institute for Public Health & Justice.

William Robinson, PhD
Dr. Robinson’s training is in experimental and quantitative methods in Psychology and he is an expert in many statistical techniques including multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, and geographic information systems. Dr. Robinson’s research involves the behavioral, epidemiologic and structural factors that place people at risk for diseases such as HIV/AIDS. He is currently lead the Louisiana arm of the CDC funded National HIV Risk Behavioral Surveillance, a study of HIV risk behaviors in a sample of populations at high risk in New Orleans, and has led the NHBS study since its inception. Dr. Robinson holds a joint appointment as the Research and Evaluation Manager for the Louisiana Department of Health’s Office of Public Health STD/HIV/Hepatitis Program (SHHP). In this role he has completed evaluation and implementation science studies including an OAH funded statewide teen pregnancy prevention evaluation, developed methods to evaluate the impact on the Louisiana HIV/AIDS epidemic following the diaspora caused by Hurricane Katrina, assessed the impact of structural changes including alcohol outlet policies on the geographic distribution of HIV and STD cases and a PCORI study to increase resilience among LGBT individuals. He is also the Lead Evaluator for all HIV Prevention, Surveillance, and Services state programs including the recent PrIDE and THRIVE HIV prevention demonstration projects to increase uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), utilization of data-to-care strategies, and to provide behavioral health and social services to men who have sex with men as well as the current Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative.

Dean G. Smith, PhD
Dr. Smith’s research aims to provide a better understanding of the financial aspects of health care operations and public health programs. Current projects include assessment of the cost-effectiveness of nursing interventions for patients with heart failure and the economic impact of hospitals on their communities.

Benjamin Springgate, MD, MPH
Dr. Springgate conducts community-partnered participatory research on policy-relevant topics including expanding and improving care for opioid use disorder, integrating behavioral health into primary care settings, and building resilience in communities threatened by climate change and disasters. With this research, he advises policymakers at local, state, and federal levels on matters relating to the opioid overdose crisis, improving care for incarcerated and reentry populations, climate and health, behavioral health strategies for Medicaid and Medicare, pandemic responses, and public health decision-making.

Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH, MS, CHES/MCHES
Dr. Tseng’s research focuses on understanding the disparities and elucidating the determinants of health behaviors to change unhealthy/risky behaviors among ethnic minorities and underserved populations. His expertise includes cancer, tobacco control, obesity, health disparities, genetic and behavioral interactions, community-based participatory research (CBPR), implementation sciences, community/ behavioral intervention, and evaluation methods (social media, big data, GIS, AI, and smart devices).

Ashley Wennerstrom, PhD
For the past 15 years, Dr. Wennerstrom has conducted community-engaged research with a focus on community health worker (CHW) policy, interventions, and workforce development, as well as the link between incarceration and health. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers and four book chapters. Her work has been supported by over 30 grants and contracts from CDC, HRSA, OMH, NIH, PCORI, the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), and other agencies.

Donna Williams, MS, MPH, DrPH
For over 20 years, Dr. Williams’s research has focused on cancer health disparities and gaps in cancer prevention and control efforts. In 2002, she assumed leadership of the Louisiana Breast and Cervical Health Program, focusing on screening services for under- and uninsured low-income women in Louisiana funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That single program expanded to become the Louisiana Cancer Prevention & Control Programs (LCP), a group of research and practice programs that focus on cancers that are preventable or can be detected early and cured. LCP continues to be funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other organizations. While most of this work has been based upon prevention and early detection at the community level, it has been her philosophy to lay translational and interventional research on top of these programs whenever possible. The majority of her work focuses on removing barriers to cancer screening and early detection. While this is important in general, a further focus is on underserved and under-resourced populations including underserved minorities, under-and uninsured people, the working poor, and rural populations.

Center for Evidence to Practice
At the Center we envision a Louisiana where all individuals have access to a high quality, responsive and effective behavioral health system delivered by a well-trained workforce. We achieve this through the Center’s mission to support Louisiana and its agencies, organizations, communities, and providers in the selection and implementation of research-driven behavioral health interventions while understanding and helping to address challenges related to sustaining quality practice that promotes well-being and improves outcomes. As one aspect of the center, our research focuses on examining the behavioral health workforce, assessing gaps and needs in Louisiana’s mental health and substance use services array, and exploring impact through Medicaid claims analyses and provider surveys- using implementation science frameworks. This work is funded by LDH, OBH, Medicaid, SAMHSA, and other entities.

Institute for Public Health & Justice
The Institute is a policy, research, training, and technical assistance enterprise positioned at the intersection of behavioral health policy and practice, and the legal system. Many behavioral and other health conditions have social determinants. At the Institute, we seek to bridge the divide between prevention and treatment of behavioral health issues and the negative impacts on individuals, families, communities, and the justice systems. The agency has a diverse funding portfolio including, but not limited to, DOJ, OJJDP, SAMHSA, BJA, MacFound, the Public Welfare Foundation, RWJF, and more. Its research has included examining the age of criminal responsibility, justice reform initiatives, status offender interventions, screening and assessment, evidence-based treatments, school safety, police and public health, justice data collection and reporting, mentoring, holistic public defense models, diversion, and much more.

Publications

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Faculty Publications – 2023-2024
SPOTLIGHT – August, 2022

Pancreatic cancer among solid organ transplant recipients in the United States

August 2022

Co-Author – Dr. Mei-Chin Hsieh

Pancreatic cancer (PC) in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients is not well studied. Some PC cases may be incidentally detected during hepatobiliary imaging.  Full article HERE

Implementation of multi-level interventions to mitigate risk of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant at a public University in Southern United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2022

Dr. Ed. Trapido

During the COVID19 pandemic, navigating the implementation of public health measures in a politically charged environment for a large state entity was challenging.  However, LSU leadership developed and deployed an effective, multi-layered mitigation plan and successfully opened in-person learning while managing cases of SARS-CoV-2 during the fourth surge. We describe the plan to provide a framework for other institutions during this and future responses. The goals were three-fold: maintain a quality learning environment, mitigate risk to the campus community, and ensure that LSU operations did not contribute to healthcare stress. As of September 2022, LSU has achieved high compliance with interventions and relatively low virus activity on campus compared to peer institutions. This university model can serve as a template for similar implementation plans in the context of complex socio-political and economic considerations.  Full article HERE

SPOTLIGHT – July, 2020

2020 LSUHSC Virtual Summer Research Internship Poster Session

The Summer Research Internship Program has provided research opportunities for medical students, undergraduates, and high school students since 2003. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, summer 2020 research projects were performed mainly via a virtual learning model. The program directors, Dr. Paula Gregory and Dr. Fern Tsien, matched students with mentors from LSU Health Sciences Center, University Medical Center, and the Louisiana Cancer Research Center (LCRC). The Summer Research Internship Program has allowed students to cultivate their interest in pursuing careers in clinical sciences, public health, or basic sciences.

Funding support for the undergraduate virtual summer program was provided by:

  • LSUHSC School of Medicine, Office of the Dean
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program 

2020 LSUHSC Virtual Summer Research Internship Poster Award (HERE)

SPOTLIGHT – June, 2019
Continuity of Outpatient Care and Avoidable Hospitalization: a Systematic Review

Yu-Hsiang Kao, Wei-Ting Lin, Wan-Hsuan Jenny Chen, Shiao-Chi Wu, and Tung-Sung Tseng.

Continuity of care (COC) is a core element of primary care, which has been associated with improved health outcomes. Hospitalizations for ambulatory care–sensitive conditions (ACSCs) are potentially preventable if these conditions are managed well in the primary care setting. This team of researchers, including Dr. Kao and Dr. Tung-Sung Tseng’s aim, was to conduct a systematic review of literature on the association between COC and hospitalizations for ACSCs. They used the Systematic literature review, a method which all published literature was searched for in PubMed and MEDLINE using PRISMA guidelines for collecting empirical studies. Studies published in English between 2008 and 2017 that measured the association between COC and at least one measure of ACSC hospitalizations were included in this review.

Their results, a total of 15 studies met the inclusion criteria and applied claims data to examine the association between COC and ACSC hospitalizations. Most studies (93.3%) demonstrated a statistically significant association of higher COC in the outpatient setting with reduced likelihood of hospitalization for either all ACSCs or a specific ACSC. A strong association was observed among studies focusing on patients with a specific ACSC. Additionally, most studies used the Bice-Boxerman COC index to measure COC and measured COC before a period of measuring ACSC hospitalizations. The team concluded that this systematic review identified an increased COC in outpatient care is associated with fewer hospitalizations for ACSCs. Increasing COC is favorable for patients who are managing a specific ACSC.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE or go to https://www.ajmc.com/journals/issue/2019/2019-vol25-n4/continuity-of-outpatient-care-and-avoidable-hospitalization-a-systematic-review

Using the emergency department to investigate smoking in young adults

Faculty and researchers at the LSU School of Medicine (Stephen Kantrow and Sarah Jolley), LSU School of Public Health (Xinnan Wang, Tung-Sung Tseng, Dodie Arnold, Claudia Leonardi, Richard Scribner, Edward Trapido, Hui-Yi Lin), Ochsner Health System (Eboni Price Haywood) and the Louisiana Public Health Institute (Lisanne Brown) used emergency department (ED) data to estimate the prevalence of smoking in young adults. Most state or national surveys of smoking are limited in size- especially when looking at county level data, and phone based surveys have had decreasing responses. School based surveys are helpful, but limited by age. The researchers used data from EHRs for five EDs within U.S. Census-defined metropolitan New Orleans (New Orleans–Metairie, LA) for persons 18-24 years old. (15% of young adults are reported to have used EDs in the past year). Smoking status was available for 55,777 persons (91% of the total Emergency Departments); 61% were women, 55% were black, 35% were white, and 8% were Hispanic. One third of patients were uninsured. Most smokers used cigarettes (95%). Prevalence of current smoking was 21.7% for women and 42.5% for men. Smoking prevalence was highest for substance use disorder (58%), psychiatric illness (41%) and alcohol use (39%), and lowest for pregnancy (13.5%). In multivariable analyses, male gender, white race, lack of health insurance, alcohol use, and illicit drug use were independently associated with smoking. Smoking risk among alcohol and drug users varied by gender, race, and/or age.

The BRFSS estimated 29% prevalence during the same time, and had data on 597 subjects aged 18–30 years. Although ED data are likely to overestimate tobacco use, the large sample size is useful- especially for stratum-specific estimates- particularly in a demographically diverse population. Dr. Stephen Kantrow, the lead investigator, stated ”this approach provides smoking data for a large sample of young adults in one metropolitan area, and may support longitudinal studies of smoking in high and low risk populations.

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Descriptive Study of 30-day Hospital Readmissions for Person 65 and Older in Louisiana 2011-2014

Since 2012 greater scrutiny is being given to factors associated with patients readmitted to a hospital within 30 days of a discharge from the same hospital. Interest in these readmissions is driven by higher health costs as well as healthcare outcomes. Utlizing patient admission records from the Lousiana Hospital Inpatient Discharge Database (LAHIDD) for fiscal years 2011 to 2014, an interdisciplinary team at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans investigated the relationships between patient race, gender, discharge status and comorbidities and 30-day readmissions among Louisianans 65 years and older.

The research team, School of Public Health associate professor Susanne Straif-Bourgeois, assistant professor Elizabeth Levitzky and MPH student Asha Buehler and Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice director Tina Gunaldo, analyzed over 300,000 patient admissions during the 4-year period. The team evaluated the total number of admissions as well as the number of 30-days readmissions for each patient, focusing on five diagnosis categories – circulatory, digestive, infectious, respiratory diseases and unintentional injuries.

The researchers found differences in readmission rates among patients 65 years and older grouped by race, gender, and discharge location prior to readmission. Within these older patients, the rate of readmission varied by diagnosis code category with circulatory diseases having the highest rate among the five diagnosis categories of interest. White males showed the highest rates in each category. The discharge location prior to the 30-day readmission also differed among the race and gender groups.  Full article here

Supporting health system transformation through an interprofessional education experience focused on population health

Kari F. Brisolara, Sonia Gasparini, Alison H. Davis, Shane Sanne, Sandra Carlin Andrieu, Jerald James, Donald E. Mercante, Raquel Baroni De Carvalho & Tina Patel Gunaldo

The purpose of this study according to Dr. Kari Brisolara, of the LSUHSC School of Public Health, was to determine the impact of an interprofessional education (IPE) experience on first year students across all schools of a health sciences center on the topic of pediatric immunizations. The research team conducted a pre-/post-test at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans with 731 first year students from 25 academic programs encompassing all six schools (Allied Health, Dentistry, Graduate Studies, Medicine, Nursing and Public Health). In the four questions related to the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) sub-competencies and the three questions related to professional role regarding immunizations, there was a statistically significant difference in the pre-/post-test survey results (P < 0.0001). Student learning related to the collaboration needed to make a larger impact on patient outcomes was demonstrated through assessment of an open-ended question. IPE experiences can improve first-year students’ perceptions of IPEC sub-competencies regarding the importance of population health and teamwork. By utilizing a population health focus with IPE activities, novice learners are equipped to learn and apply collaborative practice skills along with recognizing the importance of promoting overall health and well-being instead of just health care.

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A Partnership in Health-Related Social Media for Young Breast Cancer Survivors

Donna L. Williams, DrPH, Timiya S. Nolan, PhD, Yu-wen Chiu, DrPH, MPH, Laura Ricks, MPH, Silvia Gisiger Camata,MPH, Barbara Craft, MD, Karen Meneses, PhD

In the United States, about 11% (26,393) of those diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 will be young or less than 45 years old. Young breast cancer survivors, compared to older cancer survivors, are a disparate group that experience higher incidence of advanced disease, greater mortality, and poorer quality of life, and are often faced with difficulty locating support that meets the unique needs of young women. The Gulf States Young Breast Cancer Survivor Network, composed of three sister networks, formed a partnership aimed at harnessing the power of social media to reach and impact the lives of young women with breast cancer. The collaborative partnership framework and the power of synergy are shown in merging two existing programs and incorporating a third new program.

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A Platform for Monitoring Fiscal Health and Sustainability of the Public Health System

According to a new study titled, “The Public Health Uniform National Data System (PHUND$): A Platform for Monitoring Fiscal Health and Sustainability of the Public Health System,” published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice on August 13, 2018, it states, “Leaders of government agencies are responsible for stewardship over taxpayer investments. Stewardship […]

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Subgroup-specific dose finding in phase I clinical trials based on time to toxicity allowing adaptive subgroup combination ~ Andrew G. Chapple and Peter F. Thall

A Bayesian design is presented that does precision dose finding based on time to toxicity in a phase I clinical trial with two or more patient subgroups. The design, called Sub-TITE, makes sequentially adaptive subgroup-specific decisions while possibly combining subgroups that have similar estimated dose-toxicity curves. Decisions are based […]

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Analyzing over diagnosis risk in cancer screening: A case of screening mammography for breast cancer ~ Mahboubeh Madadi, Mohammadhossein Heydari, Shengfan Zhang, Edward Pohl, Chase Rainwater & Donna L. Williams

Overdiagnosis is defined as the diagnosis of an asymptotic cancer that would not have presented clinically in a patient’s lifetime in the absence of screening. Quantifying overdiagnosis is difficult, since it is impossible to distinguish between a cancer that would cause symptoms in the patient lifetime and the ones that would not. In this study, a mathematical framework is developed to estimate the lifetime overdiagnosis and cancer mortality risks associated with cancer screening policies […]

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 LATEST RESEARCH NEWS – Fall 2018