The department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Florida.
News & Events
July 6, 2009
As of Fall 2009, the department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics will be offering PHC 6052, Introduction to Biostatistical Methods. For MPH students with concentrations in epidemiology, biostatistics, and environmental health as well as Ph.D. students in epidemiology, this course will replace Statistical Methods for Researchers I which has been offered in the past as STA 6166 or PHC 6937.
March 4, 2008
Dr. Elena Andresen will serve on two workgroups for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Healthy People 2020 planning activities. One Workgroup is composing objectives for disability and health, and the second for Health-Related Quality of Life and Well-Being objectives for the nation. More information on the HP 2020 planning can be found at http://www.healthypeople.gov/.
November 22, 2008
Dr. Elena Andresen was the invited presentation for the annual Epidemiology of Aging Interest Group at the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual meeting in National Harbor Maryland November 22nd. Her talk "The WHO framework: How can it add to the epidemiology of aging?" is available here. See more about GSA and the annual meeting at http://www.geron.org/.
November 21, 2008
Faculty and students present research findings at APHA annual meeting
The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics was well represented at the 135th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) held October 25-29, 2008 in San Diego, CA. The theme for this year's meeting was Public Health Without Borders and the keynote speaker for the opening ceremony was Sir Michael Marmot, an internationally recognized leader on health inequalities and the chair of the World Health Organization's Commission on Social Determinants of Health. (For access to the Commission's recent report on Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health, http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/).
Both faculty and students from the department presented research findings at APHA. Caitlin Knox (MPH epidemiology student) presented research on disability and physical activity in Florida (co-authors Amanda Crawford (MPH epidemiology student), Emily Appleton (MPH epidemiology student), Erin DeFries (epidemiology faculty) and James Rimmer (mentor)). Amy Dailey (epidemiology faculty) presented research on racism and hypertension in Florida (co-authors Tina Arcomone (MPH epidemiology alumna), Latarsha Chisholm (Research Assistant in EBS and PhD student in HSRMP), Ellen Lopez (SBS faculty). Latarsha Chisholm also presented a poster on access to health care and reactions to race-based treatment in FL (co-authors Amy Dailey, Ellen Lopez, and Allyson Hall (HSRMP faculty)). Finally, Xiaohui Xu (epidemiology faculty) presented a poster on air pollution and cardio-respiratory hospitalizations.
The 2009 annual meeting is scheduled for November 7-11, 2009, in Philadelphia, PA. For details and information on abstract submission deadlines visit http://www.apha.org/.
November 12, 2008
Epidemiology students present at APHA
Three MPH-Epidemiology students presented their work on physical activity and disability at the 135th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association in San Diego, California. View the presentation here.
November 8, 2008
Dr. Andresen attends 15th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Quality of Life Research in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Dr. Elena Andresen attended the 15th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) October 22 - 25, 2008 in Montevideo, Uruguay. Her activities included a panel presentation with Drs. Ron Hays (UCLA/RAND) and Carolyn Schwartz (DeltaQuest)on peer review strategies for the Young Investigators Special Interest Group; leading the Mentor/Mentee match program; and a presentation on behalf of colleagues at the Oregon Health Sciences Center on the Development of a Measure of Health Status for Persons with Disabilities. Read more about ISOQOL and the society’s scientific journal at http://isoqol.org/, and about Oregon Health Sciences University’s RRTC on Health and Wellness for Persons with Long Term Disabilities at http://www.ohsu.edu/oidd/rrtc/.
November 3, 2008
Epidemiology MPH graduate Katie Winter presents her research on "Lack of choice in caregiving increases the carer's risk of stress" at the Scholars on Aging meeting at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center.
Background
In 2003, the National Survey of Families and Households in the U.S. reported that 33.1% of 7,277 respondents gave help or assistance to friends or family living outside of their home (up from 15.9% in 1996). These caregivers, in addition to those helping friends or family in the home, represent an increasing number of informal caregivers who provide ongoing unpaid help or support to someone with a disability or long-term health condition. One aspect of caregiving needing attention is the exploration of caregiver role and the degree to which the choice (or lack thereof) to provide care affects a caregiver's emotional wellbeing. The selection of a recipient's primary caregiver is often a complicated and multifaceted process. Prospective carers may be forced into caregiving roles by social obligation or by economic pressures. These carers may be reluctant to provide care and thus are less likely to learn new skills or be effective caregivers. While some attention has been directed towards the relationship between caregiver choice and corresponding burden, less has been given to the effect of choice on caregiver stress. Asking about and understanding the outcome of choice was an explicit directive from a national stakeholders meeting that preceded the survey used in the present study.
The objectives of this research were to compare a population sample of caregivers who reported having a choice in caring to those without and determine how choice impacts an informal caregiver's self-reported stress.
Methods
A 10-item Caregiver Module was developed and piloted during May-August, 2005 on the North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (NCBRFSS). The BRFSS is an annual, list-assisted telephone survey of the non-institutionalized adult (ages 18+) US population. Of 5,681 NCBRFSS respondents surveyed during the study period, 895 (15.4%, weighted) reported providing care or assistance to a family member or friend with a long-term illness or disability during the past month and were classified as caregivers. Seventy-seven percent of these caregivers agreed to be participate in a 20- minute follow-back telephone interview. Of these, 401 participants were successfully contacted and completed the follow-back interview.
The exposure of interest, choice in caregiving, was classified according to a 'yes' or 'no' response to the question "Do you feel you had a choice in taking on this responsibility of caring for him/her [the recipient]?" The outcome of interest, stress resulting from caregiving, was measured using the question "How emotionally stressful would you say that caring for your [recipient] is for you?" Based on the response distribution, stress was established as a binomial variable. Respondents caring for someone under 18 years of age (n=19), who failed to respond to the question about choice (n=37), or who failed to respond to the question about stress in caring (n=28) were excluded from our analysis.
All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 14.0 Complex Samples statistical software (SPSS, Inc.). Statistical significance was defined where alpha < 0.05.
Results
Self-reported stress differed according to caregiver choice. In the fully adjusted model, caregivers without a choice were 3.11 (95 % confidence interval 1.6, 5.9) times more likely to report stress compared to those with a choice in caring. High objective burden also increased stress. Non-choosing carers were most commonly the primary caregiver of a parent.
Conclusions
This study aimed to address the question of whether a caregiver's choice to provide care influences their subsequent self-reported stress. Strong differences between choosing and non-choosing carers emerged from our analysis. While caregivers were similar with respect to their age, gender, marital status, race, income, educational status, and age of their care recipient, they differed markedly in caregiver status (primary, secondary, or co-caregiver) and relationship to the recipient. In addition, choosing carers had lower burden levels, provided fewer hours of care per week, and had lower activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) scores compared to non-choosing carers. Issues of filial and familial obligation, the roles of primary vs. secondary carers, and reluctance to care and its impact on caregiver burden may have also contributed to these findings.
April 1, 2008
The College of Public Health and Health Professions, Department of
Epidemiology and Biostatistics is pleased to announce the appointment of
Erin Defries as lecturer in Epidemiology. Erin DeFries received her MPH
in Epidemiology from the University of Florida in 2006. As a graduate
student, she worked on projects evaluating the relationship between
Florida's Healthy Start Prenatal Risk Screen and infant mortality, and
the impact of nutrition facts availability on middle school students'
food choices. Currently, Erin works on many projects related to
disability in Florida and caregiving nationally. She also teaches
Introduction to Public Health with Dr. Andresen.
May 30, 2008
At the 13th Annual Epidemiology Statewide Seminar in Orlando, Florida, Nur Zeinomar and Jayson Caracciolo received an award for their poster entitled, "Natural disasters and disability: Case study of the Florida 2004 hurricane season." Nur and Jayson completed the project as MPH students in Epidemiology, with support from faculty members Elena Andresen, Babette Brumback, and Erin DeFries.
June 16, 2008
Dr. Ali Mokdad is Branch Chief, Behavioral Surveillance Branch, CDC - On
Monday June 16th, Dr. Mokdad reviewed the history, strengths and
weaknesses of the world's largest survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance System (BRFSS). All surveys have had increasing challenges
with reduced response rates and the exchange of cell phones for
telephone land lines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) has been engaged in a number of methodological studies to
understand the potential strengths and problems from surveys using mail
and internet, and cell phone and land line users of various types. Dr.
Mokdad's presentation extended with his active review of graduate
student presentations of their analysis projects using the BRFSS in a
core course of the epidemiology concentration of the College of Public
Heath and Health Professions MPH program.
June 17, 2008
The College of Public Health and Health Professions, Department of
Epidemiology and Biostatistics is pleased to announce the appointment of
Ning Li as and Amy Cantrell as Biostatistics Lecuter.
Ning Li, who will be joining us on July 1, 2008, obtained her master's degree in Microbiology from Duke University in 2002 and Ph.D. in Biostatistics from University of California at Los Angeles in 2005. After that she worked as a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Biomathematics, UCLA School of Medicine. Her current research interests are primarily in the areas of longitudinal data analysis, missing data in longitudinal analysis, survival analysis, and joint modeling of longitudinal and survival data.
Amy Cantrell, who will be joining us in August, obtained her master's
degree in Mathematics from Winthrop University in 1995 and her Ph.D. in
Statistics from the University of Florida. Thereafter she worked as a
consultant providing statistical assistance regarding research on a
wound treatment (2001-2002) and an impact fee study for Marion County,
Florida (2002-2003). She brings teaching experience from Central
Florida Community College (2003-2008) and began teaching in the
Department of Statistics during spring semester 2008 at UF.