Thesis (PhD) -- AUT University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (270 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.) in the Archive at the City Campus (T 616.0440112 VER)

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also in a digital version from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

No description available.

Long-term conditions (LTCs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Health behaviours are a component of many self-management regimes. However, adoption of health behaviours for people with LTCs is relatively low. The purpose of this thesis was to explore the role of the future as it influenced the decision to invest in health for people with LTCs. Specifically, I examined the association between the time discount rate and economic insecurity to explore how the future influences health behaviours. In the first empirical chapter, I found that the time discount rate was associated with maintained physical activity participation but not healthy eating or low-risk alcohol consumption in older adults who have at least one LTC. In the second empirical chapter, I found economic insecurity, which is the anxiety produced from an unsafe financial future, was associated with smoking in older women and physical activity in older men. In the final empirical chapter, I explored how health itself may influence perceptions of the future by investigating the effect of a lagged health shock on the time discount rate in a sample of Danish adults. I found positive health shocks were associated with becoming more future-oriented in women at the 90% significance level and more present-oriented in men at the 95% significance level. The findings of this thesis may be used in the development of policy and interventions to support commencement and adherence to self-management regimes for people with LTCs.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Toledo, 2009. / Typescript. "Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for The Master of Science Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Administrative Pharmacy Option." "A thesis entitled"--at head of title. Bibliography: leaves 71-84.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Background: Rapid economic growth in mainland China has been accompanied in recent years by rising levels of inequality and a growing burden of non-communicable disease (NCD), though little is known at present about the relations between these forces. This thesis makes use of data from a large sample of older men and women in Guangzhou, one of China’s most developed cities, to examine the relations between inequality, inequity and non-communicable disease. Objectives: This thesis addresses two research questions: what is the relationship between inequality/inequity and non-communicable disease in China; and what are the implications of this relationship for health policy in China. These two questions lead to two working hypotheses: first, that inequalities may be both a cause and consequence of NCDs in China, potentially creating a vicious cycle which reinforces inequality and inequity; and second, that reducing dependence on out of pocket payments as a source of healthcare finance may help to prevent the continuation of the inequality-NCD cycle. Methods: I used data from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study (GBCS), including 30,499 men and women aged 50 or over from Guangzhou and multi-variable regression methods to examine associations of socioeconomic position at four life stages (childhood, early adulthood, late adulthood and current) with several health outcomes: self-rated health, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, metabolic syndrome and markers of immunological inflammation (white blood cells, granulocytes and lymphocytes). These analyses related to the hypothesis that inequalities may be a cause of non-communicable disease in China. I also examined whether inequity may be a consequence of non-communicable disease by measuring whether horizontal inequity (deviation from the principle of equal access to healthcare for equal need) was greater for treatment of NCDs than for general healthcare. I tested this using both concentration index methods and multi-variable regression models. For comparative purposes, I conducted these analyses in data from three settings: Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Scotland (UK). Results: I found that socioeconomic deprivation across the life course was associated with poorer self-rated health, higher risk of COPD, higher white cell and granulocyte cell counts and (in women only) higher risk metabolic syndrome and higher lymphocyte cell counts. I also found evidence of pro-rich inequity in utilisation of treatment for three major non-communicable conditions (hypertension, hyperglycaemia and dyslipidaemia) in Guangzhou, whilst there was no evidence of inequity in general healthcare utilisation (doctor consultations and hospital admissions) or treatment of gastric ulcer. Conclusion: My findings gave qualified support for the idea that socioeconomic inequalities may contribute to some, though not all, non-communicable diseases in China. Moreover, the mechanisms which link socioeconomic inequality to NCDs in China remain unclear. My results also supported the suggestion that a rising burden of non-communicable disease may contribute to greater pro-rich inequity in healthcare utilisation, especially for conditions which are chronic and asymptomatic. As rates of NCDs continue to rise in China and other developing countries, policies to prevent and treat common NCDs may be improved by a clearer understanding of how inequality is related to non-communicable disease. / published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (M.S.) in Food Science and Human Nutrition--University of Maine, 2004. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-53).

The impact of pain intensity upon tasks of attention and memory was investigated, with the specific aim of evaluating differences in effortful versus automatic processing, implicit versus explicit memory, and right versus left hemisphere measures. All research participants in the study had been diagnosed with chronic pain conditions and each person completed memory and attention tasks, measures of intelligence, emotional functioning, and cognitive failures, and provided pain intensity ratings. Ratings regarding level of fatigue, quality of sleep, perceived control over pain, and perceived effect of pain on attention and memory were also obtained. With age, education, fatigue, and self-efficacy controlled, performance on the cognitive tasks was used to predict pain intensity through a series of hierarchical multiple regressions. Performance on the cognitive tasks was not able to account for a significant amount of the variance in pain intensity. Self-efficacy and fatigue were also noted as strong predictors of pain intensity among this sample. Implications are discussed in view of rehabilitation and neuropsychological assessment of persons with chronic pain, as well as clinical interventions with this population. / Graduate