Mary Checovich

University of Wisconsin–Madison | UW · Department of Family Medicine

Rising greenhouse gas levels heat the earth’s surface and alter climate patterns, posing unprecedented threats to planetary ecology and human health. At the same time, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease have reached epidemic proportions across the globe, caused in part by decreases in physical activity and by over-consumption of carbon-i...

Introduction Mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs) are widely used to prevent mental ill-health that is becoming the leading global cause of morbidity. Evidence suggests beneficial average effects but wide variability. We aimed to confirm the effect of MBPs on psychological distress, and to understand whether and how baseline distress, gender, age, e...

Objectives: To assess whether the use of rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs) for long-term care facility (LTCF) residents with acute respiratory infection is associated with increased antiviral use and decreased health care utilization. Design: Nonblinded, pragmatic, randomized controlled trial evaluating a 2-part intervention with modified...

Background: The potential benefits of utilizing rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDT) in urgent care facilities on clinical care and prescribing practices are understudied. We compared antiviral and antibiotic prescribing, imaging, and laboratory ordering in clinical encounters with and without RIDT results. Methods: Our study compared patient...

Context: Influenza is a significant respiratory pathogen for residents of long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Rapid influenza detection tests (RIDT) may enable early outbreak detection allowing a timely response. Objective: We assessed whether RIDT for LTCF residents with acute respiratory infection is associated with increased antiviral use and dec...

Introduction: Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 among university employees is an important part of mitigation strategies to prevent asymptomatic transmission and ensure a safe learning and work environment. Here, we assess the feasibility and performance of a program that relies on monitored self-collected nasal swabs to detect SARS-CoV-2 among asymptoma...

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the most common illness seen in the pediatric ambulatory setting. Research in this area is hampered by the lack of validated ARI measures. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey for Kids (WURSS-K), a 15-item instrument, which measures...

We analyzed 4,352 participant- and staff-collected respiratory specimens from 2,796 subjects in the Oregon Child Absenteeism due to Respiratory Disease Study. Trained staff collected oropharyngeal specimens from school-aged children with acute respiratory illness while household participants of all ages collected their own midturbinate nasal specim...

Residents of long-term care facilities (LCTFs) have high morbidity and mortality associated with acute respiratory infections (ARIs). Limited information exists on the virology of ARI in LTCFs, where virological testing is reactive. We report on findings of a surveillance feasibility substudy from a larger prospective trial of introducing rapid inf...

Pro-environmental behaviors and the cultural shifts that can accompany these may offer solutions to the consequences of a changing climate. Mindfulness has been proposed as a strategy to initiate these types of behaviors. In 2017, we pilot-tested Mindful Climate Action (MCA), an eight-week adult education program that delivers energy use, climate c...

Background Influenza is a significant pathogen for long-term care facility (LTCF) residents. As part of a randomized controlled trial to assess early detection of influenza in LTCFs, we deployed rapid influenza detection tests (RIDTs) at intervention LTCFs. Our primary objectives for this interim analysis were to evaluate the sensitivity and specif...

Greenhouse gases from human activities are causing climate change, creating risks for people around the globe. Behaviors involving transportation, diet, energy use, and purchasing drive greenhouse gas emissions, but are also related to health and well-being, providing opportunity for co-benefits. Replacing shorter automobile trips with walking or c...

This report identifies a radius dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) confounder and technical approach to avoid this inaccuracy. Initially, a precision study revealed substantial differences (p<0.001) in radius bone mineral density (BMD) least significant change ranging from 0.038 to 0.073g/cm(2) between 3 technologists that each performed assess...

This study assessed bone mineral density (BMD) comparability and precision using Lunar Prodigy and iDXA densitometers (GE Healthcare, Madison, WI) in adults. Additionally, the utility of supine forearm measurement with iDXA was investigated. Lumbar spine and bilateral proximal femur measurements were obtained in routine clinical manner in 345 volun...

Many osteoporotic vertebral fractures are not clinically recognized but increase fracture risk. We hypothesized that a newer generation densitometer increases the number of evaluable vertebrae and vertebral fractures detected. We also explored the impact of reader experience on vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) interpretation. VFA images obtained...

Low vitamin K status is associated with low BMD and increased fracture risk. Additionally, a specific menaquinone, menatetrenone (MK4), may reduce fracture risk. However, whether vitamin K plays a role in the skeletal health of North American women remains unclear. Moreover, various K vitamers (e.g., phylloquinone and MK4) may have differing skelet...

Densitometry centers commonly request patients abstain from ingesting calcium supplements prior to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) examination to avoid interference with bone mineral density (BMD) measurement. However, it is not clear that this practice is necessary. This study assessed the impact of recent calcium supplement intake on lumba...

The histological and mechanical properties of cartilage and subchondral bone from OA and normal human femoral heads were compared. There were significant differences between the load bearing and non-load bearing regions in both the OA and normal specimens in percent subchondral bone. No significant differences were observed in the material stiffnes...

Although qualitative evidence of femoral bone remodeling, secondary to total hip arthroplasty (THA), is apparent on radiographs, quantification of change in bone mass from radiographs is limited. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry overcomes many of the limitations and yields accurate and precise bone mineral density (BMD) data. In this study, regiona...

In an attempt to decrease aseptic loosening, total joint components are now being used without cement. Most components are designed to achieve fixation biologically. The radiographic results of 144 primary uncemented total hip arthroplasties and the clinical results of 89 arthroplasties that were performed using a proximally porous-coated titanium...

To determine if plasma levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) across the lifespan correlate with bone density or plasma osteocalcin. Cross-sectional study. Forty-five healthy community-dwelling volunteers aged 25-74 years. Exclusion criteria were smoking use of medications known to affect bone metabolism (corticosteroids, heparin, thyroxine, thiazides, and...

The role of interleukin-6 in the bone microenvironment is controversial. We studied the effect of recombinant human interleukin-6 (rhIL-6) administration on bone metabolism in 10 adult female rhesus monkeys (age 12-27 years). Monkeys received rhIL-6 (15 micrograms/kg/day) daily by subcutaneous injection for 28 days. Serum alkaline phosphatase, oste...

Previous research has demonstrated positive correlations between bone mass and both physical activity and muscular strength. There is a paucity of information describing the specific type of exercise which most benefits the human skeleton. The effects of a 1 yr weight training program on 18 middle-aged women participating in an endurance dance prog...

Bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) of the proximal tibia were determined by dual photon absorptiometry on 44 women, aged 23–87 years. The area of the tibia measured was a 2.01 cm region immediately distal to the medial and lateral tuberosities. Values of BMC ranged between 5.09 and 14.57 g and BMD between 0.380 and 1.180 g/cm...