Melissa D Zullo

• PhD, MPH, MA
• Professor (Associate) at Kent State University

Purpose Lack of knowledge contributes to disparate outcomes among Americans with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study assessed the impact of an educational intervention on disease knowledge and management in Black Americans with asthma or COPD. Design Pre-post study design with 9-month follow-up. Setting Urban church...

Background Sedentary behavior is a public health threat with extensive health burden on society. High levels of sedentary behavior have been associated with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Individuals working in desk-related occupations are more likely to be sedentary for most of the day. Health researchers have responded by...

Background Post–intensive care syndrome–family (PICS-F) is a constellation of adverse psychological symptoms experienced by family members of critically ill patients during and after acute illness. Cognitive behavioral therapy delivered using smartphone technology is a novel approach for PICS-F symptom self-management. Objective To determine the e...

Objective: This study evaluated the effectiveness of the DeskCycle in reducing sedentary behavior (SB) among female office workers at an educational institution. Methods: This was a randomized control trial with a crossover design (N = 80). The intervention was conducted in two 8-week phases and included the DeskCycle and an informational handou...

Asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are significant health problems that have disparate effects on many Americans. Misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis are common and lead to ineffective treatment and management. This study assessed the feasibility of applying a two-step case-finding technique to identify both COPD and adult asthma...

Background Family members of intensive care unit (ICU) patients are at risk for post–intensive care syndrome– family (PICS-F), including symptoms of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the first-line nonpharmacologic treatment for many psychological symptoms and has been successfully delivered by use of mo...

Background Family members of critically ill patients experience symptoms of postintensive care syndrome-family (PICS-F), including anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Postintensive care syndrome-family reduces the quality of life of the families of critically ill patients and may impede the recovery of such patients. Cognitive b...

BACKGROUND Family members of critically ill patients suffer symptoms of post-intensive care syndrome-family (PICS-F), including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-intensive care syndrome-family reduces the quality of life of the families of critically ill patients and may impede recovery of the patient. Cognitive behavior...

Aim Human Immunodeficiency Virus ( HIV) patients commonly experience dyspnea for which an immediate cause may not be always apparent. In this prospective cohort study of HIV patients with exercise limitation, we use cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) coupled with exercise cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to elucidate etiologies of dyspn...

Objective: To assess the association between serum bicarbonate concentration and cause-specific mortality in the US general population. Methods: A total of 31,195 individuals enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2010 were followed for a median 6.7 (interquartile range, 3.7-9.8) years. Cause-specific m...

Background: Heart transplant recipients are at high risk for mortality, with traditional risk scores performing modestly in predicting post-transplant survival, underscoring the importance of as yet unidentified factors in determining prognosis. In this analysis, the association between PM2.5 exposure levels and survival after heart transplantatio...

Background: Eighty percent of premature mortality from cardiovascular disease occurs in low- and middle-income countries. Hypertension, diabetes, and smoking are the top risk factors causing this disease burden. Objectives: The study aimed to test the hypothesis that utilizing community health workers (CHWs) to manage hypertension, diabetes and...

Octogenarians receiving cardiac valve surgery is increasing and recovery is challenging. Post-acute care (PAC) services assist with recovery, yet services provided in facilities do not provide adequate cardiac-focused care or long-term self-management support. The purpose of the paper was to report post-acute care discharge rates in octogenarians a...

Background Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in India. Since it is largely driven by risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and smoking, it is important to study the treatment cascade for these conditions and identify areas for improvement. Methods This is a cross-sectional study from Project SEHAT (Study to Enhance Hea...

Background Researchers have been advocating for a new weight-inclusive paradigm that focuses on health rather than weight. One important component of this model is intuitive eating. Although registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) are the nation’s food and nutrition experts, RDNs’ knowledge of and attitudes toward intuitive eating and use of trad...

Purpose: Older adults who use postacute care (PAC) after hospitalization for myocardial infarction (MI) are often overlooked as cardiac rehabilitation (CR) candidates because of physical limitations. This research describes the impact of functional status and PAC, including inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF), skilled nursing facility (SNF), o...

Background: The increasing burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in low- and middle-income countries is largely driven by the increasing prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and tobacco use. We hypothesize that the utilization of community health workers (CHWs) to screen for and manage these 3 determinants of CVD in an integrated manner would be...

Purpose: On the basis of several small studies, depression is often considered a barrier to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) enrollment and program completion. The purpose of this research was to examine the association between depression diagnosis and participation in CR in a large sample of Medicare beneficiaries with recent myocardial infarction (MI...

Findings from studies that examined the association between health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and smoking status among COPD patients have been mixed. Moreover, factors associated with current smoking in COPD patients and differences by sex have not been fully elucidated. Data from the 2011 and 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System wa...

Objective The purpose of the present study was to develop and assess the construct validity of a tool to measure knowledge, attitudes and practices of registered dietitians/nutritionists (RD/N) regarding an intuitive eating lifestyle. Design Cross-sectional study design that utilized a survey administered to a random sample and remaining full popu...

After myocardial infarction (MI), 50% of older adults use post-acute care (PAC) primarily for recovery from MI-associated disability. There is limited information on disability levels from a national sample. This research described levels of disability and PAC use (home health care (HHC), skilled nursing facilities (SNF), and inpatient rehabilitati...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will be the 3rd and 5th leading cause of death and disability by 2020. The most important intervention to preventing COPD progression is smoking cessation. Adults with COPD have high healthcare utilization that can act as opportunities to deliver smoking cessation intervention. This research examined com...

Introduction: In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the first time ever collected nationally representative prevalence data on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), spirometry diagnosis, and healthcare utilization factors related to COPD. This research reports on that data and describes characteristics of adults with...

The purpose of this community-based study was to assess the prevalence of chronic diseases among 18-65 year old Bhutanese refugee women resettled in Northeast Ohio, United States (US). A Nepali-language questionnaire was administered in a face-to-face mode. Anthropometric measurements included height, weight, and hip and waist circumferences. The o...

Gynecologic robotic surgery can be a fast paced environment requiring precise and coordinated team work to ensure a safe surgery is performed. A safe surgery checklist specific to robotics surgery may impact the safety culture in the robotics operating room (OR). The purpose of this research was to measure the safety culture in the robotics surgery...

Only half of adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) report a smoking quit attempt in the past year. Adults with COPD have frequent encounters with the healthcare system that are opportunities for health behavior interventions that support quit attempts. The purpose of this research was to examine individual- and clinical-level fac...

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major component of care. HRQOL can be impacted by exacerbations. Exacerbations can be reduced through smoking cessation. Identifying smokers with COPD and describing HRQOL and utilization will assist practitioners with avenues for intervention. T...

The main risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and disease progression is smoking. A diagnostic breathing test for COPD may support cessation; however, this relationship has not been found in clinical studies. The purpose of this research was to examine in a nationally representative sample, the association between diagnostic...

Background: Guidelines in women with coronary heart disease (CHD) or myocardial infarction (MI) include achieving a healthy body mass index (BMI); however, after MI, weight loss on average is minimal. The aim of this research was to identify factors associated with trying to lose weight among white, non-Hispanic (NH), black, NH, and Hispanic/other...

Influenza vaccination rates are low in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A diagnostic breathing test in adults with COPD may increase vaccination rates; however, research has not demonstrated this relationship. The purpose of this research was to determine if adults with COPD diagnosed by a breathing test were more likely to...

Accreditation criteria by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) state that prior to graduation, Masters of Public Health (MPH) students must demonstrate the application of knowledge and skills through a practice experience, commonly called the "Practicum." The purpose of this research was to review those MPH Practicum requirements. Prac...

Background: Metabolic syndrome prevalence in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is high and participants have poor baseline and overall improvement in exercise capacity; however, it is unclear if this is due to participant or CR programlevel factors. The purpose of this research was to describe, in CR participants, the association between metabolic syndro...

Guidelines have been established that describe recommended core components for cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs; yet, there are no national efforts to monitor the integration of the guidelines. The purpose of this research was to describe incorporation of core components in CR programs. This was a cross-sectional study using the Ohio Phase II C...

The purpose of this pilot study was to test the initial efficacy, feasibility, and safety of a specially designed postacute care transitional rehabilitation intervention for cardiac patients. Cardiac Transitional Rehabilitation Using Self-Management Techniques (Cardiac TRUST) is a family-focused intervention that includes progressive low-intensity...

After hospitalization for a cardiac event, older adults are frequently discharged to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) for postacute care. The American Association of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation recommends that cardiac care be integrated into procedures at SNFs. We undertook this research to describe the characteristics of patients in SNFs after...

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) makes CR an ideal place to offer interventions to address metabolic syndrome–related risk. There is a lack of research related to the metabolic syndrome practices in CR. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to describe practices to assess CR patients for metabolic syndrome,...

Post-acute care (PAC) is available for older adults who need additional services after hospitalization for acute cardiac events. With the aging population and an increase in the prevalence of cardiac disease, it is important to determine current PAC use for cardiac patients to assist health care workers to meet the needs of older cardiac patients....

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a multifactorial program that encourages healthy behaviors in persons with a recent cardiovascular event or procedure. Research on the association between CR and health-behavior maintenance has focused on physical activity. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine the association of health behaviors (fru...

The World Health Organization estimated alcohol consumption in Uganda to be one of the highest in the world. We examined alcohol consumption among Ugandan women prior to and after learning of pregnancy. We developed a screening algorithm using factors that predicted alcohol consumption in this study. In 2006, we surveyed 610 women attending antenat...

Antenatal care (ANC) prevents adverse pregnancy outcomes by providing women with interventions like HIV testing that is vital to the baby's or maternal health. Low birth weight (LBW ;< 2500g) is a public health problem associated with infant morbidity, mortality and high costs. In Uganda, few studies have examined the relationship between ANC atten...

It has been hypothesized that exposure to exogenous estrogens may be associated with endometriosis and uterine myomas. We sought to investigate the association between heavy metals which have been shown to be hormonally active and these disorders using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002. Women aged 20-49 years...