Michael E Thompson

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Verified

Michael verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• MS, DrPH
• Interim Chair at University of North Carolina at Charlotte

INTRODUCTION US patients with behavioral health conditions have smoking rates two to three times higher than the general population. Tobacco-free environments at substance use disorder (SUD) facilities can positively impact patient’s outcomes as well as the health of staff, but client perceptions to the contrary can slow adoption. This study assess...

Ineffective primary care provider (PCP) communication may contribute to the overuse of emergency room (ER) care in the United States. We examined the relationship between PCP communication and ER visits within a Medicaid patient population using 2022 Health Center Patient Survey data collected by the US Health Resources and Services Administration...

Objectives This study aimed (1) to determine the impact of a clinical decision support (CDS) tool on rate of opioid prescribing and opioid dose for patients with chronic musculoskeletal conditions and (2) to identify prescriber and facility characteristics associated with adherence to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guideline for pre...

Objectives: North Carolina had implemented legislation (Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act) limiting opioid prescriptions to 5 days for acute pain and 7 days for post-operative pain. This study aimed to identify patient, prescriber, and facility characteristics associated with STOP Act adherence for patients with acute or post-surgical...

Objectives: To assess whether implementation of the Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act was associated with an increase in the percent of opioid prescriptions written for 7 days or less among patients with acute or post-surgical musculoskeletal conditions. Design: An interrupted time series study was conducted to determine the change...

Background: Few prognostic tools are currently available to predict hospital mortality in patients with acute type A aortic dissection. The aim of this study was to validate the performance of two existing risk-assessment tools, the original and the adjusted Leipzig-Halifax scorecards, to predict hospital mortality among Armenian patients with acu...

Background: WHO's directly observed therapy (DOT) strategy for tuberculosis (TB) treatment depends upon a well-organized healthcare system. This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of self-administered drug intake supported by a family member versus in-clinic DOT. Methods: This open-label, nationally-representative stratified cluster rand...

High quality health care requires competent, motivated, and satisfied health care employees. This research examines whether employee job satisfaction differs at for-profit (FP) and not-for-profit (NFP) hospitals and how other organizational characteristics mediate this relationship. In this cross-sectional study, Press Ganey Employee Partnership Su...

The health care industry collects ever-increasing volumes of patient data. Currently, this largely untapped "big data" primarily documents encounters and facilitates billing. This issue of the North Carolina Medical Journal explores the promise and the perils of big data as we seek to transform our health care system into one that is more proactive...

Context: As of March 23, 2012, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires tax-exempt hospitals to conduct Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every 3 years to incentivize hospitals to provide programs responsive to the health needs of their communities. Objective: To examine the distribution and variation in community benefit spending amon...

As of March 23, 2012, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires tax-exempt hospitals to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every 3 years. This study assessed whether the IRS CHNA mandate incentivized North Carolina's tax-exempt hospitals to increase investments in community health programs. The authors gathered the 2012-2016 commu...

Background: Free clinics are volunteer based organizations that provide health care services to low-income individuals for free or minimal cost. Communities served by a free clinic can provide ambulatory care services for uninsured individuals, reducing reliance on costly hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions. This study exa...

Objectives Prenatal care (PNC) is a critical preventive health service for pregnant women and infants. While timely PNC has been associated with improved birth outcomes, improvements have slowed since the late 1990s. Therefore, focus has shifted to interventions prior to pregnancy. Preconception care is recommended for all women of reproductive age...

Tuberculosis is a major public health concern resulting in high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Tuberculosis requires a long and intensive course of treatment. Thus, various approaches, including patient empowerment, education and counselling sessions, and involvement of family members a...

The objective of this study was to examine the associations among race, education, income, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in self-care of type 2 diabetes mellitus among adults in North Carolina. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), a large population-based survey...

Health care professionals (HCPs) play a vital role at various levels of smoking cessation programs to reduce tobacco use in general populations. However, their smoking habits may limit their ability to intervene with their patients who smoke. To determine prevalence rates of current smoking and examine sociodemographic and work-related factors asso...

ABSTRACT Despite documented low quality care in Armenia, surveys document high ratings of patient satisfaction with healthcare services. We explored reasons for high satisfaction in Armenia despite poor quality. Twenty-five women who recently delivered participated in this qualitative study through in-depth interviews. Patients avoided critiquing h...

Background Two-thirds of reproductive-aged women in the United States are overweight or obese and at risk for numerous associated adverse pregnancy outcomes. This study examined whether the amount of weight gained during pregnancy modifies the prepregnancy body mass index (BMI)–cesarean delivery association.MethodsA total of 2,157 women aged 18–45...

The present study aimed at assessing sex differences in perioperative characteristics and 3-year event-free survival from major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) in patients with percutaneous coro-nary intervention (PCI) in Armenia. The study utilized an observational, retrospective cohort design enrolling patients who underwent PC...

To examine the impact race and socioeconomic status (SES) has on diabetes management among adults in North Carolina. Our study utilized data from the 2008 BRFSS to conduct a retrospective study and secondary data analysis. To account for the multistage survey design of BRFSS, SAS/SUDAAN was used to calculate adjusted and unadjusted odds ratios and...

To examine associations between social ties and self-rated physical health among midlife and older African Americans. Cross-sectional analysis of the 2005-2006 Milwaukee African American oversample of the second Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II) study. Multivariate logistic regression examined associations between type of social t...

Introduction Self-rated health is a widely used health outcome measure that strongly correlates with physical and mental health status and predicts mortality. This study identified the set of predictors of fair/poor self-rated health in adult female and male populations of Armenia during a period of long-lasting socio-economic transition to a marke...

Objective: To examine the association between pregnancy intendedness and HIV testing among pregnant women in North Carolina using data from the 2008 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS). Methods: Since PRAMS utilizes a complex weighted design, SAS 9.2 statistical software and SAS callable SUDAAN were used to account for the complex P...

Objective: To examine the relationship between race, and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in the management of diabetes among adults in North Carolina using the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Methods: Logistic regression using SAS and SAS callable SUDAAN to account for the weighted complex multistage sampling design...

Introduction: Conflict in the South Caucasus' Nagorno Karabagh region has damaged health facilities and disrupted the delivery of services and supplies as well as led to depletion of human and fixed capital and weakened the de facto government's ability to provide training for health care providers. Problem: In response to documented medical tra...

Objectives: This study evaluated the relationship between medication noncompliance and patient satisfaction in patients with drug-eluting stent revascularization in Armenia. Background: Reasons for medication noncompliance are multifactorial—often related to health system, patient, condition, therapy, and socioeconomic factors. Methods: The analyti...

Depression negatively affects cognitive functioning and, consequently, academic performance. Studies of this association have yielded conflicting results and have not fully considered other factors that may play a role in academic performance. This study examines the relation between depression and academic performance in students at a large urban...

Although uterine fibroids are among the most common gynecologic conditions affecting women in the United States, research on uterine fibroids is sparse. This study explored the association between micronutrients and uterine fibroids. We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional analysis of 887 women aged 20-49 who participated in the 2003-2004...

This study examined the psychometric value of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) translated for use with an Armenian population. Using data obtained from a country-wide health survey of 2310 households involving female and male respondents aged 18 and over, we investigated the response pattern to the CES-D items, the fact...

To assess the epidemiological data on motor vehicle collisions, injuries and deaths in Kyrgyzstan to inform evidence-based policy development. Data on motor vehicle collision and injury statistics covering 2003-2007 were obtained from official sources provided by the Department of Traffic Safety and the Ministry of Health's Republican Medical Infor...

Health care in post-war situations, where the system's human and fixed capital are depleted, is challenging. The addition of a frozen conflict situation, where international recognition of boundaries and authorities are lacking, introduces further complexities. Nagorno Karabagh (NK) is an ethnically Armenian territory locked within post-Soviet Azer...

Social relationships with partners, family members, and friends may enhance emotional health. We studied associations between the type, contact frequency and quality of social relationships and self-rated emotional health among middle age and older African Americans. Data were from the Milwaukee African American sample of the second Midlife Develop...

Social relationships may enhance emotional health in older age. The authors examined associations between social relationships and emotional health using data from the Milwaukee African American sample of the second Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II) study, 2005-2006 (n = 592). Self-reports indicated good, very good, or excellent e...

In March 2005, Armenia enacted legislation protecting employees from secondhand smoke. This research was the first attempt to understand the attitudes, beliefs and practices of managers of public and private enterprises regarding smoke-free worksite policies. Mixed methods were used. The study team conducted focus group discussions with worksite ad...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to focus on the performance of select facilities in Lori and Shirak provinces in Armenia in Spring 2008. This is in response to the deterioration of the primary healthcare sector in Armenia. Design/methodology/approach The performance assessment focused on the status of several performance indicators, both curr...

This study examined the association between contraceptive method and satisfaction and discontinuation. Few studies have examined these issues in the university setting and how they may potentially impact unintended pregnancy rates. This study examined data from 172 college women aged 18-36 years enrolled in the Study on Contraceptive Knowledge in S...

This chapter presents a competency-based approach to education in epidemiology. The approach matches the active and applied nature of epidemiology, whether in the research or practice setting. It can facilitate overall curriculum planning and the tailoring of the curriculum to match not only the expectations of students and faculty, but of the work...

The study assessed the level of patient satisfaction at selected primary health-care facilities in Lori and Shirak provinces of Armenia. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 684 recent clients at primary health-care facilities. The majority of patients were satisfied with their provider (mean satisfaction score of 1.75 out of maximu...

Background: In March 2005, Armenia enacted legislation protecting employees from secondhand smoke. This research was the first attempt to evaluate the process of implementing smoke-free worksite policies. Methods: Mixed methods were used, including focus group discussions with worksite administrators to explore their beliefs, attitudes and pr...

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a doctoral/research-intensive university, is the largest institution of higher education in the Charlotte region. The university currently offers 18 doctoral, 62 master's and 90 baccalaureate programmes. Fall 2008 enrolment exceeded 23,300 students, including more than 4900 graduate students. The unive...

Maternal and child health status in the Martuni region of Gegharkunik marz, Armenia, precipitously declined following Armenia's independence in 1991. In response, the American Red Cross (ARC) and the Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS) implemented the WHO community-level Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) strategy, complementing rece...

The former soviet Republic of Armenia entered a turbulent and long-lasting economic transition when it declared its independence in 1991. This analysis sought to identify the determinants of poor self-rated health as an indirect measure of health status and mortality prognosis in an adult female population during a period of socio-economic transiti...

Table 1 Distribution (valid percentage) of select social, behavioral/attitudinal, and psychological variables among women aged 18 and over, 2001 & 2004, Armavir marz, Armenia

Table 2 The association (p-values and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI)) of poor self-rated health with social, behavioral/attitudinal, and psychological dimensions in women aged 18 and over in Armavir marz, Armenia, 2001, 2004.*

Table 3 The association (Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI)) of physical health and depression with poor self-rated health in women aged 18 and over in Armavir marz, Armenia, 2001–2004.*

Table 4 Final models: determinants of self-rated health in women aged 18 and over in the combined dataset and in each of 2001 and 2004 datasets, Armavir marz, Armenia

Objectives Although nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) may assist with smoking cessation, little is known about the safety of NRT use during pregnancy. Our purpose was two-fold: to determine characteristics of women prescribed or recommended NRT during pregnancy and to investigate whether NRT prescription/recommendation was associated with advers...

Purpose This study determined the prevalence of HIV testing among three sub-groups of women: those already pregnant, those intending to become pregnant in the next two years, and those not intending to become pregnant in the near future. In addition, associations between racial/ethnic groups and HIV testing were investigated in each of these subgro...

Induced abortion remains the major form of birth control among Armenian women, contributing to their excess mortality and preventable morbidity. Reliance on abortion is attributed to limited access to information concerning modern methods of contraception and to widely held misinformation among women regarding family planning and reproductive healt...

The study evaluated rates and determinants of hospital morbidity, serious morbid events, and prolonged intensive care unit stay associated with isolated coronary artery bypass. The medical records of 391 patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass at our center during 2003 were reviewed. The observed crude hospital mortality rate was 2.05%,...

We investigated the influence of feeding practices on development of atopic dermatitis (AD) in Armenian children (n = 240). In multivariate models early introduction to solids, family history of atopy, and breastfeeding by a mother with atopic condition were associated with the development of AD after 12 months post-term. A prospective study in Arm...

Career and treatment attitudes related to potential human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) exposure are reported based on a survey of 1,228 Maryland career and volunteer prehospital care providers trained to provide basic (BLS) and advanced (ALS) life support. Sixty-five percent stated potential exposure to H...

Of the 110 career and volunteer prehospital care providers surveyed from two Maryland counties, about 20 percent were concerned about dealing with AIDS patients, including 24 percent who have considered leaving EMS due to the risk of HIV infection.